[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 16, 2058

MIDDIES CLOSE FAST, EDGE IPA KING RED BLUFF IN TU EAST
The Red Bluff Red Sox will not repeat as the IPA champion this year... the preseason favorite Midway Wolves (92-62) got hot in September and put away the reigning Pro Cup champion Red Sox (88-66) by 4 games... the Middies finished the month with a standout 11-3 mark to pull away from the Red Sox by winning 9 of their last 10 games... Red Bluff did well with a 9-5 record, but couldn't derail Midway this year like they did last season... the third place Hillsboro Blazers (85-69) had a great season for them and wound up 7 games off the pace... when it mattered most, the Blazers fizzled out and fell to 5-9 in September... ending up distant fourth in the race was the South Fork Stallions (82-72), 10 games off the pace... Midway has won the Tycobbian East Division 5 times in the last 6 seasons.

1st Place: MIDWAY WOLVES (92-62)
Preseason Rating: 1st Place
Last Year: 2nd Place (86-69) (1 GB)
Two Years Ago: 1st Place (101-53)
Outlook: The hungry Wolves are back and ready to devour the IPA in the Pro Cup playoffs... they were the IPA champion in '53 and '54... Midway has made the playoffs 7 times in its history and garnered 2 Pro Cup trophies... they will be gunning for their 3rd IPA crown this year... manager Bobby Dorignac has a rock-solid club that will be one of the favorites in the postseason playoffs.

Midway can do it all on the diamond... they hit well for average and for power... they score well and have good pitching... the Wolves can sock it to you with superstar CF Norishige Ito (.334 BA/41 HR/112 RBI/120 R/ 7 SB), superstar RF Daryl Vale (.330/33/117/96/29 SB), SS Kax Clark (.297/8/67/102/2 SB), 2B Jamey Southwick (.296/18/80/67/1 SB), LF Robb Withers (.315/16/50/73/4 SB) and OF Kody Kenyon (.278/16/47/65/6 SB)... Dorignac has some quality starters in Rob Land (18-4/2.90), Yank Atchley (17-14/3.45), Mel Merlo (15-12/3.46) and Arnie McGill (15-19/3.83)... and Steve Swanwick (9-3/2.79 ERA/21 saves/46 G) is a capable closer.

2nd Place: Red Bluff Red Sox (88-66) (4 GB)
Preseason Rating: 3rd Place
Last Year: 1st Place (87-68)
Two Years Ago: 6th Place (71-83) (30 GB)
Outlook: Record-wise the poor Red Sox did better this year than last year when they won the Pro Cup, but they won't get the chance to repeat because of the fast-finishing Midway Wolves... Red Bluff manager Ike Sweetwater's club started slowly, just playing .500 ball until June, then they kicked it in gear the next two months (36-18) and got into the race, but a cold August (14-15) pretty much cost them the division title... the Red Sox have made the postseason 9 times in their history with 2 Pro Cups to show for it... they won last year and 2004.

Red Bluff has a robust attack, ranked 2nd in scoring runs (829) and 6th in homers (198)... and the pitching was fairly good (13th)... but the bullpen was a disaster (26th)... topping the Red Sox offense was RF Toni Kolkov (.272 BA/42 HR/119 RBI/105 R/1 SB), 1B Jonathan Haworth (.267/28/95/91/2 SB), CF Paul Gaddison (.292/26/75/92/16 SB), 2B Dazzy Bevis (.244/25/84/74/9 SB), 3B Monty Lyons (.250/18/80/74/10 SB) and rookie LF Ian Driskell (.305/7/50/73),... Sweetwater's best moundsmen were starters Wilson Sharpe (19-10/3.09), Duane Sturgeon (17-15/2.95) and Ian Goldsmith (16-8/3.68)... his #4 starter Fred Taylor (20-8/4.35) won 20 games with the aid of the big bats... Dontrelle Gilbreath (1-5/1.79 ERA/30 saves/48 G) was a pretty good closer, but didn't have any help at all... the Red Sox are still a contender in the Tycobbian East.

3rd Place: Hillsboro Blazers (85-69) (7 GB)
Preseason Rating: 5th Place
Last Year: 8th Place (66-88) (20.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 7th Place (64-90) (37 GB)
Outlook: It was an amazing year for Hillsboro, one of the least successful IPA franchises... the Blazers have only made the playoffs on one occasion (2051)... they have no Pro Cups in the team history... but this year, Hillsboro rose up from the TU East basement and wound up in the third spot in the standings and even made a serious bid for the division flag... the Blazers dropped out of the race with Midway and Red Bluff in the final weeks of the season... new skipper Steve Cooper made a big impact on the club... the bats improved and the pitching got better... Cooper toiled for 20 years and compiled a decent 254-276 mark with a poor team, registering a pretty good 3.36 ERA.

