[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, June 1, 2037

VALMARA, KILKENNY TIED IN RU NORTH
No big surprises in the Ruthlandian North Division... it's running true-to-form with all of the contenders contending... Valmara and Kilkenny are tied for first place with a slight lead over third place Taranto and fourth place LaGrange and Ancona... after two months' of play only 6 games separate the leaders from the sixth place clubs, Glasco and Far Mountain.

The Valmara Vipers (30-22) only broke even in May with a 14-14 record, but still retained the top spot, though tied with Kilkenny... the Vipers don't have any pitching, but the bats have done the job so far... they are batting .273 (10th), but are second in scoring... on the hill they are bad with a 4.60 ERA (29th)... RF Benny Hooper (.335), 3B Andy Ruffino (.318), 2B Miroslav Ciszek (.331), Pat Sautier (.355) and 1B George Jenkins (.291) are the big guns... none of the starters are very effective... Freddy Pfeffer (4-4/4.81) is the best of the lot... the Vipers do have two solid relievers in Clark Van Vreeland (6-4/2.02/9 saves) and Kasio Kitowsky (2-0/1.38/3 saves)... to stay in the race manager Vanya Vasylenko is going to have to find some pitching somewhere.

The preseason favorite Kilkenny Cats (30-22) gained ground in May with a 17-11 mark... the Cats are doing it with excellent pitching (3.05 ERA-2nd) and home runs (55-11th)... they are batting a lowly .244 (32nd)... the top hurlers are Fred Doyle (8-2/2.41), Ted Flanagan (7-6/2.89), Dave Whitaker (7-5/3.23) and James Crockett (5-4/3.70)... right now Kilkenny's mound staff give them the edge over Valmara... 3B Leevi Viri (.280) and RF Quanah Paytah (.295) are the only consistent hitters in the lineup.

The Taranto Tars (27-25) are in third place and trail by 3 games... the Tars were rated the fifth-best squad in the preseason poll... they were 14-14 in May... the Tars don't have the pitching either and depend on the bats... they are second with 70 HRs, but are hitting only .250 (30th)... leading hitters are C Angelo Rossi (.337) with 13 HRs and 30 RBIs... RF Wes Marlowe (.341) with 16 HRs and 36 RBIs... and SS Daryl Rhodes (.320) with 5 homers and 16 RBIs... 3B Jimbo Judson is only batting .267, but has produced 11 HRs, 28 RBIs and scored 34 runs... Carmine Scalise (6-4/2.82) is the only standout pitcher... to overtake Valmara and Kilkenny, Taranto will need improved pitching... currently the staff has posted a mediocre 4.17 ERA (22nd)

Good old defending champ LaGrange (26-26), which has won four of the last five pennants, just keeps on chugging along, staying close in fourth place, 4 games out and tied with Ancona... the Sports finished the month at 14-14... the pollsters picked them second this spring... they are batting at a .268 clip (14th) and compiled a decent 3.90 ERA (16th)... the weak spot is its relief corps... the starters Mike York (7-3/2.99), Walt Thurber (4-6/3.36) and Roland Oates (3-1/3.18) have been fairly effective... the other starter Chazz Bassett (4-8/4.70) has had a bumpy season so far... Bassett has been a 20-game winner the last two seasons and is critical for LaGrange's success... SS Fred Bird (.341), C Chris Heffner (.341) and 3B Claude DesJardins (.360) are the most reliable hitters... CF Russell Watkins (.261) has 26 RBIs and leads with 9 HRs... 1B Chris Charbonnier (.251) tops in RBIs with 32 and has 6 HRs... consistent pitching and adequate hitting has served the Sports very well the past few seasons... they should be in contention down the stretch.

The Ancona Red Elephants (26-26) have enjoyed modest improvement this year, but dipped to 12-16 in May... they were fifth last year and forecast seventh this year... the Red Elephants are batting .275 (6th), but are only average in scoring runs and power... pitching is also so-so with a 3.89 ERA (15th)... Pablo Pilar (8-3/3.42), Steven Russell (6-6/3.71) and Andre Athas (5-5/3.95) are reliable pitchers... offensively carrying the load are 3B Tommy Richardson (.342), CF Carl Trent (.309), 1B Jesse Clayton (.314) and RF Pettis Pentleton (.308)... SS Alex Zitek (.265) is the club leader with 8 HRs and 31 runs, while Pentleton has hit 7 HRs and is tops in RBIs with 31.

