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Eugene Church · 02-26-2013, 11:16 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2035

Sports Snag RU North Flag, 3rd In 4 Years
The LaGrange Sports snagged their third RU North flag in four seasons... beating out Far Mountain by 7 games and preseason favorite Kilkenny by 8... Taranto came in fourth, 16 games back... the Sports were not highly rated early, forecast for fourth place... LaGrange won with an offense that could score runs and hit with power, coupled with fairly good pitching.

LaGrange won the pennant with a tremendous 24-5 record in August, which Far Mountain (15-14) and Kilkenny (18-11) couldn't match... Chazz Bassett's emergence as a top-notch starter was another key factor, along with two fine rookie bats... Bassett (23-12/3.39) joined standout vets Ryan Janssen (18-16/3.90) and Walt Thurber (19-14/3.52) to give manager Quincy Peterson a strong threesome in his rotation... leading the offense were 3B Claude DesJardins (.252) with 28 HRs, 97 RBIs and 98 runs, star CF Russell Watkins (.267) with 20 HRs and 92 RBIs, vet 1B Chris Charbonnier (.282) with 22 HRs, 87 RBIs and 82 runs, rookie C Chris Heffner (.307) with 21 HRs, 76 RBIs and 85 runs and rookie RF Charles Basque (.298) with 28 HRs, 102 runs and 75 RBIs... the Sports could make some noise in the playoffs if the pitching steps it up to championship caliber... LaGrange has some solid hitters.

The Far Mountain Redhawks had trouble scoring, but possessed strong pitching... skipper Don Nichols had an impressive starting four in Chad Cummings (15-15/2.33), Frankie Moreland (19-14/2.93), Jeff Cooper (18-17/3.13) and Dennis Sasek (14-11/3.13) and a quality bullpen, too... but his only reliable hitters were CF Wes Wernstedt (.301/5/64/91) and 3B Axel Bauer (.306/16/77/73).

Kilkenny Cats' manager Rusty Denicola had the same problem as Far Mountain - not much offense... but he had a quality staff with superstar Dave Whitaker (21-12/2.34), who racked up 20 wins for the sixth time in his 13 IPA seasons, James Crockett (15-11/3.47) and Ted Flanagan (14-10/3.42)... Andy Mayfield (8-4/1.32/19 saves) led the relievers... the only run producer was 9-year vet 3B Leevi Viru with 90 RBIs, 21 HRs and 81 runs to go along with a modest .267 BA.

The Taranto Tars with Augie Marshall at the helm made good progress this year, moving up from the cellar to fourth place... that's the first time since 2027 the Tars finished in the first division... Marshall has little pitching but his club has some pop with 196 HRs, sparked by second-year phenom and All-Star C Angelo Rossi with an IPA-leading 50 roundtrippers to go with his 115 RBis and .273 BA... 10-year vet CF Wes Marlowe was a pleasant surprise in his first full season with the club... Marlowe clouted 32 homers and drove in 79 runs, but hit only .255... Taranto's best pitchers were All-Star Emilio Gallo, a rookie starter, who debuted in the league at age 31 with a 21-12 mark and a 3.80 ERA... reliever Alex Sakarian (8-7/2.00/11 saves) also stood out for the Tars.

For the third straight year once-dominant Valmara wound up in the second division in fifth place... from 2023 to 2031 manager Jet Kazmarek won 8 division titles and one Pro Cup... the Vipers don't do anything especially well, but they still have some quality pitching in veterans Garry Gronek (18-21/3.75) and J. B. Boutin (16-17/3.37)... the only bats of any consequence were vet LF Benny Hooper (.266/18/78/81), 1B Pat Sautier (.268/19/72/88) and fine rookie 3B Janek Jakubek (.265/19/80/73).

