[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 18

NO CLEAR FAVORITE IN IPA PLAYOFFS
With the 46th IPA postseason getting started this Wednesday afternoon, the baseball experts are in a quandary... there is no clear-cut favorite in the Pro Cup playoffs this year... the winner could come from any number of teams... in The Islandian Times Pro Cup Poll, the nod went to defending Pro Cup champion Sugar Valley (93-61) of the Ruthlandian East with its big, high-scoring bats and capable pitching... the Rattlers can rattle the fences with the likes of playing manager and super-duper star Bobby Gamble (.312/37/103/104), superstar Carl Ramsey (.297/41/129/113) and star Roger Hobbs (.292/34/83/117)... they also have standout starters in Cullen Winslow (22-10/2.59), Joe Snow (22-7/2.95) and Antonio Cedeno (23-13/2.58)... the relief corps is strong, too, with Christopher Dunsberry (3-4/2.51/11 saves) and Domenico Renterias (5-7/2.99/8 saves)... Sugar Valley is given just a fair chance at repeating... there are just too many evenly-match teams... toss out the baseball and make your choice.

The oddsmaker chose Hartsdale (98-56) of the Tycobbian North for the number two pick, citing its IPA-leading 98 triumphs, solid starters and productive attack... heading up the Hellcats are four 20-game winners in Gil Younger (28-9/2.54), Perry Givens (20-9/3.43), Dave Payne (20-9/3.18) and Kippy Wilhelm (20-16/3.63)... Younger was the second most prolific pitcher in the IPA after 30-game winner Jamie Taylor of Rocky Rapids... the Hellcats can hammer the ball, too, with John Ford (30 HRs), Robinson Alomar (30 HRs), Greg Melton (28 HRs), Emilian Burgess (18 HRs) and Darrell Nesbitt (14 HRs).. they led the IPA with 806 runs and can pile up a lot of runs in a hurry with a .274 BA (4th) and 187 HRs (6th)... Frank Penn topped the team with a .341 BA with Burgess second at .316... Melton scored 109 runs, Burgess 106 and Nesbitt 103... Ford was the club leader in RBIs with 100 and Alomar had 88, Melton 82 and Burgess 79.

The number three selection in the Pro Cup Poll was the powerful Rocky Rapids Snappers (94-60)... on paper they look to be the best club in the postseason and would be a prohibitve pick to win it all should they get by Sugar Valley in the first round series... it won't be a big upset if the Snappers dethrone the Rattlers... they have the home-field advantage in the best-of-seven series... their offense is awesome and the mound corps is led by Jamie Taylor, who had a brilliant recording-setting season with 30 wins and a 1.85 ERA... often in the playoffs the key to winning is the secondary starters... number three starters play a crucial role in the postseason outcome... Buster Noland (20-11/3.00) and Robby Barnhill (19-16/3.09) will have to come through for the Snappers to go all the way... the Snappers have six .300 hitters in the starting lineup, sparked by Marty Featherstone, who had a fabulous season with 129 RBIs, 118 runs, 39 homers and a .303 BA... Featherstone led the IPA in runs and ranked third in RBIs... other solid contributors were Duncan Musselwhite (.319/6/51/118), Jose Ramos (.337/14/78/96), Buddy Hamilton (.303/32/102/91), Carney Kirkpatrick (.304/15/70/76) and Nick Nova (.337/8/50/42)... Masaharu Kawasaki also had a fine year, batting .287 with 18 roundtrippers, 83 RBIs and 66 runs scored.

Rating fourth in the voting were the Summerland Sunsets (94-60), who are unbelievable on the mound, posting an absurdly low 2.62 team ERA... they also won the toughest division in the IPA, the Tycobbian South, where six clubs had winning records... Jayson Hallstrom (22-10/2.15), Jacob Gillen (21-8/2.360, Dutch De Boer (19-10/2.64) and Pete Ashley (15-7/2.61/10 saves) are a fearsome bunch to face... however, scoring runs are a real big problem for the Sunsets, ranking 25th in scoring, while batting only .251 (21st)... the most dependable and relible batters are Kenny Douglas (.306/20/82/69), Alex Abbotson (.261/20/84/85) and Rick Mayes (.270/21/60/82)... such a lackluster offense really hurt Summerland in the poll.

