[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 16, 2058

SUN SOX BLISTER TU SOUTH, WIN BY 13 GAMES
This year the baseball gurus and pollsters knew their stuff when they predicted Southport (95-59) would easily triumph in the Tycobbian South Division... nobody came close... the Sun Sox blistered them by 13 games... they easily knocked off defending division winner Turon, who had captured 5 of the last 6 flags... third place Cape Coral (71-83) was even further behind at 24 games... Ginza (68-86) and Arroyo Grande (68-86) tied for the fourth spot in the standings, trailing by 27 games... Southport won going away despite going a very poor 10-18 in April... the Sun Sox were dead last in the division, 7 games back of Turon… but they roared past everybody with a great turnaround and rebound.

1st Place: SOUTHPORT SUN SOX (95-59)
Preseason Rating: 1st Place
Last Year: 3rd Place (76-78) (17 GB)
Two Years Ago: 3rd Place (80-74) (16 GB)
Outlook: Lorne Evans has been in charge of the Southport Sun Sox since the '47 season, when he took them all the way to the IPA Pro Cup title... this is the 5th time Evans has won the TU South in his 12-year tenure... overall in the club's history the Sun Sox will be making their 12th playoff appearence and will shooting for their 4th Pro Cup trophy... they won it previously in '27, '42 and '47... '58 could be another Pro Cup year for Southport... they had the fourth-best record in the IPA... only Volusia (105), Valmara (99) and Wynnamac (96) had more victories.

Southport has it all this season... they hit well, score well, have decent longball power and standout pitching... Evans has a good starting rotation with Jordy Wales (23-10/3.15), Champ Shafer (19-12/3.31), rookie Jeff Moncriffe (17-15/3.04) and Lenny Clarkson (12-11/3.63)... the bullpen is even better, anchored by veteran closer Troy Hill (8-2/1.37 ERA/29 saves/45 G)... the batting order is solid, too, with CF Walt Walmsley (.254 BA/16 HR/82 RBI/93 R/17 SB), LF Keiland Forrester (.302/24/81/79/4 SB), 1B Zee Graham (.326/19/66/69), RF Manuelo Garcia (.311/13/66/69), C Goldy Zellmer (.284/8/43/80) and SS Happy Trudeau (.320/6/51/52/6 SB).

2nd Place: Turon Typhoons (82-72) (13 GB)
Preseason Rating: 4th Place
Last Year: 1st Place (93-61)
Two Years Ago: 1st Place (96-58)
Outlook: 5 times in the past 7 seasons the Typhoons won the TU South Division crown... they had the lead this year into July, but fell to the wayside with a terrible August (12-17), while Southport was blitzing everybody in sight by going 40-17 in July and August... pitching let Turon down this season... the Typhoons are one of the more prosperous clubs in the IPA with 20 postseason appearances and 4 Pro Cup titles ('03, '06, '09, '18).

Manager C. C. Kingsford has led Turon since the '51 season... the only years they lost the pennant they finished second, just one game out of first both times... that's a pretty amazing run... however, this year his pitching slipped from 3.14 ERA to 3.84 ERA... both offensively and on the hill the Typhoons were just average and it showed in the standings... the primary pitchers the previous year Yancey Hedges (15-10/4.17), Dickie Parmenter (12-10/3.81), Bobby Reimer (9-11/3.49), Ivar Jevicks (7-8/3.80) and Ollie Dickinson (1-7/6.24) all had down seasons this year... 38-year-old Judson Bacall (13-9/2.95) was the only reliable starter this season... Turon only had modest success at the plate with LF Andy Wilkerson (.294/24/95/82/11 SB), RF Tank Shepperton (.296/14/69/83/20 SB), RF Matthew Fears (.288/18/87/78/2 SB), 2B Bo Kaline (.298/10/57/77/31 SB) and 1B Shoyo Yuro (.253 BA/18 HR/83 RBI/93 R/2 SB)... Kingsford has got to upgrade his pitching corps.

