[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18, 2040

HAWKS FAVORED OVER CC 'CATS IN PRO CUP
Only three teams return to the IPA Pro Cup playoffs this season. The Waleska Westerners were upset in a close race by Crystal Lake this year. So the Islandian Pro Alliance will have a new crownbearer. The North Hills Hawks from the Tycobbian Union and Cold Creek Catamounts and Sligo Rovers from Ruthlandia are back again in quest of the IPA Holy Grail - the Pro Cup trophy. Crystal Lake and Ranford will join them from the Ruthlandian Union, while the other Tycobbian clubs will be Summerland, Denton City and Ozarka.

The oddsmakers are forecasting a North Hills victory this year, the Hawks' third in the last six seasons... usually the favorite's role is the kiss of death in the postseason... the title usually goes to the team that gets hot in August and September and continues to play well into October... keep an eye on Summerland and Crystal Lake, if this is true. Both clubs were a sizzling 50-22 in the second half of the season.

PRO CUP POLL
1. NORTH HILLS (TU)
2. COLD CREEK (RU)
3. CRYSTAL LAKE (RU)
4. SUMMERLAND (TU)
5. DENTON CITY (TU)
6. SLIGO (RU)
7. OZARKA (TU)
8. RANFORD (RU)

1. NORTH HILLS HAWKS (97-58): the Hawks put up the second-best record in the Tycobbian Union this year, topped only by Summerland in the Tycobbian Union with 98... Cold Creek of the Ruthlandian East led the IPA with 101 wins... North Hills does it with great pitching and adequate offense... registering a super 2.88 ERA (2nd)... only Summerland in the TU South was better with a brilliant 2.83 ERA... the Hawks' scoring could be better... they hit well with a .269 BA (7th), but lack scoring and firepower... North Hills scored only 676 runs (20th) and hit 135 HRs (23rd)... they are good defenders with a .975 FA.
Top Pitchers: 34-year-old southpaw Jeff Owens had a tremendous year with a 28-7 record and 2.48 ERA... He easily had the most wins in the IPA... last year's Golden Arm winner Tony Mack (20-14/3.03) won 20 games again... Frankie Lambert added a 19-14 mark with a strong 2.89 ERA... veteran Dave Michael was a good number four with a 13-12 record and a 3.30 ERA... the bullpen was outstanding, too, with Nelson Hooper (4-5/2.63/22 saves), Kyle Oliver (8-4/3.21/4 saves) and Joey Santini (5-1/2.02/3 saves).
Top Batters: superstar All-Star LF Adam Thurgood (.324/23/90/91) again led the club with help from some reliable hitters: 1B Ric Hamilton (.340/24/92/69), 2B Tommy Vavas (.289/14/62/91), CF Kris Anastas (.274/16/73/65) and 3B Jim McDermott (.280/12/67/62).

2. COLD CREEK CATAMOUNTS (101-53): the 'Cats always have strong pitching, but this year they added rock-solid hitting to their arsenal... they batted .282 (2nd) and tallied 785 runs (5th), but hit only 111 homers (30th)... on the mound they were as good as ever with a 2.97 ERA (1st), third best in the IPA after Summerland (2.83) and North Hills (2.88)... defensively Cold Creek is very good with a .978 FA.
Top Pitchers: All-Star J. J. Gillespie (23-11/2.26) topped the 200-win milestone this season and is now 206-105 in 12 seasons with a fantastic 2.28 ERA... Gillespie's career ERA is the all-time best in the IPA... Gillespie topped the RU with a 2.26 ERA this season... Joey Baker (20-8/2.30) and Peter Heller (20-11/3.78) also chalked up 20-win seasons... and reliable Rob Hutchins (17-11/3.37) rounded out the starting foursome.
Top Batters: SS Jeremy Hall (.310/7/86/84), CF Guy St. Laurent (.253/32/99/88), C Rodney Marshall (.301/23/78/69).

3. CRYSTAL LAKE CRUSHERS (94-60): for the last five seasons Crystal Lake has languished in the second division, but in a surprise rise the Crushers moved up from fifth place to the top spot this season... by a wide margin they outhit and outscored everybody in the IPA with a .295 BA and 843 runs... defense is outstanding, too, with a .980 FA... this was the eighth pennant for the Crushers in their history with the most recent one in 2034... since they dethroned IPA champ Waleska this year, the Crushers just might surprise in the Pro Cup playoffs.
Top Pitchers: just enough pitching to get by with 36-year-old Arnie Cason (23-9/3.05) having the best year in his career... 35-year old vets Ken Lawson (20-12/4.09) and Douglas Merrill (18-11/4.26) benefitted often from the high-scoring offense.
Top Batters: RF Paul Dillon (.344/10/89/97), CF Jesse Walker (.344/0/49/92), All-Star LF Johnny Kennedy (.299/24/98/81), All-Star C Stan Stanek (.314/24/99/117), 1B Daryl Brady (.315/19/91/74), 3B Marv Roy (.283/16/88/74), SS Morten Jonassen (.310/1/57/72).

