Sunday, October 14, 2068
IPA FINAL FOUR: #1 ROLLING HILLS, #3 SOUTHPORT, #7 FOREST CITY, #8 CLAXTON
4 teams are gone, 4 teams have survived... it's the Islandian Pro Alliance Final 4, the Tycobbian Union Title Series and the Ruthlandian Union Title Series... the #1 pick to win the IPA Pro Cup trophy this season is the reigning champion, the highly-touted Rolling Hills Racers... they will take on the #3 rated club, the Southport Sun Sox for the TU title... in the Ruthlandian Union two unsung and unheralded teams, the #7 ranked Forest City Firebirds and the #8 Claxton Diamonds, are matched up in the second round of postseason play... both series will be the best-of-seven games.
Rolling Hills had chalked up 6 Pro Cups in its history, the most ever... Southport has snared 4 Pro Cups... Claxton possesses just one Pro Cup title... and Forest City is seeking its first ever... the Racers are trying to repeat again this season... the Sun Sox won Pro Cups in 2065 and 2066... the Diamonds won it in 2064.
Action gets underway Monday afternoon with Rolling Hills welcoming Southport at the Midtown Base Ball Grounds and Claxton hosting Forest City at Avalon Stadium... it will be the vaunted Racers' offense pitted against the sound pitching of the Sun Sox in the Tycobbian Union... it will be the mound corps that will be key in the Firebirds and Diamonds series in the Ruthlandian Union.
Roman Littrell (13-9/3.00 ERA) is slated to start the opener for Southport... he will be opposed by Durrell MacLeod (18-2/3.08 ERA) for Rolling Hills... Pete Manush (18-11/2.66 ERA) takes the hill for Forest City with Mark Meisner (19-4/1.96 ERA) getting the nod for Claxton.
It will be Rolling Hills' offense against the other clubs' standout pitching... the key to victory for the Racers is its mound staff... should they continue to pitch like they did in sweeping Red Bluff, the #2 choice to win the Pro Cup, they will be very tough to beat... if Southport gets a little offense, coupled with its fine hurlers, it has a shot at upending Rolling Hills, especially if the Racers are just average on the hill, and not dominating like they were in the first round against Red Bluff.
It's a toss-up between Forest City and Claxton... both have standout pitching... the key will be who can summon some semblance of offense... the Firebirds shut down one of the best attacks in the IPA in round one... their superb staff held Wynnamac to a .227 BA... Claxton upset LaGrange in the first round... the Gators are a solid, good all-around ballclub... LaGrange was rated the 4th best club in the postseason playoffs... the Diamond hurlers were brilliant and they had to be... the Claxton hitters did almost nothing against LaGrange and yet the Diamonds still won the series.
TU and RU Title Series Outlook: Both series will probably go seven games... the teams are all evenly matched... give the edge to Rolling Hills and Claxton.
Rolling Hills Racers
Southport Sun Sox
Claxton Diamonds
Forest City Firebirds