For the 12th time in the past 13 seasons, the Glasco Athletics found themselves in the second division, ranking sixth... manager Barry McCord has little pitching, little hitting and not much power... 'nuff said... 23-year pitcher Basil Newchurch (18-15/3.18) had a very fine year and looks to be a comer... aging 33-year-old star 1B Kees Draeger (.250) led the club with 21 HRs and 82 RBIs, but he is not the player he was... after 13 years Draeger has a .301 BA with 367 HRs and over 1100 RBIs... his last strong season was 2031, when he was with Belair Beach... C Eddy Martin topped the team with a .290 BA... Martin chipped in with 16 HRs and 68 RBIs.

It was a miserable year for the defending RU North champion Ranford Bulls... they fell from first to seventh in the standings... manager Rick Fargnoli's staff let him down this year and he lost several valuable players to free agency... All-Star C Kyle Hunt (.298/11/66/61) went to Eastshore and reliable SS Sonny Statum sat out the entire year and would not re-sign... Statum's .285 average and 86 runs were missed this year... veteran 3B Alex Vanno (.271) was the only bright star in the Bulls batting order with his 34 homers, 96 RBIs and 97 runs... on the hill vets Rube Satcher (19-17/2.97) and ancient Duncan Welch (19-14/2.97) performed very well... Welch, starred at the ripe old age of 41... in 19 seasons in the IPA, mainly with Crystal Lake, Welch has rung up a splendid 339-225 record and a superb 2.67 ERA... but the rest of the mound corps were very disappointing.

Manager Kenny Willard and his Ancona Red Elephants finished in the RU North basement for the second time in three years, this time losing 100 games... Ancona was the worst team in the IPA... Willard has very little talent... his best bats belong to RF Pettis Pentleton (.265/19/60/86), 2B Alex Zitek (.260/21/73/65) and 1B Danny Webber (.298/12/46/64)... 29-year-old Pentleton, a career .322 hitter, All-Star, Golden Glover and batting titlist, was obtained in a trade in July from Kenwood, but his batting average really fell off this year... Ancona's best hurlers were starters Steven Russell (8-12/2.76) and Giannis Bakas (13-18/3.63), along with reliever Buddy Palmer (4-3/3.03/16 saves)

