[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, July 1, 2039

HAWKS SKY-HIGH IN JULY, NEW LEADER
The Tycobbian North Division has a new leader at the end of July... defending IPA champion North Hills put it into overdrive this month and flew past the Fairfax Frogs by five games... the Hawks were 22-7 for the month, while the Frogs slipped to 14-15... Mahaska is in third place and trails by eight games... Luxora is fourth and 11 games back.

North Hills really soared this month to take over first place... they do everything well... excellent starting rotation with Tony Mack (16-6/2.11), who has the best ERA in the IPA, Jeff Owens (17-6/2.70), Frankie Lambert (11-5/2/48) and David Michael (12-9/3.51)... and a solid core of hitters paced by IPA superstar All-Star LF Adam Thurgood, who is having a sensational season with 32 HRs, 95 RBIs, 68 runs and a .340 BA... 2B Tommy Vavas (.291/7/43/69) is the best of the other regulars... the Hawks platoon many positions and get lots of help from SS Norris Henry (.325/4/28/30), CF Kris Anastas (.287/8/35/34), RF Gerry Rice (.292/9/27/42) and 3B Jim McDermott (.269/9/48/33).

The runner-up Fairfax Frogs are a strong team, too, with impressive hitting, pitching and fielding... until now, they have given the Hawks fits... if they get hot and North Hills cools off some, the Frogs can leap right back in it... Fairfax has been hit by the injury bug with the loss of All-Star C Joe King (.313/4/32/38) and fine CF Eric Kusek (.319/4/46/38)... top pitchers are Harold Dorman (15-9/2.85), Lee Rose (15-8/3.49), Steven McLeod (12-11/3.40) and Lucien Vachon (11-11/3.97)... Bruno Stratton (7-2/1.86/10 saves) leads a terrific bullpen... stalwarts at the plate are All-Star 2B John Velasco (.310/21/87/71), CF Sam Price (.308/7/49/55) and LF Max Lebowitz (.280/9/45/48).

The third place Mahaska Haymakers recovered from a June slide and got back on track to 18-11 in July, still they lost ground to the high-flying Hawks... solid pitching and better-than-average hitting keeps the Haymakers going... Mackie McGinnity (13-4/3.12), Warren Heath (15-8/3.20) and Mark Pennington (12-10/3.00) lead the starters... Freddy Pfeffer (2-2/2.17/6 saves) leads the bullpen... at the plate it's star 2B Mikk Kukk (.301/19/65/67), RF Anton Hymel (.297/19/46/51), LF Bill Whittier (.265/17/63/66) and SS Rocco Bertara (.287/6/30/68).

The fourth place Luxora Zorros dipped a bit to 14-15 in July, but still have a quality ball club... there are no standout sticks, but a few good ones like SS Joel Poche (.278/18/48/70), LF Milt Powers (.277/15/70/52), RF Derrek Jackson (.298/9/48/51), 3B Todd Dubbins (.286/17/53/55), 1B Gerry Hathaway (.265/14/42/54) and CF Carl Denton (.316/7/37/32)... pitching-wise ace Kent Halloran (17-7/2.78) is one the best in the IPA... Roy Watson (15-8/3.47) is also having a good season... in the bullpen Fernando Sanches (3-2/0.72/21 saves) tops the IPA in saves.

Fifth place Hartsdale revitalized its first-division hopes with an 18-11 July... the Hellcats feature average hitting, scoring and power, along with sound pitching... All-Star SS Paul Wynn (.289/28/74/63) is the club leader in hits, homers, RBIs and runs... 3B Robinson Alomar (.292/14/47/42) has added some offense... and rookie RF Rodney Buck has hit .340 with 10 HRs, 39 RBIs and 40 runs, while splitting time in the outfield... Wayne Dawson (16-9/2.88) is having a fine season on the hill... in the pen rookie Alfonso Cervera (3-3/1.98/15 saves) had done well, too..

The White River Rascals are in the sixth spot in the standing... they stumbled badly in July with a 12-17 mark... yet they are five games above .500... just an average hitting team (.259 BA-15th tied) with very good power (149 HR-3rd), but with lackluster pitching (4.08/21st)... All-Star SS Warren McKenzie (.276/31/92/69), C Stevee Dee Daniels (.242/26/66/57) and CF Buford Cross (.298/17/50/62) are the power guys... 2B Kunta Burton (.315/3/29/53) is the best average-wise... starters Trenton Anderson (13-8/3.90) and Clem Warren (12-7/4.27) are the leaders in victories, while Paul Sardini (9-10/3.69) has been the most effective... in the bullpen Mick Cronyn (4-1/2.89/2 saves) and Les Dennis (5-8/3.20/18 saves) have been the best relievers.

The seventh place Blue Lake Blue Sox had a fairly good season going until they bombed in July to a terrible 10-19... in spite of that slump, the Blue Sox are just one game under the break-even mark... they have fairly good pitching with a 3.67 ERA (12th), but lack offense (476 runs-22nd)... Sal Mays (15-10/2.96) and Frankie Quinn (14-12/3.34) are the top two starters... the club leader at the plate is 2B Egon Ojamaa, who tops them with 18 HRs, 71 RBIs and 61 runs, while batting .268... LF Jack Ryan has the best average at .309, followed by 1B Elton Graff with .303... C Jan Kobak is batting .290.

The last place Oxford Red Caps haven't come close to a winning month this season... they were 10-19 last month... the only thing the Red Caps do well is hit homers (133-8th)... the team BA is .245 (27th)... the team ERA is a very high 4.65 (31st)... 2B Alonzo Norris tops the club with a .305 BA, 125 hits and 65 runs, while collecting 23 HRs and driving in 59 runs... CF Dalton Ward leads with 30 homers and 73 RBIs, while batting .246... LF Donny Braun has also been a good stick with a .295 BA, 17 HRs, 51 RBIs and 59 runs... the mound staff is so bad that the team ace Max D'Albini's 10-10 record and poor 4.90 ERA looks good compared to the others.