[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, September 19, 2035

TIMES' POLL PREDICTS ELNORA-SAN ALEJO PRO CUP FINALISTS
When the leaves start turning brown and orange, it's serious baseball time in Islandian... The Islandian Times polled the major media outlets across the country and came up with the San Alejo Montaneros of the Tycobbian Union as the winner and champion of the Islandian Pro Alliance, at least on paper... in reality, the scribes and broadcasters are not alway right... down through the league history underdogs have had their days on quite a few occasions... the expected opponent in the Pro Cup Finals will be the Elnora All-Stars of the Ruthlandian Union... five of the eight participants from last year are back, including defending champ North Hills. Tuckanarra was the third choice in the poll with Waleska rated fourth, Chicopee fifth, reigning champ North Hills sixth, LaGrange seventh and Volusia in the eighth spot.

The IPA Pro Cup playoffs get started tomorrow with San Alejo taking on North Hills at the Casa de Beisbol and Tuckanarra hosting Chicopee in Tycobbian action, while it will be Elnora entertaining Volusia and Waleska at home against LaGrange in the Ruthlanian opening series.

Poll Rank, Team (Record)
1. San Alejo Montaneros (100-54) .260 BA, 786 R, 207 HR, 3.01 ERA, .973 FA
It was a magnificent year for skipper Alberto Herrera and his San Alejo Montaneros... the Monties rang up an IPA-high 100 victories and easily prevailed in the TU South with excellent pitching and robust bats... they were never seriously challenged and posted an 11-game lead at midseason, this soared even higher in the second half and ran away with the division, winning by 18 games... Herrera has a great starting five in All-Star Johnny Brown (23-11/2.97), All-Star Clete Lawson (18-14/3.61), Tommy Smith (19-12/2.88), Ollie Olivares (13-6/2.28/6 saves) and All-Star Frank Jankowski (12-2/2.27/9 saves)... San Alejo has plenty of bats, too, sparked by superb rookie RF Gilberto Duarte (.323/37/104/88), CF Dusty Rogan (.287/24/99/78), LF Adrian Otero (.293/23/77/84) and rookie 1B Omar Velazquez (.252/20/70/79)... the Monties are better this year and will be seeking revenge against the defending IPA Pro Cup champion North Hills in first-round action... the Hawks upset them last year in the Tycobbian Elite 8 in seven games and went on to capture the IPA crown.

2. Elnora All-Stars (98-56) .281 BA, 832 R, 132 HR, 3.16 ERA, .971 FA
Elnora won out by a single game in a September stretch-drive run over Sugar Valley in the RU East... manager Leon Carter's club regained its powerhouse status this season after suffering a bit of an aberration in 2034... last season they slipped to fifth with an 81-73 record... this was the All-Stars fourth pennant in five years... Elnora has a high-octane attack with excellent pitching, but they are only average defensively... leading the high-scoring offense were All-Star SS James Couch (.313/12/81/93), 32-year-old free agent from White River (TU North) CF Clive Kenyon (.330/12/81/93), 2B Akihiro Samurakami (.297/14/71/92), C Coot Bailey (.312/11/49/67) and RF Travis Glass (.260/19/72/75)... platooned 1B-3B Danny Bierhoff (.333/14/46/44) was also tough out... another good bat, regular LF Clint Thomas (.301/7/55/63), missed a third of the season with injuries and will miss the playoffs... regular 3B Matt Boyd (.255/12/76/63) will also not play in the postseason because of injury... for the fourth time in five seasons Jeremy Sellers (20-9/2.51) was a 20-game winner... other stalwarts were Stan Kivas (22-10/3.27), Dan Pitts (16-13/3.41) and Jesus Robles (16-13/3.95)... Freddy Pfeffer (7-6/2.84/6 saves) and John Kaltenbach (3-2/1.80/5 saves) manned the bullpen very well... All-Star Paul Martina (10-5/2.05/9 saves) was lost for the season in late July and will be sorely missed in the playoffs... the All-Stars won the Pro Cup in 2033 and have their eyes set on winning it again... Carter says the time is right... many baseball experts agree with him.

3. Tuckanarra Blue Jays (97-57) .269 BA, 802 R, 168 HR, 2.95 ERA, .972 FA
Tuckanarra skipper Carlton "Lefty" Stevens piloted his club to a first-division berth for the 13th consecutive year... the Blue Jays are a talented bunch with strong pitching and a strong offense... it's only defensively that they are just an average ball club... they handily won the TU East by 12 games... the Tucks had three 20-game winners in All-Star Bobby Reid (20-12/2.49), Rudy Rosario (20-12/3.16) and Junior Bristow (22-11/2.51)... Rosario was certainly worth his big contract... he came over from Colfax of the Ruthlandian Union through free agency... rounding out one of the best foursome in the IPA was Jeff Buttram (14-11/3.42)... the bullpen was solid, too, led by James Warner (3-6/2.47/20 saves)... Stevens' batting order was chocked full of hitters, too, paced by IPA icon and All-Star LF Lorne Evans (.277/39/125/109), All-Star RF Spade Weldon (.306/16/82/90), 1B Josh George (.252/26/96/78), CF Pancho Villa (.288/22/93/71) and SS Eddie Darby (.304/6/55/76)... Tuckanarra will have to face Chicopee again in the first round of the Pro Cup playoffs... the Braves put them away in 5 games last postseason... however 20-game winner Rosario will be a big addition this year... it should be quite a series.

