OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (Ruthlandia and Tycobbia Baseball Unions)

Eugene Church · 07-07-2009, 10:53 PM

The Islandian Times

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Oxford Leads Fairfax By 4 In TU North, Hartsdale, Luxora By 6
The Tycobbian North could be the most talented division in the Islandian Pro Alliance. At midseason four teams have won 43 or more games with the Oxford Red Caps leading the way with 49 victories, tops in the IPA. The Red Caps have a 4-game edge over the Fairfax Frogs and 6 over Hartsdale and Luxora, who are tied for third place. So far the pennant race is running just like the polls predicted.

The Oxford Red Caps (49-24) have been devastating with the bats this season with 104 home runs, far and away the best in the league. Middlefield of the RU West and High Mesa of the TU East are a distant second with 80 homers each. Campy Roy has a well-balanced team that is strong in pitching (3.31 ERA) and hits with extraordinary power. They could set a new IPA home-run mark. Oxford has four All-Stars on its roster, two pitchers and two position players. Bayview also has four All-Stars. No other club had more than two players selected.

The Red Cap pitching corps is anchored by All-Star Bomber Belinsky (11-4 2.98), All-Star Nicky Nicholson (9-5 2.31), Wayne Baxley (6-0 2.46) and Dan Phillips (8-6 2.95). No other teams can match this starting four. The only weakness is in the bullpen. Last year standout Emerson Cannell (4-3) has seen his ERA skyrocket to 5.20, but he does have 19 saves.

The Oxford hitters are just as good with All-Star CF Ike Plunkett (.348/30 HR/63 RBI/76 R/16 SB) on a pace to break records in homers, RBIs and runs scored. Plunkett could also win the Triple Crown. All-Star LF Mack Spencer (.297/21 HR/63 RBI/51 R) is crushing the ball, too. The Red Caps have five players with ten or more homers in their line-up. 3B Joe Courtney (.273) has 14 and 1B Kenny Jablonski (.262) and C Brad Earp (.245) have 10 each.

Manager Harry Buckley has his Fairfax Frogs (45-28) hitting and pitching on all cylinders and within 4 games of first place. The Frogs are batting a composite .273, fourth best in the IPA behind LaGrange (.276) of the RU North, High Mesa (.275) of the RU East and Beechwood (.274) of the RU East. Fairfax also excels on defense with a .983 fielding percentage, second to the South Fork Stallions, who top the IPA with a .984 mark.

Buckley's best batters are RF Gregg Vincent (.300/15 HR/56 RBI/42 R), 2B Cecil Parmenter (.346/9 HR/39 RBI/46 R) and CF Billy Echevarria (.288/4 HR/25 RBI/54 R/15 SB).

On the hill the Frogs are paced by Barrett Carruthers (11-4 2.98) and brilliant closer Jay Sorenson (5-3 1.59) with 18 saves and 35 game appearances. Three new pitchers will have a lot to do with deciding the flag winner and playoff spots in the TU North. All the newcomers will be used by Buckley in middle relief.

The defending champion in the TU North is Zim Donner's Hartsdale Hellcats (43-30) who are still in the chase, tied for third with Luxora and 6 games behind Oxford.

Hellcat hurlers have been hard-to-beat and have compiled a terrific 2.99 ERA this year, second-best to Sligo (2.97) of the RU West. Gus Kostro (11-5 2.98) looks like he is headed for his second consecutive 20-win season. Tal Vaitkus (9-5 3.76) has done well, too. Closer Nico Carnera (4-2 1.66) has stood out in the bullpen with 14 saves in 30 relief appearances.

Hartsdale hits the ball well with a .265 BA, sparked by All-Star and TU-leading hitter, Mac Faulkner (.359/10 HR/55 RBI/44 R). Donner's line-up also includes three other .300 batters in SS Jud Turchin (.302/4 HR/36 RBI/47 R), 2B Hoppy Hill (.328/1 HR/30 RI/34 R) and C Lawton Payne (.320/3 HR/27 RI/31 R).

Asked about his club's chances in the second half of the schedule, Donner replied, "I like the looks of my team. We are settled as far as the roster is concerned. We didn't make any changes at midyear. We are going to finish up with what we started with in the spring. I think the Red Caps need to solve their closer problem and the Frogs have three brand-new middle relievers and I think they are all rookies. And as you know, you never can tell about rookies. I like our chances to finish the season strong. Hopefully to win the division... or at least make the playoffs."

