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Eugene Church · 08-01-2011, 12:04 AM

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 22, 2025

2025 Ruthlandian West Final Recap

Roosters 3-Repeat In RU West, Stars and Rovers Close
Three teams fought tooth-and-nail all season long in the Ruthlandian West. In one of the closest races in the IPA the defending division champion Middlefield Roosters came on strong in September to edge the Stoner Stars by one game and the Sligo Rovers by two games. This was Middlefield's third pennant in a row... Going into the late stages of the season the Rovers had a slight one game lead over the Stars and were up by two over the Roosters. Middlefield captured the flag with a 13-7 stretch run, while Stoner went 11-9 and Sligo slipped to 9-11. The fourth place Forest City Lumberjacks closed with a second-half rush, but flopped with a 7-13 mark in September, yet finished only 6 games behind. At one point in the last weeks the 'Jacks narrowed the gap to just two games. Forest City was sixth and 10 games off the pace at mid-season... five clubs finished .500 or better... fifth-place Volusia broken even for the year and was only 8 games back of Middlefield.

The Middlefield Roosters (85-69) won handily in 2023 and 2024, but not this year... Bailey Norcross' Roosters just barely won by the skin of their beaks... the lost of superstar 1B Allan Stewart was huge... Stewart suffered a fractured skull when he was hit in the head and will miss a year... Stewart played in only 54 games, hit .282 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs... Danny Denver (23-7 3.31) had a super season to lead the mound corps... Frank Dean (16-17 3.03) and Tyrus Cobb (11-14 3.20) didn't have winning records, but did pitch well... closer Waylon Hillman (5-7) had a very good year with 33 saves and a 1.92 ERA... the Roosters again led the RU in homers with 170... 6 of them had 10 or more roundtrippers... vet RF Chuck Larkin paced the club with 26 home runs and 97 RBIs, but batted just .235... All-Star C Rod Buckley topped the team with a .313 BA and had 16 homers... CF Tom Daniels hit 18 home runs and scored 105 times, but batted only .249... LF Floyd McClellan collected 24 home runs, drove in 76 and hit .275... SS Wes Gore and 3B Stu Butterworth hit 18 homers each, but batted .222 and .241.

The Stoner Stars (84-70) have a great pitching staff with a fabulous 2.70 ERA, second best in IPA history to Crystal Lake's 2.66 in 2022... manager Benny Stern had three veterans and a rookie as starters: All-Star Billy Chapel (23-11 2.46), Tommy Tuckman (14-11 3.29), Charley Norton (15-16 2.82) and rookie Raul Hidalgo (14-16 2.30)... the Stars bullpen was a fine one, too... headed up by All-Star closer Joel Shepard (7-4), who racked up 31 saves and a 2.28 ERA... however, Stoner had lousy defense with a .965 FA, the worst in the IPA... and lousy hitting, too, with a .249 BA (17th) and were 26th in scoring runs... 1B Fletch Fowler (.301/15/86/58), CF Al Rispone (.289/15/64/95) and RF Kevin Fisher (.271/8/63/89) provided what little offense the Stars had.

Manager Eddie Keys and his Sligo Rovers (83-71) could have used more offense to back up its fine pitching... the Rovers hit only ..244 (25th) and ranked 23rd in scoring... but on the hill they were very good with a 3.28 team ERA (9th)... 6-time All-Star Les Patterson (22-14 2.64) turned in another excellent season with help from Sam Tate (19-13 2.19)... number three starter Gabe Thomas (18-16 3.61) had a solid season as well... closer Milt Flanagan registered 26 saves with a 2.04 ERA, but was a poor 0-6 record-wise... LF Biff Blauer (.285/13/68/84) was the only effective hitter... Blauer ranked first in the RU with 134 walks and second in the IPA... topped only by San Alejo's Lou Browning, who chalked up 151.

The fourth place Forest City Lumberjacks (79-75) were a mystery... they ran hot-and-cold through the year with a great April (17-6), strong July (17-12) and a marvelous August (19-9), but not so good otherwise... still manager Rob Jackson's crew had a good shot at the pennant until the September sag, winding up 6 games off the pace... the 'Jacks batted .258 (5th), were 2nd in homers with 139 and rated 3rd in scoring, while they were just average on the hill with a 3.50 ERA (17th)... 3B Rusty Hood (.270/26/97/80) led the attack with help from LF Ryan Ray (.277/26/68/71), RF Luc St. Germain (.293/12/75/88) and 2B Jackie Jackson (.302/10/69/93)... Forest City's top hurlers were Stephen Phillips (18-12 2.37) and Doug Haynes (18-18 3.26).

