[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 21, 2049

CLAXTON RU SOUTH CHAMP 4TH TIME IN 5 YEARS
In the Ruthlandian South Division the Claxton Diamonds held off fast-closing Valka to capture the pennant for the fourth time in five years... preseason favorite Waleska battled the Diamonds and Blackhawks into September, but fell to the wayside in the late going... Claxton topped runner-up Valka by 5 games, while the Westerners and the Crystal Lake Crushers tied for third place in the standings, 6 games back... the Diamonds repeated as champion and have won four of the last five division flags.

1. CLAXTON: the Diamonds are excited about the playoffs... they are still shooting for their first Pro Cup trophy... Claxton reached the Finals last season, but were quickly banished by the Rolling Hills Reds in just five games... blessed with an abundance of hitters, they hope it will be enough to win it this year... just like last year, the key to victory will be Abe Schiffman (19-12/3.76), Gilbert Clagsdale (24-11/3.79) and Stan Yudash (16-16/4.65)... they will have to step it up a level in the postseason for Claxton to prevail... the Diamonds are better in the bullpen this year with rookie closer Ramon Santos (8-2/2.06/14 saves)... the offense is even better this year with the addition of several talented rookies... leading the Diamond attack are budding superstar All-Star OF Whit Miley (.374/12/75/100), superstar All-Star 1B Jojo DeLucca (.300/29/121/93), 3B Rick Clayburne (.270/10/74/93) and 2B Rick Emery (.253/21/83/81) with help from two fine rookies LF Konrad Neumann (.310/9/63/83) and RF Jimmy John Ramsey (.343/20/58/74)... vets SS Stevie Wynn (.283/6/50/45) and C Ryne Akins (.281/17/75/52) also are dependable bats.

2. VALKA: after trailing by 9 games at the All-Star break, the Blackhawks made a good run in the second half of the season, but ran out of gas down the stretch... after cutting the Claxton lead to just 3 games going into September, Valka fizzled with a 6-12 record to fall 5 games short of first place... the Blackhawks came in fourth in 2048, 16 games out... they have a fine mound staff, led by starters Royce Netterville (17-16/3.20), Matvey Kazak (17-16/3.23), Arvi Tamm (14-13/3.31) and rookie Adrian Stenhouse (9-9/3.12/9 saves)... and a good bullpen with closer Ricky Cockburn (9-4/3/26/9 saves)... offense is the Blackhawks' Achilles' tendon... they have trouble scoring runs... Valka club leaders are Gold Glove star CF Kenny Mitzusaka (.323/27/81/67), C Aubrey Plews (.311/15/58/70), 1B Jess Evans (.288/20/59/46) and rookie All-Star SS Corey Belk (.295/9/61/63)... it's been 33 seasons since the Blackhawks graced the postseason... a little more power and scoring would send Valka soaring in IPA circles.

3. WALESKA: the Westerners were primed to takeover in the Ruthlandian South... they were third last year (16 GB), but forecast to whip Claxton this season by the baseball experts... Waleska hung on to the heels of Claxton all season long, but slumped badly in the last month to lose out by 6 games and tied for third with Crystal Lake... the Westerners had the pitching, but not the hitting to keep up with Claxton and Valka... two youngsters, rookie Trey Earnest (20-12/2.91) and Lou Carlson (20-13/2.96) topped the team in wins... vets Niles Neilsen (14-20/3.20) and Jeff Woodruff (14-17/3.39) are still capable starters, too... Vince Gibson (7-1/1.32/11 saves) had a strong season in the bullpen... All-Star CF Kenny Hardy (.298/13/77/85) was the club leader in BA, hits, RBIs and runs... but didn't have a lot of help... LF Gene Stevenson (.266/11/51/75) and CF Denver Shadwell (.279/14/52/54) only made modest contributions to the offense.

3. CRYSTAL LAKE: the Crushers never really challenged Claxton this year, but did stay within striking distance most of the season, finally finishing in a tie for third and 6 games behind the Diamonds... they rose up from sixth in 2048 (16 GB)... the Crushers hit well and scored runs, but had no power... pitching was spotty and not much of it... and they play defense very well (.978 FA)... Crystal Lake hit well for average with a .272 mark (6th), scored 740 runs (4th) with only 110 HRs (19th)... the team ERA was 3.87 (27th)... the main threat in the batting order was C Del Peevy (.293/13/84/87), followed by 1B Daryl Brady (.321/20/66/64), RF Paul Dillon (.324/6/53/70), SS Ernie Addison (.324/4/71/60), LF Jed Murphee (.299/5/37/78) and OF Kenny Gray (.345/4/71/60)... manager Duncan Welch plays a lot of players... he heavily platoons... Peevy was tops in games played with 134... 30-year-old rookie Haden Mackowiak (21-15/3.10) made the most of his first opportunity in the IPA and wound up the team's ace... the other starters Jeth Limbrick (16-14/4.33), vet Dave McCauley (16-16/4.26) and Manuel Hinojosa (10-6/3.68) were just fair... Josh Crosby (8-6/3.48/8 saves) was the best reliever, but had a down year.

