[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 17, 2046

IPA CHAMP SUGAR VALLEY BREEZES TO 3RD FLAG IN 4 YEARS
The Sugar Valley Rattlers (93-61) methodically marched to its third Ruthlandian East title in four years and will return to defend its IPA crown in the Pro Cup playoffs starting this Wednesday... although the field is fairly wide open, the experts think the Rattlers are quite capable of repeating as the best team in the Islands... they built up a 5-game edge at mid-season and then expanded it to 12 games by season's end... Eastshore (81-73) came in second with Wynnamac (80-74) and Elnora (80-74) tied for third, trailing by 13 games.

1. SUGAR VALLEY: the Rattlers are blessed with great pitching and hitting and will be one of the Pro Cup favorites in a crowd of contenders... seven of the eight playoff teams are predicted to be in the running for the Pro Cup trophy... only Claxton, the RU South representative, was left off the list... Sugar Valley was sparked by starters Antonio Cedeno (23-13/2.58), Cullen Winslow (22-10/2.59) and Joe Snow (22-7/2.95)... the bullpen is strong, too, with Christopher Dunsberry (3-4/2.51/11 saves) and Domenico Renterias (5-7/2.99/8 saves)... while the batting order is filled with powerful hitters in IPA superstar and last year's Pro Cup MVP LF Bobby Gamble (.312/37/103/104), super slugger CF Carl Ramsey (.297/41/129/113) and talented SS Roger Hobbs (.292/34/84/117)... Ramsey finished second in the IPA with 129 RBIs and seventh in scoring with 113 runs... Hobbs came in third in scoring with 117 runs... other solid contributors were 2B Richie Fry (.297/10/67/84) and 3B Kent Rasmus (.287/12/60/75)... the eight regulars in the lineup hit at least 10 homers each... the Rattlers were tops in the RU with 208 home runs... only two Tycobbian teams hit more... Red Bluff led with 252 and Turon was second with 216.

2. EASTSHORE: it was a good year for the second place Elegants... Tommy Brown (22-12/3.67) was the club leader in wins... Malcolm Tansbury (14-16/2.79) had the best ERA... and closer Jody Friday (13-4/1.88/11 saves) had a great season with 85 appearances, second to Tom Cook (10-6/2.68/16 saves) of Belair Beach, who led the IPA with 89... leading the offense were three talented players RF Todd McFarland (.283/34/112/109), LF Bevan Shuler (.294/28/90/114) and 40-year-old star 2B Johnny Petrak (.311/20/104/89)... Petrak is a .316 career hitter in his 13 IPA seasons.

3. WYNNAMAC: the Sundowners won the RU East in 2042 and 2044 and have been third the last two years (14 GB and 13 GB)... Sammy Hayes (22-14/2.39) topped the starters in victories and ERA... Ciaran Gallagher (13-7/3.46/3 saves) was a good fourth starter and long reliever... Shirai Nakamura (17-18/2.95) lost a lot of games due to poor run support... closer Johnny Mitchell (7-5/2.46/14 saves) had another impressive season... superstar RF Nioka Inkamara (.292/40/91/98) paced the club in homers and RBIs... 3B Duane Hudson (.306/4/57/91) had the most hits with 172 and the best BA... and CF Darrell Donnelly (.287/15/81/99) topped the team in scoring runs with 99.

3. ELNORA: the up-and-down All-Stars regrouped after a seventh place finish in 2045 with a tie for third this season, after winning 96 games in 2044 and tying for second... vet Stan Kivas (22-9/3.20) and Emilio Travanti (17-14/4.19) were the biggest winners among the starters... closer Jamie Patranga (6-4/2.38) was the best in the bullpen... Elnora has a high-powered attack featuring RF Preston Davies (.294/41/113/101), LF Enos Conrad (.324/16/60/85), C Cannon Johnson (.273/21/86/85), 2B Marley Macomber (.304/22/89/72) and 1B Joey Hagburn (.323/10/54/70).

5. COLD CREEK: after five pennants and 13 straight first-division finishes, the Catamounts have floundered the last two seasons, winding up fifth this year (16 GB) and sixth in 2045 (21 GB)... they no longer have the great pitching and have slipped to just an average staff with the retirement of IPA icon J. J. Gillespie, who was 294-170 with a terrific 2.46 ERA in 17 seasons... three times Gillespie was the RU MVP and five times he was acclaimed the Golden Arm... Gillespie was named to the IPA Hall of Fame this year... Sammy Wright (18-14/3.13) and Riku Takahashi (17-7/4.09) had the most wins, but Terry Owens (9-7/2.63/2 saves) and Rob Hutchins (16-17/2.71) were the most effective... Cold Creek had only two decent bats in the lineup: 3B Joe Cochrane (.312/21/91/86) and rookie 1B Bradley Brim (.303/9/72/58).

6. BEECHWOOD: this season the Bobcats dropped from second (8 GB) to sixth place (21 GB) as the both offense and the pitching failed them... 1B Corky Callahan (.283/34/95/70), 2B Mike Matthews (.287/16/77/89) and LF Clint Scott (.265/23/64/81) were the most productive batters... and 2045 Golden Arm winner Jimmy Herman (16-19/2.48) was the only effective starter, but was snake-bitten by the lack of runs.

7. MARSTON: the Nine had their first .500 season in about a decade in 2045, but slipped back from fifth place (17 GB) to seventh in the RU East standings (22 GB)... top arms in the starting rotation were Thomas Stuart (17-15/2.92) and Jean-Noel Waldron (10-10/3.48)... number one in the pen was Kiki Vuk (7-8/2.38/14 saves)... heading up the hitters were star SS Stan Mila (.291/23/89/64) and 2B Gary Armitage (.305/22/69/90).

8. BELLE PLAINE: the hopeless Musketeers came last in the division (24 GB) for the seventh time in the last 16 seasons... five of those years they were seventh... Phil Lacey (20-15/3.66) was the only capable starter... and Kurt Tandberg (9-3/3.49/15 saves) did well in the bullpen... at the plate CF Roy Myers (.322/18/66/63) and C Nuke Borg (.311/11/63/55) had the best BAs, while 1B Chuck Gregory (.278) was tops with 27 homers, 87 RBIs and 77 runs.

2046 FINAL RUTHLANDIAN EAST STANDINGS AND TEAM STATISTICS.