Sunday, October 18, 2065
IPA PRO CUP FINALS START THIS FRIDAY IN SOUTHPORT
The Islands will be in all their glory this coming Friday...baseball will be in air and shining radiantly in the spotlight all across Islandia for the next week... the 2065 IPA Pro Cup Finals will start this Friday afternoon at Pleasure Beach Park in Southport... the two challengers are the champion of the Ruthlandian Union, the Colfax Black Sox, and the champion of the Tycobbian Union, the Southport Sun Sox, going head-to-head in a best-of-seven series for the Holy Grail of Baseball - the IPA Pro Cup.
Southport will be the favorite because they beat powerful Rolling Hills to reach the Finals and and because they have the better pitching... the Sun Sox will be trying to win its 4th Pro Cup in the team's history... the Sun Sox won previously in 2027, 2044 and 2047... 2047 was the current skipper Lorne Evans' first year at the helm... Colfax has only one Pro Cup in its trophy showcase... you have to go all the way back to 2010 when they were the overall Islandian champion.
In the recent past Colfax has the better playoff performance... the Black Sox made the 2063 Pro Cup Finals and lost to the Hartsdale Hellcats in 6 games... most of the '63 team is back for another try... Southport's last foray into the Pro Cup Finals was in '62 when they were eliminated in the TU Finals by Rolling Hills 4 games to 2... the Racers won the Pro Cup that year beating Volusia... the Sun Sox roster has changed a lot since then... mainly in the regular positions... not the same team... both Colfax and Southport may both be better this time around.
For Southport to win, the pitchers will have to stop the Black Sox bats... Roman Littrell (18-7, 2.11 ERA) and Eddy Salem (17-5, 2.77 ERA) are both #1 starters... the outcome of the series will be how well the other starters perform... Bebe Kinney (16-8, 2.55 ERA) will get the game-three assignment... game four will to Pernell Milstead or Jeff Moncriffe (9-10, 3.20 ERA)... Milstead (12-8, 3.08 ERA) was fine in the regular season, but he was ineffective in 2 postseason starts... Moncriffe was in the bullpen in the playoffs and did pretty well... game four is a toss-up between them... the #3 and #4 starters for both teams will probably be the keys to the Pro Cup title.
Karl Kruger (16-8, 3.29 ERA) is the Colfax ace and he has been outstanding in the postseason with a 3-0 mark and a superb 1.13 ERA in 4 starts... but he needs help from the other three starters... Terry Dubrovnik (12-9, 3.48 ERA) will get the call in game two...Terry Starr (12-6, 4.30 ERA) will be the #3... both are quality arms, but inconsistent... Blaine Barkins (18-3, 3.32 ERA) was solid in the regular season, but he has totally bombed in the playoffs this year... Barkins has a horrible 15.26 ERA in 3 starts and an 0-2 record... manager Garry August may have given up on him... each postseason start is critical in a short series... you just don't have time to experiment... August may go with Tommy Birchfield (10-10, 4.32 ERA), who has done well in postseason relief, but not in his one start... the #4 assignment is still up in the air.
Offensively, the edge goes to Colfax... they hit with more power, for a better average and get on base better... top-to-bottom in the batting order, the Black Sox are chocked full of RBI guys... they beat a very good group of Claxton pitchers in the RU title series... so far in the postseason Lanny Waldrep (.318, 5 HR, 9 RBI), Bralen Josephson (.292, 1 HR, 4 RBI), Steven Keener (.360, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Jerry Vayda (.476, 1 HR, 8 RBI) and Rhett Weatherall (.326, 1 HR, 7 RBI) have done the job at the plate... one bat Colfax needs to get going is Owen McElwain (.156, 1 HR, 3 RBI)... he is their third-big power guy... since the Black Sox were good enough to beat the Claxton Diamonds, they may be good enough to top Southport.
Surprisingly, Southport beat Rolling Hills by outscoring them... it wasn't the highly-regarded hurlers that won the day... it was the a well-balanced offense that prevailed, along with some pitching that looked bad because of the potent attack of the Racers... Junior Evans (.298, 2 HR, 7 RBI), Pee Wee Little (.304, 1 HR, 8 RBI), Goldy Zellmer (.342, 0 HR, 8 RBI), Curtis Clift (.327, 1 HR, 8 RBI), Arnold Evans (.289, 1 HR, 7 RBI) are a productive bunch of bats... two of their best bats Walt Walmsley (.231, 0 HR, 4 RBI) and Tonto Tidwell (.200, 1 HR, 5 RBI) have not done well in the playoffs... look out, if they do.
On defense, both Southport (.979 FA) and Colfax (.978 FA) are just average... call it even here... but I might give the edge to the Sun Sox... the Evans brothers turn a lot of double plays... they are the sons of manager Lorne Evans, an IPA Hall of Fame outfielder.
Pro Cup Forecast: Southport's pitching tandem of Roman Littrell and Eddie Salem give them two solid starters... Colfax's Kruger can't win the series by himself... the Sun Sox staff will hold down the Black Sox offense... and the Southport offense will be just good enough to win... the Sun Sox will win the 2065 IPA Pro Cup in 6 games... the Black Sox have not faced pitching like they will see in the Pro Cup Finals.
As the baseball-loving Islanders are always saying, "Have a ball, you all... it's Pro Cup time!"