[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 21, 2048

HIGH MESA RIDIN' HIGH IN THE SADDLE
After almost five decades of drought, success finally came to High Mesa... the Cowboys are really riding high in the saddle after running away with the Tycobbian East pennant, whipping defending division champ and preseason pick Red Bluff and Midway by a whopping 18 games... Tucknarra came in fourth, 19 games out of first place... High Mesa made the Pro Cup playoffs in its first two seasons in the IPA... they even won the Pro Cup in 2002, but then went into an abysmal postseason slump... but the Cowpokes are back in a big way this year and are gunning for their second Pro Cup trophy.

High Mesa is a well-rounded ball club and will be a force in the playoffs... the Cowboys play in a small venue, notorious for being a home-run haven, so it's remarkable the success the pitching staff has had this year... the most effective starters were Lloyd Armstrong (22-1/2.99) and Lucius Quarles (17-11/2.55)... the number three and four starters also gave them some quality starts, too... Tee Bo Templet was 20-11 with a 4.02 ERA and Steve Tolan was 18-10 with a 4.09 ERA... the bullpen was good as well with William Morris (10-4/2.88/16 saves) and rookie Dickie Sternfeld (8-6/2.62/5 saves)... the Cowboys don't hit for a high average, but they do produce plenty of runs, led by 1B Johnny Tallis (.260/43/108/77), SS Clifford Coleman (.268/26/93/82), RF Wayne Kirkpatrick (.278/20/77/67) and 2B Randy Sweetland (.318/5/70/107).

All good things must come to an end sooner or later... Red Bluff had a great four-run pennant run, but it came to an end this season... the Red Sox pitching fizzled and they dropped to a very distant second in the standings... the club has been to the playoffs 8 times in its history with one Pro Cup to show for it... won years ago in 2004... the starters were decent this year, but only ace Jud Cox (20-14/2.51) really stood out... the others in the rotation Mickey Rosen (18-10/3.73), Sonny Wheat (16-15/3.67) and George Reynolds (14-14/3.75) slipped this year... the bats still performed quite well and again led the IPA with 242 roundtrippers... the top sluggers were superstar RF David Kelso (.302/41/104/79), 1B Josh Stevens (.266/43/87/78), star 3B Fran Blanchard (.290/34/80/101) and SS Leemon O'Donovan (.285/31/80/92)... CF Ike Sweetwater (.268/26/60/73) and LF Jesse Shaw (.279/23/74/57) also hit more than 20 homers each.

For the first time in almost a decade the Midway Wolves chalked up a winning season... they finished 8 games over .500 and tied for second place in the standings... only 3 times have the Wolves made the postseason... never have they won a Pro Cup... Midway had a pretty good offense this season... top bats were All-Star LF Justin Morrison (.345/24/94/89), who had the fifth best average in the IPA... CF Hector Pena (.285/21/70/106), 2B Kax Clark (.280/5/68/80) , RF Alfie Kincade (.294/23/86/78), C Martin Rogers (.287/21/73/60) and 1B Jerry Kennison (.252/20/89/63) also put up some good stats... Midway only had a modest mound success with Craig Armstrong (23-11/3.60) the biggest winner... and Rocket Rhodes (7-3/1.56/17 saves) was the best reliever.

The Tuckanarra Blue Jays ran second to Red Bluff for the last two seasons, but slipped to fourth this year... the pitching corps let them down... the Bluebirds have been to the postseason 17 times in the club history and have reaped 3 Pro Cups... the last pennant came 11 years ago in 2038 and the last Pro Cup in 2035... the Tucks are just an average team in most respects with little punch in the lineup... Dickie Pittman (21-13/3.43) and Ozzie Leslie (17-16/2.70) were the only quality starters... no one stood out in the bullpen... only All-Star 1B Rodger Parsons (.351/20/77/85) consistently delivered at the plate.

The South Fork Stallions have been a break-even ball club for the last few years... coming in fourth in 2046 and 2047... and fifth this year... they do hit well with decent power, but are only an average club otherwise... the last pennant came in 2043 and Pro Cup #2 came in 2042... on 6 occasions the Stallions have made the Pro Cup playoffs... the top starters were veteran star Jay Murphy (20-12/3.46) and rookie Kip Cleaver (14-9/3.11/2 saves)... All-Star reliever Big Murph McAlister (8-7/2.49/3 saves) was the bullpen's best, but he slumped in the second half of the season... two players carried the offensive load... CF Jack Boswell (.284/36/103/120) and All-Star SS Pete Arnold (.330/22/65/128)... Arnold topped the IPA with 128 runs.

The Hillsboro Blazers finished sixth in the standings, but had a 77-77 record... they had a strong pitching staff, good home-run power, but didn't hit for average at all... and for the 48th straight season the Blazers didn't make the playoffs... the starting five did very well as a group... led by Steve Cooper (23-15/3.03) with the most victories... Robby Lee Stillwell (13-10/3.49) was steady and reliable... the hard-luck hurlers were Jamie Lee Bradley (10-23/2.81) and spot starter Bailey Bilbow (8-7/2.85/1 save)... they both deserved better run support... three regulars went deep fairly often, but hit very little... LF Julien Bellini (.250/41/96/92) led the club with 41 HRs and 96 RBIs... CF Rick Willis (.256/30/79/108) topped them with 108 runs... and 1B Ernie Moxley (.220/31/92/68) didn't hit the ball often, but he homered and drove in runs.

The Ozarka Naturals wound up near the bottom of the division for the third consecutive season, finishing in seventh place... 15 times in the Nats' history they have been to the postseason... the last pennant came in 2040... though Ozarka has been a Pro Cup finalist five times, they have never worn the IPA crown... the Naturals were beaten in the Finals in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2019 and 2020... from 2010 to 2021 they racked up 10 Tycobbian East pennants and were considered among the IPA's elite teams along with Far Mountain, Eastshore and Turon... Ozarka had two solid starters this season in Jerald Kidman (18-12/3.06) and rookie Carl Hemus (16-19/3.04)... veteran 3B Artie Clayton (.221/37/93/71) topped the team with 37 homers and 93 RBIs, but batted only .221... C Paul Beasley led the club with a .323 BA, adding 20 HRs, 80 RBIs and 74 runs... veteran 2B Jimmy Woods added a .305 mark with 16 homers and 61 RBIs.

For the sixth time in eight years it's the cellar for the poor East Point Panthers... they are just a bad baseball team... only five times have the Panthers made the playoffs... the last year was in 2039... East Point has never come close to a Pro Cup trophy... Ralph Wallace (13-17/3.76) is the only decent starter... there's nothing good in the bullpen... and at the plate it's sparse pickings, too... the only decent sticks are C Kenny Bailey (.287/26/88/71), 1B Jack Gorham (.304/26/75/55) and 3B Thomas Crawford (.261/10/47/83).

2048 Tycobbian East Division Final Standings and Team Statistics