Wednesday, October 16, 2075
IPA FINAL 4 TIME: MARSTON AT SLIGO IN RU TITLE SERIES... HARTSDALE AT ROLLING HILLS IN TU TITLE SERIES
Here are the numbers in the IPA... 64 to 8 to 4... nope, that's not a weird double play... or the title of a Chicago Transit Authority song from the 70s...it's IPA Final 4 Time in the Islands... the 64 teams have been whittled down to just 4 teams...that's all that is left... only the Marston Nine and the Sligo Rovers are left standing in the Ruthlandian Union... and only the Hartsdale Hellcats and the Rolling Hills Racers have survived the cut in the Tycobbian Union.
The 2075 IPA Pro Cup playoffs will pick up play again this Saturday afternoon... Marston will be on the road against the Sligo Rovers and Hartsdale will travel to Rolling Hills to take on the Racers... Sligo is the highest-rated team left in the postseason... the Rovers are rated the 2nd-best squad by the baseball experts... the Racers are the 4th-best team... Marston is #5... and last, but certainly not the least, are the #7 choice, the Hartsdale Hellcats, the team that stunned the Islandian baseball world by upsetting the Pro Cup favorite Turon Typhoons in the first round... the Hellcats swept all four games with Turon.
In the Ruthlandian Elite 8 Series, Marston defeated the favored Ranford Bulls in a torrid seven-game affair... the Nine won the first three games, lost the next three, then finally finished off the Bulls... Sligo had it a little bit easier in round one... the Rovers knocked off a pretty good Valka team in 6 games... over in the Tycobbian Elite 8, Rolling Hills won a sensational 7-game series with the Tuckanarra Tiger Cats... the Racers had to sweep the last two games... and they just barely won it... they trailed 6-2 halfway through game 7... it took a 5-run inning to come back and win it.
Sligo had the best overall record in the IPA this season, going 101-53... followed by Rolling Hills at 100-54... Marston wound up with the 4th-best mark 97-57... the surprising Hartsdale Hellcats were only 87-67, yet they eliminated powerful Turon... the Typhoons posted a 100-54 record.
Ruthlandian Union Title Series Outlook
Two octogenarians will go head-to-head in the Ruthlandian title series... both Hall of Famers... Russ Woodward, age 81, will lead Marston and Les Patterson, age 84, is in charge of Sligo... both are retiring at the end of this season after long and illustrious careers in the IPA... Woodward had a lifetime .315 BA with 621 homers and 2052 RBIs, while Patterson was 306-230 with a career 2.79 ERA... both have been successful skippers, too... Woodward has captured 6 pennants so far... but has often been a contender in the RU East Division... Patterson has paced the Rovers to 7 RU West titles... Woodward and Patterson rarely had a losing season.
Marston's overall pitching depth will be able to contain the Sligo bats... the Rovers are not quite as good on the hill, but are better at the plate... give Sligo the advantage defensively... look for the Nine to win it in 7 games... Marston is seeking its first-ever Pro Cup Trophy... this is manager Russ Woodward's farewell season after 60 years in Marston as a HOF player and skipper... Les Patterson has managed Sligo for the last 24 seasons... he starred for the Rovers for 17 years... Sligo won its only Pro Cup in 2021.
Tycobbian Union Title Series Outlook
The TU title series should be a 7-game donnybrook as well... Rolling Hills has seven .300 hitters in its lineup... the Racers sported a .302 team batting average this season... they can certainly score runs, but they give up a lot of runs, too... manager Billy Christianson is hard-pressed to find quality pitching... this will be his downfall... look for Hartsdale to take the series... manager Mark Markis has enough pitching to slow down the Racers... both clubs are top-notch with the gloves... Hartsdale hits with more power... that will give them another advantage.
Markis is one of the few skippers in the Islandian Pro Alliance with no IPA experience as a player... he is no athlete... Markis never played the game... he only coached it in high school and was very successful... he was hired as a bench coach for the Hellcats and so impressed them with his knowledge of baseball and analytics that they made him manager in 2062... since then, Markis has won 5 pennants and one Pro Cup... that was in his second year in 2063.
Christianson is a Hall of Fame infielder... 6-time All-Star and Gold Glover at third base and first base... lifetime .302 BA with 258 homers and 1446 RBIs... Christianson has had tremendous success as skipper of the Racers... he has won 13 pennants since 2052 and 4 Pro Cups... Christianson has been TU Manager of the Year 6 times.