Thursday, October 12, 2084
#1 SUNBIRDS TO FLY BY #6 CANNONS FOR RU CROWN
#3 RACERS WILL ROLL OVER #4 HELLCATS FOR TU TITLE
There will be no dark horses winning the Pro Cup like the last two years. All of the four remaining challengers come with genuine credentials. Any one of the four has what it takes to take the renowned IPA relic. It will be the Fort Benton Cannons (95-59) taking on the Pro Cup favorite Belair Beach Sunbirds (99-55) for the Ruthlandian Union crown and the Rolling Hills Racers (93-61) contending with the Hartsdale Hellcats (98-56) for the Tycobbian Union title. It is notable that all four teams won their divisions by solid numbers and all of them won 93 or more games. There are no weak sisters left in the playoffs this season. The weakest clubs LaGrange (86-68), Belle Plaine (87-67) and Turon (86-68) were disposed of in round-one action.
The IPA postseason playoffs prognosticators are prophesizing that it will probably be Belair Beach and Rolling Hills prevailing precariously over the Fort Benton Cannons and Hartsdale Hellcats primarily because they possess superior pitching. All of the final four participants can hit with abandon, but only the Sunbirds and Racers can get batters out with regularity. The Cannons and Hellcats have to outhit and outscore the opposing teams, rarely do they outpitch them. Belair Beach and Rolling Hills can put runs on the scoreboard, too. They can be tough to score on, too. That's why they are the critics' choices in the IPA playoffs.
Rolling Hills is a thoroughbred when its comes to Pro Cups. The Racers have racked up 10 of them in their fabled history. The other threesome have won only 3 between them. Hartsdale has captured 2 Pro Cup Trophies, Belair Beach just one and poor Fort Benton is still hoping and wishing and waiting. This would be the Cannons first Pro Cup.
Almost top-to-bottom in their batting order Belair Beach has a rock-solid socker. They batted .285 as a team with 890 runs and 178 homers. Fort Benton hit well during the season, but not like the Sunbirds. The Cannons don't have the pitching to compete with them either. But the RU Title Series just might be a 7-game affair. Fort Benton is playing well. Should it get some good pitching, they can hang with Belair Beach. The Sunbirds play well at home and on the road, while the Cannons play much better at home. Belair Beach has the homefield advantage. They both hit right-handers and left-handers. No advantage there for either team.
Belair Beach Home Page
Fort Benton Home Page
Rolling Hills has been a powerhouse in its history and it is still a strong team. Some say this is the best Racer team in history because of its good pitching. In past years Rolling Hills depended on its offense to win Pro Cups. Not so this year. The Racers have a good hitters up-and-down in its lineup. So do the Hellcats. Hartsdale can also hit more homers than Rolling Hills. It's batting order has 5 hitters with 20 or more homers. The Racers pitching will have to slow down the longball power of the Hellcats and keep the power hitters in check. This is going to be a slam-bam shootout of a series and will go the limit of 7 games. Give Rolling Hills the slightest of edges. Hartsdale is a strong team, too. And the Hellcats have the homefield advantage. The Racers are just a fair team on the road. They play much better at home. That might be the difference in the two teams. Still, good pitching can shut down good hitting. The Racers have a pretty good advantage on the hill.
Rolling Hills Home Page
Hartsdale Home Page
