[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Tuesday, November 3, 2025

Denton City Redbirds History
For its first decade in the IPA Denton City was a powerhouse with 8 playoff appearances in 12 seasons, winning 6 TU West pennants, but no Pro Cups. However, the team that eliminated the Redbirds each year usually went deep into the postseason, many of them making it as far as the Pro Cup Finals with Turon winning in 2003 and 2009 and Red Bluff taking the crown in 2004. Denton City has made the Pro Cup Finals twice and lost both times, to the Middlefield Roosters in 2005 and to the Wynnamac Sundowners in 2008. Since 2015 the Redbirds have been a second-division ball club and haven't come close to a postseason berth. Overall Denton City is a winning team with a .511 percentage, ranked 29th out of the 64 teams with an 1891-1807 mark.

Denton City postseason snapshot:
2003 - lost to Bayview 2-0 in Sweet 16 (second round)... the Viks fell 2-0 to Pro Cup champ Turon in the TU Final 4
2004 - lost to Pro Cup champ Red Bluff 3-2 in Sweet 16 (first round)
2005 - lost to Pro Cup champ Middlefield of the RU West 4-1 in the IPA championship finals
2008 - lost to Pro Cup champ Wynnamac of the RU East 4-2 in the IPA championship finals
2009 - lost to Pro Cup champ Turon of the TU South 4-3 in TU Final 4
2010 - lost to Pro Cup runner-up Turon of the TU South 4-1 in TU Final 4... Colfax (RU West) whipped the Typhoons 4-3 for Pro Cup
2011 - lost to Ozarka (TU East) 4-0 in TU Elite 8 (first round)... Nats lost to Far Mountain (RU North) 4-3 in Pro Cup Finals
2013 - lost to Tuckanarra (TU East) 4-2 in TU Elite 8 (first round)... Blues Jays fell in Pro Cup Finals to Far Mountain (RU North)

One of the true IPA legends, Mila Mohoski, who starred for Red Bluff (2002-2006) and led them to a Pro Cup crown in 2004, is also Denton City's all-time ace... Mohoski (2006-2021) toiled for the Redbirds 16 years and topped them in career wins with a 266-215 mark and a 3.20 ERA (3rd), pacing them to 5 pennants... Mohoski also captured the 2010 TU Golden Arm Award with a standout 26-11 record and a fine 2.54 ERA... Lifetime Mohoski ranks number two to Cody Burg (369-264) of Cape Coral in IPA victories with a 353-267 record, including his 87-52 record with Red Bluff early in his career. Mohoski was the 2004 Pro Cup Most Valuable Player with a 4-1 record and 1.80 ERA. Overall in the postseason, he was 16-11 with a 3.07 ERA... in the Pro Cup playoffs for the Red Sox Mohoski was 8-2 with a 2.75 ERA in 12 starts and 6-9 in 19 starts for the Redbirds with a 3.14 ERA.

Denton City was blessed with a bunch of rock-solid players in its history. OF Danny Nash (2003-2013) led the team with a .302 career average (1st)... Nash played in 1348 games (6th) with 1173 hits (6th), 206 doubles (6th), 63 triples (5th), 106 HRs (7th), 545 RBIs (7th) and 463 walks (5th)... Nash also played 6 productive years afterwards with High Mesa of the TU East, winding up with a lifetime .293 BA, 198 homers and 831 RBIs... 3-time All-Star 3B Jay Petit (2003-2019) is the club leader in many categories... Petit batted .297 (2nd) in 2307 games (1st) with 1247 runs (2nd), 2253 hits (1st), 336 doubles (1st-tied), 77 triples (3rd-tied), 315 HRs (1st), 1210 RBIs (2nd) and 1117 walks (1st)... 1-time All-Star OF-1B Rod MacCormack (2002-2017) was in 2299 games (2nd) with a .276 BA (10th), 1342 runs (1st), 2179 hits (2nd), 336 doubles (1st-tied), 70 triples (3rd), 307 HRs (3rd), 1230 RBIs (1st), 277 SBs (2nd) and 994 walks (2nd)... 4-time Gold Glover and 1-time All-Star SS Trevor Tomlinson (2002-2016) played in 1854 games (3rd) and hit .272 with 1170 runs (3rd), 1803 hits (4th), 286 doubles (3rd), 78 triples (1st), 143 HRs (6th), 649 RBIs (6th), 661 SBs (1st) and 761 walks (3rd)... CF Lavon Gooch (2004-2017) made the All-Star team on two occasions and batted .292 (3rd) in 1812 games (4th) with 1118 runs (4th), 1961 hits (4th), 282 doubles (4th), 69 triples (5th), 308 HRs (2nd), 1128 RBIs (3rd) and 590 walks (4th)... super defensive C Pete Gibbs (2013-2023) was an All-Star three times and won two Gold Gloves... Gibbs was a dependable batter with a .287 BA (4th) in 1305 games (7th), 1413 hits (5th), 229 doubles (5th), 179 HRs (4th) and 771 RBIs (4th)... OF Todd Bryant (2018-2025) came to Denton City after 16 impressive seasons in Bay St. Clair... still he made his mark with a .284 BA (6th) in 816 games with 462 runs (8th), 27 triples (8th) and 436 walks (7th)... Bryant is a 2-time All-Star (2009 and 2021) and 2-time Gold Glover (2007 and 2008)... lifetime Bryant has been a most reliable player and fine all-around performer with a .268 BA in 2855 games with 2670 hits, 412 doubles, 113 triples, 373 homers, 1438 RBIs, 1689 runs, 1255 walks and 428 stolen bases.

Besides Mohoski, the Redbirds had few productive pitchers... Roger Ramsey (2004-2017) was number two with a 121-88 record and a 4.04 ERA... Hank Taylor (2005-2022) was number three in wins with a 115-101 mark and a 4.16 ERA... and Tom Duroncelay (2005-2022) was fourth in victories with a 113-103 record and a 4.38 ERA.