The Luxora Zorros (43-30) are another top-notch team in the solid TU North pennant chase, currently tied for third with Hartsdale, 6 games off the pace. Skipper Alejandro Rodrigo has a bunch of good and consistent batters in his starting line-up, headed by CF Lacey Tompkins (.304/12 HR/51 RBI/48 R), new 3B Carey Niven (.305/14 HR/46 RBI/36 R), 2B Pablo Santa Cruz (.295/2 HR/24 RBI/56 R/15 SB), RF Cristo Viamonte (.267/11 HR/36 RBI/45 R), LF Joel Reed (.281/7 HR/35 RBI/41 R) and SS Rafael Lemos (.303/1 HR/29 RBI/27 R).

Rodrigo has a talented mound staff, too. His ace is Marco Braceros (10-6 3.00), but the Z's also have Eddie Hoffman (7-8 2.69) and Tito Tovares (6-5 2.73), two gifted and steady pitchers. The bullpen specialist is Elio Laurente (6-4 2.02), as good as a closer as you'll find in the IPA. Laurente has 12 saves and has made 33 relief appearances this season.

North Hills and Mahaska are deadlocked for fifth place in the TU North and trail the top team, Oxford, by 15 games.

The North Hills Hawks (34-39) have Hub Carlson as the manager. Carlson was a great industrial league pitcher with a devastating screwball. He has molded a good staff together, which has a fine 3.34 team ERA, but it is in the offense that the Hawks fall flat, batting only .247 with 42 home runs, both are near the bottom of the league.

On the mound Carlson has four fine starters in LHP Leland Clinkscales (8-8 2.98), Stan Ballard (7-3 2.73) Ben Dewberry (6-6 2.92) and Lou Dozier (7-7 3.22). This quartet is equal toe-to-toe with the best teams. North Hills has an impressive closer in Carson Romine (3-5 1.91), who has registered 9 saves in 28 games.

Good hitters are few and far between on the Hawks roster. Carlson's best hitters are less than average in the IPA. 2B Jimmy Ryland (.295/5 HR/41 RBI/45 R), LF Keith Schmidt (.268/12 HR/41 RBI/ and RF Trent Gilbert (.287/2 HR/33 RBI) is the best he has to offer.

Carlson lamented to reporters about the lack of hitting, "Good pitching can give you a chance to win every game, but it's hitting that will make the difference. If some of the higher-ranked teams had my starting four, they wouldn't lose too many games. We just have to come up with some hitters to really compete."

The Mahaska Haymakers (34-39) are guided by Rusty Tanussa. The Haymakers don't have the pitching that North Hills has, but it has a better offense with 1B Miles Shufford (.304/15 HR/58 RBI/43 R) batting clean-up. Tanussa has several other capable hitters as well in 3B Lloyd Windham (.300/6 HR/36 RBI/45 R), 2B Dusty Eaton (.281/3 HR/21 RBI/38 R) and C Mike Kanjorsky (.303/7 HR/33 RBI). However, Windham's defense was so bad, he was just released. He had made 31 errors and was fielding only .859.

The Haymakers only have a couple of good pitchers in starters Greg Turchin (8-9 3.04) and Boomerang Hines (7-6 3.19). At the All-Star break Tanussa has just signed three new pitchers.

Big John Randison pilots the White River Rascals (30-43), who have never finished better than seventh place in the TU North and it appears that streak will remain intact for another year. Randison doesn't have much to work with. He just added four new pitchers to the roster in hopes of getting lucky and getting some pitching help. None of them look like impact players.

The Rascals have two solid hurlers in Lindon Shaw (6-3 2.25) and LHP Mick Cronyn (6-9 3.19) and three decent hitters in CF Hal Hoover (.300/11 HR/34 RBI/41 R/10 SB), 3B Riley Cloy (.275/13 HR/40 RBI/48 R) and LF Roy Cochran (.273/3 HR/43 RBI). Not much beyond these five players. White River will try to keep its head above water in the battle for the basement with Blue Lake in the TU North.

Give the edge to the Rascals. The Blue Lake Blue Sox (25-48) only have three quality ballplayers. Manager Cobb Tyson is fit to be tied. It is a wonder that he has been able to tolerate such a bad team this year. The Blue Sox are getting worse by the year. They finished second in 2001, then ended up sixth the last two seasons, but had competitive teams. They played .500 ball in 2003. But not so in 2004. Blue Lake has the worst record in the entire Islandian Pro Alliance.

Tyson has one decent pitcher in Neil Krogstad (5-6 3.44). That's why he dropped five pitchers at midseason. He is desperate for pitching. The Blue Sox are last in the IPA with an atrocious 4.49 ERA.

Not much better when it comes to hitting. All-Star RF Fred Collins (.318/16 HR/46 RBI/44 R/12 SB) is Blue Lake's best. CF Rick Hilliard (.261/10 HR/32 RBI/37 R/14 SB) gives him some help at times.