The Glasco Athletics (24-28) and Far Mountain are deadlocked in sixth place in the RU North, 6 games out of first... the A's were picked sixth in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES preseason poll, in spite of a third place finish last season... they were a lousy 8-16 the first month of the season, but strong in May with a 16-8 record, tops in the division... Glasco has good offense with a .276 BA (4th), but could be better on the hill with a 4.18 ERA (23rd)... the Athletics could be a factor the pennant race and could challenge for a first-division berth, sparked by Sam Jensen (6-3/2.89) and Gino Genovese (3-2/2.55) on the mound and CF Travis Houston (.311), 3B Taylor Hampshire (.323) and C Ted Jarzinski (.290) at the plate... Houston led the club with 9 HRs and 35 runs... he, Hampshire and Jarzinski tops the team in RBIs with 29 each.

The sixth place Far Mountain Redhawks (24-28) were fourth last year and ranked to end up fourth again this year... they were only 9-15 in April, but turned it around this month with a 15-13 mark... the Redhawks have pretty fair pitching and OK hitting... Paul Young (4-3/2.42), Chad Cummings (4-6/3.02) and Frankie Moreland (4-5/3.38) lead the mound staff, while C Ron Marlowe tops the hitters with 12 HRs, 35 RBIs and a .348 BA... SS Dan Vance is also having a good year with a .331 BA and leads the club with 30 runs.

The Ranford Bulls (16-36) were the worst team in the RU North preseason poll and they have lived up to it... they started 9-15 and got worse, falling to 7-21 in May... looks like a very long season for skipper Chris Bernhoffer... he has only one reliable hurler, Rube Satcher (5-6/2.77) and he's a good one... SS Dayton McCall leads the club with a .316 BA... LF Jojo Davis is second with a .306 average... but the run producers are RF Dale Weston (.275) with 14 homers and 33 RBIs and 2B Alex Vanno (.280) with 8 homers and 33 RBIs.

WALESKA MOVES UP TO FIRST IN RU SOUTH
The Waleska Westerners had a good month with a 17-11 record to move past Crystal Lake and Belair Beach into the top spot in the Ruthlandian South Division... it's still a wide-open race with no dominant teams... the Crushers are in the runner-up spot two games behind... they were 14-14 in the last month... the Sunbirds fell to 13-15 in May and are now 3 games back... the Claxton Diamonds are in fourth, just four games off the pace... they were also 13-15 in the last month of play.

First place Waleska (30-22) is doing quite well, but doesn't have the offense it used to have in the hey days of Roy Hobbs and Loco Dillinger... Hobbs, the current manager, retired five years ago after a fabulous career... teammate Dillinger decided recently to call it a career after 15 seasons at age 37... he batted .316 lifetime with 479 HRs and 1551 RBIs... Dillinger was the RU Rookie of the Year, 9-time All-Star, won 5 Golden Bat Awards and twice was the league's MVP... Dillinger led the Westerners to three pennants and one Pro Cup championship... Dillinger was hitting .280 this year, but didn't have the legs to play anymore... he said he didn't want to overstay his welcome... Waleska only has average pitching and the offense is not very good... it's a wonder they are in first place... Terry Richards is Hobbs' ace with a 6-3 record and a 3.80 ERA... Craig Nash (4-5/3.15) is number two in the rotation and Tony Haskell (6-5/4.12) is number three... Dudley Dickens (5-4/4.16) is the number four... they are the key to Waleska's season... 2B Joey Harris (.300), C Rodney Hanson (.324) and SS Bobby Denton (.284) top the club in average... RF Niles Gregory is the power guy with 10 homers and 28 RBIs, but he is batting a terrible .213... the Westerners really need his bat to stay in the driver's seat.

Crystal Lake (28-24) and Belair Beach led the division in the first month... the Crushers fell to 14-14 in month two... manager Herman "Baby" George has a fairly well-rounded ball club with a decent offense and pitching... leading the attack are C Stan Stanek with a .357 BA, 12 HRs and 34 RBIs and 1B Big Sam Takota with a .283 BA, 9 HRs and 35 RBIs... two old vets Arnie Cason (9-1/2.22) and Derek Joubert (6-5/4.03) lead the mound staff... if Douglas Merrill (2-1/3.29) and Darragh Whelan (4-6/3.69) can solidify the rotation, Crystal Lake will have a good shot at the division crown.

