[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 17, 2041

WILDCATS WHIP REDS 4-3 FOR TU WEST CROWN
The Tycobbian West Divison had a fantastic finish to the 2041 season... it took a single-game playoff to decide the race... Kenwood edged Rolling Hills 4-3 for the crown, the Wildcats' first title in 17 years... third place went to the Bayview Vikings, who were eight and a half games behind... in the fourth position was the La Claire Lynx, who trailed by 11 and a half games... last year's winner Denton City slipped to fifth place, 12 and half games off the pace.

1. Kenwood (90-65): 2024 was the last pennant for the Wildcats... the only Pro Cup in their history came in 2014... they have made the playoffs only three times... Kenwood hit very well with a .282 BA (4th) and scored 763 runs (8th), but didn't hit a lot of homers (126-27th)... the Wildcats had fairly good pitching with a 3.82 ERA (17th)... solid defense with a .976 FA... not expected to go deep into the playoffs... probably not enough pitching... however, Kenwood stacks up better than Pro Cup champ Ranford did last year.

2. Rolling Hills (89-66) (1 GB): the Reds shot up from sixth last year, mainly because of good hitting... it's been almost 10 years since they have contended in the TU West... the Reds have been to the postseason 10 times and have come away with two Pro Cups ('29 and '31)... they were third in scoring with 801 runs, ninth with a .271 BA and tied for 18th in HRs with 154... pitching was average with a 3.89 ERA (18th)... Rolling Hills played standout defense with a .977 FA.
Top Pitchers: the mound rotation featured three solid starters with Matthew Christianson (21-10/3.20), Maury Cantrell (18-14/3.62) and Steve Adams (13-10/3.36)... Jakob Wagner (0-0/4.02) called it quits after 18 seasons... he retired with a 267-203 mark with a very good 3.03 career ERA... five times he won 20 games... Wagner appeared in only 12 games this season, all in relief.
Top Batters: All-Star 1B Darwin Tard topped the team with a .337 BA, and 118 runs... Tard had 26 HRs and 102 RBIs, too... All-Star RF Jimbo Foxx led the club with 28 HRs, drove in 104 runs and scored 85... LF Trent Hutchins paced the team with 110 RBIs, while batting .262 with 23 HRs and 76 runs... CF Scotty Yiska is 36 and still doing a good job after 15 years... he batted .289 with 24 HRs, 75 RBIs and scored 96 runs.

3. Bayview (81-73) (8.5 GB): it's been 25 long years since the Vikings graced the postseason... 2016 was the last flag-winning season... this made the fourth year in a row they have been over the .500 mark... the Viks did it with homer ball... they topped the IPA with 241 HRs and 864 runs, while hitting a strong .275 (5th)... the pitching (4.19 ERA-25th) was decent considering they play in a homer haven... defense is weak with a .969 FA.
Top Pitchers: Bobby Knudsen (19-10/3.03) was the ace of the mound staff... Karl Magga (15-16/3.74), Lucky Luciano (17-12/4.55) and Vance Codsworth (14-19/4.41) were inconsistent, but had some quality starts... they didn't get a lot of help from an inferior bullpen (4.42 ERA-27th).
Top Batters: the heavy hitter was IPA icon and 27-year-old All-Star Jerry Culpepper, who led the IPA with 61 homers and 123 runs, while hitting .348 and driving in 144 runs, second to IPA leader Wayman Stetson of Denton City with 146 RBIs... Culpepper finished third in the TU batting race to Bobby Joe Daniel of Fairfax, who batted .371... that the third time in his career he has hit over 60 homers... other big guns were SS Andreas Stokke (.273 BA) with 38 roundtrippers, 112 RBIs and 95 runs... and RF Roy Ricks (.303 BA) with 32 HRs, 85 RBIs and 87 runs.

4. La Claire (78-76) (11.5 GB): after winning back-to-back division crowns in 2037 and 2038, the Lynx went into decline and dipped into the second division for two seasons, now they are back in the first division with a winning record... La Claire has only made the Pro Cup playoffs four times and has yet to haul in a Pro Cup trophy... they have the pitching with a 3.14 ERA (2nd), but don't have the offense with a .259 BA (19th) and 654 runs (29th)... the Lynx are only average defensively (.971 FA).
Top Pitchers: they have a strong threesome in 27-year-old Marcel LaPlante (20-13/3.05), 26-year-old Nelson Stubbs (18-10/1.95) and 37-year-old future HOF-er Pat Kovacs (14-16/2.78)... Kovacs is nearing the 300-win milestone with an overall 293-207 record in his 17 years in the league... his lifetime ERA is a brilliant 2.76 ERA... Stubbs led the IPA with a 1.95 ERA... 28-year-old Terry Baird (5-9/2.21/22 saves) was the best in the bullpen, but lost 9 games... Baird was third in saves in the TU behind IPA leader Les Dennis of White River with 26 and Scott Watkins of Hillsboro with 24.
Top Batters: RF Hank Morton led the team with a .305 BA, but only hit 11 HRs, drove in 68 runs and scored 74... LF Billy Holland led with 25 HRs and 86 runs and finished second in RBIs with 75... 3B Phil Lyons topped the team with 77 RBIs, was second in homers with 23, but batted only .254.

