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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 17, 2041
SAN DIMAS NIPS FAST-CLOSING WALESKA IN RU SOUTH
A strong first half enabled the San Dimas Rancheros to win their first Ruthlandian South Division title in a decade... the Rancheros ran up a six-game lead at mid-year, then just barely held off the fast-closing Waleska Westerners by a single game.
1. SAN DIMAS (92-62): the Rancheros have a strong attack and strong pitching... rose up from fifth place (19 GB) in 2040... All-Star Gil Arnaud (24-5/2.63), Toby White (19-10/2.94) were the mainstays, while Dale Huff (17-11/3.65) and Seth Dawson (14-10/3.93/10 saves) were solid in the number three and four slots in the rotation... All-Star 3B Leonard Purkey (.314/23/108/108), 1B Austin Epps (.317/22/104/71), C Hermie Goetz (.313/12/82/91), CF Klaus Stordahl (.284/13/81/79) and RF Denny Hendrix (.275/22/84/92) led the team's hit parade... except for bullpen, San Dimas could be a possible threat in the Pro Cup playoffs.
2. Waleska (91-63) (1 GB): almost won the division again... they have two Pro Cups (2037 and 2039) in the last five years... and three division crowns... the Westerners are a very good team with fine pitching from a solid veteran corps: Tony Haskell (24-9/2.85), Jeff Woodruff (22-12/2.87), Terry Richards (17-13/3.02), Niles Nielsen (11-7/2.50/14 saves) and Craig Nash (13-8/3.19/11 saves)... some pretty decent bats, too... RF Niles Gregory (.272/29/87/84), C Rodney Hanson (.330/9/72/90), CF Jon Lassiter (.293/11/60/88) and SS Monty McMurtry (.286/3/52/84).
3. Crystal Lake (84-70) (8 GB): won pennant last year, but the Crushers' pitching dropped them to third this year... death blow was the loss of two best starters Dale McCauley (17-5/2.54) and Arnie Cason (14-10/3.81) the last six weeks of the the season... potent bats in All-Star RF Paul Dillon (.352/12/81/78), All-Star 1B Daryl Brady (.338/27/106/74), SS Morton Jonassen (.327/2/62/62) and LF Johnny Kennedy (.286/19/94/70)... Dillon was fourth and Brady ninth in the RU batting race.
4. St. John (83-71) (9 GB): made the first division for the fourth consecutive season with a fourth-place finish... last pennant was in 2036... never won Pro Cup... features good pitching, but mediocre offense... Big Tee Telemachus (24-13/3.44) blossomed this year at age 26 after five years of lackluster success... ace Jeremy Kirk (16-17/3.08) suffered from offensive support... at 37 Lou Page (15-11/3.32) put up a good season... and 37-year-old Vito Sanfratello (8-11/2.90/3 saves) was still solid in the bullpen and as a spot starter... All-Star RF Nicky Farrugia (.344/32/108/101) had another super season and got help from veteran 3B Marty Blankenship (.263/26/102/74), young 1B Tod Allison (.302/6/61/101) and fine CF Art Kelley (.276/20/81/72).
5. Claxton (76-78) (16 GB): just a .500 ballclub since winning the RU South flag in 2038... Stan Yudash (14-12/3.48), Sam Nathan (16-18/3.27) and Abe Schiffman (17-18/4.10) were the most dependable starters... Maxie Richter (5-5/2.96/10 saves) was the best in the bullpen... All-Star 1B Jojo DeLucca (.331/36/129/105) had a super season... other fairly productive hitters were SS Stevie Wynn (.294/16/55/83), star 2B Gary Colton (.291/16/69/76) and C Jaan Hoogendoorn (.293/10/70/65)... CF Foxy Fuchs and RF Ivan Krause showed some power, but hit poorly... Fuchs had 23 HRs, 80 RBIs and 86 runs, but batted only .253, while Krause had 21 roundtrippers and 83 RBIs, but batted only .249.
6. Valka (69-85) (23 GB): tied for sixth with Belair Beach... 13th straight season in the second division... last pennant was way back in 2017... Ando Lintrop (14-17/3.40) and Matvey Kazak (17-17/4.16) were the best of the starters, while veteran reliever Julien Rouse (3-2/2.08/20 saves) had an excellent year... the only talent at the plate are star 1B Bobby Scott (.354/31/98/98) and star CF Kenny Mitzusaka (.309/25/89/100)... no one else comes close to these two... the Blackhawks are just a bad ballclub.
6. Belair Beach (69-85) (23 GB): the Sunbirds were in the cellar three years in a row... moved up slightly this season and escaped it... last postseason appearance was in 2016... possess a fairly good offense, but terrible pitching... top bats are superstar 1B Jason Butler, who really sparkled this year with a .320 BA, 49 HRs, 142 RBIs and 115 runs... Butler topped the RU in homers and RBIs... LF Bobby Meusel made the All-Star team, but missed the last third of the season with an injured rib... Meusel batted .323 with 15 homers, 81 RBIs and scored 69 runs... rookie SS Mark George did well with a .329 BA, 2 HRs, 44 RBIs and 88 runs... pitching-wise the Sunbirds were poor... journeyman pitcher Jody Younger (22-15/4.22) was a 20-game winner, but gave up a lot of runs... relievers Kyle Gibson (3-4/2.82/14 saves), Ray Dunn (3-1/2.31/1 save) and Tom Cook (1-2/1.99/4 saves) were the only reliable pitchers.
8. Grand City Cybercats (60-94) (32 GB): eighth year in a row near the bottom of the division... only made the playoffs three times in team's history... no Pro Cups... last pennant was in 2030... no offense, average pitching... Kenny Morrow (11-21/3.47) most effective pitcher... George Hamilton (14-14/3.99) and Glen Caswell (13-19/3.98) were good at times... 2B Teddy Grantham (.324/17/61/57) topped the team in BA... most productive was 1B Benny Hull (.287/30/101/84)... Hull was the club leader in hits with 189, homers, RBIs and runs... C Iggy Van Dyck (.268/21/86/67) had a pretty fair year, too.
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