[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, September 18, 2041

'CANES, RANCHEROS PRO CUP CHOICES
The Cape Coral Hurricanes got the kiss of death... they were chosen by the Island baseball gurus to win the 2041 Pro Cup... rarely does the top pick win the IPA championship... the Hurricanes of the Tycobbian Union are favored to defeat the San Dimas Rancheros of the Ruthlandian Union in the Pro Cup Finals... the IPA Pro Cup playoffs begins tomorrow afternoon at four venues around the Islands... In the Tycobbian Union first-round action pits Cape Coral at home against potent North Hills and Kenwood entertaining the South Fork Stallions... Over in the Ruthlandian Union San Dimas will be at home against the defending Pro Cup champion Ranford and Cold Creek will open on the road against the Middlefield Roosters... All of the series are best-of-seven in the postseason.

Only three clubs are making return trips to the playoffs this year... Ranford, Cold Creek and North Hills... in a miracle run Ranford won it all last year... Cold Creek and North Hills were among the favorites, but they were eliminated in the first round... Sligo upset Cold Creek in seven games and Pro Cup finalist Summerland whipped North Hills in six games.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup Poll:
1. Cape Coral (97-57) (TU South): the Hurricanes have a high-scoring attack, five All-Stars and two tough starters.

Cape Coral rose up from sixth place in 2040 (24 GB)... their last pennant was in 2030... they have never come close to winning the Pro Cup... the 'Canes were a powerhouse this season with a .285 BA (2nd), 816 runs (2nd) and 189 HRs (9th)... the pitching was good considering they play in a hitter-friendly ballpark... the team compiled a fairly decent 4.06 ERA (21st)... just average defensively with a .973 FA... ability to score might give them the best chance Cape Coral has ever had to win a Pro Cup.
Top Pitchers: All-Star Tommy Van Noord (23-11/3.12) and Stacy Boyle (11-2/3.20) are two quality starters... number three is Charlie Britton (19-10/4.15) and number four is Benton McCall (17-16/4.42)... bullpen is weak.
Top Batters: superstar All-Star 1B Stan Ferguson (.322/45/131/85) had a great year with 45 homers and 131 RBIs... other solid contributors were All-Star RF William Snyder (.323/25/85/97), All-Star 3B Kent Mantle (.275/28/88/83) and All-Star LF Rikky Van Dalen (.284/22/79/101).

2. San Dimas (92-62) (RU South): the Rancheros are a well-balanced ballclub with fine pitching and a solid core of hitters.

San Dimas has 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... weak bullpen could be San Dimas' downfall in the playoffs.

3. North Hills (95-59) (TU North): the Hawks have won three Pro Cups since 2034... they have great pitching, good bats and good gloves... however they lost their ace Tony Mack (23-9/2.69) in September... still they have strong pitching despite the huge loss... North Hills led the IPA with a superb 2.73 ERA.

The Hawks will be going for a record-tying fourth Pro Cup this year... they won it in 2034, 2036 and 2038, but failed the last two years despite being the favorite... second-best record in the IPA with 95 wins... only Cape Coral of the TU South was better with 97... the Hawks have great pitching with a 2.76 ERA (1st) and pretty good offense... and better-than-average defense (.975 FA).
Top Pitchers: All-Star Jeff Owens (22-11/2.33), Joey Santini (14-5/2.45/7 saves), Nelson Hooper (14-11/2.59)... ace Tony Mack (23-9/2.69) will miss the playoffs due to injury... that's a big loss, but Hooper and Santini may be able to fill the huge gap.
Top Batters: 30-year-old superstar LF Adam Thurgood (.307/35/99/95) still carries the team, but had solid help from CF Kris Anastas (.294/22/82/78), 3B Jim McDermott (.307/19/79/70), 1B Ric Hamilton (.264/19/78/71) and 2B Tommy Vavas (.273/16/70/98).

4. Middlefield (90-64) (RU West): the Roosters have explosive bats and solid pitching... they topped the RU with 228 roundtrippers and were second in the IPA behind Bayview, who slammed 241 homers.

