OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - ISLANDIAN PRO ALLIANCE (RUTHLANDIA and TYCOBBIA BASEBALL UNIONS)

Eugene Church · 06-19-2011, 05:52 PM

The Islandian Times
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

2024 Tycobbian West Final Recap

Wildcats Win In TU West
The Kenwood Wildcats held off two strong contenders to capture the Tycobbian West. The Wildcats went into September leading Rolling Hills and Bay St. Clair by 4 games, but managed to hold them off. Kenwood topped the Reds by just 2 games and the Buccaneers by 4. Denton City came in a distant fourth and trailed by 15 games. This was Kenwood's second pennant, the other was in 2014, when the Wildcats went all the way and claimed the Pro Cup in a huge upset. Rolling Hills rallied from last place at mid-season and came within an eyelash of catching the Wildcats. Last year's champ Bay St. Clair slumped badly in August and it cost them the flag.

Great pitching and just enough offense brought the title to the Kenwood Wildcats (90-64)... Aaron Hankins ' pitching corps chalked up a great 2.99 ERA (3rd) sparked by starters Jody Gentry (21-10 2.15) and Thomas Norman (19-15 2.59)... Kenwood's bullpen was second in the TU with a super 1.98 ERA, led by closer Glenn Kennedy (5-2) with 26 saves and a fantastic 0.96 ERA... middle relievers Scott Bohn (7-2 2.21) and Chuck Rohmer (6-0 1.58) stood out, too... at bat, the Wildcats had modest power with 138 homers (10th) and were paced by LF Nicky Carpenter (.299 BA/26 HR/86 RBI/88 R), RF Babe Hankins (.279 BA/20 HR/81 RBI/80 R) and SS Lee Sullivan (.249 BA/19 HR/77 RBI/91 R).

At the All-Star game, the Rolling Hills Reds (88-66) were 9 games under .500 and 12 games behind, but Matty Christianson's club did an about-face and almost pulled off the greatest comeback in IPA history. The Reds rolled to a remarkable 56-25 record the rest of the year, but came up 2 games short... vets Sal Jordan (24-9 2.80) and Errol Gaudet (17-14 2.86) led the staff, along with the manager's young sons, rookies Joey Christianson (13-8 3.30) and McGraw Christianson (10-7 3.04)... Jordan was a brilliant 17-2 in the second half... budding star LF Pat Webb topped the team with a .302 BA, 30 HR, 102 RBI, 90 R, aided a little by Christianson's third son, 19-year-old 1B Billy, who became a regular in July and hit .311 in 59 games.

The Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (86-68) were coming off a great 2023 when they put up 97 wins, the best in the TU, and were the odds-on favorite to win the division again... and Guy Rondre would have done it, if not for a poor 12-17 August... The Bucs had the best offense in the league with 798 runs... they hit .264 (5th)... Rondre had fairly good starters (3.69 ERA-14th) and a fine bullpen (2.43 ERA- 7th)... the Buccaneers had a well-balanced club, paced by a rock-solid core of hitters: star 1B Jerry Todd (.343 BA/30 HR/110 RBI/88 R), RF Don Smithers (.297 BA/24 HR/89 RBI/78 R), SS Van Kellner (.254 BA/23 HR/80 RBI), CF Bill Howell (.311 BA/1 HR/78 RBI/111 R) and 2B Bud Walker (.296 BA/3 HR/47 RBI/119 R)... Rondre needs improvement on the hill... Golden Arm winner Eddie Lasky (12-15 4.16) had an awful year after going 25-8 last year... Vic Bauer, acquired in a trade with Crystal Lake of the RU, did well with a 19-14 mark and a 3.66 ERA... closer Ray McClendon (6-6 1.19), Benson O'Brian (3-2 2.38) and Steve Richt (3-1 2.65) did well in relief roles.

Ford Whiteman had his Denton City Redbirds (75-79) in the race at mid-year... the Redbirds were tied for second with Bay St. Clair, just a game behind leading Kenwood, but they couldn't sustain it and burned out in the summertime and late season... however, Denton City did sneak into the the first division for the first time in 5 years, finishing fourth, 15 games back... Whiteman's best performers were 1B Don Timmons with 30 homers and 102 RBIs, but only a .252 BA... Phil Cooper (18-16 3.67) led the starters, while Rich Hopkins (7-6) stood out in the bullpen with 29 saves and an excellent 2.30 ERA.

Bayview (71-83), piloted by Walter Johanssen to a fifth-place tie with Chicopee, 19 games out of first... the Vikings were just mediocre on the mound and at the plate, but they did go deep occasionally with 158 home runs (5th)... CF Davey Krueger hammered 39 out of the park and drove in 105 runs with a .264 BA... LF Norm Owens chipped in with 20 roundtrippers, 83 runs batted in, scored 90 times and batted .286... long-time ace Harald Turi (17-14 3.04) turned in an other good year... new closer Gunnar Haagensen showed promise with an 11-3 record and a 1.94 ERA in 37 relief appearances.

