[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2035

Braves Blow 'em Away Again In TU West
After a postseason drought that lasted over three decades, the Chicopee Braves have begun another streak with a second straight Tycobbian West division title... the Braves won in another runaway, beating runner-ups Bayview and Bay St. Clair by 10 games... the Rolling Hills Reds came in fourth in the standings, 12 games off the pace.

Chicopee won again this year with its big bats... Ivan Burkholder's Braves were the best hitting and best scoring team in the Tycobbian Union, averaging over 5 runs a game... the pitching was not great, but it was good enough... defense was a little less than average... leading the Chicopee high-powered attack were All-Star CF Charley Kota (.304/29/101/113), All-Star 1B Kurt Gustavsen (.346/23/108/71), All-Star LF Alfredo Cobos (.345/22/86/89), 2B Todd Goodwin (.305/27/98/111) and SS Felix Roubique (.291/10/60/70)... Cobos may miss the first round of the playoffs due to an injured hamstring... on the mound the Braves will be led by starter/reliever Byron Wilson (18-6/2.94/11 saves), Heyota Chaska (16-7/3.89), 31-year-old free agent from Grand City (RU) Vito Sanfratello (19-14/3.58), Kajika Fleetfoot (14-11/4.19) and Ryan Ledbetter (12-13/3.42)... closer Matt Reeves (5-5/2.13/14 saves) stood out in the bullpen... Chicopee may be a little bit better due to the addition of Sanfratello to the rotation... the Braves improved at the plate, too... Chicopee proved last year they can play with the best teams... they whipped Tuckanarra last year in the Elite 8 in just five games and fell to eventual IPA Pro Cup champ North Hills in a hard-fought seven-games series... don't be surprised if they cause some ripples in the Pro Cup playoffs this year.

For the second successive year Chancey Quibedeaux and his Bayview Vikings had another good season, winding up tied for second with Bay St. Clair, but nowhere near winning the pennant... Bayview hasn't been to the postseason since 2016 and has never won a Pro Cup... the Viks boast a bonifide offense that topped the Tycobbian Union with 215 home runs, second to IPA leader Middlefield (RU), which totaled 227... however, pitching is another story... only All-Star Joaquin Lima (22-12/3.51) stood out... this was the fifth time he has posted a 20-game season... Christy Kane (15-21/3.19) was consistent with quality starts and should have fared better record-wise... Bayview really stung the ball, led by All-Star 2B Jerry Culpepper (.282/38/105/76), LF Roy Ricks (.280/30/82/93), 3B Marius Lokken (.303/26/53/69), RF Cleve Belton (.270/27/69/66) and All-Star SS Wade Rosewall (.293/25/76/80).

The Bay St. Clair Buccaneers are skippered by HOF pitcher Denny Coulon... the Bucs have finished in the first division of the Tycobbian West for the last six years and last copped the pennant in 2030... overall the Buccaneers have made the playoffs on 9 occasions, but have never won the Pro Cup... Coulon has a pretty fair rotation, paced by Jim McBride (18-13/3.17), Jay Callahan (14-11/2.99) and John Karlsen (18-17/3.28)... and his relief ace is Pete Cross (6-9/3.14/21 saves)... the Bucs bats have some punch, but are mediocre at putting runs on the scoreboard... the best of the lot are 3B Bailey Holmsworth (.274/19/74/66), 1B Ryan Dukes (.308/24/60/62), LF Cotton Cornwall (.230/21/62/66) and RF Milt Powers (.275/23/61/62)... rookie CF Leo Cazarez showed good power with 23 homers in 101 games, but batted a very poor .218 for average.

The Rolling Hills Reds put two bad seasons behind them by rising up from the TU West basement to fourth place... manager Matty Christianson got better pitching this year... the Reds have been in the playoffs 10 times in their history and have captured two Pro Cups, in 2029 and 2031... Christianson has fair offense and fair pitching... CF Scotty Yiska (.305/26/78/75), 1B Angelo Nardone (.313/20/71/60) and C Stan Ellis (.284/12/77/66) were the most productive bats... on the hill Jakob Wagner (18-15/3.72) and Mike Daniels (16-13/3.75) won the most games, but Christianson's son Matthew stood out with a 3.07 ERA in his freshman season, but was 13-14 record-wise.

