[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 19, 2056

RASCALS RAKE IN 3RD TU NORTH FLAG IN A ROW
Defending Tycobbian North champion White River (82-72) fought off Oxford (78-76) and North Hills (78-76) in September by 4 games to nail down its third division title in a row... the Rascals were 9-7 down the stretch, while the Red Caps folded with a 5-11 mark... Oxford was the preseason pick... the Hawks closed well with a 10-6 record, but had too much ground to make up... White River made it all the way to the Pro Cup Finals last year before succumbing to the Wynnamac Sundowners in 6 games... it's not likely the Rascals will go deep into the playoffs, but it wasn't likely last year, either... they will really have a tough task to take the Tycobbian Union title... Midway, Turon and Arlon are very formidable foes.

7 times in the last 9 seasons the White River Rascals (82-72) have taken the Tycobbian North Division flag... they do it almost entirely with quality pitching... the team has a 3.35 ERA (7th)... poor hitting with a .248 BA (24th) and poor offense with only 595 runs (30th)... average power with 137 HRs (17th)... and the Rascals are pretty good defensively (.974 FA)... superstar ace Nicky Palmer (19-11/2.55) is still going strong at age 37 and had a fine season... Noel Woods (16-18/2.69) suffered from lack of run support, but had an impressive year... #3 Cody Butler (14-9/3.14) was a capable starter, too... not much in the bullpen... All-Star CF Pudge Tate (.259/30/83/86/18 SB) and 1B Fred Kraft (.286/29/88/69/9 SB) were the only productive bats.

A terrible June (7-19) and a lousy September (5-11) were fatal to the second place Oxford Red Caps (78-76)... they were picked to win the TU North handily... White River was only the fourth pick... right behind Mahaska and Luxora... recent years have been pretty good to the Red Caps... they won the division crowns in '52 and '53... were third in '54... and second last year, beaten by one game in a playoff with White River... the Red Caps captured their only Pro Cup trophy in 2007... home-run power and scoring are their strengths... they batted .264 (12th) this season with 189 homers (4th) and 760 runs (7th)... Oxford is just fair on the hill with a 4.00 ERA (21st)... and just average with the gloves (.972 FA)... 7 reliable hitters supply the offense: CF Dwayne Wagner (.289/20/81/74/5 SB), LF Ozzy Ackerman (.293/20/56/63/20 SB), 3B Roland Latimer (.269/29/79/71/3 SB), All-Star C Giles Gilliam (.290/16/62/56), RF Wade McGrew (.271/23/72/68/6 SB), SS Roger Bajon (.289/6/64/78/6 SB) and 2B Ethan Cuthbert (.263/18/69/72/9 SB)... Oxford has one very good starter in Maury Statler (20-12/2.60)... veteran ace Rudy Mellancamp (16-10/3.65) is still solid at age 34... and #3 R. C. Russell (15-17/4.23) is dependable... the bullpen is bad with a 4.35 ERA (28th)... all the Red Caps need is a good #4 and an improved bullpen and they will be the best in the TU North... that all that is lacking.

The North Hills Hawks (78-76) did better than expected, tying for the second spot in the standings with Oxford... the Hawks were forecast to finish seventh... for the previous three years the Hawks hovered around the breakeven mark with a third-place finish in '53... and fourth in the last two seasons... North Hills had an impressive postseason resume with 13 appearances and 4 Pro Cups (2034, 2036, 2038, 2041)... from '34 to '45 they were a juggernaut with 11 TU North division crowns... the Hawks are tied for the most Pro Cups with Turon and Valmara... North Hills had better pitching this year with a 3.54 ERA (11th)... they lacked home-run power with only 77 homers (32nd), but hit fairly well with a .266 BA (10th) and scored well with 716 runs (12th)... but the Hawks were bad defensively (.967 FA)... all five starters are quality arms, led by Zip Harben (19-15/3.69), Chuck Kilshaw (13-7/3.67), Thad Vachon (11-8/3.01), Johnny Kristoff (13-14/3.41) and Juan Cintron (12-8/3.70)... the bullpen is hit-and-miss with DeWitt Dobkins (0-7/3.09/27 saves/44 G)... North Hills has several good contact hitters in its batting order, but not a lick of power... the club leaders are All-Star 3B Sam Dunstone (.321/1/65/106/19 SB), LF Clifton Mahaffey (.292/8/82/78/12 SB), 2B Eddie Rojek (.319/9/57/60/10 SB), RF Eddie Carlyle (.321/11/75/47) and SS Pat Johnston (.281/3/71/47/15 SB)... North Hills is on the rise... the future looks good... one or two long-ball hitters are all that's needed to put them over-the-top in the Tycobbian North Division.

It's been decades since the Mahaska Haymakers (75-79) have won the TU North... '26 and '28 were the last division titles... never have the Haymakers won the Pro Cup... basically Mahaska is just a chronic also-ran in the IPA... for the previous three seasons they stagnated in sixth place with identical 66-88 marks... improved pitching moved them up to the fourth spot this year... but they are still not a winning club... the Haymakers are just a fair-to-middling team with a .256 BA (18th), 653 runs (21st-tied) and only 91 roundtrippers (31st)... on the mound they posted a 3.83 ERA (18th)... and defensively they are just average (.972 FA)... on the hill Marty Mobley (13-21/3.15) is the most reliable starter, helped out by Morrie Dalman (18-16/3.62), Pip Cordice (15-12/4.06) and Seth Scully (11-18/4.21)... closer Cubby Darville (6-1/3.47/24 saves/44 G) is inconsistent in the pen... not a lot of quality bats in the Haymaker lineup... the best of the lot are SS Elvis Gilford (.272/13 80/94/13 SB) and RF Dub Forrester (.307/15/59/68/9 SB)... lots of so-so platoon players... a dominant starter and a top-notch hitter would put Mahaska over-the-top and make them a serious challenger in the Tycobbian North... they are not far away from the top-of-the-heap.

