Friday, September 30, 2078
REIGNING PRO CUP CHAMP SOUTH FORK REPEATS IN TU EAST... 4 CLUBS ARE BACK AGAIN IN IPA PLAYOFFS
3 of the 4 Tycobbian Division winners are back again in the Islandian Pro Alliance postseason playoffs this season, including 2077 Pro Cup champion South Fork... the Ruthlandian Union has only one repeat winner from last year... only the Kilkenny Cats managed to make it again.
Ruthlandian Union Season Recap
Reviewing the 2078 year,
Kilkenny used its fine pitching to win back-to-back flags in the Ruthlandian North... the Cats staved off the Ranford Bulls and Valmara Vipers by 5 games... the LaGrange Gators wound up in 4th place and 9 GB... Kilkenny lagged back in 4th place at midyear, trailing Ranford by 8 games, but the Cats closed with a fine second-half charge and won the their second straight pennant.
It was a frenetic and frantic season in the Ruthlandian South... it was a 5-way wrangle finally won in a 3-game playoff by the
St. John Crusaders... they nipped runner-up Belair Beach by a half game and Crystal Lake by one game... defending divison champion Valka ended up just 5 and a half-game back in the 5th spot... Crystal Lake was a slight preseason favorite... St. John was 6th and 6 games off the pace at the All-Star break, but played well the final two months to cop their first pennant since 2062.
The Macs are back... yep, the
Wynnamac Sundowners, the 2076 IPA Pro Cup champion, got back into the baseball spotlight and won the the Ruthlandian East for the 22nd time... the Macs lagged 6 games behind the Marston Nine at midseason, but overtook the Nine with steady play the last 3 months... Marston played poorly the second half of the year and dropped to 4th place in the standings, winding up 5 games out in the race... last year's champ and this year's pennant choice Elnora did not fare well and wound up in 7th place, 9 GB... Eastshore and resurgent Belle Plaine were the hottest contenders... the Cotton Kings fell one game short, while the Musketeers were only 4 games off the pace.
This year's Ruthlandian West winner
Sligo pretty much had its way until midyear... Rocky Rapids was the only challenger in the first half of the season... then preseason pick Forest City, Middlefield, Fort Benton and Stoner all got involved... going into the final two months 6 clubs were in serious contention and no more than 4 games behind in the pennant race... consistent play and strong pitching paid off for the Rovers... they narrowly edged out last year's TU West winner, the Fort Benton Defenders, by one game... the Middlefield Roosters by 5 and a half games... and the Rocky Rapids Snappers by 6 and a half games.
Tycobbian Union Recap
The Hartsdale Hellcats, South Fork Stallions and the Turon Typhoons all prevailed and nabbed pennants and playoff spots in the Tycobbian Union... the Hellcats recorded their 4th flag in 7 seasons... the Stallions their 4th in the last decade... and the Typhoons their 7th in the last 9 seasons.
It was hand-to-hand combat this season in the Tycobbian North... the Blue Lake Blue Caps led the league most of the season, always at the top or near the top... by August six clubs had a good shot at the division flag... only 5 and a half games separated sixth place Oxford from league-leading White River... in a super-tight skirmish, thanks to a good August,
Hartsdale just barely outlasted Blue Lake by one game, White River and Oxford by 2 games, North Hills by 3 games... Mahaska ended up only 7 games out in 6th place.
Talented
Turon led start-to-finish in the Tycobbian South... the Typhoons built a substantial 10-game league by midseason and breezed home 12 games better than runner-up Summerland... nobody was in sight... Southport, 17 GB in third place... and Arroyo Grande 25 GB in fourth place... in the preseason poll Turon was favored to win big and they did... the Typhoons were also the critics' choice to win the 2078 Pro Cup.
The prevailing IPA Pro Cup titlist, the
South Fork Stallions, had their troubles this year, beginning with a horrible April (9-17)... they were 9 games back of first place Red Bluff by May 1st... still 6 games back of the Ozarka Naturals in June... and getting close by midseason, trailing the Nats by just 2 games... South Fork then splurged the second half of the year and won the Tycobbian South by 5 games over Ozarka and Tuckanarra, 9 games better than High Mesa and 10 games over front-running Red Bluff... currently the Stallions have their hearts set on winning their 5th Pro Cup Trophy... they will be one of the prime choices in the 2078 IPA Pro Cup playoffs.
In the preseason poll the
Kenwood Wildcats were not very highly-regarded... the Wildcats were rated fourth, far behind the prime contenders Denton City, Rolling Hills and Bayview... Kenwood was behind Bayview most of the year... 7 games off the Vikings pace in July... then the Wildcats begin to click and run on all cylinders, finishing up a red-hot 47-27 the rest of the season... no one could keep pace with them... Kenwood blazed past preseason choice Denton City and Bayview, routing them by 9 games... the Wildcats were 10 games superior to the fourth place Rolling Hills Racers... the folks in Kenwood are thinking this could be the Year of the Cat in the Islandian Pro Alliance... yep, the Wildcats just might be a strong presence in the IPA playoffs.
2078 Ruthlandian Union Final Standings
2078 Tycobbian Union Final Standings