3rd Place: Cape Coral Hurricanes (71-83) (24 GB)
Preseason Rating: 2nd Place
Last Year: 2nd Place (77-77) (16 GB)
Two Years Ago: 6th Place (67-87) (29 GB)
Outlook: William Snyder is out at Cape Coral after 9 lackluster years as skipper... Snyder, a fine hitter, never had a good season, nor a real bad one, but he's gone... this time for a pitcher... the new manager is Benton McCall, a pretty good hurler for the 'Canes from '34 to '51... he recorded a 217-194 mark and a career 3.92 ERA... Cape Coral has only made the playoffs on 8 occasions, the last time was in 2041... the Hurricanes have never won a Pro Cup championship.

McCall is getting a team with horrible pitching... Cape Coral has the worst ERA in the IPA at 4.90... but the team can hit for average, hit homers and score runs... leading the lineup are 3B Barney Fiske (.335 BA/14 HR/68 RBI/115 R/3 SB), 1B Kalian Coston (.313/30/88/92/8 SB), LF Marvin Cordice (.280/10/48/104/21 SB) and 2B Jaybird Ethridge (.276/33/113/91)... while the mound staff is poor, at least the closer Manny Rosetti (2-3/1.14 ERA/30 saves/44 G) can really do the job... in the starting rotation Davis Tyrrell (9-10/4.28) is the best, but he's less than adequate... all of the starters are young and not so good: Edgardo Arriaza (13-10/5.29), Jerrod Kipling (13-21/4.70) and Frisco Francis (12-11/5.33) are the rest... the Hurricanes are a mediocre team playing in a very weak division... that's why they came in third... it will be a while before Cape Coral will be challenging Southport... or even Turon... the Sun Sox and Typhoons are the only good teams in the Tycobbian South.

4th Place (tied): Ginza Ninjas (68-86) (27 GB)
Preseason Rating : 3rd Place
Last Year: 5th Place (66-88) (27 GB)
Two Years Ago: 7th Place (64-90) (32 GB)
Outlook: While it didn't show up in the team record very much, rookie manager Sogo Takagi got the pitching on the right track... but his bats are really bad... like most of the clubs in the TU South, the Ninjas are not very good... historically, Ginza has only made the postseason 7 times and has never won the IPA Pro Cup... the last pennant came almost 3 decades ago in 2031... patience, Grasshopper, patience (quote from on old TV show in the 70s)... most likely, it could be awhile longer.

Ginza has three pretty good starters in Kenny Cabot (17-19/3.12), Fran Kercheval (14-17/3.44) and Kurt Brophy (12-15/3.01)... none are up in age... Abram Worth (1-6/2.27 ERA/22 saves/38 G) is a better-than-average closer, too... not much to say about the Ninja offense... RF Gideon Tracy (.289 BA/20 HR/92 RBI/63 R/14 SB) is a good one and he gets a little help from SS Kuzuki Tamura (.250/12/71/79/11 SB) and C Gerry Glidden (.231/18/77/55/1 SB).

4th Place (tied): Arroyo Grande Suns (68-86) (27 GB)
Preseason Rating: 7th Place
Last Year: 6th Place (66-88) (27 GB)
Two Years Ago: 2nd Place (84-70) (12 GB)
Outlook: Manager Eduardo Villanueva took over in '54 and broke even at the .500 mark, coming in 4th... upped it to 3rd place in '55 with an 89-65 record... went 84-70 in '56, winding up in 2nd place... but in the last two years his pitching and hitting has gone to pot and the Suns are back in the TU South second division... overall in IPA play Arroyo Grande has not been successful... only 4 times have the Suns made the playoffs... you have to go back to 2024 for the last pennant... and they have never won the Pro Cup trophy... the Suns can't hit a lick, nor can they pitch very well... Villanueva may be looking for another job soon, if he doesn't turn it around.

