WALESKA MAY MOVE UP IN CLASS
Almost a decade has come and gone since the Waleska Westerners last won the Ruthlandian South Division... according to the IPA peerless prognosticators the Westerners may move up in class this year and wrestle the division flag away from the Claxton Diamonds, the reigning Pro Cup champion... that may be a tough task... the Diamonds may not be ready to give up the crown... Claxton has won the RU South for the last two seasons and looks like they are ready to make it three in a row... the Diamonds are rated the third-best club in the division this year... the baseball pollsters rank the Grand City Cybercats as the number two team... the forecast is for these three teams to battle for the pennant in a fairly even race... the other five clubs are just also-rans and not likely to contend for the title.
2065 Ruthlandian South Preseason Poll
1st Place: Waleska Westerners
The Cowboys were way behind last year, coming in fourth in the standings and trailing by 16 games... Waleska has come in fourth the last four seasons and apparently ready to make the move to the postseason playoffs for the first time since 2056... strong pitching is the key to the Westerners' season... Waleska abounds in solid pitchers... some say it is better than Claxton... Rick Howzer (17-6, 1.88 ERA) is the ace of the mound corps... he came in second for the Golden Arm last year and led the league in ERA... the rest of the rotation consists of Jake Stearnes (11-11, 3.28 ERA, 24 saves, 92 games), Kieran Roy (10-9, 3.35 ERA) and Matt Marion (6-6, 2.72 ERA)... Stearnes was the closer last year and will get his chance this year in the starting rotation... he will be replaced by the capable Theron Pritchett (11-9, 3.19 ERA, 3 saves, 41 games)... and, like the Diamonds, they could use some more offense... RF Bitsy Boccabella (.287 BA, 25 HR, 78 RBI, 88 R, 2 SB) is a rock-solid bat, but he can't carry the whole load... the rest of the lineup is mediocre at best... it may happen, but it is hard to see Waleska topping Claxton this year... several rookie bats will have to blossom for that to happen... CF Lucky Gatlin might be one of them... he hit well in spring training
2nd Place: Grand City Cybercats (5 GB)
The number-two pick this year has been just a .500 team the previous three seasons... the Cats are not a robust offensive team, but they are the best in the RU South, led by 2B Lyndon Hazzard (.296 BA, 14 HR, 80 RBI, 86 R, 18 SB), RF Zippy Balencia (.280 BA/13 HR, 58 RBI, 92 R, 26 SB), CF Paul Gaddison (.261 BA, 24 HR, 86 RBI, 72 R, 15 SB), LF Boots Luckham (.238 BA, 21 HR, 82 RBI, 73 R, 8 SB) and 3B Terrye Ayres (.308 BA, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 45 R)... next to Claxton, Grand City is ranked number two on the hill... overall, they don't look that good based on the returning hurlers like Glen Smitherman (15-13, 3.42 ERA), Brodie Ezzell (6-11, 3.28 ERA), Gil Lloyd (7-7, 2.38 ERA) and closer Joey Louis (13-10, 2.47 ERA, 14 saves, 76 games), but perhaps, it's the newcomers that will make up the slack... Leonard Hamilton could have a breakout year according to the experts.
3rd Place: Claxton Diamonds (6 GB)
One would logically think the Diamonds would just pick up where they left off last year and snag their third RU South pennant in a row...they still have devastatingly good pitching, anchored by Mark Meisner (14-8, 2.08 ERA), Russell Krohn (19-6, 2.86 ERA), Don Downing (16-7, 2.70) and Matt Goodrum (11-10, 3.22 ERA)... and standout closer Alvie London (18-7, 2.32 ERA, 24 saves, 91 games) in the bullpen... and the Claxton bats are more than adequate with the likes of 3B Fred Hahn (.307 BA, 14 HR, 68 RBI, 63 R, 3 SB), SS Karl Dornhauer (.295 BA, 12 HR, 58 RBI, 64 R, 12 SB), CF Paddy Garson (.301 BA, 6 HR, 52 RBI, 77 R, 27 SB) and LF Scoops Dunn (.253 BA, 12 HR, 78 RBI, 57 R, 8 SB)... they don't have a lot of fancy stats, but they do get the job done... four rookie batsmen could make a different, too... methinks, the Diamonds will make a run at the pennant again.