Since winning the TU West in 2033, the La Claire Lynx have wound up in the fifth spot for the last two seasons... in its history La Claire had never won a Pro Cup and only make the playoffs twice... 2028 was the other time... manager Zeppy Deshotel, a HOF outfielder, has enough on the hill to contend, but not at the plate... 31-year-old Pat Kovacs (17-12/2.41) is an elite hurler rapidly approaching the 200-victory mark after 11 years in the IPA... lifetime he is 190-166 with a superb 2.66 ERA... Kovacs hold the IPA strikeout mark at 391 Ks in 310 innings in 2028... at 39 Mac Jackson (16-16/3.31) had a brilliant first half and made the All-Stars with a 12-6 record and a 1.96 ERA, but faltered badly in the second half... Tony Rossi (14-2/3.64) and Rance Raymond (14-16/3.37) also were quality starters... La Claire's best sticks were All-Star 3B Jarred O'Neal (.325/29/101/94), 1B Kris Wilson (.283/21/85/56) and RF Corbett Brooks (.253/17/70/77).

For the fifth year in a row the Denton City Redbirds have roosted in sixth place... the Redbirds haven't ever won the IPA championship and it's been 19 years since they won the TU West... in all they have been in the postseason 9 times, but not lately... Denton City was an early powerhouse in the IPA when Ford Whiteman was the skipper, but no more... things have been tough for the current manager Trevor Tomlinson... the Redbirds can score, but don't have much pitching... the best bats are SS Sammy Thornton (.305/8/70/94), rookie C Felton Welch (.283/27/105/69), 1B Barry McKnight (.286/21/86/68) and 2B Dickie Samuels (.278/9/65/71)... Francisco Salcido (22-14/3.28) really blossomed this year and led the staff in wins... vets Denny Mills (14-21/3.96) and Stephen Edwards (9-14/4.23) slumped this year after going 22-13 and 18-12 last year... Denton City was forecast to finish third in The Islandian Times preseason poll.

After contending for most the last decade, Aaron Hankins' Kenwood Wildcats have fallen on hard times, dropping all the way to seventh place this year... the offense went from setting an IPA-record .297 BA to just .259... wholesale desertions caused it as Jan Kessinger (.310 BA), Pettis Pentleton (.315 BA) and Vince Barbieri (.319) went to greener free-agency pastures... rookie sensation All-Star C Corky DiNozzo had a fantastic season with 33 homers, 93 RBIs and a .320 BA... All-Star 3B Koora Nawajuk (.297/11/61/56), 1B Randy Towns (.287/1/47/59) and LF Harry Tashina (.286/9/65/52) were the best of the rest... the lackluster staff was led by Claude Watson (16-12/3.06), Doug Kirkpatrick (16-18/3.42) and Freddy Gooch (12-16/4.04).

The Arlon Champions were picked the second-best club in the TU West in the preseason, but it didn't come close to happening... manager Rocco Belasario's team failed miserable and ended up in the cellar... this was the third time in six seasons the Champs came in last... they have been stuck in the second division since 2030 and haven't made the playoffs since 2020... Arlon has never won a Pro Cup and have participated in the postseason only 3 times in its history... Hall-of-Famer Belasario's ball club ranked near the bottom in offense and pitching, but does rate very well defensively... Emil Nowak (15-17/3.55) was the only pitcher of note, while rookie LF Charley Hastings (.290/4/68/91) and 2B Todd Benson (.277/4/49/80) were the only hitters with decent batting averages... CF Mark Cameron topped the team in homers with 20, but batted only .234 with 78 RBIs... RF Tandy Connery paced the team with 79 RBIs, but hit only .230 and had 16 HRs.