07-07-2009, 10:53 PM	#1104 (permalink)
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 17,080 Thanks: 100 Thanked 100x in 52 posts	The Islandian Times Thursday, June 24, 2004 Oxford Leads Fairfax By 4 In TU North, Hartsdale, Luxora By 6 The Tycobbian North could be the most talented division in the Islandian Pro Alliance. At midseason four teams have won 43 or more games with the Oxford Red Caps leading the way with 49 victories, tops in the IPA. The Red Caps have a 4-game edge over the Fairfax Frogs and 6 over Hartsdale and Luxora, who are tied for third place. So far the pennant race is running just like the polls predicted. The Oxford Red Caps (49-24) have been devastating with the bats this season with 104 home runs, far and away the best in the league. Middlefield of the RU West and High Mesa of the TU East are a distant second with 80 homers each. Campy Roy has a well-balanced team that is strong in pitching (3.31 ERA) and hits with extraordinary power. They could set a new IPA home-run mark. Oxford has four All-Stars on its roster, two pitchers and two position players. Bayview also has four All-Stars. No other club had more than two players selected. The Red Cap pitching corps is anchored by All-Star Bomber Belinsky (11-4 2.98), All-Star Nicky Nicholson (9-5 2.31), Wayne Baxley (6-0 2.46) and Dan Phillips (8-6 2.95). No other teams can match this starting four. The only weakness is in the bullpen. Last year standout Emerson Cannell (4-3) has seen his ERA skyrocket to 5.20, but he does have 19 saves. The Oxford hitters are just as good with All-Star CF Ike Plunkett (.348/30 HR/63 RBI/76 R/16 SB) on a pace to break records in homers, RBIs and runs scored. Plunkett could also win the Triple Crown. All-Star LF Mack Spencer (.297/21 HR/63 RBI/51 R) is crushing the ball, too. The Red Caps have five players with ten or more homers in their line-up. 3B Joe Courtney (.273) has 14 and 1B Kenny Jablonski (.262) and C Brad Earp (.245) have 10 each. Manager Harry Buckley has his Fairfax Frogs (45-28) hitting and pitching on all cylinders and within 4 games of first place. The Frogs are batting a composite .273, fourth best in the IPA behind LaGrange (.276) of the RU North, High Mesa (.275) of the RU East and Beechwood (.274) of the RU East. Fairfax also excels on defense with a .983 fielding percentage, second to the South Fork Stallions, who top the IPA with a .984 mark. Buckley's best batters are RF Gregg Vincent (.300/15 HR/56 RBI/42 R), 2B Cecil Parmenter (.346/9 HR/39 RBI/46 R) and CF Billy Echevarria (.288/4 HR/25 RBI/54 R/15 SB). On the hill the Frogs are paced by Barrett Carruthers (11-4 2.98) and brilliant closer Jay Sorenson (5-3 1.59) with 18 saves and 35 game appearances. Three new pitchers will have a lot to do with deciding the flag winner and playoff spots in the TU North. All the newcomers will be used by Buckley in middle relief. The defending champion in the TU North is Zim Donner's Hartsdale Hellcats (43-30) who are still in the chase, tied for third with Luxora and 6 games behind Oxford. Hellcat hurlers have been hard-to-beat and have compiled a terrific 2.99 ERA this year, second-best to Sligo (2.97) of the RU West. Gus Kostro (11-5 2.98) looks like he is headed for his second consecutive 20-win season. Tal Vaitkus (9-5 3.76) has done well, too. Closer Nico Carnera (4-2 1.66) has stood out in the bullpen with 14 saves in 30 relief appearances. Hartsdale hits the ball well with a .265 BA, sparked by All-Star and TU-leading hitter, Mac Faulkner (.359/10 HR/55 RBI/44 R). Donner's line-up also includes three other .300 batters in SS Jud Turchin (.302/4 HR/36 RBI/47 R), 2B Hoppy Hill (.328/1 HR/30 RI/34 R) and C Lawton Payne (.320/3 HR/27 RI/31 R). Asked about his club's chances in the second half of the schedule, Donner replied, "I like the looks of my team. We are settled as far as the roster is concerned. We didn't make any changes at midyear. We are going to finish up with what we started with in the spring. I think the Red Caps need to solve their closer problem and the Frogs have three brand-new middle relievers and I think they are all rookies. And as you know, you never can tell about rookies. I like our chances to finish the season strong. Hopefully to win the division... or at least make the playoffs." The Luxora Zorros (43-30) are another top-notch team in the solid TU North pennant chase, currently tied for third with