[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2042

SOUTHPORT BREEZES TO TU SOUTH TITLE
What a remarkable turnaround for the Southport Sun Sox! They went from seventh place and 30 games behind last season to the top spot in the Tycobbian South Division, which they won in a breeze. The Sun Sox ran up a huge lead by mid-season and then maintained it, winning the pennant by eight games over San Alejo, bested defending champ Cape Coral by 11 games and beat Summerland by 13. Southport posted the best record in the IPA with 100 victories, six better than runner-up Kenwood of the TU West. Colfax had the best record in the Ruthlandian Union with 93 wins. The TU West was one of the strongest divisions in the IPA with seven teams that were .500 or better. Cellar-dwelling Ginza was only ten games under the .500 mark.

1. Southport: the Sun Sox easily beat their all-time best record... the most they had ever won was 90 games in 2021, when they finished second... the Sun Sox have never won a Pro Cup... they were in the playoffs last in back-to-back years 2027 and 2028... Southport does everything well except play good defense (.969 FA)... they hit .275 (4th), scored 806 runs (4th), racked up 184 HRs (8th) and put up a fine 3.19 ERA (5th)... look out Pro Cup, the Sun Sox look like the top seed... the starting four did their job well sparked by Billy Hoover (26-11/2.16), a strong contender for the Golden Arm Award... others in the rotation were Brandon Delmore (16-10/3.13), Johnny Swanson (15-12/3.52) and Gordon Forbes (12-5/4.17)... Southport had a solid bullpen, too, with Hal Combs (7-4/1.73/10 saves) and Wayne Stewart (4-2/1.52/10 saves)... top guns were All-Star 3B Craig Glennon (.278/34/115/107), All-Star CF Barney Lewis (.277/34/98/85), 1B Eddy Douglas (.339/28/103/75), 2B James Long (.276/23/82/79), C Vasillis Vlachos (.285/17/69/57) and RF Pat Kinney (.301/5/40/78).

2. San Alejo: the Montaneros fought a good fight with 92 wins this year... they came up eight games short this year after coming in third last season (13 GB)... the Monties last made a postseason in 2037... they won their only Pro Cup in 2032... they have more impressive stats than Southport with a .275 BA (5th), 780 runs, 190 HRs (5th-tied) and an impressive 3.06 ERA (3rd)... San Alejo may have the best starting four in the IPA with Will McKinney (24-10/2.63), Matt Bell (22-11/2.18), Tommy Smith (10-5/2.53) and Benny Buckmaster (18-14/3.69)... the bullpen is good, too, with Lupe Olmedo (3-1/2.81/8 saves), Raydon Burks (4-1/2.42/5 saves) and Glen Porterfield (2-3/2.62/4 saves)... the bats are potent with plenty of them in All-Star C Filipe Zamora (.315/34/124/85), who ranked fourth in the TU with 124 RBIs... All-Star RF Paulo Teixeira (.319/34/101/98), old reliable Gold Glover CF Dusty Rogan (.307/27/91/86), who still wields a good bat and a good glove at age 35... vet LF Charlie Wilberforce (.335/23/78/91)... and 1B Bubby Blackwell (.295/6/53/96).

3. Cape Coral: the hard-hitting Hurricanes won the pennant last year with 97 victories, but slipped a little on the mound and fell to third place in the standings (11 GB)... nonetheless, still a good season with a .282 BA (2nd), 831 runs (1st) and 190 HRs (5th-tied)... weak on the hill though with a 4.27 ERA (26th), up from 4.06 last year... the explosive line-up was paced by All-Star LF Rikky Van Dalen (.371/31/123/125), who had the best average in the IPA with .371 and the most runs with 125... it was a career year for Van Dalen... All-Star RF William Snyder (.329/33/121/94) had another super season... along with All-Star 1B Stan Ferguson (.308/38/117/82) and CF Max Tselika (.321/20/73/103)... the starters were a solid bunch with Jake Cuyler (22-10/3.71), Tommy Van Noord (19-11/3.57) and Benton McCall (17-11/3.86/one save)... it was the bullpen that let the 'Canes down with a terrible 5.62 ERA (32nd).

