[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, May 1, 2054

TYPHOONS, 'CANES, SUNSETS TOP TU TEAMS
Last season the Turon Typhoons stormed through the season, destroying all comers and winning the pennant by a huge 19 games... this year, at least in the early going, they do have a couple of challengers... at the end of the first month of play Turon (17-7) is off-and-running again atop the Tycobbian South Division, but they are tied with the Cape Coral Hurricanes (17-7) with the Summerland Sunsets (14-10) hanging closeby in third place, just 3 games off the pace at the end of April... San Alejo (11-13) and Ginza (11-13) are tied for the fourth spot in the standings, 6 GB.

Turon (17-7) is skippered by C. C. Kingsford... for the last 8 years they have been solid contenders in the TU South... the Typhoons have won the division flag the last two seasons... they reached the Tycobbian finals last year and lost to powerful IPA champ Midway... Turon has made the playoffs 17 times in its history and won 4 Pro Cup championships (2003, 2006, 2009, 2018)... but none lately... on two other occasions the Typhoons lost in the Pro Cup Finals in 7 games to great teams: the 2010 Colfax Blasters and the 2017 Eastshore Elegants.

Kingsford was an 8-time All-Star with a career .308 BA, 432 HR and 1577 RBI in his 18 seasons with the Typhoons... his father was Hall of Famer Clyde Kingsford (.319 BA/485 HR/1523 RBI)... this season Turon has a high-powered attack with a .306 team BA (1st), 164 runs (2nd) and 24 HR (11th)... but the team is deficient on the hill with a 4.13 ERA (17th)... Kingsford has more good hitters than he can play at one time... leading the way are CF Maxie Mullinax (.378 BA/2 HR/10 RBI/26 R/14 SB), 3B Joel Guidry (.303/2/20/20/2 SB), 1B Shoyo Yuro (.406/4/16/20/2 SB), SS Bill Wolverton (.362/4/14/15/2B), 2B Gaylen Clive (.310/1/17/14/3 SB), RF Andy Williams (.298/2/10/10/3 SB) and SS Fernando Labrera (.375/1/10/9/2 SB)... and Turon has three pretty solid starters in Jose Beltran (4-0/2.27), Nate Scottsdale (4-1/1.61) and Yancey Hedges (4-0/4.03)... but Kingsford needs help in the bullpen (6.28 ERA/27th)... the baseball experts have gone on record that the Typhoons will again blow away everybody in the Tycobbian South, just like last year.

Only one time has the Cape Coral Hurricanes (17-7) been a factor in the TU South in the last 15 years... the rest of the time they were entrenched in the second division... the last pennant came in 2041... they have been to the postseason playoffs 8 times, but came away with no Pro Cups... this season the 'Canes are similar to Turon... great bats, little pitching... manager William Snyder (.332 BA/426 HR/1554 RBI), a former Hurricane star and recent 2053 IPA HOF inductee, has a hot-hitting club with a .298 BA (3rd), 170 runs (1st) and 27 HR (5th)... however on the hill they only have a mediocre 4.42 team ERA (22nd)... Snyder has a potent bunch of bats with RF Enrique Orantez (.385 BA/3 HR/20 RBI/20 R), SS Lynwood Barley (.355/1/20/18/5 SB), LF Marki Heinsohn (.333/2//17/16/3 SB), 3B Sammie Ashcraft (.373/2/9/19), 2B Jaybird Ethridge (.281/10/20/21) and CF Billy Lee Wakefield (.287/1/8/15/2 SB)... Cape Coral has two fine starters in Banjo Prewitt (4-0/2.95) and Ivan Dalrymple (4-1/3.64) but little else on the staff... the Hurricanes might have enough offense to stick close to Turon this year and give them a run for their money.

