[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, September 22, 2044

SEASON RECAP AND PRO CUP FORECAST:
Southport chalked its third consecutive Tycobbian South championship in easy fashion with a 17-game bulge over second place Summerland... the Sun Sox built up a 15-game margin by the All-Star Game and never looked back... they won 104 games, the most in the IPA this season... and will be one of the Pro Cup favorites again this year...5 times the Sun Sox have been to the postseason... they won their only Pro Cup in 2027... the Sun Sox were highly favored to win it the last two seasons, but they came up empty both times and were eliminated in the first round... once again for the third year in a row the Sun Sox have been made the top pick in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup poll to capture the Pro Cup.

Clubs have won 100 games a total of 18 times in IPA history.. only three of the "100 Win" Club have gone all the way and captured the Pro Cup... Colfax did it in 2008... Turon in 2018... and the Sligo Rovers in 2021... Ozarka is the leader as they have reached the 100-victory mark three times in its history... 2016, 2018 and 2021... sadly the Naturals have never won the Pro Cup, but they have been a finalist five times.

Southport had an outstanding season and dominated the IPA with a .271 BA (3rd), 822 runs (1st), 172 HRs (9th) and a splendid 2.91 ERA (2nd)... heading up the pitching corps was Johnny Swanson (25-10/2.61) and Billy Hoover (21-14/2.38)... Swanson finished third in the IPA in wins behind Jay Murphy (27-8/2.59) of South Fork and Tommy Carter (26-8/2.47) of Kenwood... Hoover has been a 20-game winner for the last three seasons... the other starters were Gordon Forbes (18-10/3.43) and Brandon Delmore (12-7/3.82)... the relief corps is also outstanding, led by Hal Combs (11-1/1.54/16 saves) and Wayne Stewart (6-2/1.53/10 saves)... the Sun Sox don't have any great bats, but has a lot of good ones... 1B Eddy Douglas (.293/32/88/79) and CF Barney Douglas (.300/28/85/75) are the prime producers with lots of help from LF Chris Jones (.323/4/64/79), SS Gonzalo Topez (.304/5/46/65), C Vasilis Vlachos (.283/17/74/69), 2B Owen Wallace (.316/5/50/59) and 3B Craig Glennon (.274/15/61/52).

For the 10th time in 11 seasons the North Hills Hawks have copped the Tycobbian North Division... this time around they outlasted the Blue Lake Blue Sox, Luxora Zorros and fast-closing Hartsdale Hellcats by 4 games... it's the 12th time the Hawks have made the postseason, thus giving them a crack at a record-setting fifth Pro Cup... North Hills is currently tied with the Turon Typhoons of the TU South for the most IPA titles... the Hawks won in 2034, 2036, 2038 and 2041... the Hawks, the number-two selection, have their work cut out for them, they meet favorite Southport in first-round action.

North Hills is a very solid ballclub with a .278 BA (2nd), 764 runs (3rd), 163 HRs (11th) with a fine 3.26 ERA (7th)... top Hawk hurlers are starters David Michael (23-13/2.64) and Tony Mack (22-12/2.70)... in 15 years the 37-yer-old Michael is 274-194 with a 3.01 ERA... Mack, age 32, has won 20 games for five of the last six seasons... Butch Cortelloni (15-9/3.36) and Joey Santini (16-15/3.94) are credible starters, too... Kyle Oliver (5-4/1.86/11 saves) was tops in the bullpen... best batters were superstar LF Adam Thurgood (.315/37/111/110), 1B Oscar Pendleton (.345/23/69/63), SS Tommy Vavas (.297/16/78/95), C Timmy Stevens (.304/13/69/76), 3B Ric Hamilton (.314/12/64/57) and 2B Jim McDermott (.272/16/70/82).

Four teams tussled back-and-forth throughout the year for supremacy in the rugged Ruthlandian East Division with Wynnamac finally hauling in the pennant in a three-way playoff... the Sundowners slammed defending champ Sugar Valley 13-7 in the playoff opener and then won the title with a 7-3 triumph over Elnora... Wynnamac whipped the Rattlers and All-Stars by one and a half games... Cold Creek was also in the running, winding up just 3 games back in fourth place... all of the first division clubs won 94 or more games.

This was the Sundowners second RU East division title in the last three seasons... they led the Ruthlandian Union with 98 victories, second best to Southport of the Tycobbian South, who notched 104 wins to top the IPA... last year they were fourth, but only 4 games off the pace... the Sundowners have racked up one Pro Cup, but it came years ago in 2008.

