[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Sunday, September 22, 2041

2041 IPA DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - Game Four

Ruthlandian Union

'CATS SWEEP ROOSTERS
The Cold Creek Catamounts won their fourth straight game to sweep the Middlefield Roosters in the Ruthlandian Division Series... ace J. J. Gillespie (1-0/1.59) applied the finishing touches with a 3-1 victory... he stopped the potent Roosters on four hits, struck out seven and walked only one... Gillespie gave up a lead-off homer to Earl Elliott, but nothing else in a fine outing... the Catamounts got to losing pitcher Larry Wheelhouse (0-1/2.16) for a pair of runs in the fourth on 3B Eric Hollister's (.235) RBI single and C Arved Tarand's (.250) RBI ground-out... 2B Todd Goodwin (.125) completed the scoring with a solo homer in the sixth... in a spotty performance Wheelhouse walked six, fanned five and gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings.

Cold Creek, the number seven choice in the Pro Cup poll, will now wait to meet the winner of number two San Dimas and number six Ranford... Middlefield was ranked fourth in the survey, but they were totally shut down by the Catamounts' mound staff... Cold Creek held them to a .227 BA with five homers and 11 runs in four games... while the 'Cats scored 23 runs with seven homers and a .270 BA... shoddy defense played a very important role in the series... Middlefield committed seven errors good for eighth undeserved runs... Cold Creek made only two miscues good for 3 runs... the Catamounts staff ERA was 1.89... the Roosters put up a 3.75 ERA.

Cold Creek skipper Scoop Lemieux said, "We played really well in the series... great pitching, strong defense and got timely hitting... which is exactly what we need to win the Pro Cup."

Manager Ricky Tinker of Middlefield agreed with Lemieux, "We got beat by a fine ball club playing its best... that's how you get swept."

HAWK PUT RANFORD UP 3-1 IN SERIES
In crucial game four at Ranford County Stadium, Ralph Hawk beat favored San Dimas 5-1 to lift the Ranford Bulls up to a three games to one lead in the RU Division Series... Hawk limited the Rancheros to just five hits, while striking out seven and walking just one batter... Hawk (2-0/1.04) worked into the ninth, when reliever Miguel Mandina came in and got the final two outs. Ranford had to play without its clean-up man and main power guy, Dale Weston... he will miss at least two weeks with herniated discs in his back... Weston hit 42 homers and drove in 101 runs in the regular season and will sorely missed.

24-game winner Gil Arnaud (0-2/3.38) took his second loss of the series... he allowed five runs on seven hits and went the route... two of the runs were not earned... San Dimas had a 1-0 lead after four frames on Arnaud's (.200) RBI single in the top of the second... Ranford rallied for two in the fifth to take the lead... SS Stan Cobb (.286) singled, stole second, and then continued to third when first baseman Austin Epps dropped an infield throw... Cobb scored on a wild pitch... CF Roger Farnsworth (.385) singled in run number three making the score 3-1... Cobb got the final two Ranford runs with a two-run single in the eighth.

Tycobbian Union

HAWKS HOLD OFF HURRICANES 6-5 IN GAME 4
In game four at the Hawk's Nest in North Hills, the Hawks flew out to a 6-1 lead after five innings, then fought off a rally by the Cape Coral Hurricanes, who fell one run short... North Hills edged them 6-5 for its third win in four games over the Pro Cup-favored 'Canes... both aces Jeff Owens and Tommy Van Noord struggled... Owens (2-0/2.12) picked up the win even though he was tagged for five runs and six hits in eight innings... Owens had six Ks and four walks in an uneven performance... Van Noord (0-2/2.40) had an even tougher time, as he was battered for 11 hits and six runs in his six innings... however, three of them were not earned.

The Hawks cracked 11 hits and were sparked by 1B Ric Hamilton (.313) with 3-4, including a double, a homer and two RBIs... 2B Tommy Vavas (.235) also drilled three hits... 1B Stan Ferguson (.357) paced the Hurricanes with a grand-slam homer.

3 HRs LEAD WILDCATS TO THIRD WIN
In the tenth inning Tim Jarvis clubbed a three-run smash that delivered a 5-2 win for the Kenwood Wildcats over the South Fork Stallions at Jock Ewing Stadium in South Fork giving the Wildcats a 3-1 lead in the Tycobbian Division Series... Corky DiNozzo slammed two solo roundtrippers in the first and fourth frames to give Kenwood an early 2-0 lead... Glen Murray and Rusty Bradford combined for the victory... Murray worked the first eight permitting two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and a walk... Bradford (1-0/0.00) claimed the win with two scoreless innings... he allowed one hit... Jay Murphy went seven innings for South Fork, holding the Wildcats to four hits and two runs... Murphy had 6 Ks and no walks and exited with the score tied at 2-all... Cecil Alexander (0-1/8.10) was the victim of Jarvis' three-run rip and caught the loss.

C Corky DiNozzo (.429) was Kenwood's top bat with 2-3, three runs and two RBIs... South Fork C Jaan Jaanson (.429) went 4-for-4 with a homer and three singles.