[Eugene Church]

Islandian Pro Alliance

Thursday, July 5, 2001

Tycobbian Union - East Division

'Cats Nudge Ninjas in 9th 3-2
At Pioneer Park in Hartsdale, the Hellcats came back with a last ditch, ninth-inning rally to nudge the Ginza Ninjas 3-2. Clutch hits by right fielder Jesus Guzman (.216) and first baseman Todd Seals (.199) made the difference. In Hartsdale's last at-bat, third baseman Whiz Weaver (.286) led off with a single and advanced on a sacrifice to second. Guzman tied the score at 2-2 with a double and then Seals won the game with a single. It was a very well-pitched contest as starters Danny Griffin (6-8 3.68) and Kazuhiro Nakayama (5-9 2.88) battled on even terms. Griffin worked seven innings, held the Ninjas to one run and seven hits, fanned eight and walked four, while Nakayama tossed seven innings and limited the Hellcats to five hits and an unearned run with five Ks and two walks. Gene Young (5-4 3.21) lucked into the win, while Ken Watkins (3-5 3.38) absorbed the loss. Neither were very effective. Right fielder Charlie Campbell (.290) had three hits and an RBI for Ginza and catcher Katsuya Noguchi (.311) drove in one.

Ginza (44-34) is the top team in the Tycobbian Union East Division and leads last place Hartsdale (35-43) by 9 games.

'Canes Score Early, Beat Stallions 6-4
At Jock Ewing Stadium in South Fork, the second place Cape Coral Hurricanes scored early and beat the third place Stallions 6-4, in spite of being outhit 13 to 8. The 'Canes piled up a 5-0 margin at the end of three innings, then kept beating back threats by South Fork. Hitting stars for Cape Coral were first baseman Rodger Wooten (.291) with 2-5 and two runs batted in, shortstop Bobo Hatfield (.273) with 2-4 and 2 RBIs and right fielder Danny Mullins (.316) with a home run, his 7th. Lefty Wally Robinson (10-5 2.87) chalked up his 10th victory of the year. He gave up all 13 hits, but was tough with men on base. Robinson struck out six and walked one. In the ninth Owen Pruitt (5-5 3.97) relieved Robinson after two hits and an error cut the score to 6-4 with the tying runs aboard. Pruitt induced a double play grounder and got his first save. Ken Olson (7-7 2.86) didn't have a good start and was sent to the showers in the third inning. He surrendered five runs and caught the loss.

Manager Huggy Miller's Hurricanes (41-37) gained a game on first place Ginza (44-34) and now are within 3 games of the Ninjas. Third place South Fork (39-39), piloted by Deroche "Lips" Leon, fell 5 games off the pace in the TU East standings.

Nats Nakagawa Tames Zorros 4-3
After losing his last three decisions, Yasuyuki Nakagawa got back on the right track and tamed the Luxora Zorros 4-3 at De la Vega Stadium. Nakagawa (8-8 3.14) fanned four, walked one and restricted the Z's to six hits and outpitched Keith Callahan. Nakagawa (.116) also doubled in a run in the fifth inning. Sparking the Nats at bat with homers were center fielder Ronnie Patterson (.250) and first baseman Floyd Snow (.225). Snow got a solo roundtripper in the second, number 15 for him, and Patterson hit his 14th in the fifth, a two-run shot. Luxora's backup first sacker Tommy Gonsalves (.152) had a singleton for the Z's. The 20-year-old Callahan was the losing pitcher. He allowed only five hits and all four runs in his eight innings. Callahan had nine strikeouts and a walk.

Ozarka (38-40) is the number four team in the TU East, while Luxora (36-40) is now in fifth place. The Naturals are 5 games behind and the Zorros are 6 games out in the division standings.