[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, June 30, 2037

BLUE SOX ON TOP IN TU NORTH
The defending IPA Pro Cup champion North Hills Hawks have a real dogfight on their hands in the tightly-bunched Tycobbian North Division if they hope to capture their third pennant in a row and try to repeat as the IPA champ... the Hawks have been overtaken by the Blue Lake Blue Sox, who have taken over first place... the Blue Sox top the Hawks by one game, are two better than third place White River and three up on fourth place Fairfax... Blue Lake got the best of the contenders in June with a 16-12 record... North Hills was just 12-14, while White River and Fairfax both broke even at 13-13.

Blue Lake (44-34) is strong on the mound with All-Star Frankie Quinn (12-3/2.52) and Pat Brown (7-3/2.59)... other fairly good arms are Lee Price (7-5/3.86), Sal Mays (8-8/3.64) and an improving Andre Montrose (7-12/3.85)... top hitters are All-Star Jack Ryan (.349), Joe Korman (.290), Matt Thompson (.336) and Elton Graff (.299).

North Hills (43-35) has two impressive starters in Jeff Owens (10-6/2.82) and David Michael (9-7/2.96)... other decent starters are Nelson Hooper (6-3/3.75) and Frankie Lambert (12-5/3.91)... the top Hawks average-wise are Kris Anastas (.302), Gerry Rice (.297) and Ric Hamilton (.279)... the main run producers are star Adam Thurgood (.255) with 17 HRs and 51 RBIs and Mikhail Romanovsky (.242) with 16 roundtrippers and 45 RBIs.

White River (42-36) has a good core of pitchers and hitters... sparked by 22-year-old J. C. Hudson (11-5/2.95) and veteran starters Kenny Nikas (9-7/3.78) and Paul Sardini (8-8/3.50) on the mound... Billy Trakas (2-2/2.89/11 saves) is the bullpen ace... and at the plate by Davey Sloan (.265/14/51/40), Stevee Dee Daniels (.266/18/41/37), Buford Cross (.323/12/35/49) and Zachary Kriger (.262/13/35/46).

Fairfax (41-37) is hanging close, just three games out of first place... veteran Lucien Vachon (9-7/2.75) is the Frogs' ace... and Harold Dorman (9-7/4.07) and Steven McLeod (7-9/3.84) have been fairly decent, but they have to be better for Fairfax to have a chance at the pennant... best bat performers have been Sonny Oliver (.296/11/43/43), Dorak Aranda (.275/7/47/33), Eric Kusek (.316/6/39/24) and Max Lebowitsz (.281/6/18/45)... it would really help if the bats perks up, too.

The Oxford Red Caps (38-40) might get into the mix, too... they got on the right track with a 15-11 mark in June... they do it with power... the Red Caps are second in homers with 119... Dalton Ward (.217) is the club leader with 24 HRs, followed by Alonzo Norris (.278) with 16, Jayson French (.303) with 12, Boyd Olsen (.310) with 12, and Donny Braun (.309) and Dennis Hartwig (.267) with 10 each... Oxford has a pair of solid pitchers, too... Cody Quackenbush is 11-6 with a 3.35 ERA and B. B. Dristoll is 7-4 with a 2.99 ERA... you might keep an eye on the Red Caps... a strong July and they will be serious challengers in the TU North.

The Hartsdale Hellcats (37-41) and only 7 games out with over two months to go in the season, but they are not expected to contend for the flag... the Hellcats are fated for the second division... on the mound Wayne Dawson is carrying the club with a 12-5 record and a strong 2.73 ERA... he has gotten some help from Hank Cooke (9-6/4.25) at times... only All-Star Hayden Richardson has been much of a threat... Richardson has been terrific with a .366 BA, 15 HRs and 40 RBIs... Jeffrey Karkinos (.301/12/35) and Robinson Alomar (.240/10/33) also have gone deep occasionally.

The Mahaska Haymakers (35-43) can score well, but don't have a lot of pitching... the Haymakers are also doomed to the second division... Anton Hymel (.323) leads the club with 15 HRs and 47 RBIs... Mikk Kukk (.284) also has 47 RBIs... Johnny Watts is the club leader with a .335 BA and also has 12 homers and 39 RBIs... Rocco Bertara (.307) and John Fitzgerald (.302) are also reliable batsmen... Valente Viero (7-7/3.73) is the only dependable starter and Kirk Stanley has looked good in relief with a 3-1 mark in 23 appearances... he has 4 saves.

The Luxora Zorros (33-45) are in last place, but they do have some talent... on the hill vets Kent Halloran (8-9/2.48) and Benny DeVito (9-8/3.15) have consistently pitched well and should have better records... offensively All-Star Todd Dubbins and All-Star Gerry Hathaway have excelled... Dubbins is batting .317 with 22 HRs, 60 RBIs and 47 runs, while Hathaway is hitting .309 with 21 HRs, 50 RBIs and 51 runs... 23-year-old Ramiro Munoz has chipped in with a .317 BA, 7 HRs and scored 55 runs.

FAVORED SAN ALEJO 4 GAMES UP IN TU SOUTH
The San Alejo Montaneros are in high spirits after a strong run in June that gave them a little daylight in the Tycobbian South Division pennant race... the Monties opened up a four-game lead over Turon, Summerland and Arroyo Grande... Ginza is still hanging close five games back... the others may be out of contention... Colchester and Cape Coral are tied for sixth and trail by 9 games... Southport is in the basement, a dozen games out.