4. Summerland: the Sunsets won the TU South in 2040, came in fourth in 2041 (17 GB) and fourth this year (13 G)... scoring runs is their problem with a .247 BA (26th) and little power with 120 HRs (30th)... on the mound they are quite good with a strong 3.03 ERA (2nd)... Summerland has never won a Pro Cup, but almost won it in 2040 when Ranford edged them in the Finals four games to three... Golden Arm contender Jayson Hallstrom (25-9/2.05) and Billy King (20-14/2.56) pretty much carried the club... the most reliable reliever was Pete Ashley (5-4/2.86/7 saves)... at the plate the Sunsets were led by 1B Stan Terry (.279/20/73/80), who topped the club with 20 homers, 73 RBIs and 80 runs scored... RF Antonio Vasquez (.264/9/65/78) was the only other decent bat.

5. Turon: the Typhoons had a winning record, six games over .500, but wound up in the fifth spot, at the top of the second division 20 GB... the were the division runner-up last year (8 GB)... the TU South is a strong division... Turon is tied with North Hills for the most Pro Cups with four, but they haven't won it since 2018, though they had shots at it in 2038 and 2039, but were beaten in the first round both years by North Hills... the Typhoons have fair pitching with a 3.84 ERA (19th) and solid hitting with a .266 BA (8th), 744 runs (7th) and 167 HRs (16th)... leading the offense were CF J. P. Trevenot (.301/18/70/78), 2B C. C. Kingsford (.272/16/77/73), RF Guido Gervasio (.272/19/61/84) and 3B Rafer Robertson (.269/30/97/70)... top hurlers were Clyde Engstrom (20-14/3.42) and Armin Boehm (15-11/3.06)... Ralph Fulton (6-8/2.58/17 saves) was the best reliever.

6. Arroyo Grande: the Suns came in sixth in the TU South, but chalked up a winning record, finishing 21 GB... for the previous seven seasons they were either seventh or last in the division... last year they were in the cellar and 30 GB... Arroyo Grande has never won a Pro Cup... their last appearance was in 2024... the Suns have decent pitching (3.92 ERA-21st) and can score runs (711-13th) with good power (182 HR-9th)... they are a pretty fair ballclub in a division packed with strong teams... top pitchers are Fernando Campos (17-12/3.79), Enrique Lopez (19-16/4.09), Dwayne McMahon (15-13/3.73) and Anthony Lombardi (17-18/4.05)... best bats are 2B Thomas Rutherford (.305/17/91/82), 1B Matt Moore (.283/20/65/70) and SS Don Colby (.268/15/67/77).

7. Colchester: even the seventh place Elites compiled a .500 mark (21 GB)... last year they were 18 games under .500 and 29 GB in sixth place... for six years in a row the Elites have been a second-division club... they have not won a Pro Cup in the team history... and last played in the postseason in 2036... Colchester is just an average team... Lacey Foxx (18-10/3.36), Dan Scott (17-15/3.66) and Dave Lacoste (13-16/3.69) are the most effective starters... superstar CF Blake Barrister was third in homers and RBIs in the IPA... he had 48 HRs and 134 RBIs, while batting .265... 3B Joey Rogers chipped in a team high .311 BA with 9 HRs, 62 RBIs and 91 runs... rookie 1B Ace Diamond added 34 HRs and 95 RBIs, but batted only .228.

8. Ginza: the Ninjas came in last in the division (28 GB), but were only 10 games under .500... they were fifth last season (22 GB)... the Ninjas haven't been in the playoffs for 11 years and have never won a Pro Cup... the have a fairly good offense with 709 runs (14th), .259 BA (15th) and 174 HRs (11th), but a poor pitching staff with a 4.37 ERA (27th)... superstar All-Star CF Sogo Takagi (.305/23/80/111) and All-Star SS Sam Essex (.305/26/107/74) were the only real threats in the line-up... and LF Ichiro Kazumi (.273/17/63/98) had a fair season... RF Scott Sparks hit 27 homers, but batted only .247... Charley Waskins led the club in victories with an 18-17 mark with a 4.24 ERA... Emil Kaltenborn was second with a 12-20 record and a 4.01 ERA... tops in the bullpen was Timmy Hickens with a 9-5 record, 17 saves and a standout 2.03 ERA.