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Eugene Church · 02-14-2013, 12:38 AM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, June 19, 2035

Favored Frogs Up By 5 In TU North
So far the scribes in The Islandian Times preseason poll are looking good in the Tycobbian North... their top pick, the Fairfax Frogs, are up by 5 games at the season's mid-point over North Hills, which won the IPA Pro Cup last year... Mahaska, which finished in last place last season and was last in the preseason poll, is surprising tied for second place ... the Hartsdale Hellcats have fourth place to themselves and trail by 7 games... topping out the second division are the Luxora Zorros in fifth, 10 games off the pace... White River is in the sixth spot in the standings and 11 games back of the Frogs... Oxford is 14 games behind and in seventh, while Blue Lake is pulling up the rear in the basement, 15 games out.

Fairfax is a well-rounded club with solid bats and better-than-average pitching... the Frogs have won pennants in two of the last three years... last year they were in fourth place... Fairfax has three All-Stars: pitcher Jay Barajas (12-4/2.22), CF Michael Hudson (.287/9/43/55) and 1B Max Lebowitz (.304/8/35/45/42)... other top bats are 2B John Velasco (.272/14/48/44), LF Eric Kusek (.307/3/35/45), C Brian Davis (.307/4/33/26) and 3B Jim McDermott (.260/8/43/35)... Steven McLeod (7-7/3.33) and Harold Dorman (.7-5/3.97) are the number two and three starters... Dudley Dickens (3-0/0.73/2 saves) heads up the bullpen.

Last year the North Hills Hawks went all the way and captured the first Pro Cup in the team's history and they are still intact this season and hoping to defend their IPA crown... downgraded to sixth in the preseason poll, the Hawks have ignored it, though they had a bad April, going 12-15 and falling 7 games behind Fairfax... for the last two months they have played a tad better, 28-18, than the first-place Frogs, 26-20... North Hills has more depth on the mound than Fairfax with David Michael (8-6/3.01), Nelson Hooper (8-5/2/43), Jeff Owens (10-6/3.41) and Kyle Oliver (3-2/3.19)... but the Hawks may not be quite as good as the Frogs in the batter's box... All-Star LF Adam Thurgood (.352/19/55/46) is even better than he was last year when he hit .325 with 35 homers and 114 RBIs... freshmen RF Gerry Rice (.340/2/15/30) has been a pleasant surprise, along with second-year 1B Ric Hamilton (.280/7/38/25)... 3B Dean O'Donnell (.256/9/35/35), C Mikhail Romanovsky (.260/6/29/43), CF Ronnie Guillaume (.294/10/30/29) and 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.303/4/17/17) have added run support, too.

The Mahaska Haymakers were ranked eighth and last in the preseason poll, yet they got off to a great start the first month (18-9), but have come back to earth and dipped since... hitting is the Haymakers' sore point... they have very little in the way of power... rookie SS Rocco Bertara (.309/1/24/23) leads the club in average... there isn't much after him... but Mahaska has a quality mound corps with Valente Viero (10-6/3.42), Mark Pennington (10-7/3.41) and Greg Douglas (8-8/3.32)... which may help them make the first division this season... the Haymakers will not be a serious challenge to Fairfax and North Hills.

Pitching is the forte of the fourth-place Hartsdale Hellcats with the likes of Lou Chylak (9-6/2.45), Eric Isenhart (9-7/2.63), Freddie Whitaker (3-2/2.80) and Wayne Dawson (6-8/2.93)... give them some runs on the scoreboard and they could rival Fairfax and North Hills... but the poor offense will hold them back from title contention... it's hard to win when the team BA is only .245 (23rd)... top producers are CF Joe McGarrett (.270/12/41/36) and SS Johnny Gentry (.259/10/31/34).

Fifth-place Luxora doesn't hit very well, but has two quality starters in All-Star Kent Halloran (8-1/1.03) and Benny DeVito (7-6/3.77)... RF Manuelo Betencourt (.301/8/36/28), rookie 3B Tiago Chaves (.261/9/35/33), 1B Gerry Hathaway (.268/14/34/35) and SS Woody Jackson (.247/11/36/32) are the most reliable run producers.

