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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, July 1, 2045
IPA MID-YEAR ROUNDUP
Four of the pennant winners from last year took up where they left off and are on top of their respective divisions again... Rocky Rapids, Red Bluff, North Hills and Pro Cup champion Southport are riding high in first place again... a fifth champ Valmara is just a game out of first... as far as the other three winners, Kenwood has dipped to fourth... Wynnamac and Crystal Lake have plunged to seventh place.
The Glasco Athletics are the surprise team of the year, resting in first place in the Ruthlandian North with an IPA-leading 55 victories, but the A's have last year's division champ Valmara right on their heels, just a game back... there are no other challengers in the RU North with third-place LaGrange and Kilkenny 11 games out.
In the Ruthlandian South the Claxton Diamonds are much improved over last season... they have a 4-game edge over perennial loser Grand City at midseason... the Cybercats were sixth last year and rarely even make the first division... but they are hanging close this year... pitching has bombed out for the defending division champion Crystal Lake... the Crushers are 17 games off the pace and in seventh place.
In the Ruthlandian East, Sugar Valley has been a serious contender for the last decade and has the lead at the halfway point... the Rattlers are up by 3 games over Beechwood, 6 ahead of Eastshore and 7 in front of Cold Creek... Sugar Valley was hindered by the boycott loss of three of their prime starters for the first two months of the season... otherwise they might have a double-digit bulge... watch them take off now that they are back in the rotation... last year's strong clubs, division champ Wynnamac Sundowners and runner-up Elnora All-Stars, have encountered problems and fallen deep into the second division... the All-Stars are sixth and 11 games behind, while the Sundowners have slipped to seventh and 13 GB... Wynnamac's main offense thrust outfielder Nioka Inkamara went out for two months recently with an injured hamstring... Inkamara already has missed April and May out on boycott... when he returned he blistered the ball at a .351 clip with 6 homers and 25 RBIs in June... Inkamara will be severely missed.
The Rocky Rapids Snappers are still ruling the roost in the Ruthlandian West and they have a 4-game margin over the tough Middlefield Roosters, 7 up on the Stoner Stars and 9 ahead of the Volusia Vigilantes... it looks like a race between the Snappers and the Roosters... Rocky Rapids still rang up 53 wins despite the loss of #2 starter Randy Peters and star 3B Duncan Musselwhite... Peters is 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA since he resigned in June... Musselwhite has hit a sizzling .343 since he came back from the boycott... the Roosters' #3 starter Larry Wheelhouse boycotted the first two months of the year, but has now signed and was 2-4 in June, but with a super 2.29 ERA... talented slugger Alejandro Dominguez was also a boycotter... his big bat came back in June and he hit .266 with 6 homers and 14 RBIs... it should be a down-to-wire battle between the Snappers and Roosters... Stoner will have a better offense the second half with the return of boycotters 3B Ralph Sackett and 1B Richie Strickland, two of their best batters... Volusia got its ace Drew Selby back in June and he has gone 4-2 so far with a 3.72 ERA... he missed about 13 starts sitting it out in the pay dispute... the Stars and Vigilantes could also get back in the mix and make it one heck of race.
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