5. Denton City (77-77) (12.5 GB): after winning the pennant for the first time in almost 30 years, the Redbirds fluttered down to fifth place, but did break even record-wise... the Denton City fans long for the golden days of 2003 to 2013 when the club was a powerhouse with eight postseason appearances and six TU West pennants... the Redbirds made the Pro Cup Finals twice... in 2005 and 2008... Denton City is a better-than-average club with a .268 BA (10th) and 3.76 ERA (13th)... defense is good, too, with a .974 FA.
Top Pitchers: 36-year-old ace Francisco Salcido (22-9/3.19) won 20 games for the second consecutive season... he was the only effective starter.
Top Batters: 24-year-old superstud All-Star 1B Wayman Stetson had his best year with a .325 BA, 51 HRs, an IPA-leading 146 RBIs and scored 93 runs... All-Star SS Sammy Thornton also chipped in with a .317 BA, 6 HRs, 64 RBIs, 98 runs and 107 BBs, while playing strong defense... CF Pete Doyle added 15 HRs, 59 RBIs and 98 runs with a .280 BA... C Felton Welch also had a good year with a .279 BA, 19 HRs and 79 RBIs.

6. Bay St. Clair (66-88) (23.5 GB): the Buccaneers were a second-division ballclub for the sixth year in a row... it's been 11 years since they made the postseason... the Bucs have never won a Pro Cup, but did make the Finals in 2015... this year they were the worst-pitching team in the IPA with a horrific 4.86 ERA... the offense wasn't so good either with 670 runs (26th)... in addition, the defense was the worst in the IPA with a .963 FA (tied with Volusia of the RU South).
Top Pitchers: vets John Karlsen (15-18/4.30) and Freddi Hahn (14-22/4.37) were the best of the starters... Pete Cross (5-0/3.05/11 saves) and Clark Van Vreeland (4-3/3.44/10 saves) did a pretty good job in the bullpen.
Top Batters: RF Cotton Cornwall put up some good numbers at age 36 with a .282 BA, 37 HRs, 82 RBIs and 85 runs... CF Gilbert Bauer had 22 HRs, 68 RBIs and 77 runs, but batted only .245... at 38 years old 3B Bailey Holmsworth collected 24 HRs, 67 RBIs and scored 59 runs, but batted only .253.

7. Arlon (66-88) (23.5 GB): after contending for three seasons, winning the pennant and making the Pro Cup Finals in 2039, the Champions faltered badly this year, plunging down to seventh place and 22 games under the .500 mark... they were just average on the hill (3.80 ERA-16th) and woeful at the plate with only 657 runs (28th)... only average on defense with a .972 FA.
Top Pitchers: Lanny Gray (18-16/3.24) is still a tough customer with 25 complete games, but didn't get much run support... he was tied for third in strikeouts with 253.
Top Batters: most of the offense came from the trio of star RF Mark Cameron (.303/41/102/98), 1B Robby Westin (.308/32/87/80) and C Nick Shafer (.272/26/86/73).

8. Chicopee (59-95) (30.5 GB): since winning three pennants in a row from 2034 to 2036 the Braves have settled down deep in the second division... for the last two years they have ended up in the basement... Chicopee has never won a Pro Cup and has made the playoffs only three times... this year they had awful pitching (4.83 ERA-31st) and average offense with a .262 BA (14th), 696 runs (19th) and 146 HRs (23rd-tied)... the Braves were average defenders as well with a .971 FA.
Top Pitchers: Tommy Brown (16-17/4.76) and Heyoka Chaska (12-15/4.28) were the most decent starters... the bullpen was terrible with a 4.51 ERA (28th).
Top Batters: aging veterans LF Wayne Kenney (.298/26/99/75), 1B Fred Phelps (.296/24/73/96) and 3B Kurt Gustavsen (.292/18/65/71) led the way at the plate.