The White River Rascals battled North Hills tooth-and-nail last year before losing out by a scant 2 games... this year the baseball prognosticators pegged them third behind Fairfax and Oxford, but it hasn't worked out that way, primarily because the Rascals are hitting near the Mendoza line at a very feeble .219 this season... they just might be the worst hitting team in the annals of the IPA... Luxora hold the TU record with a .228 in 2023... the worst in history belongs to the Kilkenny Cats of the Ruthlandian Union, who batted only .221 for the season in 2027... CF Hal Littleton (.307/5/15/31) is tops in average, while 1B Davey Sloan (.227/12/47/25) is tops in homers and RBIs... the Rascals lost two quality batters, All-Star 3B Koora Nawajuk (.311/7/36/29) to Kenwood and budding CF Clive Kenyon (.364/8/33/38) in a trade with Elnora for pitcher Lucien Vashon... it's a shame the fine starting rotation gets so very little run support... Lucien Vashon (10-4/2.59), Kenny Nikas (7-10/2.77), Paul Sartini (4-8/2.95) and Davey Johnston (4-4/2.90) are as good as any starting foursome in the IPA, yet they are in sixth place and 11 games behind leading Fairfax.

Mainly because of its potent power and offense, the seventh-place Oxford Red Caps were expected to be a first-division club this season, ranking as high as second place in the preseason poll... thus far, it hasn't happened as the offense has flopped when the team BA fell 20 points from .271 to .251... the Red Caps still go deep and are leading the Tycobbian Union with 97 dingers, topped only by Middlefield in the RU West with 116... only All-Star 1B Kerry Sterling (.290/16/44/41) and SS Boyd Olsen (.288/11/39/31) are having good years at the plate, but nothing like last year when they totaled 35 and 38 homers respectively and drove in 200 runs... CF Dalton Ward has the club home-run lead with 17, but is batting only .222 for average... pitching is improved quite a bit this season with Mario Lopez (10-6/2.96) and Kent McKinley (8-8/3.95) the staff leaders.

The drought continues in Blue Lake for the fourth year in a row... the Blue Sox were seventh in 2032 and 2034 and last in 2033... they are resting deep in the cellar this season at the All-Star hiatus, 15 games behind first-place Fairfax... the only star performers are All-Star pitcher Frankie Quinn (9-3/2.23) and All-Star SS Joe Korman (.280/6/39/54)... leading the offense are LF Jack Ryan (.328/2/33/44), 3B Matt Thompson (.298/6/38/32) and C Ben Banyon (.288/7/44/32).

Tycobbian North Forecast: in a close race, Pro Cup champ North Hills will overtake Fairfax in the second half and take a shot at another Pro Cup title... the Hawks' pitching will be the difference... Hartsdale will beat out Mahaska for third place with White River right on their tails in fifth, if the Rascals get some offense... Oxford's offense might perk up and move past Luxora for sixth place... Blue Lake will be in the basement again.

