[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 18, 2045

HAWKS FLY HIGH AGAIN IN TU NORTH
It has been a wonderful decade for the North Hills Hawks of the Tycobbian North... for the 11th time in a dozen seasons they were the top team in the division... however, this time around they really had to work for it... it was a very close photo finish... North Hills just barely skimmed by the hard-closing Hartsdale Hellcats by a scant one game to win the pennant... the Hellcats were six games back at the All-Star break, but came on the second half and lost out by a nose... Hartsdale won seven of its final eight games and almost caught them... the Blue Lake Blue Sox came in third, losing out by five games and fourth place went to the revitalized Oxford Red Caps, who wound up 6 games off the pace... the Blue Sox and Red Caps stayed close throughout the season, but could never close the gap with North Hills.

The Hawks won four Pro Cups from 2034 to 2041, but they don't have the same dominant team as in those years... for the first time in quite a few seasons, North Hills will not be one of the favorites to take the Pro Cup... they are older and don't have the powerful pitching anymore... most of the Hawks are well into their 30's now.

1. North Hills is nonetheless a solid team... vets 38-year-old David Michael (21-18/3.58) and 33-year-old Tony Mack (16-17/3.12) are still capable starters, but are past their primes... Alex Peters (17-6/3.20) is now the club ace... after 17 years Michael is approching 300 victories... he is 295-212 with a fine 3.05 ERA... he is especially potent in the postseason and possesses a 20-11 record and a great 2.25 ERA in 35 starts... 34-year-old superstar All-Star Adam Thurgood (.305/39/118/95) still anchors the attack... he made the All-Stars for the ninth time in his illustrious career... Thurgood is a lifetime .314 batter with 450 homers and shoo-in first-ballot Hall-of-Famer... 3B Jim McDermott (.301/17/91/90) and 2B Tommy Vavas (.259/15/63/105) are the other good run producers on the club... the Hawks' bats are not as good as they were in the Pro Cup glory days... defensively the Hawks are excellent with a .979 FA.

2. Hartsdale has been a thorn in the side for North Hills in recent years... the Hellcats snapped their pennant string at eight in 2042 and have played them off their feet the last two years, winding up 88-66 in 2044 (4 GB) and 89-65 this season just one game behind... the Hellcats have made the playoffs seven times in history, but are still seeking their first Pro Cup trophy... Kippy Wilhelm (13-6/2.88), Gil Younger (18-17/3.74), Perry Givens (17-13/3.54) and Dave Payne (16-15/3.95) are a solid starting rotation... and All-Star Alfonso Cervera (9-3/1.33/21 saves) and Wayne Dawson (3-2/2.95) were strong in relief... Cervera led the IPA in saves... leading the Hellcats' offense were RF Emilian Burgess (.299/22/60/97), CF Darrell Nesbitt (.267/17/64/94), 3B Greg Melton (.270/19/70/83), 2B Myrt Breland (.297/14/64/50) and 1B John Ford (.272/26/87/67)... the future is bright in Hartsdale.

3. Blue Lake has used its good pitching staff the last four seasons to contend with North Hills and Hartsdale... last year they were 88-66 (4 GB) and in a three-way tie for second place with Hartsdale and Luxora... this year they slipped to 85-60 (5 GB), still good for the third spot in the standings... Blue Lake can score (5th) and they can pitch (3.34 ERA-7th)... 40-year-old ace Frankie Quinn (23-9/2.10) is still going strong... he is now fourth all-time in wins with a 366-263 mark... only Nicky Engstrom (387-218), Cody Burg (369-264) and Augie Marquis (368-300) are ahead of him... the top two are retired and Marquis is still active at age 39... Quinn was fifth in wins and ERA this year in the IPA... giving him able help are Van Johnson (14-11/3.69), Greg Mortimer (17-15/3.70) and Sal Mays (10-11/3.46)... Razzy Richmond (9-12/3.25/16 saves) headed up the relief corps... he was eratic, but still ranked seventh in the Tycobbian Union with 16 saves in 72 appearances... leaders in the batter's box were 3B Rick Bridges (.287/26/93/77), 1B Mel Morrison (.286/23/86/80), RF Johnny Harding (.307/17/73/75), 2B Kinji Hashimoto (.271/15/86/82) and CF Raddy Pajak (.259/16/71/85)... two veteran regulars LF Jack Ryan (.318/8/29/49) and 3B Matt Thompson (.266/6/33/47) boycotted the first two months of the season in salary disputes.

