ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (RUTHLANDIA and TYCOBBIA BASEBALL UNIONS)

[Eugene Church]

To whet your appetite for postseason baseball, I will tease you with the game headlines for the IPA First Round opening games.

EC is busy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each week recording my radio programs. I will cover the IPA First Round Series beginning Thursday.

2092 IPA First Round Series - Game 1

[Eugene Church]

2092 IPA First Round - Game 2 Schedule

[Eugene Church]

2092 IPA First Round Series - Game 2

[Eugene Church]

Sunday, October 12, 2092

LAGRANGE, FOREST CITY, LA CLAIRE WIN IN IPA PLAYOFF 1ST ROUND, WHILE HARTSDALE UPSETS SOUTH FORK AGAIN
The first round of the Islandian Pro Alliance postseason playoffs played out pretty much as predicted. Favorites LaGrange, Forest City and La Claire won as expected. Only South Fork failed to live up to expectations. The favored Stallions were victimized for the second year in a row by the underdog Hartsdale Hellcats.

Pro Cup favorite LaGrange bested the #8 Claxton Diamonds four games to one and Forest City swept the #5 Marston Nine in the Ruthlandian Union First Round, while defending Pro Cup champion La Claire knocked off the #4 Summerland Sunsets in five games in the Tycobbian Union First Round. Unheralded #7-rated Hartsdale had South Fork's number for the second straight season, upsetting the #3 Stallions in six games.

In the RU Title Series it will be #1-ranked LaGrange pitted against #6 Forest City. In the TU Title Series it will be #2 La Claire vying with #8 Hartsdale.

2092 Ruthlandian Union First Round Playoff Recap

GATORS KNOCK OFF DIAMONDS WITH GREAT PITCHING
The Pro Cup favorite LaGrange Gators defeated the Claxton Diamonds in 5 games, holding them to just 9 runs in the series. The big bats of the Gators only managed 19 runs themselves.

GATORS LE ROYER FEASTS ON DIAMONDS, FIRES GAME-ONE GEM
In the opening game of the Ruthlandian Union First Round Series at The Swamp in LaGrange, the Gators' ace Jules Le Royer feasted on the Claxton Diamonds, firing a 5-0 gem, blanking them on 5 hits in his 8 innings of work. The little right-hander fanned 10 and walked 3. James Forest finished up for him with a runless 9th.

The LaGrange bats also feasted on losing pitcher Monty Maples for 13 hits, led by Lou Buckman and Julien Pascal with 3 hits and Remy Martin with 2. Ricardo Zamora slammed the game's only fourmaster, a solo swat.

DUJARDIN BRILLIANT, GATORS WIN 2ND STRAIGHT
The LaGrange Gators are known for their offensive firepower, but so far in the Ruthlandian First Round, the pitching has been devastating in the first two games. Jules Le Royer magnificently blanked Claxton in the first game of the series, while, Andre Dujardin hurled a brilliant 2- hitter in the second game. The only run permitted was scored on an error. Dujardin fanned 6 batters and permitted only one walk. He went all the way for the win. The Gators bested the Diamonds 3-1 to take a 2-0 edge in the best-of-seven series. Lou Buckram provided the offense with 2 solo homers. LaGrange pinned the loss on Irv Dawkins, who gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 7 innings.

Monday is an off day. The series will continue at Avalon Stadium in Claxton on Tuesday.

CLAXTON RALLIES LATE, NOW DOWN 2-1
It was now or never for the Claxton Diamonds in game three of the series. Down two games to none, they rallied at home at Avalon Stadium in the late innings for a 4-3 comeback victory over the LaGrange Gators and cut their lead to two games on one in the RU First Round Series. Heading up the rally were Jeffrey Bounds with a 2-run homer in the 7th and Greg Kendall, who provided the gamewinner, a base hit in the last of the 9th that scored Andreas Koopman from second base.

