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Eugene Church · 12-03-2010, 10:36 PM

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 17, 2018

2018 Ruthlandian South Final Recap

Claxton Beats Back Crystal Lake In RU South Stretch Drive
The pennant wasn't decide until the final day of the season... The Claxton Diamonds came on strong in the final half of the Ruthlandian South to overtake the Crystal Lake Crushers by one game... Last year's division winner Valka got it together after the All-Star break, but never could close the gap, finishing 5 games off the pace in third place... The Grand City Cybercats were fourth and trailed by 6 games... Belair Beach wound up fifth for the second straight season and 9 games behind... Waleska was sixth and 14 games out... St. John followed in the seventh slot in the standings, 21 games back... with San Dimas in last place and 26 games behind champion Claxton.

Claxton's Stacy Engel depended on his offense this season, along with better pitching for success... the Diamonds were second best in scoring, number four with 166 homers, while batting a healthy .270 at the plate... Engel's staff went from being terrible to just mediocre... Claxton's surprise ace was 38-year-old Kaz Hayagawa (20-14 3.43), who was obtained in the off-season from Fairfax of the TU North... RF K. C. Moerdijk had a very good year with 35 homers, 120 RBIs, 112 runs, 33 SBs and a .284 batting average... other strong contributors were LF George McKay (.297/25/101/98), 1B Mike Luzzatti (.293/22/89/104) and C Allen Lemay (.318/18/90/76)... Claxton opens up with RU North champ Ancona in first round postseason action... neither is expected to get by Eastshore or Rocky Rapids in the Final 4 round.

Baby George in Crystal Lake got some fine mound work out of his two 24-year-old youngsters Ralph McCullough (20-14 2.76) and Duncan Welch (17-14 2.83) and was either leading or near the top of the standings the entire year... at mid-season the Crushers held a 5-game lead, but couldn't hold off the Claxton Diamonds... George also got good work out of vets Rocky Trahan (14-11 3.87) and closer Jeff Jernigan (5-5) with 25 saves and a 2.63 ERA... Crystal Lake's top bats were all-time great 1B Phil Gravelli (.330/29/113/87), 2B Herb Buck (.272/11/60/111) and CF Joe McBride (.257/26/90)... a perked-up offense could send the Crushers over the top next season.

Valka floundered around in the first half, but then manager Andrei Kokk righted the ship and brought it in third, losing by 5 games, after falling 12 games behind in the race at mid-year... the Blackhawks suffered severely with a horrible .233 BA (32nd), but did go deep 173 times (2nd)... Kokk has four adequate starters in Eddie Lasky (17-15 3.09), Richie Jost (13-14 3.03), Arno Vainmaa (16-16 3.59) and Ivo Jaanson (14-15 3.62)... with any kind of hitting at all, the Blackhawks could have won the division again.... LF Karl Jankauskas hit 28 homers, RF Alyosha Vyshnyakov clouted 28, 3B Aino Vaba had 27 and C Thomas Lawson walloped 22, but none of the them hit over .260.

Wade Joslin at Grand City for his second season has some solid pitchers, the Cybercats hit well for average, but lack the long-ball... Randy Andrews led the staff with a marvelous 23-9 record and 2.38 ERA... helped out by rookie Luis Perez (15-19 3.19) and journeyman Jimbo Stearns (16-14 4.24)... in the bullpen Ralph Teague (4-3) led the way with 26 saves and a brilliant 1.05 ERA... Joslin had three .300 hitters in CF Nick Baldini (.333/10/56/115), SS Jim Mellencamp (.316/2/51/86) and superb 3B Jug Slavin (.309/16/91/71), along with RF Ricky Rich (.294/10/90/73)... scoring runs held Grand City down in the standings... the Cybercats were fourth and 6 games behind.

Long-time leader in the RU South Belair Beach had another down year, winding up fifth and 9 games out, mainly due to poor hitting and little power... Marty Pedroza has adequate arms in his starting rotation, headed up by Dennis Whitaker (20-12 3.32), Maaten Van Vranken (14-9 3.66) and Rik Flippen (17-21 3.47)... rookie closer Willy Mesko (1-4) posted 23 saves and a 2.36 ERA and showed good potential... the problem is a poor offense... a .248 BA (28th) and 114 homers (23rd-tied) will not get you very high in the division.

McGraw Johnson has very little talent in Waleska except for pitcher Connie Ehrlichmann (20-15 3.85) and super CF Roy Hobbs (.340/36/117/108)... the Westerners came in sixth this season, 14 games off the pace.

The St. John Crusaders has to endure another bad season... skipper Dickie Billings' club was seventh, 21 games away from first... top performers are pitchers Pat Long (13-7 3.04) and Teddy Garson (16-13 4.03) and position players 3B Vinny Sardisco (.339/22/72/89) and RF Johnny Celestine (.270/25/90/62).

The San Dimas Rancheros, managed by Paco Banderos dropped from 7th to 8th this year... Weak hitting and little pitching are the culprits... 40-year-old Rudy Nasquez (18-17 3.97) was the only pitcher of note... and 2B Hank Maddox (.288/13/75/95) and SS Greg Lawrence (.287/23/81/89) led the Rancheros at the plate.