Third-rated Wynnamac is a well-balanced team that does everything pretty well and it will be a potent force in the Pro Cup playoffs... .271 BA (7th), 800 runs (4th), 153 HRs (11th) and a 3.25 ERA (2nd)... two 20-game winners head a quality mound staff: Jimmy Willard (24-10/2.93) and Sammy Hayes (22-12/3.54)... with help from Shirai Nakamura (19-17/3.29) and Geoff Hobart (15-5/3.76)... the bullpen standout is Johnny Mitchell (9-5/1.67/12 saves)... Willard was a godsend this year... at 37 the journeyman hurler tied for fourth in the IPA with 24 wins... only three Tycobbian twirlers Jay Murphy (27-8/2.59) of South Fork, Tommy Carter (26-8/2.47) of Kenwood and Johnny Swanson (25-10/2.61) of Southport were better... Willard (182-198/3.91) has seriously considered retirement the last few seasons because of mediocre performance... the top bat for the Sundowners is superstar RF Nioka Inkamara with a .321 BA, 40 homers, 131 RBIs and 114 runs scored... he was third in the IPA in RBIs and tied for sixth in scoring runs... ranked sixth in the RU with 40 homers... other fine run producers are CF Darrell Donnelly (.312/23/104/98), 1B Jack Pope (.294/19/91/94) and 3B Duane Hudson (.292/5/57/96).

Fourth ranked in the Pro Cup poll was the Red Bluff Red Sox, It was an historic season for the club, who are Pro Cup bound for the first time since 2009, a 35-year drought... in a two-team race the Red Sox outfought the South Fork Stallions in a season-long struggle, winning the Tycobbian East Division by 2 games... thus snapping the Stallions' three-year run as champ... Red Bluff trailed them by 7 games at mid-season, but they went 23-6 in a red-hot July to overtake South Fork... Tuckanarra finished a distant third, 19 games behind... and Ozarka came in fourth in the standings, 20 games back.

The Red Sox will be a force to contend with in the postseason... Red Bluff used impressive pitching and longball power to take their fifth TU East flag in its history... giving the Red Sox a shot at their second Pro Cup trophy... they last won it in 2004... never known much for its pitching, the Red Sox have steadily improved on the mound the last three seasons... going from 3.59 to 3.43 to 3.07 (3rd) in ERA... last year the team finished second with a 78-76 record, losing out by just 2 games to South Fork... this year they really stepped it up to 95-59.

The Red Sox have four fine starters in Jud Cox (21-12/2.20), Jack Wallace (20-9/2.34), Mickey Rosen (18-12/3.00) and George Reynolds (21-11/3.79)... the relief, however, is not so much with a 4.13 ERA (24th)... two players slammed over 40 homers each... Red Bluff was second with 216 HRs in the Tycobbian Union, third in the IPA behind Sugar Valley (231) and Turon (217)... super slugger RF David Kelso (.268/46/105/90) hit 45 to rank 4th in the IPA... 3B Fran Blanchard (.293/40/101/91) added 40 to the the total... CF Ike Sweetwater (.264/28/73/76) and LF Jesse Shaw (.287/17/70/89) are also reliable bats.

Picked fifth in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES postseason poll was defending IPA Pro Cup champion Valmara... The Vipers will get a chance to win it all again... they captured their second straight Ruthlandian North Division crown with a second-half 55-19 surge that blew them by second place Far Mountain (7 GB) and third place Ranford (11 GB)... the Vipers (33-38) trailed by 10 games at the All-Star Game, but revved it up and won going away by 7 games... Far Mountain (43-28) and Ranford (42-29) had the first half to themselves, but they fell apart in the last half of the campaign.

Valmara got fine pitching from its starters (3.50 ERA-6th) and great pitching from its relievers (2.23 ERA-1st)... coupled with good scoring (775 runs-7th)... that was the formula for winning the Pro Cup last year... maybe lightning will strike twice... it's doubtful the Vipers will be overlooked this year... the Viper rotation had four 20-game winners in Teddy Twardzik (20-15/3.14), Kasio Kitowsky (20-14/3.38), Zak Reeder (21-14/3.62) and Harold Hutson (22-9/3.91)... all of them are left-handers except for Reeder... closer Paul Holloway (7-3/1.09/17 saves) also had a great season in the bullpen... the top batters are 1B Cain Greene (.297/25/106/82), 3B Ken Jensen (.321/7/64/99) and CF Don Ritchie (.289/4/59/83).

