Monday, October 21, 2080
WR RASCALS SLIGHT FAVORITE OVER MACS IN IPA PRO CUP SERIES... PLAY GETS UNDERWAY TODAY
It's Islandian Pro Cup Series time all across the Islands... the best-of-seven series for the whole shebang opens today at White River Stadium in White River... the favored Rascals, champion of the Tycobbian Union, will host the Wynnamac Sundowners, the champion of the Ruthlandian Union, for the baseball supremacy in Islandia.
#3-ranked White River and #6-choice Wyannamac are both fresh off 4-2 victories over #1 Crystal Lake and #8 Arroyo Grande in the TU and RU Title Series... the baseball pundits favor the Rascals because of their home-run power and scoring ability... White River had a big edge over Wynnamac in the regular season with 178 roundtrippers... the Sundowners only cracked 97 out of the park... the top guns for the Rascals are James Lundin, Olaf Erikson, Viggo Frandsen and Babe Coleman... all of them hit 20 or more homers... the Macs only had one... that was Julius Goodman with 26.
On the hill in the opening game will be right-hander Clifton Branch (22-7/3.13 ERA) for the visiting Macs and manager Nioka Inkamara... getting the call from Rascal skipper Butch Slattery will be southpaw Jimbo Munsey (17-12/2.96 ERA)... both of them are well-traveled... Branch has played for 3 teams in his 6 seasons, while Munsey is on his 4th team in his 10-year career.... Branch has been the most effective with a 72-33 mark and a 3.42 ERA... Munsey has found a home in White River, but he is only 70-79 with a modest 4.09 ERA... both of them have made 5 postseason starts this year... Branch is 2-2 with a 4.17 ERA... Munsey is 2-3 with a 3.59 ERA.
According to
The Islandian Times Pro Cup Poll, White River will cop the series four games to two.
