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Eugene Church · 12-05-2011, 11:51 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, September 21, 2028

Tuckanarra-Waleska Pro Cup Favorites
What does it take to win the Pro Cup? If hitting is all it takes to win the IPA Pro Cup, then pick the Waleska Westerners or the Mahaska Haymakers. If pitching will do it, the choice would be the Sligo Rovers. If it's a combination of the two, then it might be the Marston Nine or the La Claire Lynx. However, if you have the best hitting and the best pitching in the IPA, then you have it all and are the 2028 favorite to win it all in the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup playoffs. You are the powerful Tuckanarra Blue Jays. There are four former Pro Cup champions in this year's field of dreamers: Tuckanarra won in 2023 and 2024, Valmara in 2026, Sligo in 2021 and Southport won last year.

Carlton "Lefty" Stevens has quite a ballclub in Tuckanarra. The top-seeded Blue Jays led the IPA in just about everything this year, winning 102 games and losing just 52. They won their division by 15 games. Stevens has three fine starters, who all won 20 games: Quinn Starr (25-10/2.80), Jamie Gustafson (21-12/2.71) and Philip Marston (21-8/3.72). Tuckanarra also has a solid lineup of hitters, too, headed up by 1B Lynn Starr (.322/40/127/114), 2B Eddie Darby (.319/16/74/87), 3B Koora Nawajuk (.266/23/86/95) and CF Terry Jasper (.257/18/85/92). 14 current Blue Jays played on the Pro Cup champions of 2023 and 2024.

Last year's Pro Cup winner is back for a chance at repeating. The number-two seed Southport Sun Sox were 7 games under .500 the first two months of the season, but then they began to play like champs and won a postseason spot by defeating Ginza in a single-game playoff. Southport wound up 87-68 for the year. Skipper Charley Oscar has a slew of fine hitters, led by RF Lorne Evans, who was second in the IPA with 55 homers and the leader with 162 runs scored. In a super season Evans batted .335 with 120 RBIs. 1B Kyle Ross had quite a year, too, with 32 home runs, 122 RBIs, 91 runs and a .296 BA. Other good run producers were C Luis Alvarado (.308/18/89/73) and CF Rick Cabrini (.301/13/49/91). Last year's Pro Cup MVP Ronnie Galus (23-13/3.35) is the ace of the mound staff. Southport will need vet Al Laclair (19-14/4.98) and 21-year-old Bob Bondy (8-2/2.67) to stand out to win back-to-back IPA titles. The Sun Sox are strong in the bullpen with closer Joel Shepard (5-4/2.61/21 saves) and starter/long reliever Rob Ricks (7-2/3.30/4 saves). Southport will be missing 2B Sam Cousins (.329/9/56/54) and starting pitcher Don Pascioni (10-11/3.65) in the postseason. Cousins injured his elbow in late August and Pascioni went out with a shoulder problem in late July.

The third-seeded Waleska Westerners sport some heavy artillery, but manager McGraw Johnson will have to get improved pitching to win the Pro Cup. The Westerners posted a .280 BA (2nd), scored 879 runs (1st) and hit 189 roundtrippers (2nd). Johnson has two superstars in his lineup: all-time IPA great RF Roy Hobbs, who batted .359 this year with 36 homers, 142 RBIs and scored 125 runs. Not too shabby for a 35-year-old and 13-time All-Star. LF Loco Dillinger was even better with 56 home runs and 154 RBIs, both tops in the IPA. Dillinger scored 132 runs and hit .357. It didn't stop with those two, either. CF Wilson James (.299/11/64/119), 3B Yahto Sisika (.297/23/94/111) and SS Jose De Leon (.281/6/85/61) were valuable contributors as well. Waleska has only one standout on the hill - Wild Bill Butler (23-10/2.97). 20-year-old rookie Terry Richards (15-12/4.04) and 24-year-old Cliff Dyer (17-12/4/67) will have to step it up big time in the playoffs for Waleska to challenge for the championship.

The fourth-seeded Marston Nine has a well-rounded team with fine hitting and fine pitching. Manager Danny Church has a solid trio of starters in Denny Carravaggio (20-13/3.55), Ronald Schmitt (20-15/4.08) and Jack Tunstall (10-7/2.95). Veteran 37-year-old closer Bobby Daniels (5-3/2.82/17 saves) will handle the bullpen duties in a reliable fashion. The Nine can put runs on the scoreboard, too, with the likes of 1B Shelby Lansbury (.300/19/96/104), 2B Lonnie Trekell (.289/36/109/91) and future IPA Hall-of-Fame CF Russ Woodward (.277/23/86/95), who is still doing the job at age 34. Marston has three other .300 hitters: SS Doyle McCandlish (.310/0/40/87), 3B George Varsh (.303/8/47/62) and LF Carlton Curtis (.310/17/68/64).

