[Eugene Church]

YESTERDAY IN THE IPA
2025 IPA Postseason Playoffs

The Islandian Times
Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Times Poll Picks Reds In Pro Cup
The baseball experts have made the Rolling Hills Reds of the Tycobbian Union the top choice to win the IPA Pro Cup this season. Number two in The Islandian Times poll was the Crystal Lake Crushers of the Ruthlandian Union. These two talented clubs are predicted to win their leagues and face each other in the Island finals. In the championship series Rolling Hills was given the edge because of its better hitting. Crystal Lake has great pitching, but not much at the plate. The Wynnamac Sundowners were voted the third-best team with the South Fork Stallions rated fourth. In spite of winning the most games in the regular season, the Stallions were downgraded because they only have two strong starters. The Sundowners have excellent starters and a lineup that can score runs. The Ginza Ninjas and the Far Mountain Redhawks are rated dark horses with the Fairfax Frogs and Middlefield Roosters given little chance to take the Island title. Middlefield is the only returning club. The Roosters lost out early in the first round last season. They lost superstar first baseman Allan Stewart in June and will greatly miss his bat this year... South Fork whipped Tuckanarra in the TU East this season. The Blue Jays won the Pro Cup the last two years. Far Mountain, Crystal Lake, Middlefield and Wynnamac have won the Pro Cup in previous years. The Redhawks took three straight 2011-2013 and the Crushers won twice in 2020 and 2022. Wynnamac copped the Pro Cup in 2008 and Middlefield in 2005.

The Islandian Times Pro Cup Poll
1. Rolling Hills Reds (93-61)
2. Crystal Lake (92-62)
3. Wynnamac Sundowners (92-62)
4. South Fork Stallions (96-58)
5. Ginza Ninjas (93-61)
6. Far Mountain Redhawks (91-63)
7. Fairfax Frogs (87-67)
8. Middlefield Roosters (85-69)

The Islandian Times
Wednesday, October 1, 2025

IPA Final 4s Set, Stallions And Crushers Favorites
The number-one seed Rolling Hills is gone after the first round in the IPA Pro Cup playoffs. In round two, the Ruthlandian and Tycobbian Final 4s will feature the number 2, 4, 5 and 8 seeds. In the RU, number 2 Crystal Lake will try to take care of underdog Middlefield, the lowest rank team, and over in the TU it will be fourth seed South Fork and fifth seed Ginza. The most impressive teams in the Elite 8s were the Crystal Lake Crushers, who easily disposed of Far Mountain in 5 games and the South Fork Stallions, who beat the top-ranked club, the Rolling Hills Reds in 6 games. The Ginza Ninjas also played very well whipping Fairfax in 5 games. The unheralded Middlefield Roosters bounced back from a 2-1 deficit to win the last three games and eliminate favored Wynnamac.

Ruthlandian Union Elite 8 Series
Crystal Lake (4) - Far Mountain (1)
Game Scores: 0-1, 5-4, 5-1, 2-1, 7-2

Middlefield (4) - Wynnamac (2)
Game Scores: 6-5, 3-4, 7-1, 4-1, 5-4 (12), 7-3

Tycobbian Union Elite 8 Series
Ginza (4) - Fairfax (1)
Game Scores: 0-2, 1-0, 10-9, 2-1, 5-1

South Fork (4) - Rolling Hills (2)
Game Scores: 2-8, 6-4, 12-7, 1-2, 3-1, 1-0

Duroche "Lips" Leon's South Fork Stallions gained a lot of respect by knocking off a very talented Rolling Hills team, but they are in for another battle in the TU Final 4. Ginza has fine pitching and will be no pushover. In fact, the Ninjas took 2 of the 3 regular season games with the Stallions, who led the IPA with 96 victories. South Fork has fine pitching, plus some very good bats. That should give them the edge over Ginza. Crystal Lake's pitching dominance continued into the postseason. The Crushers allowed Far Mountain only 9 runs in 5 games. Baby George's Crushers are a very similar team to Wynnamac. Neither of them have much offense, but pitch very well. Bailey Norcross's Roosters took care of the Sundowners and feels he can do it to Crystal Lake, too. The two clubs split 6 games in the regular campaign. All of them were decided by 2 runs or less. This may be a closer match-up than the soothsayers say.