02-14-2013, 12:38 AM	#3433
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 36,210	*THE ISLANDIAN TIMES* Tuesday, June 19, 2035 Favored Frogs Up By 5 In TU North So far the scribes in *The Islandian Times* preseason poll are looking good in the Tycobbian North... their top pick, the Fairfax Frogs, are up by 5 games at the season's mid-point over North Hills, which won the IPA Pro Cup last year... Mahaska, which finished in last place last season and was last in the preseason poll, is surprising tied for second place ... the Hartsdale Hellcats have fourth place to themselves and trail by 7 games... topping out the second division are the Luxora Zorros in fifth, 10 games off the pace... White River is in the sixth spot in the standings and 11 games back of the Frogs... Oxford is 14 games behind and in seventh, while Blue Lake is pulling up the rear in the basement, 15 games out. Fairfax is a well-rounded club with solid bats and better-than-average pitching... the Frogs have won pennants in two of the last three years... last year they were in fourth place... Fairfax has three All-Stars: pitcher Jay Barajas (12-4/2.22), CF Michael Hudson (.287/9/43/55) and 1B Max Lebowitz (.304/8/35/45/42)... other top bats are 2B John Velasco (.272/14/48/44), LF Eric Kusek (.307/3/35/45), C Brian Davis (.307/4/33/26) and 3B Jim McDermott (.260/8/43/35)... Steven McLeod (7-7/3.33) and Harold Dorman (.7-5/3.97) are the number two and three starters... Dudley Dickens (3-0/0.73/2 saves) heads up the bullpen. Last year the North Hills Hawks went all the way and captured the first Pro Cup in the team's history and they are still intact this season and hoping to defend their IPA crown... downgraded to sixth in the preseason poll, the Hawks have ignored it, though they had a bad April, going 12-15 and falling 7 games behind Fairfax... for the last two months they have played a tad better, 28-18, than the first-place Frogs, 26-20... North Hills has more depth on the mound than Fairfax with David Michael (8-6/3.01), Nelson Hooper (8-5/2/43), Jeff Owens (10-6/3.41) and Kyle Oliver (3-2/3.19)... but the Hawks may not be quite as good as the Frogs in the batter's box... All-Star LF Adam Thurgood (.352/19/55/46) is even better than he was last year when he hit .325 with 35 homers and 114 RBIs... freshmen RF Gerry Rice (.340/2/15/30) has been a pleasant surprise, along with second-year 1B Ric Hamilton (.280/7/38/25)... 3B Dean O'Donnell (.256/9/35/35), C Mikhail Romanovsky (.260/6/29/43), CF Ronnie Guillaume (.294/10/30/29) and 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.303/4/17/17) have added run support, too. The Mahaska Haymakers were ranked eighth and last in the preseason poll, yet they got off to a great start the first month (18-9), but have come back to earth and dipped since... hitting is the Haymakers' sore point... they have very little in the way of power... rookie SS Rocco Bertara (.309/1/24/23) leads the club in average... there isn't much after him... but Mahaska has a quality mound corps with Valente Viero (10-6/3.42), Mark Pennington (10-7/3.41) and Greg Douglas (8-8/3.32)... which may help them make the first division this season... the Haymakers will not be a serious challenge to Fairfax and North Hills. Pitching is the forte of the fourth-place Hartsdale Hellcats with the likes of Lou Chylak (9-6/2.45), Eric Isenhart (9-7/2.63), Freddie Whitaker (3-2/2.80) and Wayne Dawson (6-8/2.93)... give them some runs on the scoreboard and they could rival Fairfax and North Hills... but the poor offense will hold them back from title contention... it's hard to win when the team BA is only .245 (23rd)... top producers are CF Joe McGarrett (.270/12/41/36) and SS Johnny Gentry (.259/10/31/34). Fifth-place Luxora doesn't hit very well, but has two quality starters in All-Star Kent Halloran (8-1/1.03) and Benny DeVito (7-6/3.77)... RF Manuelo Betencourt (.301/8/36/28), rookie 3B Tiago Chaves (.261/9/35/33), 1B Gerry Hathaway (.268/14/34/35) and SS Woody Jackson (.247/11/36/32) are the most reliable run producers. The White River Rascals battled North Hills tooth-and-nail last year before losing out by a scant 2 games... this year the baseball prognosticators pegged them third behind Fairfax and Oxford, but it hasn't worked out that way, primarily because the Rascals are hitting near the Mendoza line at a very feeble .219 this season... they just might be the worst hitting team in the annals of the IPA... Luxora hold the TU record with a .228 in 2023... the worst in history belongs to the Kilkenny Cats of the Ruthlandian Union, who batted only .221 for the season in 2027... CF Hal Littleton (.307/5/15/31) is tops in average, while 1B Davey Sloan (.227/12/47/25) is tops in homers and RBIs... the Rascals lost two quality batters, All-Star 3B Koora Nawajuk (.311/7/36/29) to Kenwood and budding CF Clive Kenyon (.364/8/33/38) in a trade with Elnora for pitcher Lucien Vashon... it's a shame the fine starting rotation gets so very little run support... Lucien Vashon (10-4/2.59), Kenny Nikas (7-10/2.77), Paul Sartini (4-8/2.95) and Davey Johnston (4-4/2.90) are as good as any starting foursome in the IPA, yet they are in sixth place and 11 games behind leading Fairfax. Mainly because of its potent power and offense, the seventh-place Oxford Red Caps were expected to be a first-division club this season, ranking as high as second place in the preseason poll... thus far, it hasn't happened as the offense has flopped when the team BA fell 20 points from .271 to .251... the Red Caps still go deep and are leading the Tycobbian Union with 97 dingers, topped only by Middlefield in the RU West with 116... only All-Star 1B Kerry Sterling (.290/16/44/41) and SS Boyd Olsen (.288/11/39/31) are having good years at the plate, but nothing like last year when they totaled 35 and 38 homers respectively and drove in 200 runs... CF Dalton Ward has the club home-run lead with 17, but is batting only .222 for average... pitching is improved quite a bit this season with Mario Lopez (10-6/2.96) and Kent McKinley (8-8/3.95) the staff leaders. The drought continues in Blue Lake for the fourth year in a row... the Blue Sox were seventh in 2032 and 2034 and last in 2033... they are resting deep in the cellar this season at the All-Star hiatus, 15 games behind first-place Fairfax... the only star performers are All-Star pitcher Frankie Quinn (9-3/2.23) and All-Star SS Joe Korman (.280/6/39/54)... leading the offense are LF Jack Ryan (.328/2/33/44), 3B Matt Thompson (.298/6/38/32) and C Ben Banyon (.288/7/44/32). Tycobbian North Forecast: in a close race, Pro Cup champ North Hills will overtake Fairfax in the second half and take a shot at another Pro Cup title... the Hawks' pitching will be the difference... Hartsdale will beat out Mahaska for third place with White River right on their tails in fifth, if the Rascals get some offense... Oxford's offense might perk up and move past Luxora for sixth place... Blue Lake will be in the basement again. Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 02-14-2013 at 12:42 AM.