The fifth-place Volusia Vigilantes (77-77) ended up even for the season, trailing by 8 games... manager Alfonso Feliz has a so-so team... the V's top performers were solid veteran ace Sixto Moreno (17-11 3.07) and rookie closer Val Cameron with 31 saves, 2.35 ERA and a 5-8 record... star CF Joe DeLucca, a career .320 hitter, dipped below the .300 mark for the second time in his 13 seasons... he hit .295 as a rookie... DeLucca batted only .270 with only 7 homers and 64 runs batted in... still he was Volusia's most productive bat... that's how bad the offense was.

The sixth spot in the RU West standings went to the Rocky Rapids Snappers (73-81), who wound up 12 games back... skipper Ryan Noland could use a lot of everything... better hitting, more power, better pitching and improved defense... his youngest son, 20-year-old Walter Noland, was a standout with a 21-12 mark and a strong 2.76 ERA... vet Don Chaney pitched much better than his won-lost record... Chaney moved closer to the 300-win milestone with a 15-17 mark and a fine 2.92 ERA... the 36-year-old Chaney is 295-223 in his 16 years in the IPA... offensively it was 7-time All-Star 2B Paul Shelton leading the way with 25 homers, 97 RBIs, 78 runs and a .266 BA... 1B Angelo Nardone added 16 homers, 77 RBIs and a .274 BA... two of Noland's sons, CF Tiger Noland (.307/10/57/60) and SS Tommy Noland (.270/10/47/61) also chipped in... a fourth son Cyrus Noland (.203/4/12/12) is a backup outfielder.

The Colfax Blasters (70-84) escaped the division basement, but not by much... Clem Rogers' ball club finished seventh, 15 games behind Middlefield... Colfax is just plain bad and near the bottom on the hill and at the plate... Rogers only has two decent players in RF Glen Smith (.308/13/92/64) and 1B Doug Kirkwood (.278/17/80/79).

For the fifth season in succession the Fort Benton Defenders (66-88) came in last, but manager Robbie Brooks' team did show some improvement... they were only 19 games out, usually they are at least 30 games back... three youngsters looked good on the mound... starters Paul Flowers (9-14 2.91) and Augie Marquis (8-9 3.20), along with closer Kurt Cobb (6-9), who notched 19 saves and an impressive 2.04 ERA... rookie 2B Jerome Cox (.281/17/65/66) and vet LF Stan Saunders (.292/10/46/71) led the mediocre offense.