4th Place: San Dimas Rancheros (16 GB)
San Dimas is the best of the rest... none of which will challenge the main contenders for the RU South flag... the Rancheros were seventh last year, 27 games off the pace... and they came in last the previous two seasons... the last pennant came in '41... and is not likely this year... the San Dimas pitching is pretty good with Hernando Almora (12-10, 2.95 ERA), Tim Tunney (8-11, 3.22 ERA) and Adrian Garza (8-10, 3.97 ERA)... rookie starter Brandy Stewart and Ivan Maldonado did well in the spring... and closer Dan Stapleton (12-11, 2.98 ERA, 12 saves, 69 games) heads up a solid bullpen... however, the Rancheros can't hit a lick... the best of the lot are mediocre at best: CF Quin Dustin (.241 BA, 27 HR, 65 RBI, 79 R) and SS Rufus Sikes (.260 BA, 5 HR, 50 RBI, 63 R, 6 SB)... but help could be on the way from rookies RF Dude Miley, 2B Luke Axelrod and 2B Ramon Santos... they hit well in spring training, especially Miley (.407 BA, 3 HR, 10 RBI).
5th Place: St. John Crusaders (18 GB)
The Crusaders had a very good 8-year run from '57 to '63, winning four RU South pennants... but they faltered last season and slipped to sixth place and 26 games back in the pennant race... blame it mostly on the bats... the pitching declined some, too... leading the offense are rock-solid and reliable veteran CF Freddie Woodruff (.303 BA, 7 HR, 71 RBI, 81 R, 4 SB), 1B Francis Bagnell (.279 BA, 14 HR, 84 RBI, 69 R) and RF Matt Silverman (.286 BA, 6 HR, 42 RBI, 82 R, 11 SB)... St. John has one fine starter in Donald Cannon (11-5, 2.57 ERA), but little else... however, three rookies stood out in spring training and will get a shot at making the starting rotation... keep an eye on Randy Trowbridge, Donny Tyndall and Kyell Sondergaard... the bullpen is just mediocre, headed up by Smoke Early (11-10, 4.32 ERA, 6 saves, 47 games).
6th Place: Valka Blackhawks (20 GB)
The Blackhawks have been a good club the last six seasons in the RU South, a serious contender in two of them... last year they wound up in second place, but 14 games back of Claxton... they have done it mainly with their pitching, led by Doyle Gambrell (14-9, 2.85), Carlos Santa Ana (8-10, 2.32) and Clark Harrington (18-7, 3.56 ERA)... coupled with a fine closer in Stosh Matusczak (10-12, 2.34 ERA, 26 saves, 87 games)... the bats are lackluster, paced by CF Jonas Kahn (.268 BA, 12 HR, 62 RBI, 73 R/2 SB), C Freddy Civik (.278 BA, 16 HR, 54 RBI, 59 R, 1 SB) and 2B Juri Tarvas (.276 BA, 3 HR, 51 RBI, 42 R, 3 SB)... rookie 3B Egon Poska looks like a good addition to the batting order... he won the spot in the spring.
7th Place: Crystal Lake Skippers (22 GB)
The Skippers had two fine years in '58 and '59... they even won the 2058 Pro Cup... but they slipped back into the pack in the following seasons... did well last year record-wise at 82-72, third place, but 15 games out of first... Crystal Lake is a well-rounded club with good pitching and good batting... heading up the starting rotation are ace Bucky Dodge (19-8, 2.76 ERA), Julio Cordova (12-4, 3.24 ERA) and Caleb Christy (12-14, 3.09 ERA)... the bullpen is in good hands with Yuri Kirchoff (7-5, 2.12 ERA, 11 saves, 59 games)... the top producers in the batting order are 1B E. J. Bowen (.298 BA, 28 HR, 82 RBI, 73 R), star CF Mel Brouwer (.310 BA, 20 HR, 82 RBI, 74 R, 11 SB), LF Speedy McCormick (.319 BA, 11 HR, 54 RBI, 70 R, 11 SB) and 2B Derron Fallow (.310 BA, 10 HR, 67 RBI, 62 R, 5 SB)... sorry, but the Skippers don't look like a seventh-place club... then again, age might be catching up with them... it's been known to happen.
8th Place: Belair Beach Sunbirds (28 GB)
The Sunbirds have not been shining lately... you have to go back two decades or so... back to the '47 and '48 seasons... that's 16 years of losing seasons... it is highly doubtful they will end the drought this year... Belair Beach doesn't have much to boast about... they have a few solid ballplayers in LF Curtis Cochran (.323 BA, 7 HR, 61 RBI, 86 R, 28 SB), CF Tyler O'Reilly (.267 BA, 11 HR, 67 RBI, 62 R, 19 SB), RF Alfie Elbourne (.274 BA, 18 HR, 86 RBI, 78 R, 20 SB)... that's a good outfield... 3B Rusty Van Slyke (.240 BA, 23 HR, 67 RBI, 70 R, 1 SB) can go deep, but suffers from lack of contact... but the Sunbirds have no pitching... Ronny Belzer (9-8, 2.62 ERA) and Chris Malbrough (11-10, 4.04 ERA) are the two best... otherwise zilch on the mound... gonna be another long-suffering season for the Sunbirds.
2064 Ruthlandian South Final Standings
