June 3, 1921
Award announcements have started to trickle out for the just completed high school and university leagues and our unanimous High School pitcher of the year is Sophomore R.J. Blomgren from Crimson Forest High School
Blomgren built on top of his impressive freshman season by trimming the walk rates, striking slightly more out, and annihilating his home run rate. His biggest game of the year came when he pitched 8.2 shutout innings against Port Magnolia High School, racking up 16 K's in the process and allowing just 5 hits and 2 walks.
It wasn't all sunshine though, the final game of the season was marred by injury but you can be confident that Blomgren will be back strong next year.
June 4, 1921
And our High School MVP is Sophomore LF Abel Davisson of the Dustland Boy's High School Dragons. He had to fight off a strong MVP campaign from Hadestown Magic Academy C Rickey Klein to do it though.
Davisson may not have topped any of the traditional stats like batting average, home runs, or RBIs but he had one huge trick up his sleeve and pitchers HATED him for it. He sure knew how to draw a walk.
He drew about 50% more walks than the next best hitter on the list which also translated to an OBP about .045 better than the next person on the list.
And it's not like he was slacking on the rest. A .438 batting average was good enough for second and while 6 home runs put him well below average, he did make up for it with 21 doubles that were well above the rest of his field. With two years of high school to go, Davisson will be keen to get another couple of championship trophies sorted before he leaves... a couple extra MVP awards will be nice too.
June 9, 1921
We move to the University Awards now, and Junior Ben Thornton of Northlands College of Technology is the pitcher of the year.
He beat out Amelia University's John Townsend who put up incredible strikeout numbers. His total of 111 completing dwarfing the next best of 64 or Thornton's 59.
Thornton completely reworked his approach on the mound over the winter and the result was to to nearly halve his ERA from 1920 from 5.34 to 2.74. A quality defense behind him also helped. He's elected not to enter the draft this year and will make a push for the Wildcats to complete the three-peat!
June 10, 1921
...and the university league MVP goes to Northlands College of Technology Senior CF Kevin Stump. His main competition was his teammate and batting champion C Daniel Irvine (.429 batting average). Both have declared for next month's draft.
Stump took a huge leap this season with an explosion of power and was certainly a key member of this dominant Wildcats side.He made a big statement early in the season against Amelia University with a three home run haul. That game saw him match his home run total from 1920 with the season barely a third done. It's going to be exciting to see what he can do at the pro level!
Heading back to the COBRA, the Crimson Forest Falcons have been dealt two major blows today. It was confirmed that both SS Gaby Williams and 3B Tommy Glass would miss the rest of the season.
Williams, 24, ruptured his Achilles tendon. He's hit .243/.311/.505 this season with 14 home runs and 16 stolen bases. As of today, he was leading the stolen bases chart and was on track for a 30/30 season.
Glass, 38, suffered a setback with a torn thumb ligament that'll require surgery. He'd been hitting .326/.378/.521 this season and was a member of the championship winning Spice District Roosters last season. He's signed with the Falcons until 1923, though the last year has a vesting option.
And, reigning pitcher of the month Logan Phillips took a no-hitter into the 8th against the Salt Quarter Penguins. No worries, still got a complete game shutout though.
This is where the standings sit at the end of June 10.
