[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, May 1, 2039

CLOSE RACE IN TU SOUTH, TOO
All of the pennant chases in the Tycobbian Union are closely bunched... in the Tycobbian South Division you could easily go from seventh to first in two weeks or so... Pro Cup favorite Turon and its number-one nemesis San Alejo are at it again, tied for first place... Southport is just a game behind them... Summerland and Cape Coral are tied for fourth and two games out... Colchester and Arroyo Grande are in the sixth spot and only 4 games off the pace.

1. Turon (14-11) - The Typhoons have averaged 94 victories a season for the last two years and they may be a better team this year... the baseball pros have named them the team mostly likely to win the Pro Cup... they are strong at the plate and on the hill, but fall far short on the defensive side of the ledger.
Top Pitchers: Wes Brynnton (5-1/2.12), Clyde Engstrom (4-3/3.40) and Nate Scottsdale (3-2/3.29)... Ralph Fulton (0-1/0.00/5 saves) heads up a solid bullpen.
Top Batters: LF J. P. Trevenot (.354/5/15/22), RF Guido Gervasio (.348/5/19/17)... star SS C. C. Kingsford has started slowly with a .248 BA, but has 5 HRs and 19 RBIs... rookie CF Frankie Brazzi has prospered so far with a .302 BA, 2 HRs, 9 RBIs and 7 runs in platoon action.

1. San Alejo (14-11) - The Montaneros are not the same team that won the 2032 Pro Cup and four pennants from 2032 to 2038, but they still have enough in the tank to rank high in the TU South... the Monties were forecast to come in second this year in the preseason poll... mainly the mound staff has dropped off in quality in recent years... overall this year they had a bad month in April.
Top Pitchers: Benny Buckmaster (3-1/2.12) was the only one to have a good month... most of the others struggled.
Top Batters: star C Filipe Zamora (.297/5/23/14), 1B Ted Hatch (.273/5/14/10), CF Dusty Rogan (.266/2/12/14), 3B Sancho Cruz (.275/1/9/15), 2B Derek Kristensen (.306/1/5/13)... rookie SS Sal McAllister has worked his way into a starting role with 4 HRs, 18 RBIs and 22 runs, but is batting only .250... LF Charlie Wilberforce missed two weeks with a leg injury... for the month he hit .410 with 6 RBIs and 5 runs... though the Montaneros didn't hit much for average, they do have a high on-base percentage and can score runs.

3. Southport (13-12) - For the last four years the Sun Soxx have been under the .500 mark... wholesale changes were made to the roster this year with 10 rookies on the squad... four of them hurlers... Southport was picked to finish fourth in the standing this season... pitching has been especially good early this season... bats are very poor.
Top Pitchers: rookie Billy Hoover (3-3/2.75), Johnny Swanson (2-3/2.39) and Don Pascioni (2-3/3.60) have led the starting rotation... the bullpen has been especially effective with a 1.27 ERA (2nd)... rookie Hal Combs (0-1/1.54/2 saves), Brandon Delmore (2-0/0.00) and rookie Wayne Stewart (1-0/1.86) have really done a fine job as relievers.
Top Batters: C Davy Reichert (.359/5/9/12) has been the biggest threat, but has gotten some help from a couple of rookies 2B James Long (.266/4/15/12) and 3B Ricky Whitaker (.269/0/6/7).

4. Summerland (12-13/2 GB) - The Sunsets have played .500 or better the past four years... this year they were upgraded to third place by the baseball preseason poll... the Sunsets have solid pitching and standout defense, but are weak at the plate.
Top Pitchers: Jayson Hallstrom (2-3/2.44), Freddi Rossi (1-4/2.30) and Dutch De Boer (0-2/1.88) have had very little run support... the bullpen has prospered with the likes of Freddy Farentino (3-0/1.24/1 save) and Ronald Shaddock (2-0/3.38).
Top Batters: CF Antonio Vasquez (.333/1/17/12), 3B Norm Murdoch (.302/0/8/13), 2B Todd Cummings (.280/5/12/10)... RF Mark Delaney slumped to .178 in April, but has 4 roundtrippers and a team-high 20 RBIs... 1B Gene Bright (.308/1/4/4) is the only rookie out of five to dent the starting line-up.

4. Cape Coral (12-13/2 GB) - The Hurricanes have a capable offense, lousy pitching and tremendous defense, perhaps the IPA's best... and they were ranked fifth in the preseason poll... the last time the 'Canes won a pennant was about 10 years ago... not likely this year, either.
Top Pitchers: Benton McCall (3-1/2.52), Izaak De Bruyn (2-0/3.38)... long-time starter 37-year-old Norm Dawson (1-0/2.25) has moved to the relief department in the twilight of his career... he is oveall 241-255 with a 3.57 ERA over his 18 seasons with six clubs, the last five with Cape Coral.
Top Batters: 1B Stan Ferguson (.282/5/19/10), CF Max Tselika (.326/4/8/19), 3B Rikky Van Dalen (.310/2/10/20), 2B Kent Mantle (.309/4/10/9), LF Paul Law (.274/2/14/11).

6. Colchester (10-15/4 GB) - Since winning the pennant in 2036 the Elites have tumbled in the standings down to the second division with losing records... forecast for the sixth spot this year in the preseason poll with average pitching and defense, fair offense with little power.
Top Pitchers: Eduardo Rivera (3-1/3.33), Dave Lacoste (2-2/2.75)... Dan Scott (0-1) has stood out in the bullpen with a 1.56 ERA in 11 appearances with 4 saves... he recently was promoted to the number-four spot in the rotation.
Top Batters: 34-year-old rookie 1B Nino Zuccaro leads the club with a .361 BA with 1 HR, 9 RBIs and 18 runs... superstar RF Blake Bannister has also stood out with a .301 mark, 7 HRs, 22 RBIs and 18 runs... 35-year-old rookie 3B Slingshot Kawatoose is making the most of his late opportunity with a .310 BA, 2 HRS, 8 RBIs and 13 runs scored... 2B Joey Rogers has also been productive with a .277 average, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs and 12 runs.

6. Arroyo Grande (10-15/4 GB) - It's been 15 years since the Suns made a postseason appearance... for the last four seasons they have been in the basement or near the basement... the scribes have voted to put them there this season because of mediocre pitching and horrific hitting... one bright spot is their excellent glove work... the Suns are one of the best defensive clubs in the IPA.
Top Pitchers: Mateus Castro (3-2/3.98), Monty Stratford (3-3/3.90), Pedro Mota (3-1/3.07)... the bullpen leader is Cody Simmons (0-0/3.86/4 saves).
Top Batters: CF Rafael Montoya (.271/5/15/16), LF Rene Jesclard (.220/6/15/12).

8. Ginza (6-19/8 GB) - The Ninjas are off to an awful start with no much hope of getting better... they were picked to finish dead last this season... the crux of the problem is really bad pitching... it's been quite a few years since their golden seasons between 2023 and 2031 when they won five TU South flags... that was the time of Crash Davis, Cotton Cornwall, Johnny O'Rorke, current manager Sadaharu Uchiyama and his father Huroko, who managed the team.
Top Pitchers: reliever Timmy Hickens (1-4) is the only decent pitcher... he has a 3.44 ERA and has posted 3 saves... all the other staffers have ERAs between 4.71 and 9.82.
Top Batters: playing manager LF Sadaharu Uchiyama (.362/2/11/22), CF Sogo Takagi (.284/8/22/16), RF Ichiro Kazumi (.267/2/11/13).