Manager Eddie Keys has to depend on his talented pitchers for success in the playoffs. The fifth-seeded Sligo Rovers just don't hit very well except for CF Darryl Collins (.296/31/112/84), RF Teddy Brunet (.246/33/102/90) and LF Biff Blauer (.302/17/63/85). The Rovers starting trio of Earl Perkins (21-8/2.53), Les Patterson (16-16/2.88) and Lou Page (21-14/3.01) is outstanding and gets excellent relief help from Milt Flanagan (4-3/2.28/16 saves) and Glenn Pipton (5-3/2.22/4 saves).

The La Claire Lynx are seeded number six in the Pro Cup rankings. Manager Zeppy Deshotel has a well-balanced team with pretty fair pitching and hitting, plus longball power. The Lynx went deep 207 times this year and were powered by 12-time All-Star 3B Flash Devlin (.295/30/78/105), still a standout player at age 35, RF Kelly Chamberlain (.277/28/57/101), 1B Jess Swain (.283/19/80/88), 2B Norman Petitjohn (.279/25/80/63) and C Tom Krebs (.266/21/70/42). Help for ace Pat Kovacs (23-11/3.10) will be the key to the Lynx postseason success. Kovacs broke the IPA strikeout record this season with 391 Ks, but he can't do it alone. Alvar Vickers (21-13/4.41) and Ryan Brown (16-12/4.57) will have to be better than they were in the regular season.

The seventh-seeded Valmara Vipers still have a lot of players left over from the 2026 Pro Cup title run. Manager Jet Kazmarek just doesn't have the pitching like he did back then. But he still has some capable ballplayers. At the plate the Vipers are led by CF Teddy Szymanski (.309/31/116/97), LF Sonny Oliver (.292/21/86/91), C Floyd Randolph (.260/36/105/88) and 2B Alec Leclerc (.279/1/53/109). Carroll Cain (21-7/3.33) is a fine hurler, but will need some help from young Teddy Lem (19-14/4.42) and 35-year-old Pro Cup veteran Billy Ray (19-17/4.77) to advance far in the postseason. Kazmarek has a good relief corps, led by Ivan Guzek (7-2/3.70/22 saves) and Chris Phillips (5-1/2.71), who were both on the Pro Cup winners. Bullpen mates Clem Carmouche (7-6/5.22) and Pavel Volkov (11-16/4.55) were also on the 2026 team, but play lesser roles now.

No one is expecting much from the eighth-seeded Mahaska Haymakers, who have the poorest record of all the postseason clubs. The Haymakers only managed an 80-74 mark during the regular season, but they can wield the bats. RF Travis Tuttle won the TU batting title with a .366 batting average, hit 39 out of the park, drove in 132 runs and scored 113. Other solid hitters in Rusty Tanussa's batting order are longtime star C Bucky O'Brian (.307/21/87/70), 1B Paul Davies (.313/22/76/85), LF Johnny Yevteshenko (.297/23/79/77), 2B Todd Tarkovsky (.279/17/87/73) and CF Pasha Yablonski (.271/2/40/97). Mahaska's best pitchers are Arno Vainmaa (22-12/3.93) and Maxim Petrosian (17-14/3.86). Tanussa has very little in the way of pitching after them.