The third place Summerland Sunsets (14-10) had been stuck in the second division of the TU South for the last 6 years until last year when they came in a distant second to Turon with a pretty good 82-72 mark (19 GB)... the Sunsets have always been known to have good pitching... this year it has returned with a vengeance... manager Antonio Varques' club has an extraordinary 2.35 ERA in the first month of the season... easily the best in the IPA... but Summerland has difficulty scoring runs (90 R-28th)... the four starters have been magnificent: Rudy Hilgendorf (5-0/1.47), Corey Vincent (3-3/1.48), Tommy Underhill (2-2/1.26) and 37-year-old superstar Jayson Hallstrom (3-1/2.20)... however, the bullpen is just spotty with a 4.29 ERA (24th)... offensively the Sunsets don't have much beyond 1B Kenny Douglas (.333 BA/4 HR/15 RBI/17 R/2 SB), LF Kinky Elkerson (.315/3/12/14/3 SB) and C Zip Enright (.329/1/7/9)... it's always tough for pitching-rich teams with poor hitting to compete in the IPA... the Sunsets have one of the best team ERAs (3.50) in the league over the years, but has only made the postseason four times and has never won a Pro Cup... the last appearance came in 2046... in 2040 highly-touted Summerland made it to the Pro Cup Finals, but lost in an upset to unheralded Ranford in 7 games.

The San Alejo Montaneros (11-13) fit the same description as Summerland historically... very good pitching, but weak at the plate... but that is not the case this year as manager Filipe Zamora's mound corps is getting old and is not as productive as they have been the past 15 years... his two super aces Will McKinney (271-137/2.52 ERA) and Matt Bell (324-175/2.39) are both 34 years old... last season the Monties finished fourth (79-75), 22 GB behind division winner Turon, the club's worst mark in 16 seasons... San Alejo has made the first division for the last 18 years... that number might be in jeopardy this year... McKinney (2-3/3.78) is off to a slow start, but Bell (2-1/2.39) is as strong as ever... Tommy Carter (3-3/2.36) and Joca Qartez (2-3/3.96) give them two more quality starters, but the bullpen is of no help... however, the bats are better this year with a .272 BA (13th), 110 runs (15th) and 27 HR (5th-tied), led by superstar CF Paulo Teixeira (.312 BA/7 HR/18 RBI/16 R), LF Royce Grantham (.253/9/17/15/2 SB), SS Callum Gainsborough (.329/2/11/7), 2B Allen Hooper (.368/0/4/15), RF Erik Landau (.267/2/14/12) and 3B Sal McAllister (.324/1/6/11).

The Ginza Ninjas (11-13) have missed the playoffs the last 24 seasons and are not likely to snap that streak... manager Tokuji Takahama was a fairly good hurler for the Ninjas, winding up with a 163-140 record and a 4.08 ERA... he has better-than-average pitching with a 3.51 ERA (8th)... Tommy Paige (4-1/2.66) and Delmer Guthrie (3-2/2.27) are capable starters and the bullpen is solid with a 2.14 ERA (4th), but the hitting and scoring is woeful... Ginza only has a .234 BA (30th), scored only 95 runs (27th) with just 16 HR (25th)... only SS Kazuki Tamura (.292 BA/4 HR/16 RBI/15 R/3 SB), 3B Horace Dyson (.276/1/4/15) and 1B Kyle Estes (.260/2/15/8/4 SB) produce any kind of offense... the Ninjas have made only 7 appearances in the playoffs in their history... they don't have a Pro Cup, but did make the Pro Cup Finals in the first year of the IPA, losing to Volusia in a 4-game sweep... that's as close as they have come.

