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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 19, 2051
WALESKA DETHRONES CRUSADERS IN RU SOUTH
The last trip to the playoffs for the Waleska Westerners was 2039... that was the year they copped their third IPA title... now the Westerners are headed back again after a 12-year absence... Waleska went wire-to-wire to dethrone last year's Ruthlandian South winner St. John... the Westerners started with a bang with a 20-6 record in April, while the Crusaders started slowly and quickly fell nine games back... they did manage to chop it down to 4-5 games the rest of the way... and even could have won it in August and September, but they could only go 20-25 in those months... none of the other six clubs put up much of a challenge... it was purely a two-team affair this year... the baseball experts don't expect Waleska to do much in the postseason... the Westerners have good pitching, but only average at the plate with little power... opening up with juggernaut Valmara doesn't help, either.
Waleska's top moundsmen are Trey Earnest (18-10/2.97), All-Star Lou Carlson (22-13/3.31) and Niles Neilsen (16-15/3.55)... Kenny Foster (13-14/3.01) is another good arm, but he suffered from run support... Vince Gibson (6-7/2.26/12 saves) took care of the bullpen... not a lot of talent in the Westerners' lineup... 1B Rob Rice (.299/17/56/63), RF Denver Shadwell (.285/14/73/47) and LF Gene Stevenson (.295/11/61/65) were the best of the lot.
The St. John Crusaders won the RU South last year with a 90-64 mark, but slipped to 82-72 and second this year (5 GB)... the Crusaders have never won the Pro Cup... this year they didn't score as well as last season... the Crusaders feature a good scoring offense, but are only average in power and pitching staff... top twirlers were Liam Spears (20-13/2.86), Jimmy Chambers (17-13/3.35) and Teddy de Grom (18-18/3.60)... Frank Long, who led the IPA with 26 wins last season, slumped to 15-16 and 3.98 ERA this year... RF Cris Hershey (.331/14/86/80) was the club leader with a .331 BA... 2B Herbie Gruen (.293/13/96/80) was the RBI leader with 96... and SS Bubba Ralston (.248/12/53/106) scored the most runs with106.
San Dimas and Claxton tied for third place, but finished below the .500 mark... the Rancheros were a distant second in '50 with a 79-74 record (11 GB), but slipped to 74-80 this year (13 GB)... no Pro Cups in the club's history... last playoff appearance was in 2041... Johnny Singleton (13-11/4.25) was the only starter with a winning record... the top reliever was Kenny Robinson (10-9/2.35/12 saves)... leading the Cowboys' attack was All-Star Denny Hendrix (.299/35/105/83) and CF Enrique Orantez (.314/19/73/105)... also lending a hand was LF Johnny Locke, who batted .311 with 8 HRs, 62 RBIs and 56 runs.
The Claxton Diamonds suffered a second straight losing season... they won the division flag three years ago, but don't have a Pro Cup trophy... the Diamonds could really put runs on the scoreboard, but came up way short on the slab... heading up the hitters were All-Star RF Jimmy John Ramsey (.310/32/111/97), All-Star Jojo DeLucca (.299/22/110/77), LF Konrad Neumann (.320/13/72/92) and CF Whit Miley (.328/12/69/105)... none of the starters won more than they lost... and the ERAs were all above 4.00... only closer Ramon Santos (10-4/2.00/14 saves) had a good season.
The Valka Blackhawks and Grand City Cybercats tied for fifth place and trailed by 17 games... Valka improved slightly... at least they got out of the Ruthlandian South cellar...they were 68-86 (22 GB) in '50... 2017 was the last playoff appearance for the Blackhawks... they have never won the Pro Cup... pitching was good... offense mediocre... Adrian Stenhouse (15-13/3.21) was the only starter to have a winning mark... in the reliever corps Royce Netterville (8-8/2.63/7 saves) was the top man... not a lot of hitters in the batting order... CF Kenny Mitzusaka (.276/20/79/44) and 1B Jess Evans (.276/22/68/50) had the most success at the plate.
The last time the Grand City Cybercats made the playoffs was in 2030... they are still seeking that elusive and hard-to-get first Pro Cup... the Cybercats are borderline average... no starters better than .500... Joel Eaton (17-18/3.35) and Jimmy Engels (15-18/3.55) came the closest... two relievers stood tall in the bullpen... Donald Denison (5-3/1.68/4 saves) and Kent Douglas (7-5/2.22/11 saves)... superstar and All-Star 1B Benny Hull put up strong stats with a .321 BA, 38 RBIs, 127 RBIs and 92 runs scored... no one worth mentioning after him... Hull tied for fourth place in the IPA with 127 RBIs, topped only by leader Ernie Moxley (Hillsboro) with 147, Wayman Stetson (Valmara) with 137 and Graig Sutton (Colchester) with 133.
The Belair Beach Sunbirds captured their last division title five years ago... still haven't hauled in a Pro Cup trophy... the pitching improved greatly this year, but the Sunbirds still finished seventh for the third season in a row... Jeffrey Verblen (16-15/2.78) was the ace and the only reliable starter... Tom Cook was inconsistent in the bullpen, winding up 4-9 with 14 saves and a fine 2.20 ERA... the only decent threats in the lineup were RF Norm Ellis (.318/25/87/63) and 2B Alvaro Abreu (.311/9/72/72).
It's been seven seasons since the Crystal Lake Crushers made the postseason... twice they have won Pro Cups... in 2020 and 2022... they fell from fourth place in the standings with a 74-80 record in '50 (10 GB) to 65-89 and the cellar this year (22 GB)... Haden Mackowiak (14-17/3.68) was the staff leader and Josh Crosby (7-3/2.54/16 saves) paced the bullpen... pretty poor at the plate with the likes of 2B Oscar Jeffers (.272/19/72/61) and 1B Glenn Russell (.252/18/81/53)... sadly they were the best.
2051 Ruthlandian South Division Final Standings and Team Statistics
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