In May, the Belair Beach Sunbirds (27-25) tailed off to 13-15 and dropped to third place, 3 games back of Waleska... the Sunbirds have good power with 66 HRs (4th-tied), average scoring (13th) and less-than-average pitching with a 4.16 ERA (21st)... Wally Hudson (6-0/3.76), Joel Gregg (5-5/3.86), Todd Clyman (3-5/3.26) and Calvin Carmichael (7-4/4.04) make up the starting four... the main bats are CF Bobby Meusel (.329), 2B Jackie Jackson (.307), RF Larry Cole (.295), LF Joe Don Baker (.299) and 1B Jason Butler (.295)... Butler tops the team with 12 HRs, Meusel has 10, Baker 8, Cole 8 and Jackson 7... the Sunbirds look like a solid contender.

Fourth place Claxton (26-26) trails Waleska by 4 games... the Diamonds slumped to 13-15 in the second month... they have pretty good pitching (3.75 ERA-11th) with Vance White (10-2/2.77), Art Reese (.5-5/2.51) and rookie Stan Yudash (3-0/3.67)... White is third in the IPA in wins after Dan Pitts of Elnora and Neil Scottsdale of Turon in the Tycobbian Union... they both have chalked up 11 victories each... Claxton is paced at the plate by LF Foxy Fuchs (.333) with 13 HRs and 43 RBIs... 1B Jojo DeLucca (.272) has 12 HRs and 30 RBIs... 2B Gary Colton (.259) has chipped in 31 RBIs and 3B Jonas Weiss (.310) has 25... C Jaan Hoogendoorn is batting .301 with 5 HRs and 33 runs... the Diamonds will also be in the hunt for the RU South Division title.

The St. John Crusaders (24-28) are a good-looking, but losing team... they were picked to finish second this year, but really look like a champion... they were good enough to get to the Pro Cup Finals last year, where they fell to the IPA champ North Hills in six games... this year they are tied for fifth place with San Dimas, 6 games off the pace... the Crusaders had a poor April, but broke even in May with a 14-14 mark... the pitching is rock-solid with a 3.05 ERA (3rd) and the offense is good, ranked seventh in scoring and seventh in homers with 60... manager Clayton Luck has a very impressive starting four in Jeremy Kirk (8-5/2.96), Lou Gianakos (3-4/2.98), Yancey Garrett (6-6/3.57) and Vito Sanfratello (4-6/3.12)... plus he has a bunch of fine batters in last year's RU MVP Nicky Farrugia (.291), 3B Marty Blankenship (.286), last year's RU Rookie of the Year CF Art Kelley (.308), LF Bobby Joe Daniel (.331) and 1B Johnny Zaun (.353)... Blankenship is second to East Point's Dean O'Donnell in home runs... O'Donnell has 19 and Blankenship has 18... Faruggia has 11 HRs and 44 RBIs, Blankenship has 43 RBIs and 43 runs and Kelley has 10 HRs with 37 RBIs... there is absolutely no reason for the Crusaders not to cruise to the RU South crown this year.

The San Dimas Rancheros (24-28) can hold their own in the batter's box, but fall short on the mound... they broke even in April, but dropped to 12-16 in May... Carroll Cain (6-5/3.90) and Seth Dawson (3-1/3.05) are the top pitchers, while RF Denny Hendrix (.349), C Hermie Goetz (.302), CF Klaus Stordahl (.302) and 3B Lenny Purkey top the hitters... Hendrix has 10 HRs and 34 RBIs... the Rancheros were chosen the fourth-best club in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES preseason poll, but look like a second-division team.

The Grand City Cybercats (23-29) were forecast to come in seventh this year, so far they are right on target, 7 games out of first... rookie Kenny Morrow (4-3/4.28) is the only starter with a winning record... and the only hitters of note are SS Teddy Grantham with 12 HRs, 37 RBIs and a .347 BA... and 2B Mitch Coleman with 11 roundtrippers, 25 RBIs and a .359 BA.

The last place Valka Blackhawks (20-32) have very little pitching and not much hitting either... they were a dismal 9-19 in May... they are now 10 games behind first place Waleska... none of the starters have winning records and have ERA's near the 5.00 level... only reliever Julien Rouse (0-2/1.64) has had much success with 8 saves in 17 appearances... but Valka does have two talented ballplayers in 1B Bobby Scott and RF Kenny Mitsuzaka... Scott has 15 HRs, 43 RBIs, 36 runs and a great .403 BA, which is second in the IPA to Eastshore's Johnny Petrak, who is hitting .410... Mitsuzaka is batting .314 with 4 HRs and 20 RBIs... 2B Egon Ojamaa has also looked good with 10 HRs, 38 RBIs and a .276 BA.