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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 16, 2047
ROOSTERS RULE IN RU WEST
Picked to be a tight three-team race, it turned out to be a cockwalk for the favored Middlefield Roosters (95-59), who ruled the Ruthlandian West by 11 games this season... it was their third pennant in seven years... Rocky Rapids (84-70) and Volusia (84-70) tied for the runner-up spot with Forest City (83-71) in fourth and 12 games off the pace... Middlefield has all the ingredients needed to win the Pro Cup... the Roosters have the pitching, firepower and scoring to be very dangerous in the postseason... they rather easily dominated a pretty strong division where five of the squads posted winning records... a number equalled by the Tycobbian South Division.
Middlefield hasn't won the Pro Cup since 2005... this just might be their year... the Roosters have the best starting pitching, best bullpen and best power in the Ruthlandian Union... they came in third in victories with 95, topped only by Far Mountain with 101 and Marston with 96... the starting rotation is excellent with All-Star James Long (23-10/2.05), Larry Wheelhouse (21-13/2.71) and Carroll Collier (19-13/2.88)... Ray Owens (6-7/2.48/15 saves) is the bullpen ace... All-Star C Johnny McDonald (.351/10/48/81) is the club leader with a .351 BA... he led the RU in batting and placed third in the IPA behind Country Crowder (Kenwood) at .389 and Stan Ferguson (Cape Coral) at .374... All-Star Sidney Conner (.289/47/126/94) had a super year leading the RU with 47 homers and ranking second to Jason Butler's 129 RBIs for Belair Beach... other valuable contributors were CF Norman Antonioni (.273/39/88/73), SS Jimmy Beach (.305/23/74/78) and 2B Ike Gary (.266/16/71/76).
Twice in the last four seasons the Rocky Rapids Snappers have won the division flag... they were the defending champ, but slipped at the plate and on the scoreboard this year... the Snappers still possess good pitching... All-Star starter Dirk Halstad (21-12/2.25), Buster Noland (22-8/3.10) and Jamie Taylor (19-20/2.58) were a potent group... last year Taylor won 30 games, an all-time IPA record, and garnered the RU MVP Award and the Golden Arm, but the offense burned him this year... the starters also suffered because of an inferior bullpen... closer Steve Owens (6-4/20 saves) was first in the Ruthlandian Union with 20 saves and third in the IPA behind Southport's Hal Combs (24 saves) and Blue Lake's Razzy Richmond (23 saves), but he had a sky-high 4.20 ERA... the Snappers were only average in batting and runs... the team BA fell from .278 to .252 this year... All-Star 2B Marty Featherstone (.291/27/94/100) and 1B Masaharu Kawasaki (.281/27/103/84) were strong bats, but they had little help except from C Carney Kirkpatrick (.266/12/80/60) and 3B Duncan Musselwhite (.285/8/64/86).
The Volusia Vigilantes rose up from sixth to second this year with much improved hitting and pitching... the starting foursome was good, paced by Drew Selby (22-8/3.27), Will Thompson (20-15/3.35), rookie Casimiro Ramires (14-10/3.11) and rookie Alvaro Spinosa (12-10/3.50)... three All-Stars sparked the batting order: C George Ruffino (.284/30/91/67), 2B Cazzie Carvalho (.306/23/96/85) and 1B Kris Wilson (.335/20/80/82)... RF Lonny Womack (.297/22/93/94), LF Derek Jorstad (.284/9/59/76) and SS Duane Blayney (.297/20/58/72) were solid bats, too.
Fourth place Forest City had good pitching, but didn't score runs... therefore they missed the postseason for the 35th consecutive season... 2013 was the last time the Lumberjacks appeared in the Pro Cup playoffs... the 'Jacks had quality starters in Omar Cordero (23-13/2.99), Rusty Howard (16-19/2.86), John McKee (13-14/2.54) and Walter Gibbons (13-12/3.55) and the bullpen was adequate with Richie Meyers (6-5/3.16/16 saves)... there were no standout sticks in the lineup... C Bob Brisdon (.289/11/76/58) and LF Eddie Clippard (.311/3/34/66) were the most dependable.
Fifth place in the standings went to the Colfax Blasters... an average pitching team with good hitting and scoring... since winning the TU West title in 2042, the Blasters have finished in the second division for five years in a row... Colfax is much improved over last season with the team ERA going from a horrible 4.78 to a respectable 3.60... Ray Maxon (18-11/2.99) and Red McCallum (17-8/2.61) are the staff leaders... the bullpen could be better... the most productive batters were C Darrell Dillon (.261/26/83/80), LF Robb Maddox (.277/21/93/85), 3B Cramer Landis (.306/11/49/85) and RF Stu Richardson (.302/11/60/54).
The Sligo Rovers were seventh in the race this year... they have good pitching, but a weak offense... the best mound performers were rookie Mickey Walsh (18-15/2.54), Randall Steele (18-17/3.13) and Art Hacker (14-11/3.54)... the only good hitter was All-Star 3B Denny Simmons (.297/18/92/73)... two parttimers 3B Blayne Carnick (.330/8/47/38) and LF Larry Naquin (.295/5/52/50) showed promise.
Seventh place Stoner had adequate pitching, but came up short on the scoreboard... Took Noonan (13-14/3.58) and Mel Glosterman (14-18/3.63) were the most dependable starters... leading the light offense were LF Emmett Tread (.281/16/68/78), 3B Ralph Sackett (.302/13/72/56), SS Norris Henry (.286/10/45/53) RF Morgan Miller (.295/10/72/68) and 2B James Belasario (.297/2/38/64).
For the third successive season the Fort Benton Defenders have been mired in last place in the RU West... the only pennant came years ago in 2037... not a lot of talent on the club... the best of the lot was C Varnell Larrimore (.280/15/68/66), who was the club leader in doubles, homers, RBIs and runs... 3B Glendon Glenn (.290/4/41/60) posted the best BA with a .290 mark and the most hits with 175... Arnie Patterson (15-19/3.54) had the most wins on the team with 15... Darius Kimberly (7-9/3.73/19 saves) ran hot-and-cold as the closer, but did post 19 saves, which was tied for fourth in the IPA and second in the RU behind Steve Owens (Rocky Rapids), who led with 20.
2047 RUTHLANDIAN WEST FINAL STANDINGS
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