5. ST. JOHN: the Crusaders (78-76) are a middle of the pack ballclub ending up in fifth place for the second year in a row (10 GB)... the last pennant was in 2042... they have never won the Pro Cup... the Crusaders hit well, score well and have average pitching... the main run providers are CF Cris Hershey (.338/9/61/109), 1B Al Pace (.316/30/93/66) and SS Bubba Ralston (.265/11/63/101)... along with parttime OFs Sherrill Westerfield (.357/6/60/48) and Roberto Campos (.341/4/34/36)... St. John has a pretty good starting rotation with Zeke Yoder (20-15/3.69), Frank Long (16-14/3.52), rookie Teddy de Grom (16-16/3.12) and Eduardo Rivera (14-10/3.07)... but the bullpen is questionable.

6. GRAND CITY: since finishing second in 2045 (10 GB), the Cybercats have wallowed near the bottom of the Ruthlandian South, winding up a poor sixth this year (15 GB)... 2030 was the last pennant for Grand City... still don't have a Pro Cup in their trophy case... they don't hit much for average (.255), but do score well with 650 runs (11th) and have fair power with 131 HRs (8th)... and the Cybercats can pitch with a 3.14 team ERA (8th)... fireballer Kenny Morrow (17-14/2.72) is the ace... he paced the Ruthlandian Union with 264 Ks... the other quality starters are Joel Eaton (16-12/3.15), Jimmy Engels (15-18/3.55) and Lee Price (14-18/3.60)... the relief corps was solid with Kent Douglas (6-7/2.17/13 saves) and Donald Denison (4-6/1.89/2 saves)... sparking the offense was legendary slugger and All-Star 1B Benny Hull (.294/51/147/97), who led the IPA with 51 roundtrippers and was second in RBIs with 147... only San Alejo's Royce Grantham topped him in RBIs with 152... at 34 Hull has gone over the 500-homer mark and is a cinch Hall-of-Famer... Hull was the club's primary runmaker, but did get some help from LF Hot Rod Gwin (.285/15/63/57), 2B Mervin Sisson (.276/13/64/58), SS Scott McIntyre (.314/10/48/66), CF Ron Stonehouse (.274/7/59/58) and RF Harland Blankenship (.278/4/43/87).

7. BELAIR BEACH: after two fine seasons, the Sunbirds sanked to the seventh spot in the standings, going 70-84 (18 GB)... they won the RU South in 2047 and challenged in 2048 with a second-place finish (7 GB)... on 8 occasions Belair Beach made the playoffs, mainly in the early years of the league, but never won the IPA crown... 25-year-old rookie Jeffrey Verblen (10-12/2.82) was the only real good starter... 22-year-old spot starter Glen Long (6-7/2.72/3 saves) also showed very good potential... veteran Tom Cook (11-11/3.41/12 saves) was the most reliable reliever... providing most of the Sunbird offense was 36-year-old superstar and All-Star 1B Jason Butler (.267/34/99/88)... Butler was the RU MVP and Golden Bat winner two years ago... he has 556 lifetime homers in his 15 seasons... other contributors were CF Norm Ellis (.253/27/83/71), C Robbie Coleman (.251/15/73/46) and RF Shannon Stewart (.293/12/52/68).

8. SAN DIMAS: the Rancheros had another pathetic season (57-97), coming in last again for the second straight year (31 GB)... the last RU South pennant came in 2041... San Dimas has yet to take home a Pro Cup title in its history... they ranked near the bottom in batting and pitching... Carl Covington (12-17/3.72) was the club's leading starter with Kenny Robinson (10-8/2.04/3 saves) and Georgie Walker (4-6/2.69/6 saves) the best in the bullpen... rookie starters 25-year-old Shan Dewhurst (9-25/3.51) and 24-year-old Gary Widmer (6-12/3.97) suffered a lot of losses, but gained some good experience... the only halfway decent bats in the lineup were vets CF Enrique Orantez (.266/26/75/88), 37-year-old RF Denny Hendrix (.246/20/81/75), LF Johnny Locke (.266/11/47/68) and C Hector Navarro (.282/9/68/54).

2049 Ruthlandian South Division Final Standings and Team Statistics