[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times

Friday, September 22, 2006

2006 Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup Series - Sweet 16

Oops! Middlefield Is Gone! Swept By Elnora
The division winners are in trouble in the IPA Pro Cup playoffs. Many of them will not get past the first round. The pre-tourney favorite Middlefield has been eliminated by Elnora in a three-game sweep and six other division champs are trailing two games to one. The Turon Typhoons are the only pennant winner not in danger. Turon has a 2-1 edge in its series.

Ruthlandian Union

Elnora Upsets Middlefield, Outslugs Them 13-12
The Elnora All-Stars surprised the highly-favored Middlefield Roosters by upsetting them in the RU Sweet 16 Series three games to none. Middlefield was picked as the prime favorite to win the Pro Cup this year and the All-Stars were given little chance. Elnora did it with its bats. They unleashed five homers and 15 hits to subdue the Roosters 13-12 today. The All-Stars had to come back from a 5-2 deficit after three innings and 10-8 after six innings. A solo homer by LF Quincy Peterson and a two-run shot by 2B Joe Norris in the eighth gave them an 11-10 lead. Elnora added two more in the top of the ninth on 1B Gil Foster's RBI double and CF Rick Mulloy's RBI single. And they really needed them as Middlefield mounted a serious rally and almost tied it up in the last of the ninth, but they fell one run short. Manager Zoggy White pulled in one of his starters, Warren Paul, to get the final out of the game. With the tying and winning runs on second and third, Paul got CF Bailey Norcross swinging to end the game and to sweep the series.

Rooster manager Smitty Michaels commented on the sudden departure, "No, I didn't expect this to happen. But as you know, anything can happen in a short series. The league really needs to look at the playoff system. Too many good teams are getting eliminated too quickly. Maybe a best-of-seven might be better. But then again, maybe it's not such a good idea. we could have come out worse and lost four in a row."

Elnora had many heroes today. 3B Dmitri Vrotsos and LF Quincy Peterson both homered twice, had four hits and drove in four runs each and Foster and Norris batted in two runs apiece. Lou Horn (1-0) got the win with two scoreless innings. His work in the sixth and seventh allowed the All-Stars to get back into the game. It was quite a slugfest. Middlefield did not go quietly as the Roosters rattled the fences for four home runs and 16 hits. 2B Charlie Gamble, 3B Ken Aubert, SS Sammy Ragsdale and 1B J. B. Earnshaw all went deep. RF Cecil Clark had five hits and two RBIs and Norcross had three hits and pair of RBIs. Reliever Jamie Hicks took the loss as he surrendered three runs in two-plus innings, but only one was earned.

Winning manager Zoggy White told reporters, "We just hit the heck out of the ball and got decent pitching in two of the games. Vrotsos, Foster and Peterson had great series with the bats. Vrotsos had 9 RBIs, Foster 7 and Peterson 4. And we got a real fine pitching job from Taylor Gibbs in the first game. Middlefield is a very powerful ball club. We had to be at our best offensively to stay on the field with them. I think maybe our pitching was better than theirs." Vrotsos hit .533 (8-15) in the three games, while Foster had a .615 batting average (8-13) and Peterson batted .364 (4-11).

Elnora will meet the winner of the Sugar Valley-Volusia series in the Elite 8 round.

Claxton Sweeps Taranto, Wins Finale 10-3
Stacy Engel's Claxton Diamonds looked like a worthy contender in the IPA Pro Cup playoffs by sweeping the Taranto Tars in the Sweet 16 round. The Diamonds clobbered the Tars 10-3 in game three to wrap up the best-of-five set. Claxton crushed four homers and racked up 13 hits in the finale. RF Jackie Allemand had three hits, scored three times and batted in three runs to pace the Diamonds. Allemand, SS Jimmy Marciunas, 3B Bobby Ritter and LF Dixie Baker all cracked homers. Dennis Scott had a perfect game for six innings, but that went out the window with a seventh-inning walk. SS Jake Travanti broke up the no-hitter in the same inning with a double. Scott (1-0) allowed only four hits overall, struck out six and walked a couple of batters. A three-run eighth spoiled his shutout, highlighted by homers by CF Lou Cutrer and C Norm Polochak. Sal Pascioni (0-1) was dealt the loss. He was smacked for five runs and seven hits in six innings.

Speaking to BNN after the game Diamond skipper Stacy Engel told them, "I don't think anybody could have beaten us the last three days. When you have six guys batting .385 or better, they are tough to beat. We just had great hitting and solid pitching. I think the pitching made the difference. Kuznetsov, Murphy and Scott really came through for us and stopped an excellent hitting team. Taranto has some awesome sluggers and we kinda held them in check." Yeah, kinda... the Tars hit only .181 in the three games series. Claxton hit an amazing .382 in the series.

Taranto manager Tommaso Lazzorda was inclined to agree with the Old Perfesser and told the press, "Stacy is right. Our pitching could not compete with his. We never had a chance in any of the games. The Diamonds outhit us and outpitched us. They played so well, they made us look like mediocre ball team, which we aren't."

Claxton advances to the Elite 8 and now awaits the winner of the Valka-Valamara series.

