[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 22, 2037

SAN ALEJO SURVIVES, EDGES TURON IN TU SOUTH
It was cliffhanger in the Tycobbian South Division this season with a three-team chase between the San Alejo Montaneros, Turon Typhoons and Summerland Sunsets... it was finally decided on the last day of the season with the pennant going to the Montaneros by a game over the Typhoons and three better than the Sunsets... it was the Monties third flag in four years and fourth in the last six... last year's winner Colchester finished well back in the pack in fifth place, 24 games off the pace.

San Alejo was the preseason favorite in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES poll and the experts were proven right, but just barely... they won by the skin of their teeth... the Montaneros took the lead in April, lost it to Turon in May, but got back on top by the end of June and then staved off determined challenges by the Typhoons and Sunsets... manager Alberto Herrera has a rock-solid club... the Monties rank first in team ERA with a strong 3.21 ERA... offensively they do well with a .260 BA (16th), 753 runs (9th) and 163 HRs (15th)... the Montaneros could be better on defense with a sub-par .970 FA... Herrera has four fine starters in Tommy Smith (20-12/2.86), Lupe Olmedo (18-9/2.70), Johnny Brown (17-15/3.24) and rookie Benny Buckmaster (9-1/2.39), who joined the club in August and played a decisive role in the stretch drive... at the plate C Filipe Zamora (.310/31/113/77) and RF Charlie Wilberforce (.314/16/67/90) provided most of the offense with some help in the long ball department from SS Sancho Cruz (.225/23/91/75), CF Dusty Rogen (.278/17/57/54) and 1B Ted Hatch (.258/20/53/59)... San Alejo is one of the elites in the IPA Pro Cup playoffs and will be one of the favorites to win it all... the Montaneros won their only Pro Cup in 2032 by beating Colfax in seven games.

The Turon Typhoons have collected four Pro Cups, the most in IPA history, and 11 divisional crowns, but none for the last 18 years... manager Alan Hansen, a Hall of Fame second baseman, has guided his team to four straight first-division finishes... this was supposed to be the year, but the Typhoons had two bad months and came up one game short of the TU South title... if they had won on the last day of the season they would have forced a playoff with San Alejo... the Typhoons feature good pitching, hitting and standout defense (.977 FA)... the team ranks second with a .282 BA, eighth in scoring with 763 runs and tied for 16th with 159 roundtrippers... on the hill the club had an impressive 3.46 ERA (5th)... the big sticks are SS C. C. Kingsford (.362/26/109/99), RF Guido Gervasio (.338/26/103/94) and CF J. P. Trevenot (.313/25/72/108)... not quite as good as San Alejo, Turon has some quality arms in Wes Brynnton (22-14/3.35), 21-year-old rookie Nate Scottsdale (21-7/3.66), Russell Larsen (11-6/3.96) and Clyde Engstrom (18-17/3.05)... along with bullpen ace Ralph Fulton (6-3/1.38/16 saves), who chalked up another standout season.

The third-place Summerland Sunsets had another successful season under skipper Will Hackett... for the last three years he has had them in the first division... last year they came in second to Colchester... the Sunset mound staff is a good one with a 3.47 ERA (7th)... defense is solid with a .975 FA... offensively they batted .271 (7th) with 743 runs (11th), but hit only 115 HRs (30th)... no firepower was the club's major shortcoming... the defense was above average with a .974 FA... Hackett had four capable starters in Freddi Rossi (22-11/2.98), Johnny Young (17-15/2.78), Jayson Hallstrom (13-8/3.38) and Kim Kono (16-12/3.62)... the reliable bats were CF Antonio Vasquez (.317/6/84/104), RF Eamon O'Toole (.306/21/85/64), 3B Mark Delaney (.284/17/87/49), 1B Chuck Moyer (.278/17/65/62), 2B Norm Murdoch (.291/1/52/60) and C John Bedell (.292/8/57/51)... a power hitter or two would make the Sunsets a serious contender in the TU South.

2037 was not a good year for playing manager Sadaharu Uchiyama and the fourth-place Ginza Ninjas... the Ninjas only managed to break even at 77-77... they were rated one of the top teams in the preseason poll, but after a brief run with the leaders in the first half of the year, everything went downhill after the All-Star Game... the Ninjas were within striking distance of first-place San Alejo, just five games behind in the race in fifth place... Ginza had the offense with a .280 BA (3rd), 782 runs (5th) and 151 HRs (21st), but just didn't have the pitching to go with it... a 4.22 team ERA (23rd) just won't cut it... the Ninjas' potent attack is led by CF Sogo Takagi, who had an excellent season with a .321 BA, 35 HRs, 117 RBIs and 113 runs... other .300 hitters were 1B Steve Daniels (.323/16/74/65), LF Sadaharu Uchiyama (.304/13/79/88), RF Ichiro Kazumi (.314/5/55/64) and C Whip Harrell (.300/23/70/66)... add in SS Dave Sulligent (.299/10/63/69), 2B Randy Towns (.287/0/67/70) and 3B Jiro Yamamura (.281/3/31/72) and you have a powerful lineup... Hollis Pace (15-13/3.88) and Glenn Downing (14-15/3.55) were the only decent pitchers.