It was another run-of-mill season for the Chicopee Braves (71-83) and manager Harry Fleetfoot, but his young starters showed signs of coming-of-age... Will Joseph (18-14 3.17), Mackie Smith (14-20 3.18) and Papoose Littlefeather (16-16 3.81) make the future brighter... old-timers RF Dominick DiCaprio (.303 BA/27 HR/96 RBI) and 1B Jose Duran (.329 BA/20 HR/97 RBI/94 R) had fine seasons and were the Braves only reliable bats.

Manager Maka Bardinda of the La Claire Lynx (69-85) was excited at the beginning of the season after his club wound up third last year with an 81-73 mark, but the optimism proved futile, when his hitting collapsed and the club dropped back deep into the second divison to seventh place, 21 games off the pace of TU West champ Kenwood... star 3B Flash Devlin had his usual good year with a .304 BA, 33 HR, 94 RBI and 105 runs... with some help from 1B Jess Swain (.293 BA/13 HR/76 RBI/72 R)... Iggy Cobos (16-19 3.75) paced the pitchers.

Since winning the pennant in 2020, Gary Louis has seen his Arlon Champions (68-86) wind up in seventh, eighth, seventh and again last place this year, 22 games behind... his young team was fourth at the halfway point, just 6 games out, but frizzed out in the second half... but Arlon made some progress on the mound... Louis' youngsters got valuable experience... Dorsey Peters was 18-15 with a strong 2.86 ERA... Derek Wilmer lost a lot of games where he pitched well, but got no run support... Wilmer was 16-20 with a 3.57 ERA... Lanny Andrews (13-16 4.35) and Lacy Dalton (10-21 4.16) look good for the future.... closer Buddy Palmer (4-6) led a solid bullpen with 28 saves and a terrific 1.14 ERA... overall the Champs relievers registered an impressive 2.62 ERA, 8th-best in the Tycobbian Union... Arlon hit only .230 (32nd) and ranked last... the only decent bat in the line-up was CF Carlos Quintana, who led the team with a .277 BA, 26 home runs and 92 RBIs.