Cooper has three solid starters in Ian Barrie (18-11/3.13), Elliot Frampton (19-17/3.49) and Clay Spencer (18-9/3.77)... plus a pretty good closer in Ron Pryor (4-3/3.03 ERA/41 saves/55 G), the IPA leader in saves... offensively, Hillsboro needs some improvement... they have some power (13th), but don't hit for average (28th)... the Blazers have trouble scoring runs (21st)... 3B Rube Neely (.328 BA/17 HR/81 RBI/86 R/6 SB) is the club leader... a very solid performer at bat and in the field... other contributors are LF Ichiro Ichikawa (.276/21/77/68/14 SB), RF Eli Nickelson (.259/22/76/81/10 SB), SS Bobby Bartell (.257/19/53/91/24 SB) and CF Dennis Kepler (.259/14/77/77/28 SB)... Hillsboro had a really good season, but it may be difficult to sustain... some of the key players are up in age and decline could set in soon... still the Blazers played very well in the second half of the season and could have been a pennant threat except for the September slump.

4th Place: South Fork Stallions (82-72) (10 GB)
Preseason Rating: 7th Place
Last Year: 6th Place (70-84) (16.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 8th Place (63-91) (38 GB)
Outlook: the Hosses made good strides this year under rookie manager Jay Murphy, a quality pitcher for 16 seasons (2038-2053) with South Fork... with a run-of-the-mill club he had a career record of 250-185 with a 3.24 ERA and won two TU Golden Arms ('42, '44) and one Tycobbian MVP ('44)... the Stallions moved up in the standings from 6th to 4th this year.

South Fork scores well (12th) with average power (17th), but the pitching (24th) is not very good... RF Bob Purkey (.332 BA/38 HR/103 RBI/111 R/14 SB) had a career year and is a budding superstar... 3B Terrence Staton (.235/22/90/86/7 SB) didn't hit for much average, but was a productive hitter... other contributors were C Rudy Maroney (.303/13/76/65/1 SB), LF Rudi Eberhardt (.301/21/71/57/1 SB), CF Artie Greer (.274/19/61/75/12 SB) and 1B Lyle Tatton (.256/20/72/84/15 SB)... on the hill side of the ledger Emmett Coogan (25-10/3.27) carried the pitching staff with a great season... Brett McCracken (17-12/4.08) helped out as well... no other starters stood out... in the pen Herm McClanahan (6-6/2.24 ERA/34 saves/53 G) had a very impressive year.... but overall the relievers are substandard... better pitching next year and the Stallions might get up with the big guns of the Tycobbian East.

5th Place: High Mesa Mustangs (81-73) (11 GB)
Preseason Rating: 2nd Place
Last Year: 3rd Place (85-69) (1.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 5th Place (75-79) (26 GB)
Outlook: The Mustangs came real close in the TU East last year, losing out in the pennant race by a scrawny one and a half games and winding up in third place behind champ Red Bluff and runner-up Midway... manager Jack Elliott was excited going into his 21st season at the helm... but his club stumbled badly out of the gate with a 22-35 mark after two months of play... the Mustangs were deep in the second division most of the season... however, they closed really well with a 28-15 record the final six weeks and wound up 8 games over .500 and came in 5th, 11 GB... High Mesa had average scoring (18th) and average pitching (18th) with good home-run power (7th)... the Mustangs have done fairly well under Elliott, but have only made the playoffs one time with him (2048)... High Mesa has made the postseason only 3 times in its history... Elliott is again excited about the coming season... he said he had a good ballclub at the end of this season.

Leading High Mesa at the plate are a fine core of hitters: 25-year-old superstar 3B Kagetoki Miyazaki (.296 BA/47 HR/107 RBI/105 R/2 SB), one of the top young players in the IPA... along with CF Tracy McGriff (.257/30/94/79/3 SB), 2B Tommy Yost (.284/16/78/75), LF Curly Yeats (.280/19/58/99/20 SB) and SS Ivan Cook (.245/24/72/74)... on the hill the Mustangs have 22-year-old ace Weldon Herringdon (18-11/2.54) with 41 wins his first two seasons... vets David Newell (16-13/3.59) and Tuffy Hammel (17-14/4.16) are quality arms, too... sadly High Mesa has no bullpen... the closer Val Vannoy (4-10/6.02 ERA/24 saves/48 G) surely will be replaced next year... almost anybody would be better... Elliott promised shoring up the mound staff will be his prime purpose in the offseason.

