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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 21, 2049
VIPERS RU NORTH CHAMP 5TH TIME IN 7 YEARS
For the second year in a row and fifth time in seven seasons the Valmara Vipers garnered the Ruthlandian North Division flag... and for the second straight year they ran up over 100 victories... Valmara tore up everybody in the hot summer months and ran away with the pennant, easily outdistancing second place Ranford by 18 games, LaGrange by 20 and Taranto by 21... Valmara was heavily favored to win this year and lived up to its press.
1. VALMARA: the Vipers (102-53) will be gunning for Pro Cup trophy number three in their history... they copped it in 2026 and 2043... Valmara features great pitching (2.73 ERA-2nd) and good bats (.278 BA-2nd) with 129 HRs (10th)... they are only average defensively (.974 FA)... and should be one of the Pro Cup favorites... the Viper starting four are awesome: Primo Sirak (25-11/2.32), Darus Grajek (21-9/2.43), Teddy Twardzik (22-14/2.79) and Mark Polaski (16-8/2.72)... the bullpen is not very consistent, headed up by Kasio Bajek (6-7/3.92/16 saves) and Mirko Musial (3-0/1.84/8 saves)... batting-wise the leaders are All-Star LF Tomek Abramczyk (.333/27/81/80), All-Star CF Don Ritchie (.327/9/75/86), 2B Jorge Aparicio (.300/10/68/79) and 1B Jose Vargas (.306/7/52/66)... the Vipers don't have much in the way of home-run power,which might hurt them in the postseason... C Karol Koska led them with 31 homers and 92 RBIs, but batted only .227.
2. Ranford: the Bulls have been a distant runner-up the last two seasons, 12 GB and 18 GB... just a little better-than-average club (83-71)... last pennant was in 2041... they won their only Pro Cup in 2040, beating Summerland in a seven-game series... veteran ace and last year's Ruthlandian Golden Arm winner, Ralph Hawk (20-7/1.40), had a truly super year and led the IPA with a splendid 1.40 ERA... the second best ERA in IPA history, topped only by closer Jack Rogers in 2044 with 1.31 in 159 innings and 80 relief appearances... the Bulls other two dependable starters were Neil Martin (18-16/3.40) and Duffy Davidson (15-17/3.65)... their solid closer was All-Star Emmett Pearce (6-5/1.77/20 saves), second best in the IPA... Andy Mayfield (6-5/4.04) led with 21 for Kilkenny in the RU... the only productive bats were All-Star LF Joey Hawkins (.335/16/104/90), RF Tokuji Taro (.280/9/69/70) and C Juan Peralta (.270/12/70/64).
3. LAGRANGE: the Sports moved up from fifth (23 GB) to third (20 GB) this season with an 81-73 mark with a decent offense, fair pitching and excellent defense (.981 FA)... last pennant came in 2037... still waiting on a Pro Cup crown... ace Arnie Ayers (4-6/3.74) missed most of the season with an arm injury... he came back in August... Billy Walton (18-12/3.68) was the club leader... helped out by Hot Dog Huxtable (17-15/3.40) and Justin Menard (14-13/3.59).... Sasha Krylov (10-4/3.62/9 saves) was only a so-so closer... best run producers were All-Star SS John Rodgers (.283/23/94/74), C Scott Wallace (.304/25/78/66), Robbie McGregor (.283/20/56/76) and rookie CF Andre Chirac (.284/10/64/68).
4. Taranto: the Tars posted a fourth place finish with an 80-74 record (21 GB)... second year in a row to come in fourth... the club hasn't made the postseason for the last 30 years... but the Tars did win a Pro Cup in 2015... this year the pitching was pretty good considering the Palazzo di Sport is one of the smallest stadiums in the IPA... Pablo Rivas (21-14/3.46), rookie Valerio Rossi (16-15/2.81) and Bill Walker (16-15/3.72) led the staff... the bullpen was lousy... average hitting with pretty good power, led by All-Star C Ryan Nelms (.255/44/110/75), 3B Phil Wilson (.303/14/72/75) and LF Derrick Damon (.296/12/50/74).
5. KILKENNY: the Cats have broken even at 77-77 the last two seasons... this year they were fifth in the standings and trailed Valmara by 24 games... the starters were pretty good with Jody Joss (23-10/3.01), Dave Stratford (18-17/3.55) and Glen Caswell (18-21/3.72)... the bullpen was really bad... however Andy Mayfield (6-5/4.04) topped the IPA with 21 saves... offense was not very good... the best of the mediocre lot were 1B Ryan Reagan (.267/23/64/95) and rookie C Ray Hinson (.273/18/73/57).
6. GLASCO: the Athletics improved a little, rising up from eighth last year (39 GB) to sixth this season (26 GB)... the A's last appeared in the playoffs in 2045... the club has never won a Pro Cup... they had fine pitching this year with All-Star Bennie McDaniel (15-16/2.52), Pat Meyers (13-21/3.13) and Evan Walsh (16-17/3.50)... McDaniel went 5-11 in the second half due to lousy run support... veteran closer Ken McLin (8-6/2.49/13 saves) stood out in the bullpen... Glasco has very little at the plate... SS Ross McFalls (.289/21/60/73) had the best stats with some help from rookie CF Billy Sherlock (.267/18/72/76) and 1B John Carlton (.292/17/60/46).
7. FAR MOUNTAIN: the Redhawks have fallen from first place (101-53) in 2047 to third place (87-67) in 2048 down to seventh (69-85) this season... the last playoff appearance was two years ago... they have won three Pro Cups... 2011, 2012 and 2013... the pitching is still solid with two All-Stars, but the offense is mediocre... All-Star Jonas Glover (20-12/2.93) was the ace starter... and All-Star Jack McKinney (8-11/2.01/17 saves) was the best in the bullpen... no one in the batting order put up good numbers... LF Terry Crawford (.287/17/59/56), RF Harman Silver (.268/15/66/52) and 1B Benjy Donahue (.327/7/44/64) were the club leaders.
8. Ancona: the Red Elephants (54-100) were basement dwellers for the eighth time in nine seasons... not much offense and not much on the hill... it's been almost three decades since Ancona won a pennant... they still haven't won a Pro Cup... Hali Mikos (14-23/3.95) chalked up the most wins on the team... Clint Hayes (8-13/3.67) was the only other starter under a 4.00 ERA... RF Eldon Aldridge was the club leader with a .262 BA and 88 RBIs... he was second in roundtrippers with 23... 1B Raul Suarez topped the team with 26 homers and 82 runs scored... he batted just .246, but had 83 RBIs... with so little in the way of talent, the future is dim in Ancona.
2049 Ruthlandian North Division Final Standings and Team Statistics
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