Middlefield was fifth last year, 8 games back... this year the Roosters used good pitching and the home-run ball to take the division crown... considering the small ballpark they play in, they posted a pretty fair 3.59 ERA (9th) and led the RU with 228 HRs (1st)... two All-Stars CF Alejandro Dominguez (.292/40/115/103) and C Brad Alexander (.254/36/95/53) led the way with help from RF Wes Stanley (.285/38/96/80), LF Norman Antonioni (.262/29/58/98) and SS Kenny Johnston (.266/12/73/87)... on the hill it was All-Star Larry Wheelhouse (22-9/3.08) and James Long (19-18/2.74)... the other two starters Harry Morgan (18-9/4.61) and Hollis Dale (16-15/4.45) benefited from great run support... and Ray Owens (6-7/2.64/24 saves) was solid as usual in the bullpen... Owens tied Far Mountain rookie Amos Tandy (7-11/2.98/24 saves) for the most saves in the RU and was runner-up in the IPA to Les Dennis (5-5/1.32/26 saves) of White River.

5. Kenwood (90-65) (RU East): the Wildcats have three fine starters, strong batting order top to bottom and very good defense... could be this year's sleeper.

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.

Top Pitchers: All-Star Freddy Gooch (20-13/3.56), Clyde Myers (19-12/3.48), Glen Murray (19-15/3.74)... in the bullpen Rusty Bradford (7-8/2.83) was the best.
Top Batters: All-Star C Corky DiNozzo (.343/30/71/63) had a great season going but he missed one-third of the season with an injury... he will be back for the playoffs... All-Star 2B Country Crowder (.319/6/64/91), 1B Antonio Dominguez (.308/13/82/68)... plus a good bunch of role players that hit the ball well.

6. Ranford (86-68) (RU North): after a surprising Pro Cup title last year, the Bulls are getting a little more respect this year... they were picked eighth in the poll last year, but have been moved up two notches to six this year... Ranford is better this year... they have much better starting pitching and a slightly improved offense.

Leading Ranford this year was All-Star ace Ralph Hawk (20-13/2.50), who got some help from Ronnie Schroeder (20-14/3.07)... Schroeder was 17-7 last year, but missed the postseason because of an injury... the Bulls are a better team this year with his addition to the playoff rotation... LF Dale Weston (.270) is back again to lead the attack with 42 homers, 101 RBIs and 100 runs scored... C Arlo Guthrie topped the team with a .323 BA.

7. Cold Creek (86-68) (RU East): the Catamounts lived and died with its excellent pitching staff in recent years... they never had enough offense to win a Pro Cup... this year the hitting is up a bit, but the pitching is down a bit... experts don't think the 'Cats are as good as in the past.

For the first time in seven years the Catamounts failed to win at least 90 games... but they still prevailed with good pitching, good offense and standout defense (.978 FA)... All-Star superstar J. J. Gillespie (22-12/2.72) is still the ace... at age 36 he won 20 games for the seventh time in his brilliant career... however 35-year-old Joey Baker (18-18/3.71) and Rob Hutchins (14-12/3.65) were down a bit from last year... Baker was 20-8 in 2040 and Hutchins was 17-11... the offense was more than adequate, but didn't have much power... the Catamounts hit only 109 homers (31st-tied), but ranked sixth with a .274 BA and tied for fourth with 774 runs... 35-year-old CF Guy St. Laurent was the club leader with a .313 BA, 25 HRs, 90 RBIs, 92 runs and 16 SBs... SS Jeremy Hall (.307/7/79/82) and LF Jimmy Howell (.305/5/57/64) both had fairly good years.

8. South Fork (87-67) (TU East): the Stallions are not highly regarded... just average offensively and fairly good on the hill with good defense.

South Fork snapped a five-year run in the second division of the TU East, all of them under the .500 mark... they pulled up from fifth place last season (6 GB)... the last time South Fork was in the playoffs was the Pro-Cup winning season in 2025... that is their only IPA title... pretty good pitching (3.49 ERA-6th), pretty fair offense (.260 BA-17th) and solid defense (.975 FA) brought home the pennant this year... not expected to be much of a factor in the Pro Cup competition... experts are not impress with pitching, nor batting.
Top Pitchers: Jay Murphy (22-8/2.86) and Mike Lambertini (15-11/3.40) give them two quality pitchers... Big Murph McAlister (12-19/3.37) was effective, too, but didn't have good run support.
Top Batters: 1B Paul Sexton (.267/39/109/94) was the club leader in homers, RBIs and runs scored... steady 3B Elton Jacoby (.297/22/82/92) enjoyed another good season... as did SS Jess Wilkerson (.306/18/56/90).