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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 19, 2051
SAN ALEJO WINS TU SOUTH IN PLAYOFF
Baseball doesn't get much better than a stretch-run battle between multiple contenders... but a division title decided by a single-game playoff is even better... San Alejo, Turon and Ginza went at it the whole season in the Tycobbian South before it came down to just one game between the Montaneros and the Typhoons... San Alejo won it 9-3 and now will head to the Pro Cup playoffs... the champion Monties finished one game ahead of Turon and three and half in front of the Ginza Ninjas... the Colchester Elites were 10 and a half out in fourth place.
San Alejo has been a contender for the last 15 years, winning the TU South in '49... prior to that, it was '37... the Montaneros only Pro Cup trophy came in '32, when they edged the Colfax Blasters in seven games... they possess very good offense (5th in scoring) and solid pitching... at the plate the standouts are superstar CF and All-Star Paulo Teixeira (.315/37/104/116), star and All-Star 1B Royce Grantham (.292/25/98/112), RF Erik Landau (.283/9/55/98) and SS Sal McAllister (.287/7/86/62... just two years ago Grantham was named the Tycobbian MVP and won the Golden Bat Award... however, the two most important players are superstar starters and All-Star Will McKinney (29-3/1.68) and Matt Bell (24-14/2.94)... McKinney had one of the greatest seasons ever the annals of the IPA... his 29th win came in the championship game, a 9-3 victory for him... San Alejo will be a force in the postseason, but they need to get a third starter, which was missing in the regular season... the bullpen is not very good, either.
Turon took the division lead in July and stayed there until September, but they couldn't put the Montaneros away and lost in a single-game playoff... for six straight seasons they have finished second or third in the race... the last pennants came in '38 and '39... and the last of a record four Pro Cups was won in '18... the Typhoons can pepper the ball and ranked high (3rd) in runs scored and in power with 180 HRs (2nd)... the top hitters are RF Guido Gervasio (.279/31/127/93), 1B Buford Cloninger (.309/36/93/77), 3B Al Salisbury (.300/23/86/106), CF Eddy Spafford (.279/7/58/118) and SS C. C. Kingsford (.304/17/60/65)... but on the hill Turon is just average with Nate Scottsdale (21-13/3.26), Izzy Beasley (19-9/3.24/1 save) and Jarred Franklin (12-5/3.66/4 saves).
The third place Ginza Ninjas were rejuvenated this year and hung in the pennant race all year long, usually no more than 5 games off the pace... the offense was one of the best in the IPA with a .283 team BA... but they were only fair to mediocre on the mound with a 3.97 team ERA... Ginza has little to show for the last two decades... the last division crown was in '31... the Ninjas have never, ever won the Pro Cup... all eight regulars had double-digit home runs and were led by superstar and All-Star LF Sogo Takagi (.333/34/107/119), 3B Horace Dyson (.331/12/58/112), 2B Kuzuki Tamura (.334/16/84/107), RF Takuya Toyota (.293/16/95/66), SS Frank Sims (.297/16/83/65) and 1B Kyle Estes (.274/12/91/54)... Takagi was the IPA co-leader with East Point's Pokie Ash with 119 runs... the best of the subpar mound corps are Tokuji Takahara (20-12/3.52), T. C. Gallimore (18-13/4.30) and Kenju Oyama (14-14/4.03)... Ginza needs to trade a few hitters for some starting pitching... this would make them a serious challenger in the TU South.
Colchester posted a winning record for the first time in a decade going from 76-78 to 81-72... no pennants since '36... and no Pro Cups in its lackluster history... Denzel Durand (24-10/2.44) is their ace and he gets some good help from number two starter Lynwood Ginger (19-13/3.56)... the bullpen is anchored by closer Haden Fraser (9-5/1.89/15 saves)... and the lineup has some real threats in the middle of it... All-Star RF Graig Sutton (.322/40/133/98), All-Star CF Kelton McFalls (.315/39/123/103) and LF Eldon McLennan (.323/18/73/118)... Sutton finished third in the IPA with 133 RBIs... only Ernie Moxley (Hillsboro) with 147 and Waylan Stetson (Valmara) with 137 topped him in the IPA... McFalls was the Tycobbian Rookie of the Year last year and was fourth in the IPA with 123 RBIs... McLennan was third in the IPA with 118 runs, beaten by Pokie Ash (East Point) and Sogo Takagi (Ginza) with 119 each... the Elites may be on the rise in the Tycobbian South.
The Southport Sun Sox were the preseason pick to win the division flag this year, but it didn't come to be... they wound up fifth, just barely over the .500 mark at 78-76... seven times in the last 10 years the Sox won the pennant and in '44 and '47 captured their only Pro Cup trophies... age could be catching up with Southport... superstar starter Billy Hoover (15-16/3.40) is still the ace at age 35. but he had a down year... veteran star Johnny Swanson struggled badly this year and was demoted to the bullpen... second-year man Daron O'Rourke (17-8/3.00) was the most effective starter... Brandon Delmore (18-13/4.01) was the biggest winner... but he is inconsistent, yet gave them some quality starts... the bullpen is still in good hands with Troy Hill (10-6/1.65/10 saves) and Hal Combs (4-2/1.91/7 saves)... LF Tony Patrano (.280/33/104/75), RF Chris Jones (.336/6/64/99), 3B Ricky Whitaker (.282/6/49/84) and 1B Eddy Douglas (.311/20/63/69) were the best bats.
For the fourth year in a row the Cape Coral Hurricanes were a second-division club... the 'Canes were sixth in the standings... the best of a poor staff were Stacy Boyle (17-17/4.25) and veteran Benton McCall (14-16/4.48)... at the plate they have two fine players in All-Star 2B Kent Mantle (.315/32/113/77) and LF Marki Heinsohn (.311/24/100/99)... Cape Coral hasn't been to the playoffs since 2041 and they have never won a Pro Cup.
For the fourth time in the last five seasons the Summerland Sunsets have wound up in the second division, finishing seventh this year... '46 was the last pennant... Summerland has yet to capture a Pro Cup trophy... the Sunsets have a terrible offense and average pitching... only superstar Jayson Hallstrom (12-21/3.01) and Tony Charles (16-14/3.20) are quality pitchers... Hallstrom is 281-199 in his 15-year career with a superb 2.66 ERA... nothing noteworthy in the batting order... RF Rick Mayes (.288) is the club leader with modest stats... 22 HR, 78 RBI, 67 runs... CF Tony Vargas has the best batting average at .301, but has only 1 HR, 38 RBIs and 64 runs.
Arroyo Grande is at the bottom of the TU South for the second year in a row... eons ago the Suns made the playoffs (2024)... never won a Pro Cup... they do have a little bit of power, helped immensely by the short fences at the Casa de Beisbol... the Suns ranked seventh with 165 homers... the top guns are 1B Vince Kinston (.287/37/111/81), All-Star RF Norishige Ito (.327/28/95/103), All-Star SS Russell Taylor (.293/21/91/92) and LF Barry Brigham (.296/16/77/71)... Dwayne McMahon (16-13/4.84) won the most games, but Enrique Lopez (14-16/3.81) is the ace and the only good pitcher on the team.
2051 Tycobbian South Division Final Standings and Team Statistics
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