4. Waleska Westerners (97-57) .267 BA, 810 R, 134 HR, 3.27 ERA, .975 FA
Waleska manager Roy Hobbs revamped his pitching staff with youngsters Craig Nash (21-14/2.96) and Tony Haskell (18-10/3.20) to go along with his veteran ace and All-Star Terry Richards (21-7/2.97) and Vern Bass (20-10/3.67) to turn the club completely around to take the RU South by 12 games... they were fifth last year... Hobbs added in free agent Earl Perkins (5-7/3.30/25 saves) from Glasco and made him his bullpen specialist... Perkins led the IPA with 25 saves... newcomers to the batting order were rookie CF Jon Lassiter (.302/7/63/97) and free agent from St. John C Tony Brinkerhoff (.273/14/68/73), who added to the already potent attack... IPA superstar and All-Star LF Loco Dillinger (.331/36/113/85) had another superlative season... Dillinger got plenty of help from All-Star RF Niles Gregory (.292/16/83/83), 2B Monty McMurtry (.288/9/70/98), 3B Dorak Aranda (.267/21/79/73) and 1B Glenn Childress (.245/8/66/90)... Waleska and Elnora will be favored to meet in the RU title game... the winner should represent the Ruthlandian Union well in the Pro Cup Finals.

5. Chicopee Braves (90-64) .281 BA, 817 R, 183 HR, 3.60 ERA, .970 FA
In the TU West this year Chicopee won big again by 10 games 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.

6. North Hills Hawks (88-67) .270 BA, 682 R, 128 HR, 3.33 ERA, .976 FA
It took an incredible finish for North Hills to repeat in the TU North... the Hawks sneaked by Fairfax in a single-game playoff for the flag... they had to win their final four games, while the Frogs had to lose their last four... Skipper Todd Simons has a solid club in North Hills led by four fine starters, who include last year's Pro Cup MVP David Michael (17-10/2.51), Jeff Owens (20-14/3.28), Kyle Oliver (10-6/3.32) and Nelson Hooper (15-16/3.32)... closer Frankie Lambert (7-8/3.28/23 saves) led the bullpen... Lambert topped the TU in saves... superstud All-Star LF Adam Thurgood (.331/32/103/92) had another very impressive season... helping him out were 2B Dean O'Donnell (.283/21/83/89) and 1B Ric Hamilton (.283/18/82/61)... rookie RF Gerry Rice (.301/7/31/57) was a good addition to the team, which appears ready and able to make a good run at repeating as Pro Cup champion... the Hawks are a fine defensive team, too.

7. LaGrange Sports (92-62) .265 BA, 782 R, 172 HR, 3.60 ERA, .972 FA
LaGrange won the RU North pennant with a tremendous 24-5 record in August, which Far Mountain (15-14) and Kilkenny (18-11) couldn't match... the Sports beat the Redhawks by 7 games and the Cats by 8 to take the title... 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.

8. Volusia Vigilantes (84-70) .278 BA, 784 R, 155 HR, 4.05 ERA, .976 FA
The outlook for this season was dismal according to the baseball scribes in The Islandian Times preseason poll, who ranked the Vigilantes the worst team in the RU West... Volusia stumbled in August, but regrouped in September to withstand the late-season challengers... the V's whipped Colfax by 2 games, Fort Benton by 3 and Sligo by 4 in the RU West... manager Alfonso Feliz had strong bats, questionable pitching and good fielding... leading the highly potent attack were All-Star 3B Antonio Dias (.324/21/66/98), rookie 1B Jojo DeLucca (.284/20/95/83), C Tubby Tarkanian (.282/23/94/74), CF Ernesto Andujar (.314/19/87/88) and All-Star and rookie RF Felipe Hernriques (.305/15/87/73)... Dias is on the DL, but might return for some of the playoffs... Dias will be sorely missed from the Vigilantes' arsenal... Fabio Medeiros (18-10/3.69) was the most effective starter... Bob Bondy (19-13/4.57) was a big winner, but gave up a lot of runs... Jacy Chandler (14-14/4.45) had a spotty season... not much is expected of the V's in the postseason... however, they did knock off vaunted Eastshore in the first round last year... this year they will take on juggernaut Elnora in the RU Elite 8 Series.