[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Wednesday, September 22, 2025

2025 Ruthlandian North Final Recap

FM Redhawks Win By 3 Over Ancona and 5 Over Valmara
It was a year-long battle between Far Mountain and Ancona in the Ruthlandian North... the Redhawks sneaked by in the last week to take the Red Elephants by 3 games... defending champ Valmara slipped to third this year, 5 games behind and up-and-coming Ranford was fourth 7 games back... in the last week and a half Far Mountain got hot with a 7-3 record, while Ancona slumped to 4-6.

Far Mountain (91-63) had to win it almost entirely with its pitching... manager Alex Groveland's offense was mediocre to modest at best... the club leader was 1B Johnny Becker with an ordinary .271 BA... but the mound staff was superb with a 2.98 team ERA (3rd), led by three fine starters, anchored by Jeff Cooper (18-11 1.85), All-Star Karl Franz (21-6 3.10) and All-Star Jakob Wagner (16-14 2.67)... Cooper was the top hurler in the IPA with a 1.85 ERA... defensively the Redhawks were pretty good with a .975 FA (6th)... this was Far Mountain first pennant since 2016... overall the Redhawks have won the RU North 9 times and captured 3 Pro Cups.

The runner-up Ancona Red Elephants (88-66) had a very good season despite losing superstar LF Kenny Willard for almost all of the season... 4-time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glover Willard only played in 9 games... Willard's .307 career average, 30 homers and 100 RBIs a year were a huge loss... even without him Ancona could put runs on the scoreboard, ranking second in batting with a .270 mark, second in scoring and pretty fair in power with 108 homers (14th)... and they were solid on the hill with a 3.38 team ERA (14th)... with average defense, ranking 15th with a .973 FA... at the plate Ancona was sparked by 1B Alekos Kotas (.325/24/113/81), All-Star RF Donnie Lewis (.325/9/71/115) and All-Star 3B Todd Nasso (.277/20/87/106)... manager Manny Mickens had two fine starters with Hal Holmes (18-7 2.75) and Vince Arndt (18-16 2.98) and a strong closer with Kenny Nikas (4-2) with 23 saves and an outstanding 1.25 ERA.

The third place Valmara Vipers (86-68) won back-to-back flags in the RU North the previous two years, but couldn't whip the Redhawks and Red Elephants this year... nonetheless it was a good season for Jet Kazmarek, who had a quality pitching rotation with two strong starters: Clem Carmouche (16-12 2.84) and Billy Ray (17-15 2.99)... and capable number three and four starters with Pavel Volkov (19-11 3.40) and Johnny Vasylenko (18-16 3.84)... in the bullpen was one of the best Chris Phillips (7-5) with 26 saves and a superb 1.71 ERA... Overall the Viper pitchers compiled an impressive 3.06 team ERA (6th)... Valmara didn't hit especially well with a .245 BA (23rd), but they ranked 5th in scoring and 7th in home runs with 121... CF Teddy Szymanski (.313/25/103/94) and LF Sonny Oliver (.292/26/90/75) led the way.

The Ranford Bulls (84-70) wound up fourth this season, trailing champ Far Mountain by 7 games... it was a great season for manager Rick Fargnoli, considering they were cellar-dwellers the last two years... super pitching did it... the Bulls posted an excellent 2.99 ERA (4th) with four standout starters: 33-year-old vet Scotty Simmons (16-10 2.73) and three youngsters Angelo Coppolo (20-9 2.75), Sam Hart (17-11 3.17) and Jimmy Travis (15-15 2.60)... Travis topped the IPA with 327 strikeouts... Ranford struggled a bit in the bullpen... Willie Walters had 29 saves and a 2.45 ERA, but was 3-10 record-wise... three rookies paced the Bulls at the plate: All-Star C Kyle Hunt (.336/13/71/75), 1B Elton Graff (.305/7/60/75) and SS Terry Kerr (.283/15/69/62)... Ranford hit well with a .257 BA (7th) and 111 roundtrippers (11th), but were only 19th in scoring.

Kevin McPhail's Kilkenny Cats (75-79) are just an average team that ended up in the fifth spot in the RU North this year, trailing first place Far Mountain by 16 games... the Cats were tied with Taranto... top pitchers were Kyle Ferguson (20-11 3.14), Dave Whitaker (15-16 3.15) and Greg Noland (15-16 3.92)... Noland was obtained in a pre-season trade with Rocky Rapids... McPhail needs bullpen help... LF Michael Winter (.299/11/87/75) and C Irish O'Dwyer (.284/12/80/76) were the offensive leaders... Kilkenny has never made the playoffs.

It was a lackluster year for the Taranto Tars (75-79) and skipper Tommaso Lazzorda... they haven't graced the postseason since 2019 and half the time have been a second-division club... playing in the small confines of the Palazzo di Sport is a blessing for the hitters and a hex on the hurlers... Taranto topped the RU with a .272 BA and in scoring, but the opposing hitters thrived, too... the Tars team ERA was 4.26 (31st)... heading up the batting order were All-Star 1B Denny Zaffino (.314/25/91/80), All-Star LF Nickie Tomasiewicz (.297/17/90/109) and 2B Greg Murphy (.289/12/82/89)... Lazzorda had two solid starters in Alfredo Barsotti (22-15 3.66) and Johnny Sakelaris (14-13 3.53).

The Glasco A's (61-93) had an awful season and finished up 30 games out... Charles Darby's Athletics haven't been in the playoffs for the last 22 years and it's not likely to happen again any time soon... Glasco has average hitting, poor pitching and average defense... Darby's best talent are his son, All-Star 3B Eddie Darby (.325/12/85/94) and 1B Garris Aiken (.280/22/97/89)... the Athletics only pitcher of note is closer Rusty McIntosh (6-4), who posted 23 saves and an impressive 1.43 ERA.

Pulling up the rear in the RU North was the hapless LaGrange Sports (58-96), 33 games back in last place... it's been 17 seasons since the Sports were in the postseason... manager Otto Kronvath has no offense (31st), not much defense (.969 FA), but has decent pitching with a 3.50 ERA (18th)... youngsters Mike York (14-17 2.48) and Niles Wooten (14-22 3.30) deserved better... rookie RF Dunstan Lane was the only bright spot in the line-up with a .324 BA, 9 homers and 52 RBIs.