4. SUMMERLAND SUNSETS (98-56): the Sunsets won the most games in the Tycobbian Union with super slabwork: 2.83 team ERA, the best in the IPA... they didn't hit much (.243 BA-29th) or score much (661 runs-24th tied), but neither did the opposing teams... the Sunsets are also one of the best defensive teams with a .978 FA... this will be only the third playoff appearance in the club's history... the others were in 2005 and 2033... look for Summerland to shine in the postseason this year... Summerland really took charge in the second half with a torrid 52-20 record... could be a good omen.
Top Pitchers: Jayson Hallstrom (24-7/2.08) led the Tycobbian Union in wins, ERA and shutouts (8)... Dutch De Boer (10-1/2.11) and Johnny Young (22-11/3.120 had strong seasons, too... the bullpen excelled as well with Ronald Shaddock (12-6/2.27/27 saves) and Pete Ashley (5-4/2.70/4 saves)... Shaddock was number one in saves in the IPA with 27.
Top Batters: RF Eamon O'Toole (.296/19/93/68), 1B Stan Terry (.290/14/69/70) and 2B Todd Cummins (.241/21/85/540 were the only decent hitters in the batting order.

5. DENTON CITY REDBIRDS (86-68): the Redbirds were a power in the early days of the IPA, making the postseason eight times in the first 12 seasons of the league... six of those years they won the division... twice the Redbirds made it to the Pro Cup Finals, but didn't win... that was in 2005 and 2008... now Denton City is back again with a capable club that features good pitching with a 3.61 ERA (8th)... good bats with a .269 BA (5th), 757 runs (5th) and 185 HRs (9th-tied)... defense-wise they are only average with a .971 FA... Denton City could be a factor in the Pro Cup playoffs this year.
Top Pitchers: Francisco Salcido (21-14/3.43), Freddy Hogue (16-7/3.40), Troy McIntosh (17-14/3.28) and Kevin Blevins (13-6/3.82) were the main starters... Harry Elliot (4-9/3.13) was off-and-on in the bullpen, but he did save 21 games.
Top Batters: the Redbirds had a good core of hitters, sparked mainly by All-Star 1B Wayman Stetson with 43 homers, 136 RBIs, 98 runs and a .330 BA... Stetson wound up third in RBIs and eighth in home runs in the IPA... the other solid bats were C Felton Welch (.297/27/86/73), RF Pete Doyle (.272/24/75/111), SS Sammy Thornton (.306/4/74/92)... a new addition to the club was LF Sadaharu Uchiyama (.293/13/63/81), who was acquired in June in a trade with Ginza... he is 32 years old and a career .301 hitter and a Golden Glove outfielder.

6. SLIGO ROVERS (84-70): they went to the RU League Championship Series last year before falling to eventual Pro Cup winner Waleska... the Rovers have a big task in the first round... they are matched up against powerful Cold Creek, one of the Pro Cup favorites this year... Sligo is a little above average in scoring with 738 runs (12th) and on the mound with a 3.65 ERA (9th)... possesses the best defense in the RU West with a very good .978 FA.
Top Pitchers: All-Star Scotty Price (22-9/2.78) is the staff ace with help from Randall Steele (18-14/3.74) and Tom Pierson (16-14/3.36)... Richie Joyner (1-2/2.09/3 saves) did well in middle relief.
Top Batters: most productive bats were All-Star 1B Denny Simmons (.337/17/80/97), CF Joe McGarrett (.291/22/84/77), SS Neil Mitchell (.273/21/67/102) and LF Rudy Putnam (.297/15/59/78).

7. OZARKA NATURALS (81-73): the Nats lived off their pitching and copped their 11th division crown and first in over 10 years... the last one came in 2030... Ozarka is still waiting for its first Pro Cup... it's not likely to come this year... the Nats are just an average club and are not forecast to go very far in the Pro Cup playoffs... the Naturals have good starters... they ranked fifth in Tycobbian Union with a 3.47 ERA... Ozarka was solid defensively with a .976 FA.
Top Pitchers: Glen Jenkins (18-15/2.16), Stan Carey (17-10/3.29) and Billy Hill (14-11/3.39) gave them three very capable starters... Jenkins was the Tycobbian strikeout king with 291 Ks.
Top Batters: 3B Jimmy Woods (.321/28/104/81) was the top performer and led the team in BA, HRs and RBIs... C Jaak Pajukivi (.279/24/81/58) and LF Lonnie Gillespie (.272/10/72/92) were only fair at best.

8, RANFORD BULLS (80-74): up from third last year (11 GB)... the Bulls were the best in the weakest division in the IPA... only two clubs had winning records... third pennant in team's history... last was in 2034... not expected to do much in the playoffs... just an average ball club with .261 BA (19th), 646 runs (27th), 140 HRs (19th), 3.95 ERA (20th) and a .975 FA.
Top Pitchers: Ralph Hawk (20-14/2.62)
Top Batters: 3B Pete Bankston (.302/18/83/71), RF Dale Weston (.289/45/112/95).