19 of the last 20 seasons the sixth-place Arroyo Grande Suns (10-14) never finished in the upper half of the Tycobbian South... they usually wound up deep in the second division, 12 times coming in dead last... the Suns have only made the IPA playoffs 4 times and have never won a Pro Cup... they decided to go for broke this year and make some serious changes... they traded super-duper superstar Norishigi Ito, perhaps the very best player in the IPA, to Pro Cup champ Midway and star slugger Vince Kinston to Grand City in return for five quality players... time will tell if they made good trades... manager Eduardo Villanueva (.304 BA/229 HR/888 RBI/1048 R/174 SB), a solid, all-around outfielder in his playing days, thinks the trade will turn out good... the younger, up-and-coming players should make a difference in the long run... so far, the Suns have gone from bad to mediocre this year... ranking 22nd in scoring runs and 20th in pitching with a 4.21 ERA... they got Beau McCloud (18-10/3.38) from Midway and Rusty Stephens (12-16/3.80) and Roy Tuthill (16-17/3.11) from Grand City... thus far this season McCloud is 4-2 with a 3.29 ERA, Stephens is 1-2 and 3.80 and Tuthill is 1-2 and 3.00... already they are the best starters on the team... the Suns picked up 3B Nate Stiles (.321 BA/2 HR/13 RBI/13 R) and RF Elton O'Leary (.258/0/11/11/2 SB) from Midway in the Ito swap... both were bench players there... along with newcomer Stiles, Arroyo Grande's most productive batters are 1B Russell Taylor (.345 BA/3 HR/14 RB/15 R) and CF Tommy Lee Dade (.259/3/11/13/2 SB).

The Colchester Elites (9-15) have not been a very successful franchise in the IPA... 17 of the previous 18 seasons they came in as a second-division also-ran... the last pennant year was long ago in 2036... Colchester has had only 4 playoff appearances and has never won a Pro Cup... 3 times they lost in the first round... the best they have done was getting to the second round... and the lack of success continues right into this season... manager Blake Barrister's seventh-place club is already near the bottom of the division and 8 games behind at the end of April... a .248 BA (25th), 88 runs (29th) and a 5.07 ERA won't get you very far in the IPA or anywhere else... the starters are really bad... pitcher Champ Meadows (2-3/4.81) is the best of the worst... however, the bullpen is good with a fine 2.57 ERA (9th)... absolutely no talent at the plate... the best of the lot is 2B James Murchison (.270 BA/2 HR/7 RBI/15 R/3 SB), 3B Sidney Wacker (.267/4/11/9), RF Graig Sutton (.267/4/12/8) and LF Yancy Willmon (.265/3/10/7/2 SB)... it's gonna be a long, long season for the Colchester fans and skipper Blake Barrister... he might be 38 years old, but he might still be a potent bat to have in the lineup... in his career Barrister homered 453 times, drove in 1182 runs and hit .264 in 11 seasons... the Elites could really use his 40 home runs and 100 RBIs each season.

For the previous 12 years the last place Southport Sun Sox (7-17) have been very good... twice they won Pro Cups (2044, 2047)... and 7 times in 9 seasons the Sun Sox won the Tycobbian South Division crown... 11 times Southport has appeared in the IPA playoffs... overall they have won 3 Pro Cup trophies -- they also captured the 2027 IPA title -- but this year manager Lorne Evans is deep in the cellar... his club can't hit... .248 BA (26th), only 86 runs (31st) and 21 HR (17th) is not much of an offense... but his pitchers are still pretty good with a 3.51 ERA (9th)... Zack Phillips (1-1/0.89), Champ Shafer (0-6/2.84) and Lenny Carlson (2-3/3.11) should have better records, but the run support just isn't there... no one on the club is hitting... RF Manuelo Garcia (.282 BA/1 HR/8 RBI/10 R/3 SB), CF Ross Good (.211/5/14/10/5 SB), 1B Zee Graham (.259/5/15/10) are the only productive batters... and that's not much to boast about... however, Lorne Evans has a lot to boast about... one of the finest players in IPA annals... 4 MVPs, 12-time All-Star, 5 Golden Bats, 2 Golden Gloves... Evans was installed in the IPA Hall of Fame in 2045... he batted .305 in his career with 701 homers and 1836 RBIs.