Vipers Smash Valka 10-3, Lead Sweet 16 Series
Visiting Valmara busted up a 3-3 tie with a big five-run fifth and went on to smash the Valka Blackhawks 10-3 in game three at Cybertel Park to take a game lead in the Sweet 16 Series. The Vipers need one more victory to take the best-of-five series. Valmara's 11-hit output was led by RF Jet Kazmarek with three hits, three runs scored and one run batted in. He is hitting .667 so far in the postseason. SS Mike Ellefsen contributed three RBIs to the Viper cause. On the hill Valmara got a good outing from Vanya Vasylenko, who went the distance and throttled the Blackhawks on seven hits with seven Ks and three walks. Loser Daryl Vannoy caught the brunt of the Viper attack as he allowed eight runs in four-plus innings.

Rattlers Still Alive, Wallop V's 11-7
Sugar Valley staved off elimination from the RU Sweet 16 Series by outslugging Volusia 11-7 in game three and cut the Vigilantes lead to two games to one. Topping the Rattler hit parade were RF Dennis Kernell with two roundtrippers and three RBIs and C Hal Stevenson with one homer and three RBIs. The score was tied three times at 5-5 after two, 6-6 after five and a half innings and 7-7 after six and a half. 1B Ron Armstrong drove in the winning run in the sixth with a single and Kernell put it out of reach with a two-run blast in the seventh. Sugar Valley got excellent work from its bullpen. Val Watford held the V's to one run in three innings and winning pitcher Dale Bixler (1-0) stopped them on one run in his four innings. Volusia starter Todd Wolfe was the loser. He was banged around hard for eight runs in six innings. CF Ryan Raines clouted two out of the park and drove in five runs to spark the Vigilantes.

Tycobbian Union

Turon Trips Up Hartsdale 5-2, One Game Up
The Turon Typhoons tripped up Hartsdale 5-2 at Typhoon Stadium in game three of the Sweet 16 Series to take a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five series. A strong start from Freddi Spiegel (1-0) put them in a good position, needing only one more victory to advance to the Elite 8. Spiegel permitted only three hits in a complete-game effort. He had a no-hitter until LF Rob Welch led off the fifth with a solo homer and evened the score at 1-all. Turon took charge in the fifth on 1B Boots Dubois' two-run triple and boosted it even further in the seventh on LF Bruce Boatman's RBI double and Spiegel's sac fly. That made the score 5-1. Mark Sakelaris (0-1) was the losing pitcher. The Typhoons got to him for five runs in six innings.

Nats Stay in the Hunt, Schwartz Blanks Bayview 6-0
Ozarka got back to the comfort of Ellie Ewing Stadium and got back in the hunt for the IPA Pro Cup. Pat Schwartz hurled a masterful 6-0 shutout over Bayview in game three of the Sweet 16 Series. The 28-year-old righthander mezmerized the Vikings on three hits to cut Bayview's lead to a game in the best-of-five series. Ozarka needs two more wins to move on to the next round, while the Viks need just one more victory. Ozarka stroked nine hits off three Bayview pitchers with 2B Todd Chadwick belting two triples and driving in two runs. LF Vic Weinstein, RF Ronnie Patterson and pitcher Schwartz also batted in a run apiece. Charlie Tubbs (0-1) was nailed with the loss. He was clipped for six runs in his five-plus innings.

Champs Trim Blue Jays 7-2 on Cruz's 3-Hitter
Arlon got back into the Sweet 16 Series with a strong outing by Armando Cruz. He limited Tuckanarra to just three hits and two runs in a 7-2 victory. The Champions faced elimination with a loss and Cruz (1-0) really came through for them. He no-hit the Blue Jays until the seventh when LF Corey Tavington singled. Tuckanarra finally got to him for two unearned runs in the ninth, but by then it was too late as Arlon had a seven-run lead. 3B Nicky Sweet was the Champs big bat with five RBIs, including an eighth-inning grand slam. Blue Jay starter Delaney Elliott (0-1) did a good job in defeat. He held Arlon to two runs and six hits in his seven innings, but left trailing 2-0. The Champions collected nine hits with Sweet, CF Steve Barnett, RF Chucky Gilton and 1B Jay Dunbar all getting two hits each.

Oxford Holds Off 'Canes 4-3, Trails 2-1 in Series
The Oxford Red Caps jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four innings and held on to edge Cape Coral 4-3 in game three of the TU Sweet 16 playoffs. The win cut the Hurricanes lead to two games to one and kept the Red Caps alive in the postseason. Dan Phillips (1-0) went eight innings for the victory, yielding two runs on seven hits. Cape Coral threatened in the top of the ninth. With two outs, one run in and runners on first and second, reliever Ramsey Thacker got SS Raoul Betencourt swinging to put a stop to the rally. CF Wayne McDonald and 2B Carl Graeme both had two hits and two RBIs to pace the Red Caps. McDonald homered in the first with one aboard. The Hurricanes outhit Oxford 9-6 and were led by 3B Kenny Hall with 2 runs batted in. Ronald Blevins was tagged with the defeat, allowing four runs in his four innings. He walked five and gave up three hits.