The number-six selection to win the Pro Cup this year are the Kenwood Wildcats... they captured their third Tycobbian West crown in the past four years with a sizzling summertime surge... the Wildcats went 37-20 in July and August to pass the fading Denton City Redbirds, who were only 24-33... Kenwood won the title by 7 games... the Redbirds had a 5-game edge over Kenwood at the All-Star break... third place went to the Bayview Vikings, who trailed by 8 games... and in fourth place were the Arlon Champions, 11 games back... this was the fifth time in its history Kenwood has made the playoffs... the Wildcats have racked up one Pro Cup... that came in 2014.

They moved up from third place to the top spot this year, improving from 81-73 (4 GB) to 90-64... Kenwood can score fairly well with 718 runs (10th-tied), but don't have a lot of power with 136 HRs (19th-tied)... on the mound they have a good group of solid veterans, who posted a 3.50 team ERA (11th)... the baseball experts have placed the Wildcats in the middle-of-the-pack in the Pro Cup pairings.

Tommy Carter is the ace of the Kenwood mound staff with a brilliant 26-8 record and a strong 2.47 ERA... only IPA leader Jay Murphy (27-8/2.59) of South Fork had more victories... Rusty Bradford (20-14/3.94), Freddy Gooch (15-12/3.78) and Clyde Myers (18-19/3.27) are also reliable starters... tops in the bullpen is Artemus Hale (5-7/3.48/22 saves), who tied Wes Christopher (8-9/2.78) of Fairfax and Timmy Hickens (11-12/3.09) of Ginza for the IPA lead with 22 saves... leading the Wildcats hitters are superstar C Corky DiNozzo (.335/36/109/91), 3B Country Crowder (.320/2/48/102), CF Warren Vickers (.271/17/77/94) and 1B Bert Henrich (.267/23/72/70).

Sportwriters and broadcasters placed Rocky Rapids in the number-seven spot in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Pro Cup balloting... Preseason pick Rocky Rapids lived up to its billing and won the Ruthlandian West Division for the first time in 24 years... in a season-long duel the Snappers held off the Middlefield Roosters and Forest City Lumberjacks, finishing 5 games in front of them... fourth place went to the Stoner Stars, who trailed by 10 games... defending division champ Volusia came in fifth and 11 games back.

Rocky Rapids has steadily improved over the last six seasons, coming in fourth twice, moving up to third the next three years and then rising up to the top spot in the RU West this season... the Snappers were 79-75 (13 GB) in 2043, upping their record to 85-69 this year... they have only appeared in the postseason four times in their history... the last time was in 2020... but the Snappers have won a Pro Cup (2019).

They have pretty good pitching with a 3.60 ERA (10th) and can score runs... Rocky Rapids ranked 8th in scoring with 770 runs... they only have average power with 132 HRs (18th-tied)... the Snappers have two excellent starters in Jamie Taylor (21-12/3.01) and Randy Peters (19-14/3.00)... and a good closer in Steve Owens (10-9/2.74/10 saves)... three players provide most of the offense: 2B Marty Featherstone (.300/30/107/100), C Carney Kirkpatrick (.298/12/77/77) and 3B Duncan Musselwhite (.295/5/52/85)... the baseball prognosticators don't expect much out of the Snappers in the Pro Cup playoffs.

According to the pollsters, the least-likely winner of the Pro Cup trophy this year is Crystal Lake... for the second year in a row Crystal Lake is the best team in the Ruthlandian South Division... the Crushers got off to a great start, had a good lead at mid-season, then had to fend off several contenders down the stretch... Crystal Lake nudged out two fast-closing clubs, Waleska by 2 games and St. John by 3 games... Claxton bombed out in late summer and finished fourth, trailing by 5 games... the San Dimas Rancheros faded in the last two months and slipped 7 games back and came in fifth.

Crystal Lake didn't have much power with 123 HRs (26th), but they could put runs on the scoreboard with a .281 BA (2nd) and 780 runs (6th)... pitching was adequate with a 3.90 ERA (17th)... defense just average (.972 FA)... the Crushers have racked up 9 pennants in their history and won two Pro Cups (2020 and 2022)... they have won three division flags in the last 5 years... Eddie Lane (15-5/2.93) is the ace of the staff with help from Dave McCauley (16-15/3.93) and Ken Lawson (16-14/3.93)... the bullpen is handled mainly by Clyde Thompson (8-7/3.66/19 saves) and Josh Crosby (13-9/3.13/16 saves)... at the plate the club leaders are 1B Daryl Brady (.325/20/89/83), CF Kenny Gray (.331/22/77/59), RF Paul Dillon (.322/11/82/88) and 3B Marv Roy (.288/25/105/74)... the Crushers can compete on the scoreboard, but not on the mound.