Last year's surprise winner Colchester couldn't follow up on it and wound up tied with Cape Coral for fifth place in the standings, 24 games back in the race... the Elites of manager Patsy Bates were just a so-so, little less-than-average club with a .259 BA (19th), 697 runs (21st), 159 HRs (16th-tied) and a lackluster 4.09 team ERA (19th)... among the starters Eduardo Rivera (18-18/3.70) had the most wins and Roy Watson (13-15/3.40) had the best ERA... most of the offensive load was carried by star RF Blake Barrister (.263/45/105/93), star 1B Billy Christianson (.331/15/75/82), LF Chet Porter (.327/7/58/57), 2B Joey Rogers (.291/6/48/86), SS Alejandro Vasquez (.258/19/68/72) and 3B Jasper Matthews (.240/22/74/69).

Only once in the last eight seasons has the Cape Coral Hurricanes had a standout season... they won the TU South pennant in 2030... since then, the 'Canes were mainly a second-class second-division ball team... this year HOF shortstop Flipper Bird, the manager of the Cape Coral Hurricanes, had a crackerjack attack with a .288 BA (1st), 808 runs (2nd) and 159 HRs (16th-tied), but his pitching staff with a poor 4.27 ERA (26th) couldn't keep the runs off the scoreboard... consequently the 'Canes came in tied for fifth... starters Tommy Van Noord (14-12/3.81), Norm Dawson (12-13/4.00) and Mario Morales (13-19/3.99) were sometimes effective, but a little inconsistent with no help from the bullpen... star 1B Stan Ferguson had another superb season with 39 HRs, 132 RBIs, 97 runs and a .315 BA... he was fourth in the IPA in RBIs... so did star RF William Snyder with a .324 BA, 20 HRs, 84 RBIs and 104 runs... Snyder is a career .323 hitter in his five seasons... other productive players were LF Paul Law (.301/21/74/95), SS Joel Collins (.302/9/68/78) and 3B Rikky Van Dalen (.276/18/70/85)... a couple of good starters would make a world of difference in Cape Coral.

The Arroyo Grande Suns wound up in seventh place in manager Andy Pearson's second season... the Suns ran a good race early, tied for second with San Alejo at the end of May, two games back of the top team Turon... going into July Pearson's club was tied for second with Turon and Summerland, only 4 games in back of first place San Alejo... then the Suns the bottom fell out and they finished a very disappointing 26 games out... veteran starter Matt Stevens (15-14/3.62) led the team in victories... in the bullpen Cody Simmons (9-7/3.30/19 saves) had a fairly good season... at the plate the club leaders were LF Rene Jesclard (.275/24/70/95), C Pip Gleason (.254/28/78/55) and RF Gregorio Oliviera (.276/22/70/72).

Manager Charley Oscar's Southport Sun Sox experienced another down year for the third season in a row... the Sox were sixth three years ago and in the basement the last two seasons... this year they ended up 27 games behind division champ San Alejo... Oscar stepped down as skipper, but remained as general manager... former pitching star Al Laclair was named as his replacement... Laclair was a fine pitcher for the Sun Sox from 2020 to 2032 with a lifetime 189-144 record and an impressive 3.17 ERA... he was part of the 2027 and 2028 pennant-winning years, the last times Southport made the playoffs... Laclair doesn't inherit much talent... he will have to rebuilt the Sun Sox... his best players are 22-year-old SS Craig Glennon, who showed some pop with 30 HRs and 92 RBIs, but he hit only .235 for average... RF Cody Dougherty batted .292 with 21 roundtrippers and 79 RBIs... LF Lenny Roberson belted 22 out of the park and drove in 67 runs with a .263 BA... and 22-year-old CF Pat Kinney led the team with a .294 BA... 220-game winner Dan Pascioni (10-9/4.07) and 25-year-old fireballer Blitzer Borden (7-5/3.09) were the best of a poor pitching corps... Pascioni is just 30 years old and has posted a 220-180 mark in his 13 seasons with Southport... his career ERA is a solid 3.32... five times Pascioni has won 20 or more games.