06-19-2011, 05:52 PM	#2590
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,876	*The Islandian Times* Wednesday, September 18, 2024 2024 Tycobbian West Final Recap Wildcats Win In TU West The Kenwood Wildcats held off two strong contenders to capture the Tycobbian West. The Wildcats went into September leading Rolling Hills and Bay St. Clair by 4 games, but managed to hold them off. Kenwood topped the Reds by just 2 games and the Buccaneers by 4. Denton City came in a distant fourth and trailed by 15 games. This was Kenwood's second pennant, the other was in 2014, when the Wildcats went all the way and claimed the Pro Cup in a huge upset. Rolling Hills rallied from last place at mid-season and came within an eyelash of catching the Wildcats. Last year's champ Bay St. Clair slumped badly in August and it cost them the flag. Great pitching and just enough offense brought the title to the Kenwood Wildcats (90-64)... Aaron Hankins ' pitching corps chalked up a great 2.99 ERA (3rd) sparked by starters Jody Gentry (21-10 2.15) and Thomas Norman (19-15 2.59)... Kenwood's bullpen was second in the TU with a super 1.98 ERA, led by closer Glenn Kennedy (5-2) with 26 saves and a fantastic 0.96 ERA... middle relievers Scott Bohn (7-2 2.21) and Chuck Rohmer (6-0 1.58) stood out, too... at bat, the Wildcats had modest power with 138 homers (10th) and were paced by LF Nicky Carpenter (.299 BA/26 HR/86 RBI/88 R), RF Babe Hankins (.279 BA/20 HR/81 RBI/80 R) and SS Lee Sullivan (.249 BA/19 HR/77 RBI/91 R). At the All-Star game, the Rolling Hills Reds (88-66) were 9 games under .500 and 12 games behind, but Matty Christianson's club did an about-face and almost pulled off the greatest comeback in IPA history. The Reds rolled to a remarkable 56-25 record the rest of the year, but came up 2 games short... vets Sal Jordan (24-9 2.80) and Errol Gaudet (17-14 2.86) led the staff, along with the manager's young sons, rookies Joey Christianson (13-8 3.30) and McGraw Christianson (10-7 3.04)... Jordan was a brilliant 17-2 in the second half... budding star LF Pat Webb topped the team with a .302 BA, 30 HR, 102 RBI, 90 R, aided a little by Christianson's third son, 19-year-old 1B Billy, who became a regular in July and hit .311 in 59 games. The Bay St. Clair Buccaneers (86-68) were coming off a great 2023 when they put up 97 wins, the best in the TU, and were the odds-on favorite to win the division again... and Guy Rondre would have done it, if not for a poor 12-17 August... The Bucs had the best offense in the league with 798 runs... they hit .264 (5th)... Rondre had fairly good starters (3.69 ERA-14th) and a fine bullpen (2.43 ERA- 7th)... the Buccaneers had a well-balanced club, paced by a rock-solid core of hitters: star 1B Jerry Todd (.343 BA/30 HR/110 RBI/88 R), RF Don Smithers (.297 BA/24 HR/89 RBI/78 R), SS Van Kellner (.254 BA/23 HR/80 RBI), CF Bill Howell (.311 BA/1 HR/78 RBI/111 R) and 2B Bud Walker (.296 BA/3 HR/47 RBI/119 R)... Rondre needs improvement on the hill... Golden Arm winner Eddie Lasky (12-15 4.16) had an awful year after going 25-8 last year... Vic Bauer, acquired in a trade with Crystal Lake of the RU, did well with a 19-14 mark and a 3.66 ERA... closer Ray McClendon (6-6 1.19), Benson O'Brian (3-2 2.38) and Steve Richt (3-1 2.65) did well in relief roles. Ford Whiteman had his Denton City Redbirds (75-79) in the race at mid-year... the Redbirds were tied for second with Bay St. Clair, just a game behind leading Kenwood, but they couldn't sustain it and burned out in the summertime and late season... however, Denton City did sneak into the the first division for the first time in 5 years, finishing fourth, 15 games back... Whiteman's best performers were 1B Don Timmons with 30 homers and 102 RBIs, but only a .252 BA... Phil Cooper (18-16 3.67) led the starters, while Rich Hopkins (7-6) stood out in the bullpen with 29 saves and an excellent 2.30 ERA. Bayview (71-83), piloted by Walter Johanssen to a fifth-place tie with Chicopee, 19 games out of first... the Vikings were just mediocre on the mound and at the plate, but they did go deep occasionally with 158 home runs (5th)... CF Davey Krueger hammered 39 out of the park and drove in 105 runs with a .264 BA... LF Norm Owens chipped in with 20 roundtrippers, 83 runs batted in, scored 90 times and batted .286... long-time ace Harald Turi (17-14 3.04) turned in an other good year... new closer Gunnar Haagensen showed promise with an 11-3 record and a 1.94 ERA in 37 relief appearances. It was another run-of-mill season for the Chicopee Braves (71-83) and manager Harry Fleetfoot, but his young starters showed signs of coming-of-age... Will Joseph (18-14 3.17), Mackie Smith (14-20 3.18) and Papoose Littlefeather (16-16 3.81) make the future brighter... old-timers RF Dominick DiCaprio (.303 BA/27 HR/96 RBI) and 1B Jose Duran (.329 BA/20 HR/97 RBI/94 R) had fine seasons and were the Braves only reliable bats. Manager Maka Bardinda of the La Claire Lynx (69-85) was excited at the beginning of the season after his club wound up third last year with an 81-73 mark, but the optimism proved futile, when his hitting collapsed and the club dropped back deep into the second divison to seventh place, 21 games off the pace of TU West champ Kenwood... star 3B Flash Devlin had his usual good year with a .304 BA, 33 HR, 94 RBI and 105 runs... with some help from 1B Jess Swain (.293 BA/13 HR/76 RBI/72 R)... Iggy Cobos (16-19 3.75) paced the pitchers. Since winning the pennant in 2020, Gary Louis has seen his Arlon Champions (68-86) wind up in seventh, eighth, seventh and again last place this year, 22 games behind... his young team was fourth at the halfway point, just 6 games out, but frizzed out in the second half... but Arlon made some progress on the mound... Louis' youngsters got valuable experience... Dorsey Peters was 18-15 with a strong 2.86 ERA... Derek Wilmer lost a lot of games where he pitched well, but got no run support... Wilmer was 16-20 with a 3.57 ERA... Lanny Andrews (13-16 4.35) and Lacy Dalton (10-21 4.16) look good for the future.... closer Buddy Palmer (4-6) led a solid bullpen with 28 saves and a terrific 1.14 ERA... overall the Champs relievers registered an impressive 2.62 ERA, 8th-best in the Tycobbian Union... Arlon hit only .230 (32nd) and ranked last... the only decent bat in the line-up was CF Carlos Quintana, who led the team with a .277 BA, 26 home runs and 92 RBIs. Last edited by Eugene Church; 06-23-2011 at 05:16 PM.