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Eugene Church · 11-11-2009, 10:11 PM

The Islandian Times

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Tycobbian Union East Division 2006 Final Standings

Ozarka Wins TU East Title in a Breeze, Tuckanarra #2
The Ozarka Naturals coasted to the Tycobbian East title. It was a close race at mid-season with five teams in contention, but at season's end the Nats won in a breeze beating second place Tuckanarra by 8 games. Ozarka wrapped up the pennant by going 45-28 over the final three months of the season. The Midway Wolves came in third and trailed by 15 games with High Mesa fourth and 17 games back. South Fork was fifth finishing 21 games off the pace, while Red Bluff, which had won the last three division championships, went into a tailspin and dipped to the sixth spot in the standings, 22 games behind. East Point and Hillsboro tied for last place and were 31 games behind the leading Naturals.

The Ozarka Naturals (95-59) have a strong group of starters. Sid Hyder (21-8 3.35), Alec DiMaggio (15-11 3.37), Karl Kleinert (17-10 3.84) and Pat Schwartz (14-9) chalked up a 3.57 team ERA (3rd) and gave manager Joe Mac Carney one of the better rotations in the IPA. However, the Nats suffered a terrible loss as their ace Hyder is down for at least two weeks with a back injury. Ozarka will have to do without him in the Pro Cup playoffs that get underway tomorrow afternoon.

Not only does Carney have good pitching, the Naturals also pack an offense with a .278 batting average (3rd) and can score runs. Ozarka tallied 793 runs (3rd) during the season. Primarily Carney depends on 3B Nathan Ferrell (.266/25 HR/102 RBI/94 R), LF Vic Weinstein (.326/13 HR/77 RBI/80 R) and 2B Todd Chadwick (.302/15 HR/76 RBI/86 R) to produce the runs. Homer-wise Ozarka has decent power and collected 132 (21st) this year.

Manager Carlton "Lefty" Stevens of the Tuckanarra Blue Jays (87-67) has a pretty fair ball club, too. The Blue Jays have good pitching, good power and good defense. Stevens can match Ozarka's starters. His All-Star ace Titus Bristow (27-7 1.73) finished second in the IPA with 27 victories, topped only by Ernie Watkins (28-11 2.52) of Rocky Rapids in the RU West. Overall Tuckanarra registered a 3.69 ERA (5th), batted .271 (7th), went deep 150 times (14th), scored 778 runs (8th) and had a .977 fielding average on defense. Stevens also had three other steady mound performers in Roy Spence (18-8 3.38), Delaney Elliott (12-7 2.79) and Tommy Ruffin (12-10 3.73).

At the plate the Blue Jays have a strong line-up with CF Monty Draycott (.268/26 HR/105 RBI/84), LF Corey Tavington (.278/22 HR/95 RBI), 1B Cameron Kamara (.289/20 HR/82 RBI), 3B Duncan Renwick (.308/13 HR/65 RBI/99 R/48 SB) and 2B Owen MacArthur (.312/7 HR/61 RBI/102 R).

Third place in the TU East belongs to the Midway Wolves (80-74), who did an about-face in the second half of the season and fell far out of contention. It didn't help manager Cochise Chandler's chances when he lost his fine 2B Little Johnny Yuma in May and his standout CF Jan Szymanski in July. In half a season clean-up hitter Szymanski batted .288 with 17 homers, 55 RBIs and scored 58 times.

The Wolves do not have a lot of standouts, but Chandler does have a lot of hustlers and over-achievers that have blended well. Only 1B Don Piper (.263/21 HR/74 RBI/79 R) played with any regularity. Midway was heavily platooned. On the hill Chandler had two solid starters in All-Star pitcher Nosyt Sani (17-13 2.94) and Russ Cheasequah (14-11 3.95). The Wolves hit .269 (8th) as a unit, homered 137 times (19th), scored 755 runs (12th), notched a 4.22 ERA (25th) and fielded well with a .976 FA.