12-03-2010, 10:36 PM	#2162
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,869	The Islandian Times Monday, September 17, 2018 2018 Ruthlandian South Final Recap Claxton Beats Back Crystal Lake In RU South Stretch Drive The pennant wasn't decide until the final day of the season... The Claxton Diamonds came on strong in the final half of the Ruthlandian South to overtake the Crystal Lake Crushers by one game... Last year's division winner Valka got it together after the All-Star break, but never could close the gap, finishing 5 games off the pace in third place... The Grand City Cybercats were fourth and trailed by 6 games... Belair Beach wound up fifth for the second straight season and 9 games behind... Waleska was sixth and 14 games out... St. John followed in the seventh slot in the standings, 21 games back... with San Dimas in last place and 26 games behind champion Claxton. Claxton's Stacy Engel depended on his offense this season, along with better pitching for success... the Diamonds were second best in scoring, number four with 166 homers, while batting a healthy .270 at the plate... Engel's staff went from being terrible to just mediocre... Claxton's surprise ace was 38-year-old Kaz Hayagawa (20-14 3.43), who was obtained in the off-season from Fairfax of the TU North... RF K. C. Moerdijk had a very good year with 35 homers, 120 RBIs, 112 runs, 33 SBs and a .284 batting average... other strong contributors were LF George McKay (.297/25/101/98), 1B Mike Luzzatti (.293/22/89/104) and C Allen Lemay (.318/18/90/76)... Claxton opens up with RU North champ Ancona in first round postseason action... neither is expected to get by Eastshore or Rocky Rapids in the Final 4 round. Baby George in Crystal Lake got some fine mound work out of his two 24-year-old youngsters Ralph McCullough (20-14 2.76) and Duncan Welch (17-14 2.83) and was either leading or near the top of the standings the entire year... at mid-season the Crushers held a 5-game lead, but couldn't hold off the Claxton Diamonds... George also got good work out of vets Rocky Trahan (14-11 3.87) and closer Jeff Jernigan (5-5) with 25 saves and a 2.63 ERA... Crystal Lake's top bats were all-time great 1B Phil Gravelli (.330/29/113/87), 2B Herb Buck (.272/11/60/111) and CF Joe McBride (.257/26/90)... a perked-up offense could send the Crushers over the top next season. Valka floundered around in the first half, but then manager Andrei Kokk righted the ship and brought it in third, losing by 5 games, after falling 12 games behind in the race at mid-year... the Blackhawks suffered severely with a horrible .233 BA (32nd), but did go deep 173 times (2nd)... Kokk has four adequate starters in Eddie Lasky (17-15 3.09), Richie Jost (13-14 3.03), Arno Vainmaa (16-16 3.59) and Ivo Jaanson (14-15 3.62)... with any kind of hitting at all, the Blackhawks could have won the division again.... LF Karl Jankauskas hit 28 homers, RF Alyosha Vyshnyakov clouted 28, 3B Aino Vaba had 27 and C Thomas Lawson walloped 22, but none of the them hit over .260. Wade Joslin at Grand City for his second season has some solid pitchers, the Cybercats hit well for average, but lack the long-ball... Randy Andrews led the staff with a marvelous 23-9 record and 2.38 ERA... helped out by rookie Luis Perez (15-19 3.19) and journeyman Jimbo Stearns (16-14 4.24)... in the bullpen Ralph Teague (4-3) led the way with 26 saves and a brilliant 1.05 ERA... Joslin had three .300 hitters in CF Nick Baldini (.333/10/56/115), SS Jim Mellencamp (.316/2/51/86) and superb 3B Jug Slavin (.309/16/91/71), along with RF Ricky Rich (.294/10/90/73)... scoring runs held Grand City down in the standings... the Cybercats were fourth and 6 games behind. Long-time leader in the RU South Belair Beach had another down year, winding up fifth and 9 games out, mainly due to poor hitting and little power... Marty Pedroza has adequate arms in his starting rotation, headed up by Dennis Whitaker (20-12 3.32), Maaten Van Vranken (14-9 3.66) and Rik Flippen (17-21 3.47)... rookie closer Willy Mesko (1-4) posted 23 saves and a 2.36 ERA and showed good potential... the problem is a poor offense... a .248 BA (28th) and 114 homers (23rd-tied) will not get you very high in the division. McGraw Johnson has very little talent in Waleska except for pitcher Connie Ehrlichmann (20-15 3.85) and super CF Roy Hobbs (.340/36/117/108)... the Westerners came in sixth this season, 14 games off the pace. The St. John Crusaders has to endure another bad season... skipper Dickie Billings' club was seventh, 21 games away from first... top performers are pitchers Pat Long (13-7 3.04) and Teddy Garson (16-13 4.03) and position players 3B Vinny Sardisco (.339/22/72/89) and RF Johnny Celestine (.270/25/90/62). The San Dimas Rancheros, managed by Paco Banderos dropped from 7th to 8th this year... Weak hitting and little pitching are the culprits... 40-year-old Rudy Nasquez (18-17 3.97) was the only pitcher of note... and 2B Hank Maddox (.288/13/75/95) and SS Greg Lawrence (.287/23/81/89) led the Rancheros at the plate. Last edited by Eugene Church; 12-10-2010 at 10:25 PM.