A nice even start across the board to the 1971 Eclipse League season, with a couple teams already putting the lie to my pre-season predictions. The Buckeyes, mainly thanks to a 9-game win streak in mid-month, are on top of the WC National, while the Elite Giants have also begun well. Newark has the EL's best record to this point, going 17-8 to lead the FC American by four games. There is, however, a long way to go.
The AAA Transit League is even tighter, with no team having a lead of more than one. We'll check in a bit further down the track to see how that has played out.
Here are each league's award winners for April:
ECLIPSE LEAGUE- FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Rich Coggins (Crawfords) 340 / 8 HR / 22 RBI.
- FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Ricky Nolasco (Red Sox) 3-0 / 1.70 / 47 K / 58.1 IP.
- FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Ricky Nolasco.
- WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Ruppert Jones (East) 409 / 7 HR / 15 RBI.
- WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Charles Hudson (Motown Stars) 4-1 / 1.62 / 34 K / 61 IP.
- WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Charles Hudson.
TRANSIT LEAGUE (AAA)- CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Jimsey Roussell (Stars) 369 / 9 HR / 24 RBI.
- CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jesse Jefferson (Stars) 5-0 / 2.40 / 46 K / 45 IP.
- FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Freddy Galvis (Black Sox) 372 / 3 HR / 25 RBI.
- FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Pablo Armenteros (Black Sox) 6-0 / 2.58 / 15 K / 52.1 IP.
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