The High Mesa Cowboys (78-76) were in the middle of the pack most of the season and wound up in fourth place, 17 games out of first place. Skipper Frisky Franks doesn't have the offense he usually has. Many of his prime players did not produce for him. One of the all-time leading sluggers in IPA history LF Adam Zitek batted a lowly .231 with only 22 homers and 64 RBIs. In his first four seasons Zitek averaged almost 40 homers and 125 RBIs. Nonetheless, the Cowboys ranked high with a .273 BA (4th), 192 roundtrippers (5th), 779 runs (7th). And as usual Franks' pitching corps ranked low with a 4.71 ERA (28th). The culprit is Queen Ranch Stadium with its short fences - 306 feet in left and 312 feet in right.

High Mesa's top batters were rookie 3B Nat Thurlow (.306/28 HR/81 RBI), SS John Asbury (.266/26 HR/65 RBI/84 R), 1B Bobby Gunn (.287/25 HR/60 RBI/80 R) and 2B Ed Granberg (.297/19 HR/73 RBI/78 R). On the hill High Mesa was led by Joey Popovich (15-12 4.30), Marc Matherne (11-10 3.88) and Johnny Falcon (11-14 4.10).

The fifth place South Fork Stallions (74-80) piloted by DeRoche "Lips" Leon are just a mediocre ball club in most respects, but have a fine defensive team and rank number one in the IPA with a strong .981 fielding percentage. But it takes more than good fielding to win in the IPA. The Stallions are a poor-hitting team with a .254 BA (28th), little power (120 HR - 27th) and a less-than-average 4.18 team ERA (22nd). South Fork finished 21 games behind pennant-winning Ozarka.

Leon's best hitter is 2B Jim Helwig (.297/19 HR/74 RBI). There is no one worth mentioning after Helwig. On the mound South Fork features Al Davis (9-8 3.61), Ken Marsh (13=16 3.97) and Ken Olson (12-15 3.70).

The Red Bluff Red Sox's (73-81) string of three straight pennants came to a jolting halt with a sixth-place finish this year. Manager Mack Connery's crew took a turn for the worst as their batting average (.266 - 9th) and team ERA (4.14 - 19th) both plummeted. The only bright spots on the squad were pitchers Frank Beaudoin (17-16 3.29) and John Dougherty (19-14 3.20) and SS Jose Aguilar (.324/21 HR/95 RBI/92 R/24 SB). Beaudoin and Aguilar both made the All-Star team.

Two clubs tied for seventh and last place. The East Point Panthers and Hillsboro Blazers again finished deep down in the standings. The Blazers have been last four times in their five-year history.

All the East Point Panthers (64-90) do is hit home runs. They unloaded 190 (6th) this season and were paced by 2B Karol Zodoka (.259/31 HR/95 RBI/105 R) and RF Jerry Lee Presley (.286/27 HR/86 RBI/91 R). On the hill manager Griff Clarke's best is Jarred Robillard (16-13 4.44). Armed Forces Stadium is one of the IPA's smallest venues with 326-foot fences down the lines and only 388 in center.

Hillsboro (64-90) has an even smaller ball field than East Point. Hanford Stadium is just 318 down the left field line and 320 down the right field line. It's only 370 in straight-away center. So pitchers have an extremely tough time keeping teams off the scoreboard. Skipper Arky Spanderson has two pitchers that do well in spite of the cheap home runs. Ed Dupard (11-16 3.63) and Mike Larsen (11-13 3.72) had good seasons considering where they have to pitch. The Blazers are ranked 29th in the Tycobbian Union with a 4.72 ERA. Hillsboro best batters are SS Barry Bassett (.259/27 HR/96 RBI/82 R), CF Lonnie Snider (.310/12 HR/73 RBI/83 R/30 SB) and 3B George Longmire (.293/13 HR/63 RBI/101 R/46 SB)