4. Oxford hasn't had a good team in seven years... they came in second in 2037 (9 GB)... but the Red Caps did well this season rising up from 60-94 in 2044 (32 GB) to 84-70 and fourth place (6 GB)... Oxford won one Pro Cup in its history back in 2007... they have appeared in the postseason just five times... the Red Caps were a good and steady team this year with no bad months... the mound corps had three quality starters in Rudy Mellancamp (21-15/2.90), Tekkan Nishikawa (19-9/3/15) and Ralph Mosby (12-18/3.33)... Kelly Long (10-2/3.40/9 saves) was the tops in the pen... none of the bats hit for average, but did have a little pop... leading the way were All-Star C Glen Lee (.301/13/51/53), 3B Alonso Norris (.264/27/78/98) and CF Kevin Carter (.242/24/96/80).

5. Luxora was up last season with a three-way tie for second with Hartsdale and Blue Lake... they went 88-66 (4 GB)... but his year was a downer and they fell to 74-80 and fifth place (16 GB), tied with Fairfax... the Zorros have made the playoffs 11 times in their history, but not recently... 2031 was the last time... the Z's have never won a Pro Cup... among the starters Joao Damaso (16-15/3.27), Lorenzo Alonso (16-11/3.74) and Kent Halloran (13-16/3.40) were the most reliable... closer Jerry Jankins (11-4/2.22/19 saves) had a really nice season, ranking fourth in the IPA in saves with 19 in 73 appearances... offensively All-Star LF Derrek Jackson (.359/32/106/95) was the leader of the pack... he led the IPA in batting average with a .359 mark, third with 203 hits and was fourth with 36 doubles... at 33 Jackson is getting better with age... RF Emil Pasek (.291/24/78/91) and 1B Joel Poche (.322/14/49/56) chipped some offense, too... Poche was a boycotter and missed one-third of the season... ditto for 2B Ramiro Munos (.313/0/28/36).

5. Fairfax was sixth last year, going 75-79 (17 GB) and 74-80 this year (16 GB) tied with Luxora for fifth place... in its history Fairfax has never won a Pro Cup yet, but has appeared eight times in the playoffs... 2032 and 2033 were the most recent years... the Frogs hit well for average (.274-2nd), but have little power... pitching is mediocre (3.95-26th)... All-Star C Scott Courtney (.352/25/99/85) and SS Demont Beauchamp (.341/5/52/77) were two of the top hitters in the IPA, ranking second and fourth... Luxora's Derrek Jackson (.359) and Claxton's Jojo DeLucca (.349) were first and third respectively... All-Star 2B Ferrell Dillard (.292/6/64/65) and RF Bobby Joe Daniel (.321/1/44/69) hit for average, but lacked pop... boycotters 2B John Velasco (.329/10/43/55) and CF Trent Russell (.277/16/63/56) could have added much needed power and production to the line-up, especially during the bad months of April and May... ace Harold Dorman (14-5/2.76) was greatly missed in the boycott months, too... reliever Wes Christopher (11-8/2.44) worked in 96 games and chalked up 20 saves in a splendid season... he easily led the IPA in games and was third in saves.

7. White River had a good year three years ago, coming in a fairly close second to division champ North Hills (5 GB) with an 88-66 record... but the Rascals have slumped since to 76-78 in 2044 (16 GB) and 66-88 this year (24 GB)... only four times in its IPA history has Fairfax been to the playoffs... never winning a Pro Cup... the last postseason appearance was back in 2027... the only good thing the Rascals did this season was to hit 194 homers, ranking second in the Tycobbian Union to record-busting Red Bluff's amazing 283... LF Billy Joe Hickman (.266) led the club with 154 hits, 40 homers, 107 RBIs and 98 runs... 2B Warren McKenzie had the best average at .313 and was second with 26 homers and 77 RBIs... starters Clem Warren (13-6/3.73) and Trent Anderson (10-9/3.86) were the most dependable... however, both of them sat out April and May during the boycott dispute.

8. Mahaska has been a last-place club for three years now, getting worse each season... the Haymakers were 60-94 in 2043 (33 GB), 58-96 last season (34 GB) and 57-97 this year (33 GB)... they have made the playoffs only four times... 2028 was the last time... still no Pro Cups... 39-year-old Freddy Pfeffer (11-18/4.08) was the only decent pitcher on the team... SS Rocco Bertara (.284/8/48/51) had the best BA on the club with .284, but he sat out two months in the player boycott... C James Boswell (.229/37/91/73) led in homers, runs and RBIs, but hit a very poor .229... 1B Roger Lewis (.248/24/62/55) was second in homers with 24... and 3B Goose Fulton (.261/20/66/68) was third with 20... Mahaska is really a miserable team.