[ayaghmour2]

Nice end to the Spring as the Cougs finished 3-1 and a game behind the Stars for the best record in the CA. The most remarkable part was the club's health, as not a single Cougar got even a day-to-day injury. Most cuts have been made, but a few more will occur over the weekend, with games set for Tuesday. There are a lot of tough decisions, as we really don't want to lose anyone, as most teams haven't needed cuts and are likely to scour the waiver wire for depth.

No pitcher had a better Spring then Billy Riley, who finished the exhibition slate a perfect 3-0 with a 1.12 ERA and 0.88 WHIP while walking 3 and striking out 5. Art White did his best to match, an unlucky 1-0 despite his 1.42 ERA and 0.58 WHIP. The defense did its part, as White walked and struck out just one, but these are extremely encouraging signs for Cougar fans. Harry Parker was expected to dominate, and he was a rather unlucky 1-1 with a still impressive 2.12 ERA, although his 0.76 WHIP, single walk, and 5 strikeouts were outstanding as well. Its impossible for the rest of the staff to match that, but Matson, Lopez, and Thorpe all maintained ERAs below 4. Matson did the best, a perfect 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 5 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Lopez's numbers were inflated by a rough outing against the defending champs, but he ended 1-2 with a respectable 3.71 ERA to go with a 1.41 WHIP, 8 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Thorpe, who is ticketed to start the season in Milwaukee, had some walk issues with 9 in 14.2 innings, but he worked around the free passes, going 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA and 1.50 WHIP.

The pen had some issues, but Ben Curtin and Jack Huston put up matching 1.64 ERAs. Huston was dominant, striking out 7 without allowing a walk to go with a sparkly 0.64 WHIP. Curtin had a pair of unearned runs, leading to a higher 1.36 WHIP, and he walked 4 with just a pair of strikeouts. Veteran Dick Lyons had no issues working in relief, going 2-0 with a pair of holds in 8.2 innings with an impressive 2.08 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Rube Finegan made his push to secure one of the final pen spots, tossing 8.1 scoreless frames with 5 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. George Oddo was brilliant as well, and even though he was always set to start in the minors, the league's 19th ranked prospect threw 7 innings without allowing an earned run, allowing just 5 hits and 2 walks with 7 punchouts. Fellow top prospect Joe Swank was unhittable, with just a single blemish, a walk, with 3 strikeouts in 6 near-perfect innings. Harry MacRae had plenty of success as well, tossing 6 solid frames with 3 hits, a run, and 2 strikeouts. There were plenty of talented arms in camp, and its hard to argue there is any team with as deep of a staff as the Cougars, both currently in the organization and overseas.

The lineup showed some signs of weakness, but the vets came to play. Rich Langton and Harry Mead had matching .391 batting averages, combining for 4 doubles, a triple, 2 homers, 10 RBIs, 13 runs, and 7 walks. Cliff Moss didn't look 38, going 10-for-35 with 7 runs, 7 walks, 5 RBIs, and a pair of triples. Don Lee showed the bat we know he has, going 13-for-44 with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 12 RBIs, 8 runs, 5 walks, and 2 steals. Orlin Yates was pretty productive as well, 11-for-41 with 4 doubles, a homer, 4 steals, 8 runs, and 4 RBIs. Skipper Schneider finished 11-for-39 with a double, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 7 RBIs. Tip Harrison may have earned himself the starting second basemen job, going 12-for-38 with 2 doubles, a homer, 3 walks, 3 RBIs, and 5 runs scored. Mike Taylor continued to prove effective with the bat, an impressive 8-for-25 with a triple, homer, 2 RBIs, and 5 runs. Ollie Page kept his spot, going an impressive 6-for-14 with a double, steal, and 2 walks, runs, and RBIs. Billy Jordan Jr., who started just 8 minor league games since 1941, hit a shocking 6-for-14 as well with a walk, double, and RBI. Longtime Cougar farm hand Chris Smith tried to earn a spot, slashing 8-for-21 with a double, 2 homers, 3 runs, 6 RBIs, and 2 walks.

There were a lot of poor performances, unfortunately, with veteran first basemen Dick Walker was just 8-for-44 with a double, 2 triples, a homer, 2 steals, 6 walks, 3 RBIs, and 7 runs. Utility man Bill Dickens was just 11-for-48, but it did come with 2 homers, 6 runs, 5 RBIs, 2 walks, and a double. Homer Guthrie finished just 6-for-35 with a double, 4 runs, 2 RBIs, and 7 walks. Veteran minor leaguer Walt Layton was 8-for-37 with 3 runs, 3 walks, and 7 RBIs. George Sutterfield didn't hit enough to claim a starting spot, going 9-for-37, although he did add 4 doubles, 3 steals, a walk, 5 runs, and 5 RBIs. Both third base options had it really rough, with Ken Mayhugh 8-for-36 and Steve Jones 5-for-28. Both doubled once, while Mayhugh tallied a walk, 2 runs, and 5 RBIs compared to Jones' 5 walks and 3 runs both scored and driven in. Jimmie James didn't offer much at the plate, 6-for-32 with 2 walks, 2 RBIs, and 4 runs scored. Chick Browning might have scuffled his way to waivers, going 3-for-27 with a homer, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and 4 walks. There are plenty of tough decisions left before Opening Day, so a trade may happen to make things a bit easier.