11-11-2009, 10:11 PM	#1324
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,870	The Islandian Times Tuesday, September 19, 2006 Tycobbian Union East Division 2006 Final Standings Ozarka Wins TU East Title in a Breeze, Tuckanarra #2 The Ozarka Naturals coasted to the Tycobbian East title. It was a close race at mid-season with five teams in contention, but at season's end the Nats won in a breeze beating second place Tuckanarra by 8 games. Ozarka wrapped up the pennant by going 45-28 over the final three months of the season. The Midway Wolves came in third and trailed by 15 games with High Mesa fourth and 17 games back. South Fork was fifth finishing 21 games off the pace, while Red Bluff, which had won the last three division championships, went into a tailspin and dipped to the sixth spot in the standings, 22 games behind. East Point and Hillsboro tied for last place and were 31 games behind the leading Naturals. The Ozarka Naturals (95-59) have a strong group of starters. Sid Hyder (21-8 3.35), Alec DiMaggio (15-11 3.37), Karl Kleinert (17-10 3.84) and Pat Schwartz (14-9) chalked up a 3.57 team ERA (3rd) and gave manager Joe Mac Carney one of the better rotations in the IPA. However, the Nats suffered a terrible loss as their ace Hyder is down for at least two weeks with a back injury. Ozarka will have to do without him in the Pro Cup playoffs that get underway tomorrow afternoon. Not only does Carney have good pitching, the Naturals also pack an offense with a .278 batting average (3rd) and can score runs. Ozarka tallied 793 runs (3rd) during the season. Primarily Carney depends on 3B Nathan Ferrell (.266/25 HR/102 RBI/94 R), LF Vic Weinstein (.326/13 HR/77 RBI/80 R) and 2B Todd Chadwick (.302/15 HR/76 RBI/86 R) to produce the runs. Homer-wise Ozarka has decent power and collected 132 (21st) this year. Manager Carlton "Lefty" Stevens of the Tuckanarra Blue Jays (87-67) has a pretty fair ball club, too. The Blue Jays have good pitching, good power and good defense. Stevens can match Ozarka's starters. His All-Star ace Titus Bristow (27-7 1.73) finished second in the IPA with 27 victories, topped only by Ernie Watkins (28-11 2.52) of Rocky Rapids in the RU West. Overall Tuckanarra registered a 3.69 ERA (5th), batted .271 (7th), went deep 150 times (14th), scored 778 runs (8th) and had a .977 fielding average on defense. Stevens also had three other steady mound performers in Roy Spence (18-8 3.38), Delaney Elliott (12-7 2.79) and Tommy Ruffin (12-10 3.73). At the plate the Blue Jays have a strong line-up with CF Monty Draycott (.268/26 HR/105 RBI/84), LF Corey Tavington (.278/22 HR/95 RBI), 1B Cameron Kamara (.289/20 HR/82 RBI), 3B Duncan Renwick (.308/13 HR/65 RBI/99 R/48 SB) and 2B Owen MacArthur (.312/7 HR/61 RBI/102 R). Third place in the TU East belongs to the Midway Wolves (80-74), who did an about-face in the second half of the season and fell far out of contention. It didn't help manager Cochise Chandler's chances when he lost his fine 2B Little Johnny Yuma in May and his standout CF Jan Szymanski in July. In half a season clean-up hitter Szymanski batted .288 with 17 homers, 55 RBIs and scored 58 times. The Wolves do not have a lot of standouts, but Chandler does have a lot of hustlers and over-achievers that have blended well. Only 1B Don Piper (.263/21 HR/74 RBI/79 R) played with any regularity. Midway was heavily platooned. On the hill Chandler had two solid starters in All-Star pitcher Nosyt Sani (17-13 2.94) and Russ Cheasequah (14-11 3.95). The Wolves hit .269 (8th) as a unit, homered 137 