The Pro Cup prognosticators chose the big bats of the Red Bluff Red Sox (93-61) fifth best in the balloting... they ripped 252 roundtrippers to again easily top the IPA, combining with a couple of highly-rated starters in Jud Cox (26-8/1.88) and Mickey Rosen (21-13/2.89) to make the Red Sox a potent force in the postseason... only Rocky Rapids' Taylor and Gil Younger of Hartsdale had more victories than Cox with 30 and 28 respectively... the Red Sox's biggest shortcoming is its question-mark bullpen, headed up by Carson Jamara (7-8/3.80/19 saves)... the biggest plus the Red Sox have is the terrific trio of David Kelso (.302/51/106/98), Josh Stevens (.329/49/111/96) and Fran Blanchard (.317/41/100/92)... they all slammed 40 or more homers and batted in over 100 runs each... Kelso was runner-up to IPA HR leader Jerry Culpepper of Bayview... Culpepper edged him out for the title 52 to 51... Stevens came in fourth with 49... and Blanchard tenth with 41.

The Valmara Vipers (95-59) paced the Ruthlandian Union with 95 wins... they are a rock-solid club with a fine pitching staff, but a suspect offense... that's why the pro pickers downgraded the Vips to number six in The Islandian Times Pro Cup preview... they have a lot of good contact hitters, but no superstuds in the lineup... Valmara still batted .277 (2nd), ranked fourth in runs with 740, but possessed little power with only 113 homers (22nd)... the Vipers top hitters were Ken Jensen (.353/7/51/65/93), Jorge Aparicio (.334/7/60/89) and Don Ritchie (.289/4.82/95)... Jensen led the RU with a .351 BA, second to Rikky Van Dalen's IPA best .352 for Cape Coral in the Tycobbian Union... Primo Sirak (24-8/1.96) and Teddy Twardzik (24-12/2.69) had really impressive seasons... and Valmara is also blessed with a great closer in Paul Holloway (10-2/1.74/16 saves)... scoring runs will be the key factor in their Pro Cup run, along with a number three starter.

The Kenwood Wildcats (92-62) are another team that looks great statistically with terrific pitching, hitting and scoring, but that didn't get a lot of respect in the poll... they were the seventh pick... the Wildcats have a good pair of starters in Rusty Bradford (22-6/2.75/6 saves) and Tommy Carter (20-10/2.42), along with a capable number three man in Gregg Campbell (19-11/3.35)...closer Mike Jones (3-5/2.14/18 saves) did very well in relief, too... and Corky DiNozzo (.332/41/103/82), 2B Country Crowder (.328/2/55/90), SS Ben Daniels (.302/26/78/74) and LF Warren Vickers (.296/15/70/79) provided a steady diet of runs... the critics are not impressed with Kenwood's overall depth on the hill and at the plate.

No one is giving the Claxton Diamonds (85-69) much support in the Pro Cup quest... they were the number eight choice in the voting... the Diamonds have a good starting four in Abe Schiffman (20-12/2.96/2 saves), Stan Yudash (21-17/3.43), Steve Ellison (19-15/3.28) and Gilbert Clagsdale (13-9/3.27/6 saves)... but don't impress offensively with a mediocre .254 BA (24th) and 112 HRs (23rd-tied)... superstar Jojo DeLucca (.266/16/105/85) had a sub-par season after winning the RU MVP and Golden Bat last year, but still drove in 105 runs... other offensive providers were Rick Emery (.266/22/81/77), Rick Clayburne (.301/4/68/77) and Roger Jackson (.269/6/43/104).