The Hartsdale Hellcats (74-80) were picked to wind up fifth this season by the baseball pollsters and that's exactly where they came in... just a so-so ball club with modest pitching and average offense... the Hellcats don't hit for much average, but they have some power... they only batted .244 (27th), but had 152 homers (10th) and scored 694 runs (16th-tied)... pitching was pretty fair with a 3.70 ERA (14th)... and Hartsdale was just adequate with the gloves (.972 FA)... the Hellcats have had only modest success in the postseason playoffs, appearing only 9 times with one Pro Cup title (2046)... no playoff appearances since winning the TU North Division in '46 and '47... anchoring the mound corps is Chet Salsbury (20-15/2.90) with a little help from Christopher Wolfe (12-16/3.65) and rookie Bradley Barr (13-18/3.69)... not a lot in the bullpen... closer Roy Krieger (3-8/3.10/26 saves/46 G) had his first down year after five straight good seasons... Hartsdale has no stud hitters... C Kenton Carmichael (.267/29/88/73) is the team's most reliable and productive bat... and he gets a little help from 2B Smokey Nix (.247/18/68/87/11 SB), 3B Al Wakefield (.237/20/75/74/10 SB), 1B Oscar Blackwood (.242/15/72/68/1 SB), RF Nathan Ivy (.261/14/67/51/15 SB) and CF Leon Croyle (.262/10/57/65/22 SB)... another quality starter, reliever or strong bat could put the Hellcats into the pennant mix... White River has done very well the last decade, but has been beatable the last five years... there is a lot of parity in the Tycobbian North.

The Island baseball polls pegged the Fairfax Frogs (73-81) for sixth place this season and that's how they ended up... the Frogs had a poor first half, but played well the final two months (43-32)... they hit and score well, but don't hit with power... pitching is bad... the Frogs batted .272 (5th) with 744 runs (9th), but swatted only 96 out of the park (30th)... they posted a sky-high 4.37 ERA (29th)... but the defense was above average (.974 FA)... only made the playoffs 8 times in the team's history... last pennants were over 3 decades ago in '32 and '33 with no Pro Cup trophies... Fairfax has been stuck deeply in the TU North second division for a decade... it's been 14 years since they had a winning season... the Frogs were in the basement last year (65-89)... they hit well... CF Paddy Fenroy (.322/3/58/83/21 SB), C Scott Courtney (.298/19/87/72) , 1B Mike Mitchell (.309/5/84/60), RF Downtown Wyatt (.285/13/82/75/4 SB) and LF Wayne Clausen (.270/8/63/89/32 SB) are the offensive leaders... not a lot of talent on the mound... Pete Rambone (7-5/2.65/2 saves/83 G) was used primarily in long relief, but got a shot at an occasional start and was impressive... the starters were just fair at best with Ken Wallington (13-12/4.11), Shaun O'Riley (18-14/4.21) and Jay Jay Dillaway (13-19/4.22)... the Fairfax Frogs could do some loud croaking in the Tycobbian North race with a few good twirlers at The Frog Pond (the Fairfax ballpark).

The Luxora Zorros (69-85) were supposed to ride high this year in the TU North race... Oxford was a strong favorite, but second place was wide open for several other clubs, including the Z's... but they never were in the race and wound up near the bottom in seventh place with no offense, no bullpen and just fair starters... the Zorros only batted .247 (26th), scored just 625 runs (29th), but did sock 149 homers (11th)... defense was alright (.972 FA)... the bullpen was terrible with a 4.72 ERA (31st), but the starting rotation fared fairly well with a 3.65 ERA (10th)... All-Star Juliano Machado (17-11/3.20), Mack McKitrick (9-14/2.56) and Paolo De Freitas (12-19/3.35) are a solid trio... #4 Jimmy Hollis (5-3/2.96) impressed when he was signed in August... veteran closer Kippy Stearns (4-4/3.02/17 saves/40 G) is only fair in the bullpen... the rest of the relief corps is terrible... Luxora only has one legitimate threat in the lineup: 1B Wade Tibbs (.300/23/86/79/5 SB)... C Francisco Queiro (.275/22/78/64) also has a little pop in his bat... nobody else to brag about at the plate... the Zorros had two good seasons back-to-back... second in '54 (7 GB) and a very close third in '55 (1.5 GB)... but this year the offense floundered and they fell to seventh place... the Z's haven't won a pennant since 2031, but have been to the playoffs 11 times in the club's history, but Luxora has never captured a Pro Cup title... and it doesn't appear likely any time soon.

For the last 8 seasons the Blue Lake Blue Sox (59-95) have suffered losing years... this season was one of its worst in history... the last pennant came in 2030, the year the Blue Sox won their only IPA Pro Cup... the team has made the postseason playoffs only 3 times in its history... Blue Lake was 8th in '54 (51-103)... 6th in '55 (71-83), but slipped badly again to last place this year... the Blue Sox don't do anything well... they hit .255 (19th), scored 632 runs (27th) and rapped 117 HRs (22nd)... not much on the mound with a 4.24 ERA (27th) and they are bad on defense (.969 FA)... ace Weldon Nettleton (19-16/3.38) is a solid starter and Bobby Nobles (10-12/3.73) is decent... none of the other starters or relievers are impressive... but Blue Lake does possess an All-Star C Daryl Monaghan (.322/14/67/79/26 SB), who sparkled in his second season with the club... the only other reliable bat was rookie 3B Billy Blue (.297/18/79/66)... the forecast for the Blue Sox is more losing seasons.