times (19th), scored 755 runs (12th), notched a 4.22 ERA (25th) and fielded well with a .976 FA. The High Mesa Cowboys (78-76) were in the middle of the pack most of the season and wound up in fourth place, 17 games out of first place. Skipper Frisky Franks doesn't have the offense he usually has. Many of his prime players did not produce for him. One of the all-time leading sluggers in IPA history LF Adam Zitek batted a lowly .231 with only 22 homers and 64 RBIs. In his first four seasons Zitek averaged almost 40 homers and 125 RBIs. Nonetheless, the Cowboys ranked high with a .273 BA (4th), 192 roundtrippers (5th), 779 runs (7th). And as usual Franks' pitching corps ranked low with a 4.71 ERA (28th). The culprit is Queen Ranch Stadium with its short fences - 306 feet in left and 312 feet in right. High Mesa's top batters were rookie 3B Nat Thurlow (.306/28 HR/81 RBI), SS John Asbury (.266/26 HR/65 RBI/84 R), 1B Bobby Gunn (.287/25 HR/60 RBI/80 R) and 2B Ed Granberg (.297/19 HR/73 RBI/78 R). On the hill High Mesa was led by Joey Popovich (15-12 4.30), Marc Matherne (11-10 3.88) and Johnny Falcon (11-14 4.10). The fifth place South Fork Stallions (74-80) piloted by DeRoche "Lips" Leon are just a mediocre ball club in most respects, but have a fine defensive team and rank number one in the IPA with a strong .981 fielding percentage. But it takes more than good fielding to win in the IPA. The Stallions are a poor-hitting team with a .254 BA (28th), little power (120 HR - 27th) and a less-than-average 4.18 team ERA (22nd). South Fork finished 21 games behind pennant-winning Ozarka. Leon's best hitter is 2B Jim Helwig (.297/19 HR/74 RBI). There is no one worth mentioning after Helwig. On the mound South Fork features Al Davis (9-8 3.61), Ken Marsh (13=16 3.97) and Ken Olson (12-15 3.70). The Red Bluff Red Sox's (73-81) string of three straight pennants came to a jolting halt with a sixth-place finish this year. Manager Mack Connery's crew took a turn for the worst as their batting average (.266 - 9th) and team ERA (4.14 - 19th) both plummeted. The only bright spots on the squad were pitchers Frank Beaudoin (17-16 3.29) and John Dougherty (19-14 3.20) and SS Jose Aguilar (.324/21 HR/95 RBI/92 R/24 SB). Beaudoin and Aguilar both made the All-Star team. Two clubs tied for seventh and last place. The East Point Panthers and Hillsboro Blazers again finished deep down in the standings. The Blazers have been last four times in their five-year history. All the East Point Panthers (64-90) do is hit home runs. They unloaded 190 (6th) this season and were paced by 2B Karol Zodoka (.259/31 HR/95 RBI/105 R) and RF Jerry Lee Presley (.286/27 HR/86 RBI/91 R). On the hill manager Griff Clarke's best is Jarred Robillard (16-13 4.44). Armed Forces Stadium is one of the IPA's smallest venues with 326-foot fences down the lines and only 388 in center. Hillsboro (64-90) has an even smaller ball field than East Point. Hanford Stadium is just 318 down the left field line and 320 down the right field line. It's only 370 in straight-away center. So pitchers have an extremely tough time keeping teams off the scoreboard. Skipper Arky Spanderson has two pitchers that do well in spite of the cheap home runs. Ed Dupard (11-16 3.63) and Mike Larsen (11-13 3.72) had good seasons considering where they have to pitch. The Blazers are ranked 29th in the Tycobbian Union with a 4.72 ERA. Hillsboro best batters are SS Barry Bassett (.259/27 HR/96 RBI/82 R), CF Lonnie Snider (.310/12 HR/73 RBI/83 R/30 SB) and 3B George Longmire (.293/13 HR/63 RBI/101 R/46 SB)