Arroyo Grande is led on the mound by rookie starter Diego Avalos (13-19/3.44)... the rest of the rotation is lackluster with Beau McCloud (13-17/4.61), Nap Vickerson (12-20/4.16 and Audie Glynn (8-10/4.22)... the bullpen is paced by a fairly reliable closer, Kurt Wolf (5-3/2.90 ERA/27 saves/41 G)... at the plate the Suns only hit homers and nothing else... they are pathetic... none of the regulars are hitting more than .257... CF Rueben James (.245 BA/42 HR/82 RBI/73 R/4 SB) can good deep, along with 1B Russell Taylor (.257/22/67/90/10 SB), RF Gaston Robin (.235/29/71/76/9 SB) and 3B Mateo Estada (.244/20/57/61).

6th Place: San Alejo Montaneros (63-91) (32 GB)
Preseason Rating: 7th Place
Last Year: 8th Place (63-91) (30 GB)
Two Years Ago: 8th Place (62-92) (34 GB)
Outlook: Since winning their last TU South pennant in '51, the Monties have tumbled badly with a losing record the last 5 seasons... 2 last-place finishes and 3 sixth-place finishes... San Alejo has made the playoffs 8 times, most of them in the last 25 years... the Montaneros won its only Pro Cup trophy in 2031... rookie skipper and former player Paolo Teixeira is now in charge... there wasn't much improvement in his freshman season... the Monties have a rinky-dink offense and shoddy pitching... the forecast is bleak and barren for San Alejo.

San Alejo hit homers, but doesn't hit for much average... the longballers are LF Wilfredo Peralta (.258 BA/32 HR/89 RBI/79 R/14 SB), C Afonso Marques (.255/28/73/71/2 SB), 2B Roman Redondo (.237/26/75/69/2 SB) and 1B Alonzo Grassi (.263/21/92/45)... Teixeira only has one good starter with Elmer Cane (15-19/3.18)... the others are second-rate: Terry Starr (15-12/4.51), Adrian Acosta (10-18/4.38) and Tonico Ribiero (8-16/4.30)... there is no one worth mentioning in the bullpen.

7th Place: Colchester Elites (61-93) (34 GB)
Preseason Rating: 8th Place
Last Year: 7th Place (65-89) (28 GB)
Two Years Ago: 5th Place (67-87) (29 GB)
Outlook: In his first year as manager, Dave Lacoste did not do very well... the string of bad seasons continued for the Colchester Elites... it's been 4 straight losing years... not a lot of offense and not a lot of pitching will do it every time in the IPA... Colchester is one of the weaker franchises with just 4 postseason appearances and no Pro Cups... 2036 was the last time the Elites won the pennant... since then they have had only one winning season (2051)... and twice they managed the .500 mark (2042, 2053).

Colchester has a substandard pitching staff... Warner Washam (11-9/3.60) and Bucky McCracken (11-19/3.89) are just decent at best... no one else worth mentioning.... but the Elites do have some pretty fair sticks in their lineup, led by RF Graig Sutton (.295 BA/41 HR/94 RBI/80 R), 1B Erroll Waldrep (.309/31/95/86) and CF Eldon McLennan (.314/8/64/94/26 SB).

8th Place: Summerland Sunsets (60-94) (35 GB)
Preseason Rating: 6th Place
Last Year: 4th Place (72-82) (21 GB)
Two Years Ago: 4th Place (78-76) (18 GB)
Outlook: Antonio Varques has been the headman in Summerland for the last decade with mixed results... he has had 3 winning seasons, but no pennants... the Sunsets have not been very successful in the IPA... they only have won the Tycobbian South 4 times... never has Summerland won the Pro Cup... and this lack of success will continue... Vasques has an absolutely terrible offense and very little on the hill.

Summerland has one solid starter in Tommy Underhill (17-15/3.03) and a decent one in Rudy Hilgendorf (14-19/4.12)... not a lot on the staff except for them... not a lot of offense on the club, either... the best of the lot in the subpar batting order is RF Rip Norfield (.243 BA/28 HR/87 RBI/70 R), CF Gerrit Peerenboom (.268/12/57/66/15 SB), 2B Jayson Nickell (.238/12/53/62) and LF Cy Brigman (.248/15/49).

2058 Tycobbian South Division Final Standings