Thursday, April 2, 2065
IPA SEASON 65 DEBUTS FRIDAY, WESTERNERS AND RACERS IN PRO CUP FINALS
Get ready for some baseball -- Islandian Pro Alliance style!
The 65th season of the IPA begins Wednesday afternoon all across the Islands... 64 teams will do it all over again, vying for the coveted IPA Pro Cup that was won last year by the unheralded Claxton Diamonds over the vaunted Rolling Hills Racers.
After assessing the returning players' talents, skills and potential and the new roster additions, the baseball scribes and broadcasters have made their preseason picks... the sports gurus have spoken -- the Waleska Westerners will reign supreme in the Ruthlandian Union, and once again, the Rolling Hills Racers will rule the roost in the Tycobbian Union... those talented teams are forecast to meet next October in the Pro Cup Classic for the overall Islandian championship.
GATORS FAVORED IN RU NORTH
The LaGrange Gators apparently are back in serious contention in the Ruthlandian North Division... two years ago they went all the way to the Pro Cup Finals, but last year they wound up fourth in a tight 4-team race, won by the Valmara Vipers... this season in the preseason poll the baseball experts are giving the nod to the Gators in another hotly-contested race with the defending champ Valmara and the Far Mountain Redhawks.... LaGrange has the pitching, while Far Mountain and Valmara have the bats... most baseball folks think good pitching beats good batting... in recent years, that has been the story for success in the Islandian Pro Alliance.
2065 Ruthlandian North Preseason Poll
1st Place: LaGrange Gators
Wound up tied for fourth last season, trailing by just 4 games... LaGrange has three fine starters in Lucien Petit (16-11, 2.92), Chucky Beckman (13-8, 2.58) and Dave Loxley (11-7, 2.79)... they are more than solid... all they need is a few runs to win games... Trey Ladner (14-10, 2.14 ERA, 18 saves, 77 games) is also an excellent closer... LaGrange needs improved offense to be a dynamite team... sorely lacking in longball power... no real threats in the batting order... the best bats are 1B Chogie Alfieri (.286 BA, 13 HR, 70 RBI, 55 R) and 3B Cleve Juban (.276 BA, 17 HR, 50 RBI, 67 R) and they are just modest hitters.
2nd Place: Valmara Vipers (5 GB)
The Vipers won the division title last year with its offense... Valmara has several strong bats in star 1B Timmy Benford (.303 BA, 35 HR, 105 RBI, 97 R, 2 SB), RF Semyon Tomczak (.289 BA, 20 HR, 75 RBI, 79 R, 14 SB) and LF Harv Shepard (.331 BA, 19 HR, 74 RBI, 92 R, 12 SB)... the pitching is adequate, but they have no clear-cut ace... Jared Drobish (14-9, 3.13 ERA), Teddy Howell (10-8, 2.33), Tony Joe Carnes (13-8, 3.51) and Jiro Valastro (10-9, 3.66) are the starting rotation... Kris Fourcade (14-10, 3.16 ERA, 26 saves, 93 games) is a solid workhorse closer.
3rd Place: Far Mountain Redhawks (6 GB)
The Redhawks tied for fourth place last year, 4 games off the pace... they can hit the ball, but come up short on the hill... they feature good bats throughout the lineup, led by 1B Jarrick Beauchamp (.320 BA, 8 HR, 71 RBIs, 100 R, 6 SB), star 2B Luke Hazlett (.304 BA, 20 HR, 101 RBI, 94 R, 6 SB), 3B Mac McKendry (.300 BA, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 69 R) and star CF Ox Gless (.287 BA, 21 HR, 95 RBI, 91 R, 3 SB)... Jon Hedlund (10-7, 3.66) and Axel Helden (14-11, 3.65) are fairly good starters with a good closer in Larry Stafford (14-12, 3.20 ERA, 22 saves, 83 games)... no real stoppers on the mound staff.
4th Place: Ancona Red Elephants (13 GB)
None of the other clubs are expected to contend... all of them are just run-of-the-mill ballclubs... Ancona is a .500 team with not a lot of pitching or hitting... last year they finished in seventh place... Yanni Bubas (15-8, 3.20 ERA) is the only quality starter... the bullpen is anchored by strong-armed, but inconsistent Kontos Christakis (16-14, 3.45 ERA, 21 saves, 92 games)... the Red Elephants have only two solid hitters in the lineup... they are CF Marcellus Dillaway (.277 BA, 28 HR, 87 RBI, 94 R, 7 SB) and C Robin Hargroder (.287 BA, 20 HR, 70 RBI, 71 R).