Hartsdale, 6 games off the pace. Skipper Alejandro Rodrigo has a bunch of good and consistent batters in his starting line-up, headed by CF Lacey Tompkins (.304/12 HR/51 RBI/48 R), new 3B Carey Niven (.305/14 HR/46 RBI/36 R), 2B Pablo Santa Cruz (.295/2 HR/24 RBI/56 R/15 SB), RF Cristo Viamonte (.267/11 HR/36 RBI/45 R), LF Joel Reed (.281/7 HR/35 RBI/41 R) and SS Rafael Lemos (.303/1 HR/29 RBI/27 R). Rodrigo has a talented mound staff, too. His ace is Marco Braceros (10-6 3.00), but the Z's also have Eddie Hoffman (7-8 2.69) and Tito Tovares (6-5 2.73), two gifted and steady pitchers. The bullpen specialist is Elio Laurente (6-4 2.02), as good as a closer as you'll find in the IPA. Laurente has 12 saves and has made 33 relief appearances this season. North Hills and Mahaska are deadlocked for fifth place in the TU North and trail the top team, Oxford, by 15 games. The North Hills Hawks (34-39) have Hub Carlson as the manager. Carlson was a great industrial league pitcher with a devastating screwball. He has molded a good staff together, which has a fine 3.34 team ERA, but it is in the offense that the Hawks fall flat, batting only .247 with 42 home runs, both are near the bottom of the league. On the mound Carlson has four fine starters in LHP Leland Clinkscales (8-8 2.98), Stan Ballard (7-3 2.73) Ben Dewberry (6-6 2.92) and Lou Dozier (7-7 3.22). This quartet is equal toe-to-toe with the best teams. North Hills has an impressive closer in Carson Romine (3-5 1.91), who has registered 9 saves in 28 games. Good hitters are few and far between on the Hawks roster. Carlson's best hitters are less than average in the IPA. 2B Jimmy Ryland (.295/5 HR/41 RBI/45 R), LF Keith Schmidt (.268/12 HR/41 RBI/ and RF Trent Gilbert (.287/2 HR/33 RBI) is the best he has to offer. Carlson lamented to reporters about the lack of hitting, "Good pitching can give you a chance to win every game, but it's hitting that will make the difference. If some of the higher-ranked teams had my starting four, they wouldn't lose too many games. We just have to come up with some hitters to really compete." The Mahaska Haymakers (34-39) are guided by Rusty Tanussa. The Haymakers don't have the pitching that North Hills has, but it has a better offense with 1B Miles Shufford (.304/15 HR/58 RBI/43 R) batting clean-up. Tanussa has several other capable hitters as well in 3B Lloyd Windham (.300/6 HR/36 RBI/45 R), 2B Dusty Eaton (.281/3 HR/21 RBI/38 R) and C Mike Kanjorsky (.303/7 HR/33 RBI). However, Windham's defense was so bad, he was just released. He had made 31 errors and was fielding only .859. The Haymakers only have a couple of good pitchers in starters Greg Turchin (8-9 3.04) and Boomerang Hines (7-6 3.19). At the All-Star break Tanussa has just signed three new pitchers. Big John Randison pilots the White River Rascals (30-43), who have never finished better than seventh place in the TU North and it appears that streak will remain intact for another year. Randison doesn't have much to work with. He just added four new pitchers to the roster in hopes of getting lucky and getting some pitching help. None of them look like impact players. The Rascals have two solid hurlers in Lindon Shaw (6-3 2.25) and LHP Mick Cronyn (6-9 3.19) and three decent hitters in CF Hal Hoover (.300/11 HR/34 RBI/41 R/10 SB), 3B Riley Cloy (.275/13 HR/40 RBI/48 R) and LF Roy Cochran (.273/3 HR/43 RBI). Not much beyond these five players. White River will try to keep its head above water in the battle for the basement with Blue Lake in the TU North. Give the edge to the Rascals. The Blue Lake Blue Sox (25-48) only have three quality ballplayers. Manager Cobb Tyson is fit to be tied. It is a wonder that he has been able to tolerate such a bad team this year. The Blue Sox are getting worse by the year. They finished second in 2001, then ended up sixth the last two seasons, but had competitive teams. They played .500 ball in 2003. But not so in 2004. Blue Lake has the worst record in the entire Islandian Pro Alliance. Tyson has one decent pitcher in Neil Krogstad (5-6 3.44). That's why he dropped five pitchers at midseason. He is desperate for pitching. The Blue Sox are last in the IPA with an atrocious 4.49 ERA. Not much better when it comes to hitting. All-Star RF Fred Collins (.318/16 HR/46 RBI/44 R/12 SB) is Blue Lake's best. CF Rick Hilliard (.261/10 HR/32 RBI/37 R/14 SB) gives him some help at times.