The
Ozarka Naturals (84-70) have been a perennial also-ran since their last postseason appearance in 2040... prior to that, the Nats were a perennial playoff team... 13 times in 19 seasons from 2003 to 2021... but they never heard the Fat Lady sing -- never won a Pro Cup, but they came close numerous times -- Ozarka lost in the Pro Cup Finals 5 times in 10 years... the Naturals are on the rise in the TU East... solid pitching and a fairly good offense... they came in 3rd this season, winding up just 4 games behind... a better record in May might have made it a much different season... the Nats went 10-17 and fell 8 games off the pace... they never really recovered... Mordecai Partridge, Joel Letellier, Amos Hill and Asmund Bjornstad are a capable starting foursome... Jedd Abraham (13-8/3.28 ERA) was greatly missed the last 6 weeks of the season, lost to injury... that really hurt down the stretch... another very capable starter Tank Ramsdell missed the entire year... he was 17-8 with a 3.72 ERA in 2076... in the bullpen Vinny Loftus and Marv Wagner are good and reliable relievers... there are no stars in the batting order, but they do put up a few runs on the scoreboard, despite not hitting much for average... Tim Robbins is the main man with some help from Matt Chizek and Bucky Barnhill... it wouldn't take much for Ozarka to take over the TU East, if Abraham and Ramsdell come back from those injuries... a couple of good bats wouldn't hurt their chances, either... the future is looking good in Ozarka.