5th Place (tie): Glasco Foxhounds (17 GB)
Glasco came real close to winning the RU North last season, falling short by just one game... it was a 5-team fight to the finish, won by Valmara... the Foxhounds are similar to LaGrange... fine pitching, but lack scoring power... Glasco features a solid foursome in their rotation with Jonathan Burnett (18-7, 2.78), Bret Massey (11-8, 2.65), Casey McPherson (11-6, 2.87) and Jayden Furman (10-7, 3.43)... plus an impressive bullpen specialist Coy Gosselin (10-8, 2.60 ERA, 22 saves, 74 games)... Glasco has some quality hitters, but no studs... the best they have are LF Callum Slattery (.297 BA, 19 HR, 66 RBI, 86 R, 4 SB), RF Andy Rooney (.294 BA, 16 HR, 62 RBI, 64 R, 1 SB), 2B Aidan Gifford (.293 BA, 12 HR, 64 RBI,61 R, 5 SB) and CF Lynwood Scroggs (.266 BA, 15 HR, 61 RBI, 92 R, 23 SB).
5th Place (tie): Kilkenny Cats (17 GB)
The Cats were a dismal eight-place club last season, winding up 23 games behind champ Valmara... pitching is just fair with starters Durrell MacLeod (10-7, 2.69 ERA) and Yoshiro Makihara (11-11, 3.22 ERA... and Ringo Lanier (10-12, 3.63 ERA, 12 saves, 69 games) is just a so-so closer...hitting-wise Kilkenny doesn't hit for average, but does have some punch with the likes of 1B Cullen Walsh (.253 BA, 22 HR, 55 RBI, 60 R), 2B Nicky Vallas (.255 BA, 16 HR, 62 RBI, 63 R, 5 SB) and CF Jerry Dewhurst (.247 BA, 12 HR, 51 RBI, 65 R, 11 SB)... plus a couple of pretty good contact hitters in CF Vance Snead (.319 BA, 0 HR, 37 RBI, 57 R, 8 SB) and LF Luke Cranshaw (.314 BA, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 51 R/ 8 SB)... Cranshaw also does double duty as a pitcher with a 4-5 record, 3.73 ERA and 2 saves in 18 relief appearances.
7th Place: Ranford Bulls (22 GB)
The Bulls can hit the ball, but have zilch on the mound, but they almost won the pennant last year, ending up a very close third, just 2 games off the lead... top guns are star LF Jed Blodgett (.262 BA, 34 HR, 98 RBI, 99 R, 17 SB), star C Glen Chambliss (.307 BA, 20 HR, 70 RBI, 63 R) and a budding star that can do it all, CF Timmy McCarthy (.284 BA, 22 HR, 83 RBI, 99 R, 26 SB)... two other players can go deep: 1B Garry Galbreath (.268 BA, 21 HR, 78 RBI, 74 R/3 SB) and 2B Natty Hobbs (.258 BA, 24 HR, 62 RBI, 79 R), grandson of IPA icon Roy Hobbs... there are several pitchers with some potential... Zeppo Perrelli (9-5, 2.40 ERA, 7 saves, 49 games) will be a fulltime starter this year... Chet Pennington (7-5, 3.17) will get his chance to shine this season... Eric Connor (11-8, 3.56 ERA) and Alex Wilcox (11-9, 3.66) did fairly well last year... the bullpen really needs some help... closer Marv Douglas (10-17, 4.78 ERA, 22 saves, 91 games) was hit-and-miss last year... sometimes good, sometimes really bad... a few quality pitchers could put the Bulls back into the pennant chase... they are a better than seventh-place team.
8th Place: Taranto Tars (30 GB)
The Tars wound up sixth last season, 14 games out of the top spot... they could score runs, but they had the worst pitching in the RU North... could be more of the same this year... the forecast is for the cellar... the bats are still around with CF Dan Timmons (.294 BA, 6 HR, 58 RBI, 103 R, 44 SB), who had a breakout season... LF Curtis Cress (.290 BA, 1 HR, 46 RBI, 95 R, 15 SB) and SS Andy Zahn (.289 BA, 4 HR, 66 RBI, 71 R/14 SB)... part-timer 1B Buddy Lark (.338 BA, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 48 R) needs to be in the lineup more... 2B Vladimir Szymanski (.270 BA, 20 HR, 67 RBI, 59 R) and 3B Franco Fontana (.262 BA, 20 HR, 77 RBI, 53 R/1 SB) also provide the team with some firepower... the starting rotation needs some work... the best of the lot is Nico Croce (12-9, 3.43) and Tavish Fitzroy (11-10, 3.57)... last year's best starter Ralph Montgomery (10-6, 3.36 ERA) is headed for the bullpen and closer role this year.
2064 Ruthlandian North Final Standings