02-26-2013, 11:16 PM	#3450
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,939	*THE ISLANDIAN TIMES* Tuesday, September 18, 2035 *Sports Snag RU North Flag, 3rd In 4 Years* The LaGrange Sports snagged their third RU North flag in four seasons... beating out Far Mountain by 7 games and preseason favorite Kilkenny by 8... Taranto came in fourth, 16 games back... the Sports were not highly rated early, forecast for fourth place... LaGrange won with an offense that could score runs and hit with power, coupled with fairly good pitching. LaGrange won the pennant with a tremendous 24-5 record in August, which Far Mountain (15-14) and Kilkenny (18-11) couldn't match... Chazz Bassett's emergence as a top-notch starter was another key factor, along with two fine rookie bats... Bassett (23-12/3.39) joined standout vets Ryan Janssen (18-16/3.90) and Walt Thurber (19-14/3.52) to give manager Quincy Peterson a strong threesome in his rotation... leading the offense were 3B Claude DesJardins (.252) with 28 HRs, 97 RBIs and 98 runs, star CF Russell Watkins (.267) with 20 HRs and 92 RBIs, vet 1B Chris Charbonnier (.282) with 22 HRs, 87 RBIs and 82 runs, rookie C Chris Heffner (.307) with 21 HRs, 76 RBIs and 85 runs and rookie RF Charles Basque (.298) with 28 HRs, 102 runs and 75 RBIs... the Sports could make some noise in the playoffs if the pitching steps it up to championship caliber... LaGrange has some solid hitters. The Far Mountain Redhawks had trouble scoring, but possessed strong pitching... skipper Don Nichols had an impressive starting four in Chad Cummings (15-15/2.33), Frankie Moreland (19-14/2.93), Jeff Cooper (18-17/3.13) and Dennis Sasek (14-11/3.13) and a quality bullpen, too... but his only reliable hitters were CF Wes Wernstedt (.301/5/64/91) and 3B Axel Bauer (.306/16/77/73). Kilkenny Cats' manager Rusty Denicola had the same problem as Far Mountain - not much offense... but he had a quality staff with superstar Dave Whitaker (21-12/2.34), who racked up 20 wins for the sixth time in his 13 IPA seasons, James Crockett (15-11/3.47) and Ted Flanagan (14-10/3.42)... Andy Mayfield (8-4/1.32/19 saves) led the relievers... the only run producer was 9-year vet 3B Leevi Viru with 90 RBIs, 21 HRs and 81 runs to go along with a modest .267 BA. The Taranto Tars with Augie Marshall at the helm made good progress this year, moving up from the cellar to fourth place... that's the first time since 2027 the Tars finished in the first division... Marshall has little pitching but his club has some pop with 196 HRs, sparked by second-year phenom and All-Star C Angelo Rossi with an IPA-leading 50 roundtrippers to go with his 115 RBis and .273 BA... 10-year vet CF Wes Marlowe was a pleasant surprise in his first full season with the club... Marlowe clouted 32 homers and drove in 79 runs, but hit only .255... Taranto's best pitchers were All-Star Emilio Gallo, a rookie starter, who debuted in the league at age 31 with a 21-12 mark and a 3.80 ERA... reliever Alex Sakarian (8-7/2.00/11 saves) also stood out for the Tars. For the third straight year once-dominant Valmara wound up in the second division in fifth place... from 2023 to 2031 manager Jet Kazmarek won 8 division titles and one Pro Cup... the Vipers don't do anything especially well, but they still have some quality pitching in veterans Garry Gronek (18-21/3.75) and J. B. Boutin (16-17/3.37)... the only bats of any consequence were vet LF Benny Hooper (.266/18/78/81), 1B Pat Sautier (.268/19/72/88) and fine rookie 3B Janek Jakubek (.265/19/80/73). For the 12th time in the past 13 seasons, the Glasco Athletics found themselves in the second division, ranking sixth... manager Barry McCord has little pitching, little hitting and not much power... 'nuff said... 23-year pitcher Basil Newchurch (18-15/3.18) had a very fine year and looks to be a comer... aging 33-year-old star 1B Kees Draeger (.250) led the club with 21 HRs and 82 RBIs, but he is not the player he was... after 13 years Draeger has a .301 BA with 367 HRs and over 1100 RBIs... his last strong season was 2031, when he was with Belair Beach... C Eddy Martin topped the team with a .290 BA... Martin chipped in with 16 HRs and 68 RBIs. It was a miserable year for the defending RU North champion Ranford Bulls... they fell from first to seventh in the standings... manager Rick Fargnoli's staff let him down this year and he lost several valuable players to free agency... All-Star C Kyle Hunt (.298/11/66/61) went to Eastshore and reliable SS Sonny Statum sat out the entire year and would not re-sign... Statum's .285 average and 86 runs were missed this year... veteran 3B Alex Vanno (.271) was the only bright star in the Bulls batting order with his 34 homers, 96 RBIs and 97 runs... on the hill vets Rube Satcher (19-17/2.97) and ancient Duncan Welch (19-14/2.97) performed very well... Welch, starred at the ripe old age of 41... in 19 seasons in the IPA, mainly with Crystal Lake, Welch has rung up a splendid 339-225 record and a superb 2.67 ERA... but the rest of the mound corps were very disappointing. Manager Kenny Willard and his Ancona Red Elephants finished in the RU North basement for the second time in three years, this time losing 100 games... Ancona was the worst team in the IPA... Willard has very little talent... his best bats belong to RF Pettis Pentleton (.265/19/60/86), 2B Alex Zitek (.260/21/73/65) and 1B Danny Webber (.298/12/46/64)... 29-year-old Pentleton, a career .322 hitter, All-Star, Golden Glover and batting titlist, was obtained in a trade in July from Kenwood, but his batting average really fell off this year... Ancona's best hurlers were starters Steven Russell (8-12/2.76) and Giannis Bakas (13-18/3.63), along with reliever Buddy Palmer (4-3/3.03/16 saves) Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 03-08-2013 at 09:44 PM.