08-01-2011, 12:04 AM	#2652
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,877	*The Islandian Times* Monday, September 22, 2025 2025 Ruthlandian West Final Recap Roosters 3-Repeat In RU West, Stars and Rovers Close Three teams fought tooth-and-nail all season long in the Ruthlandian West. In one of the closest races in the IPA the defending division champion Middlefield Roosters came on strong in September to edge the Stoner Stars by one game and the Sligo Rovers by two games. This was Middlefield's third pennant in a row... Going into the late stages of the season the Rovers had a slight one game lead over the Stars and were up by two over the Roosters. Middlefield captured the flag with a 13-7 stretch run, while Stoner went 11-9 and Sligo slipped to 9-11. The fourth place Forest City Lumberjacks closed with a second-half rush, but flopped with a 7-13 mark in September, yet finished only 6 games behind. At one point in the last weeks the 'Jacks narrowed the gap to just two games. Forest City was sixth and 10 games off the pace at mid-season... five clubs finished .500 or better... fifth-place Volusia broken even for the year and was only 8 games back of Middlefield. The Middlefield Roosters (85-69) won handily in 2023 and 2024, but not this year... Bailey Norcross' Roosters just barely won by the skin of their beaks... the lost of superstar 1B Allan Stewart was huge... Stewart suffered a fractured skull when he was hit in the head and will miss a year... Stewart played in only 54 games, hit .282 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs... Danny Denver (23-7 3.31) had a super season to lead the mound corps... Frank Dean (16-17 3.03) and Tyrus Cobb (11-14 3.20) didn't have winning records, but did pitch well... closer Waylon Hillman (5-7) had a very good year with 33 saves and a 1.92 ERA... the Roosters again led the RU in homers with 170... 6 of them had 10 or more roundtrippers... vet RF Chuck Larkin paced the club with 26 home runs and 97 RBIs, but batted just .235... All-Star C Rod Buckley topped the team with a .313 BA and had 16 homers... CF Tom Daniels hit 18 home runs and scored 105 times, but batted only .249... LF Floyd McClellan collected 24 home runs, drove in 76 and hit .275... SS Wes Gore and 3B Stu Butterworth hit 18 homers each, but batted .222 and .241. The Stoner Stars (84-70) have a great pitching staff with a fabulous 2.70 ERA, second best in IPA history to Crystal Lake's 2.66 in 2022... manager Benny Stern had three veterans and a rookie as starters: All-Star Billy Chapel (23-11 2.46), Tommy Tuckman (14-11 3.29), Charley Norton (15-16 2.82) and rookie Raul Hidalgo (14-16 2.30)... the Stars bullpen was a fine one, too... headed up by All-Star closer Joel Shepard (7-4), who racked up 31 saves and a 2.28 ERA... however, Stoner had lousy defense with a .965 FA, the worst in the IPA... and lousy hitting, too, with a .249 BA (17th) and were 26th in scoring runs... 1B Fletch Fowler (.301/15/86/58), CF Al Rispone (.289/15/64/95) and RF Kevin Fisher (.271/8/63/89) provided what little offense the Stars had. Manager Eddie Keys and his Sligo Rovers (83-71) could have used more offense to back up its fine pitching... the Rovers hit only ..244 (25th) and ranked 23rd in scoring... but on the hill they were very good with a 3.28 team ERA (9th)... 6-time All-Star Les Patterson (22-14 2.64) turned in another excellent season with help from Sam Tate (19-13 2.19)... number three starter Gabe Thomas (18-16 3.61) had a solid season as well... closer Milt Flanagan registered 26 saves with a 2.04 ERA, but was a poor 0-6 record-wise... LF Biff Blauer (.285/13/68/84) was the only effective hitter... Blauer ranked first in the RU with 134 walks and second in the IPA... topped only by San Alejo's Lou Browning, who chalked up 151. The fourth place Forest City Lumberjacks (79-75) were a mystery... they ran hot-and-cold through the year with a great April (17-6), strong July (17-12) and a marvelous August (19-9), but not so good otherwise... still manager Rob Jackson's crew had a good shot at the pennant until the September sag, winding up 6 games off the pace... the 'Jacks batted .258 (5th), were 2nd in homers with 139 and rated 3rd in scoring, while they were just average on the hill with a 3.50 ERA (17th)... 3B Rusty Hood (.270/26/97/80) led the attack with help from LF Ryan Ray (.277/26/68/71), RF Luc St. Germain (.293/12/75/88) and 2B Jackie Jackson (.302/10/69/93)... Forest City's top hurlers were Stephen Phillips (18-12 2.37) and Doug Haynes (18-18 3.26). The fifth-place Volusia Vigilantes (77-77) ended up even for the season, trailing by 8 games... manager Alfonso Feliz has a so-so team... the V's top performers were solid veteran ace Sixto Moreno (17-11 3.07) and rookie closer Val Cameron with 31 saves, 2.35 ERA and a 5-8 record... star CF Joe DeLucca, a career .320 hitter, dipped below the .300 mark for the second time in his 13 seasons... he hit .295 as a rookie... DeLucca batted only .270 with only 7 homers and 64 runs batted in... still he was Volusia's most productive bat... that's how bad the offense was. The sixth spot in the RU West standings went to the Rocky Rapids Snappers (73-81), who wound up 12 games back... skipper Ryan Noland could use a lot of everything... better hitting, more power, better pitching and improved defense... his youngest son, 20-year-old Walter Noland, was a standout with a 21-12 mark and a strong 2.76 ERA... vet Don Chaney pitched much better than his won-lost record... Chaney moved closer to the 300-win milestone with a 15-17 mark and a fine 2.92 ERA... the 36-year-old Chaney is 295-223 in his 16 years in the IPA... offensively it was 7-time All-Star 2B Paul Shelton leading the way with 25 homers, 97 RBIs, 78 runs and a .266 BA... 1B Angelo Nardone added 16 homers, 77 RBIs and a .274 BA... two of Noland's sons, CF Tiger Noland (.307/10/57/60) and SS Tommy Noland (.270/10/47/61) also chipped in... a fourth son Cyrus Noland (.203/4/12/12) is a backup outfielder. The Colfax Blasters (70-84) escaped the division basement, but not by much... Clem Rogers' ball club finished seventh, 15 games behind Middlefield... Colfax is just plain bad and near the bottom on the hill and at the plate... Rogers only has two decent players in RF Glen Smith (.308/13/92/64) and 1B Doug Kirkwood (.278/17/80/79). For the fifth season in succession the Fort Benton Defenders (66-88) came in last, but manager Robbie Brooks' team did show some improvement... they were only 19 games out, usually they are at least 30 games back... three youngsters looked good on the mound... starters Paul Flowers (9-14 2.91) and Augie Marquis (8-9 3.20), along with closer Kurt Cobb (6-9), who notched 19 saves and an impressive 2.04 ERA... rookie 2B Jerome Cox (.281/17/65/66) and vet LF Stan Saunders (.292/10/46/71) led the mediocre offense. Last edited by Eugene Church; 08-11-2011 at 09:02 PM.