6th Place: Tuckanarra Blue Jays (78-76) (14 GB)
Preseason Rating: 8th Place
Last Year: 5th Place (77-77) (9.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 4th Place (78-76) (23 GB)
Outlook: Former Tuck second sacker and rookie skipper, Eddie Darby, guided them this year... and he did much better than expected... last place was the forecast... Darby played for the Blue Jays his last 12 seasons in the IPA... he spent his first 5 years with his hometown Glasco Athletics in the Ruthlandian Union... his dad, Charles Darby, runs the A's... in all Eddie played from '22 to '38... Darby was a 4-time Golden Glove infielder and 3-time All-Star... his career batting average was .288 with 143 homers, 1005 RBIs and 1293 runs... he also stole 265 bases... Tuckanarra came in 6th this season, but posted a winning record (78-76)... the Tucks have a fine history in the IPA, but not recently... they have won only one pennant in the last two decades ('49)... overall they have made the postseason playoffs 18 times and have captured 3 Pro Cups ('23, '24, '35)... Darby helped the Blue Jays win the IPA Pro Cup in 2035.

Darby only has a so-so ballclub, rated 22nd in scoring and 20th in pitching... the top twirlers for Tuckanarra are Ian Timms (22-12/2.74), Deron Dayton (13-8/3.20) and Justin Shank (10-8/3.30)... Timms has won 48 games the last two seasons... however, the Bluebirds are lousy in the bullpen, ranking 28th in the Tycobbian Union... heading up the batting order is 1B Boomer Carlton (.310 BA/26 HR/96 RBI/88 R/1 SB), RF Foxy Frye (.258/37/89/100/15 SB), 3B Jamie Thomas (.284/17/77/69) and C Odell Overstreet (.287/13/57/71/12 SB)... Darby did well in his freshman season at Tuckanarra... improving the bullpen and the bats are his highest priorities for the coming year.

7th Place: Ozarka Naturals (75-79) (17 GB)
Preseason Rating: 4th Place
Last Year: 7th Place (70-84) (16.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 3rd Place (83-71) (18 GB)
Outlook: It was a lackluster year for manager Duffy Morrison and his Nats... they only played good ball in one month of the season with a 16-10 mark in June... the offense is decent (23rd), but totally lacks power (31st)... Ozarka only hit 96 out of the park... the starting rotation is quite good, ranking 11th in the Tycobbian Union, but the bullpen stinks... yet the Naturals were just 4 games under the .500 mark... it wouldn't take a whole lot for them to move back into the first division... it's been almost two decades since Ozarka won the TU East flag (2040)... they have only won it twice since 2022... prior to that the Nats were regular contenders and tough competitors... from 2003 to 2022 they won 13 pennants and made the Pro Cup Finals 5 times, but they never won it.

Ozarka has three solid starters in Willis Reece (16-12/2.96), Ezra Hancock (19-11/3.30) and Ronnie Belzer (18-15/3.35)... all under age 25, too... at the plate the best of the lot is SS Foxy Alderson (.294 BA/12 HR/100 RBI/77 R/11 SB), 1B Sookie Lagerberg (.275/27/86/71), RF Scotty Hannon (.289/11/67/84/6 SB) and CF Chris Kile (.292/2/46/88/7 SB)... Morrison could certainly use a little more punch in the lineup... and he really needs to boost his bullpen corps... otherwise it will be more of the same... near the bottom of the TU East Division.

8th Place: East Point Panthers (66-68) (26 GB)
Preseason Rating: 6th Place
Last Year: 4th Place (80-74) (6.5 GB)
Two Years Ago: 2nd Place (86-68) (15 GB)
Outlook: Not so good for manager Frank Blair and his Panthers... they took quite a fall this year after being perennial contenders for the division title for the last decade... twice East Point won it ('50, '52) and 5 times they were the runner-up... pitching killed the Panthers this year... overall in the club's history they have only appeared in the postseason 7 times and have never won the Pro Cup.

East Point still has a good offense, ranking 14th in scoring and 10th in longballs, but just 25th in the pitching department... Blair still has three good sticks in the lineup: 1B Alvaro Cavacos (.242 BA/40 HR/103 RBI/107 R/13 SB), CF Skip Donley (.287/30/104/93/18 SB) and C Kenny Bailey (.292/23/77/65), but they can't do it all... on the mound only vets Benny Allen (15-20/3.66) and Eddy Winbourne (13-18/3.83) were dependable... and the both suffered subpar seasons... they both won 20 games the year before... and at age 34 closer Kerry Woodburn (1-7/3.32 ERA/26 saves/42 G) had an off-year... there will lots of new pitchers on the Panthers next year according to manager Frank Blair.

2058 Tycobbian East Division Final Standings