Tuesday, October 20, 2071
BELAIR BEACH OUTFIELDER ACCLAIMED IPA POSTSEASON MVP... ELBOURNE EDGES OUT CLOSER EDGEWORTH IN POLL
The two most important players on the Pro Cup champion Belair Beach Sunbirds were center fielder Alfie Elbourne and closer Rick Edgeworth... both were invaluable in bringing home to Belair Beach the first-ever Pro Cup Trophy... it was a very tight vote -- maybe the best thing to do was to declare them co-MVPs -- but the Islandian Baseball Writers and Sportscasters did their thing and split hairs... By a very narrow margin Elbourne is the 2071 Islandian Pro Alliance Postseason Most Valuable Player.
Elbourne led the Sunbirds with a .297 BA in 13 games... he had 7 doubles, 1 triple and 1 home run... the 32-year-old center fielder drove in 14 runs and scored 6 times... during the regular season he batted .327 in 114 games... he missed 6 weeks of the season in April and May with a shoulder injury... still he finished with 14 homers, 81 RBIs, 77 runs and 27 stolen bases... Elbourne is a 14-year veteran with the Sunbirds.
Rick Edgeworth is a 28-year-old right-hander... he has been with Belair Beach for the past 3 seasons... Edgeworth began his career with Mahaska and played his first two seasons there... Edgeworth had a standout postseason this year... in 9 relief appearances he hurled 18 innings, was 2-0 with 2 saves and posted an excellent 1.02 ERA... teams only batted .221 against him... in the regular season Edgeworth was 10-9 with 13 saves and a 3.66 ERA in 56 games... he made 17 starts and was 5-8 with a 4.57 ERA... switched to the bullpen he thrived with a 5-1 mark and a 2.36 ERA in 30 appearances... in his career Edgeworth is only 49-48 with a modest 3.56 ERA.
Winding up a distant third in the IPA Postseason MVP poll was Turon's ace pitcher Skippy Mulroy... he was one of the prime performers in the playoffs with a 3-1 mark in 5 starts... Mulroy compiled a 3.23 ERA in 39 innings of work... one of his victories was in game 4 of the Pro Cup Series over champion Belair Beach 6-1... his only playoff loss was to the Sunbirds in the opening game 7-3... at age 28 left-hander Mulroy has been superb in his 3 seasons with a 52-15 record and a strong 2.57 ERA.