Solid pitching by starter Augie Diokos and closer Dingo Ferrell did the job. Diokos worked 7 innings, gave up 2 earned runs and 7 hits with 8 Ks and 2 walks. Ferrell finished up for the win with 2 scoreless frames.

Jules Dufour started for LaGrange and exited after 5 innings with a 3-1 edge, but his bullpen failed him. Bucky Erdman came on in the 9th and lost it.

Jeffrey Bounds cracked 3 hits and batted in 2 runs for the winning Diamonds, while Charles Gray led the Gators with 2 ribbies.

EASY ED STOPS CLAXTON 5-2 IN GAME 4, GATORS UP 3-1
Southpaw Easy Ed Sutcliffe had an easy time with the Claxton Diamonds in pivotal game four of the Ruthlandian Union First Round Series on the road at Avalon Stadium. After giving up runs in the first 2 frames, Sutcliffe settled down and blanked the Diamonds the rest of the way. Now the Gators have a substantial 3-1 lead over the Diamonds. Sutcliffe hurled 8 innings for the 5-2 victory, permitting 8 hits with 7 strikeouts and 2 bases on balls. Elliott Bagwell worked the last inning to seal the win. Armand Ardoin caught the loss, but he only allowed 2 earned runs in his 7 innings. Errors cost him 3 runs.

Right fielder Ricardo Zamora socked a 2-run double in the top of the 3rd frame to put the Gators in front 4-2. Julien Pascal, Evon Layton and Lou Buckram drove in the other Gator runs.

LAGRANGE TOPS CLAXTON IN 5 GAMES IN ROUND 1
This year's Pro Cup favorite LaGrange has booked its spot in the Ruthlandian Union Title Series, going up against the red-hot Forest City Firebirds. The Gators quickly disposed of the Claxton Diamonds in 5 games, wrapping it up with a hard-fought 11-inning 3-2 thriller, finally decided on a two-bagger by Ricardo Zamora. Forest City blitzed the Marston Nine in 4 straight games.

LaGrange's ace Jules Le Royer and Claxton's ace Monty Maples battled to a 2-2 draw in their 6 innings of work. Both bullpens did their jobs, too, until the Gators broke through against loser Irv Dawkins in the 11th frame. Elliott Bagwell won it with 3 spotless innings and 5 Ks.

The Gators collected 12 hits, led by Lenny Lang and Ricardo Zamora with 3 base hits each and Julien Pascal and Evon Layton with 2 hits apiece. Zamora, Lang and Gray drove in the LaGrange runs.

The Diamonds had 11 hits. Greg Kendall, Arnfried Beckenbauer and Kees Molenaar rapped 2 hits each. Beckenbauer and Molenaar knocked in the runs. Molenaar had the game's only longball.

Series Summary
The LaGrange mound corps sparkled, led by starters Jules Le Royer (1.32 ERA in 2 starts), Andre Dujardin (0.00 ERA), Jules Dufour (2.25 ERA) and Easy Ed Sutcliffe (2.25 ERA). The bullpen, headed up by Elliott Bagwell stood out, too.

The Gator attack wasn't as potent as in the regular season. LaGrange led the entire IPA with a .272 BA and topped the Ruthlandian Union with 170 homers and 753 runs. But the Gators got sufficient hitting from Lou Buckram (.438 BA), Julien Pascal (.409 BA), Lenny Lang (.316 BA) and Ricardo Zamora (.316 BA) to win the series. The only decent performers for Claxton were Kees Molenaar (.350 BA), Arnfried Beckenbauer (.318 BA) and Jeffrey Bounds (.312 BA). The rest of the batting order was anemic, all of them batted under .200. Starters Augie Diokos (2.57 ERA) and Armand Ardoin (2.57 ERA) kept the Diamonds close in their 2 starts and closer Dingo Ferrell (0.00 ERA) did well in 2 relief appearances. Claxton ace Monty Maples (4.40 ERA) had a mediocre series with one poor start and one good one.

2092 IPA First Round Series