Preseason favorite San Alejo (47-31) continued to play well and went 17-9 this month... the Montaneros are fairly well-rounded with a good offense and strong pitching... staff leaders are Tommy Smith (10-5/3.08), Lupe Olmedo (6-5/1.87) and Johnny Brown (9-7/3.46)... the offensive leaders are Charlie Wilberforce with a .348 BA, 8 HR, 29 RBIs and 55 runs... All-Star Filipe Zamora with a .316 BA, 15 HRs, 60 RBIs and 45 runs... and Sancho Cruz with 16 HRs, 55 RBIs, 43 runs, but just a .238 BA... the Montaneros will make a good run at the TU South flag... they are a good, sound club.

The Summerland Sunsets (43-35) had a good month, too, with a 16-10 mark... pitching is the name of the game in Summerland... starters Freddi Rossi (9-7/2.87), Johnny Young (6-8/2.55), Jayson Hallstrom (5-3/3.48) and Kim Kono (6-7/3.46) form a good rotation... closer Ronald Shaddock (5-4/2.09/5 saves) has been effective in the bullpen... however, the bats are pathetic with only 42 HRs (32nd) and runs are hard to come by (29th)... Antonio Vasquez (.310), Don Colby (.312), John Bedell (.282), Norm Murdoch (.283) and Eamon O'Toole (.276) provide what little offense the Sunsets have... it's unlikely they can overcome San Alego... Summerland just doesn't score enough to contend.

Arroyo Grande (43-35) split 13-13 during the month to stay within striking range of San Alejo... the Suns starters are quality arms... led by Matt Stevens (11-4/3.25), who is having a banner year... other dependables are Monty Stratford (8-7/3.53) and Freddy Farentino (7-9/3.80)... in the bullpen Cody Simmons has been a standout with a 5-3 record, 11 saves and a 2.51 ERA... Pip Gleason (.271) is the club leader with 18 HRs and 45 RBIs... Gregorio Oliviera (.281) has 10 HRs, 41 RBIs and 43 runs... Marty Sizemore (.281) has 4 HRs, 25 RBIs and 43 runs... and Johnny Hensley (.278) with 7 HRS, 37 RBIs and 42 runs... Arroyo Grande must find more offense to compete for the division crown... a first-division finish is the best they can hope for.

The Turon Typhoons (43-35) suffered a bad month in June with an 11-15 record... but they still have a fine pitching staff and should have a good season... the Typhoons are the most likely choice to be the main challenger to San Alejo because of better offense... All-Star C. C. Kingsford (.358/14/54/50), All-Star Guido Gervasio (.326/12/49/42), All-Star J. P. Trevenot (.288/11/35/54) can put some runs on the scoreboard... but the key to Turon's success is the impressive array of pitchers: starters All-Star rookie Nate Scottsdale (13-4/2.94), Russell Larsen (7-3/3.00), Wes Brynnton (8-9/3.26) and Clyde Engstrom (8-12/3.63), along with bullpen ace Ralph Fulton (2-1/1.93/9 saves).

One of the preseason favorites, the Ginza Ninjas (42-36), is a close fifth and only 5 games behind in the race... the Ninjas had a solid 15-11 record the last month... they are an explosive team with a .289 BA (2nd), score well with 415 runs (2nd) and go deep fairly well with 85 homers (14th)... the Ninjas pitching corps could be better, however... they have posted a 4.19 team ERA (23rd)... Ginza's top guns are All-Star Sogo Takagi (.322/15/55/61), Scott Sparks (.309/16/51/30), Dave Sulligent (.325/6/37/51), manager Sadaharu Uchiyama (.305/8/36/48), Steve Daniels (.330/5/35/32), Whip Harrell (.299/13/37/35) and Ichiro Kazumi (.333/2/24/32)... top pitchers are All-Star Glenn Downing (8-6/2.85), along with veterans Hollis Pace (10-10/4.12) and Emil Kaltenborn (9-5/4.23)... a high finish, second or third, is not out of the question for the hard-hitting Ninjas.

Last year's Tycobbian South winner Colchester (38-40) is currently tied for sixth with Cape Coral... the Elites had a poor 11-15 record in June... they are not playing like last year when they could score runs and hit homers... Colchester will probably be a second-division team this season... Blake Barrister is the club leader with 23 homers and 55 RBIs, but he is hitting only .258... Billy Christianson leads the team with a .352 BA, but he missed a month of the season with an injury... Chet Porter is batting .337 with 4 HRs, 30 RBIs and 28 runs... veteran Roy Watson (8-5/3.04) is the only effective hurler.

The Cape Coral Hurricanes (38-40) did fairly well in the month with a 14-12 mark... the 'Canes have a solid offense with a .286 BA (3rd), 387 runs (8th-tied) and 68 HRs (24th-tied)... but they are only mediocre on the mound with a 4.17 team ERA (22nd)... they might have an outside chance for the first division because of their good offense, sparked by Stan Ferguson (.332/16/57/45), William Snyder (.310/8/48/47), Joel Collins 9.303/3/37/37), All-Star Paul Law (.314/10/37/52) and Max Tselika (.290/7/28/30)... Tommy Van Noord (9-5/2.77), Mario Morales (6-9/3.22) and Norm Dawson (5-5/3.96) have been the most effective pitchers.

The Southport Sun Sox (35-43) are not a very good team... they hit only .251 (27th) and don't have a lot of pitching with a 4.29 team ERA (25th)... Gordon Forbes (6-2/3.93) and Clint Hays (6-5/3.90) are the mound leaders, while at the plate Pat Kinney (.304) has the best batting average... Craig Glennon (.233) has the most homers with 19, the most RBIs with 47 and the most runs scored with 49.