Saturday, September 1, 2068
5 IPA DIVISION LEADERS ARE BREEZING INTO SEPTEMBER... WHILE 3 LEADERS ARE UNDER DURESS DOWN-THE-STRETCH
The Islandian Pro Alliance season is entering the final stages of the 2068 season... the pennant races are in the final turn and headed into the home stretch with 5 clubs holding fairly safe leads... the LaGrange Gators (82-46) are up by 8 games over the defending division champion Far Mountain (74-54) in the Ruthlandian North... it's not likely the Redhawks will catch the Gators this year... the 4 division leaders in the Tycobbian Union seem to be set for the season... all of them have even better leads than LaGrange... several of them are in front by double digits... Oxford (79-49) has a bulging 13-game edge in the Tycobbian North over runner-up Luxora (66-62)... Southport (76-51) leads second place Turon (68-60) by 8 and a half games in the TU South... Red Bluff (78-50) tops last year's winner Hillsboro (68-60) by 10 games in the TU East race... and current IPA Pro champion Rollings Hills (82-46) is racing ahead of second place La Claire (73-56) by 9 and a half games in the TU West... all of the TU division leaders except Oxford did well in recent months... the Racers were 34-18, the Red Sox 30-22 and the Sun Sox 31-21... the Red Caps posted a poor 25-27 mark, but are in no danger of being caught.
However, there are 3 races still up for grabs, all in the Ruthlandian Union... in the RU South the Claxton Diamonds (75-53) have jumped from fourth place and 3 games behind in July to the top spot in September, scorching the diamond the last two months with 35 wins and only 17 defeats... the Diamonds sport a 3-game margin over solid runner-up Waleska (72-56)... the Westerners are the only real challenger... they played very well with a 32-21 mark in July and August... midseason contenders Valka (65-62), St. John (62-67) and Belair Beach (54-74) have fallen out of the chase... the Blackhawks slumped to 24-28, the Crusaders to 19-34 and the Sunbirds dropped out of sight and as far down as you can go to a dismal 15-37... St. John had the lead at midseason, Valka was a half-game back and Belair Beach was in fifth place and just 4 games off the pace... the third place Grand City Cybercats (67-61) have been surging since the All-Star break with a 33-19 mark, but they are still 8 games out with only one month to play... the Cybercats were in seventh place in the standings at midseason.
The Wynnamac Sundowners (76-52) are still under some pressure in the RU East... the Macs are 6 games better than second place Eastshore (70-58) and 8 up on third place Beechwood (68-60)... but neither the Cotton Kings, nor the Jackrabbits are likely to catch Wynnamac... all three clubs are playing well going into the final month of the regular season... so far in the second half of the season the Macs are 32-21, the Cotton Kings are 30-22 and the Jackrabbits are 27-25... it will be the Sundowners high-powered attack and bad pitching trying to fend off the Cotton Kings, who score well and pitch well... Beechwood scores pretty well and has good power, but is just average on the hill... not likely to catch Wynnamac or Eastshore.
The Forest City Firebirds (73-55) have come out of the ashes this year in the RU West and taken the division by storm with its young super-duper hurlers... the Firebirds were dead last in 2067, but they have risen to the top of the standings this season... Forest City has remained in first place pretty much the entire season... the Firebirds lead last season's champion Sligo (69-59) and Fort Benton (69-59) by a slim 4 games... all of them are short on scoring runs, but have solid pitching... the Generals are playing the best ball in the last few months with a 29-23 record, but their offense is pitiful... the Firebirds and the Rovers have slumped a bit to 24-28 and 24-29 in July and August, but they have better offenses than the Generals... the race will go down to the last days of the season... give Forest City a slight advantage over Sligo and Fort Benton.