12-05-2011, 11:51 PM	#2868
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,877	*THE ISLANDIAN TIMES* Thursday, September 21, 2028 Tuckanarra-Waleska Pro Cup Favorites What does it take to win the Pro Cup? If hitting is all it takes to win the IPA Pro Cup, then pick the Waleska Westerners or the Mahaska Haymakers. If pitching will do it, the choice would be the Sligo Rovers. If it's a combination of the two, then it might be the Marston Nine or the La Claire Lynx. However, if you have the best hitting and the best pitching in the IPA, then you have it all and are the 2028 favorite to win it all in the Islandian Pro Alliance Pro Cup playoffs. You are the powerful Tuckanarra Blue Jays. There are four former Pro Cup champions in this year's field of dreamers: Tuckanarra won in 2023 and 2024, Valmara in 2026, Sligo in 2021 and Southport won last year. Carlton "Lefty" Stevens has quite a ballclub in Tuckanarra. The top-seeded Blue Jays led the IPA in just about everything this year, winning 102 games and losing just 52. They won their division by 15 games. Stevens has three fine starters, who all won 20 games: Quinn Starr (25-10/2.80), Jamie Gustafson (21-12/2.71) and Philip Marston (21-8/3.72). Tuckanarra also has a solid lineup of hitters, too, headed up by 1B Lynn Starr (.322/40/127/114), 2B Eddie Darby (.319/16/74/87), 3B Koora Nawajuk (.266/23/86/95) and CF Terry Jasper (.257/18/85/92). 14 current Blue Jays played on the Pro Cup champions of 2023 and 2024. Last year's Pro Cup winner is back for a chance at repeating. The number-two seed Southport Sun Sox were 7 games under .500 the first two months of the season, but then they began to play like champs and won a postseason spot by defeating Ginza in a single-game playoff. Southport wound up 87-68 for the year. Skipper Charley Oscar has a slew of fine hitters, led by RF Lorne Evans, who was second in the IPA with 55 homers and the leader with 162 runs scored. In a super season Evans batted .335 with 120 RBIs. 1B Kyle Ross had quite a year, too, with 32 home runs, 122 RBIs, 91 runs and a .296 BA. Other good run producers were C Luis Alvarado (.308/18/89/73) and CF Rick Cabrini (.301/13/49/91). Last year's Pro Cup MVP Ronnie Galus (23-13/3.35) is the ace of the mound staff. Southport will need vet Al Laclair (19-14/4.98) and 21-year-old Bob Bondy (8-2/2.67) to stand out to win back-to-back IPA titles. The Sun Sox are strong in the bullpen with closer Joel Shepard (5-4/2.61/21 saves) and starter/long reliever Rob Ricks (7-2/3.30/4 saves). Southport will be missing 2B Sam Cousins (.329/9/56/54) and starting pitcher Don Pascioni (10-11/3.65) in the postseason. Cousins injured his elbow in late August and Pascioni went out with a shoulder problem in late July. The third-seeded Waleska Westerners sport some heavy artillery, but manager McGraw Johnson will have to get improved pitching to win the Pro Cup. The Westerners posted a .280 BA (2nd), scored 879 runs (1st) and hit 189 roundtrippers (2nd). Johnson has two superstars in his lineup: all-time IPA great RF Roy Hobbs, who batted .359 this year with 36 homers, 142 RBIs and scored 125 runs. Not too shabby for a 35-year-old and 13-time All-Star. LF Loco Dillinger was even better with 56 home runs and 154 RBIs, both tops in the IPA. Dillinger scored 132 runs and hit .357. It didn't stop with those two, either. CF Wilson James (.299/11/64/119), 3B Yahto Sisika (.297/23/94/111) and SS Jose De Leon (.281/6/85/61) were valuable contributors as well. Waleska has only one standout on the hill - Wild Bill Butler (23-10/2.97). 20-year-old rookie Terry Richards (15-12/4.04) and 24-year-old Cliff Dyer (17-12/4/67) will have to step it up big time in the playoffs for Waleska to challenge for the championship. The fourth-seeded Marston Nine has a well-rounded team with fine hitting and fine pitching. Manager Danny Church has a solid trio of starters in Denny Carravaggio (20-13/3.55), Ronald Schmitt (20-15/4.08) and Jack Tunstall (10-7/2.95). Veteran 37-year-old closer Bobby Daniels (5-3/2.82/17 saves) will handle the bullpen duties in a reliable fashion. The Nine can put runs on the scoreboard, too, with the likes of 1B Shelby Lansbury (.300/19/96/104), 2B Lonnie Trekell (.289/36/109/91) and future IPA Hall-of-Fame CF Russ Woodward (.277/23/86/95), who is still doing the job at age 34. Marston has three other .300 hitters: SS Doyle McCandlish (.310/0/40/87), 3B George Varsh (.303/8/47/62) and LF Carlton Curtis (.310/17/68/64). Manager Eddie Keys has to depend on his talented pitchers for success in the playoffs. The fifth-seeded Sligo Rovers just don't hit very well except for CF Darryl Collins (.296/31/112/84), RF Teddy Brunet (.246/33/102/90) and LF Biff Blauer (.302/17/63/85). The Rovers starting trio of Earl Perkins (21-8/2.53), Les Patterson (16-16/2.88) and Lou Page (21-14/3.01) is outstanding and gets excellent relief help from Milt Flanagan (4-3/2.28/16 saves) and Glenn Pipton (5-3/2.22/4 saves). The La Claire Lynx are seeded number six in the Pro Cup rankings. Manager Zeppy Deshotel has a well-balanced team with pretty fair pitching and hitting, plus longball power. The Lynx went deep 207 times this year and were powered by 12-time All-Star 3B Flash Devlin (.295/30/78/105), still a standout player at age 35, RF Kelly Chamberlain (.277/28/57/101), 1B Jess Swain (.283/19/80/88), 2B Norman Petitjohn (.279/25/80/63) and C Tom Krebs (.266/21/70/42). Help for ace Pat Kovacs (23-11/3.10) will be the key to the Lynx postseason success. Kovacs broke the IPA strikeout record this season with 391 Ks, but he can't do it alone. Alvar Vickers (21-13/4.41) and Ryan Brown (16-12/4.57) will have to be better than they were in the regular season. The seventh-seeded Valmara Vipers still have a lot of players left over from the 2026 Pro Cup title run. Manager Jet Kazmarek just doesn't have the pitching like he did back then. But he still has some capable ballplayers. At the plate the Vipers are led by CF Teddy Szymanski (.309/31/116/97), LF Sonny Oliver (.292/21/86/91), C Floyd Randolph (.260/36/105/88) and 2B Alec Leclerc (.279/1/53/109). Carroll Cain (21-7/3.33) is a fine hurler, but will need some help from young Teddy Lem (19-14/4.42) and 35-year-old Pro Cup veteran Billy Ray (19-17/4.77) to advance far in the postseason. Kazmarek has a good relief corps, led by Ivan Guzek (7-2/3.70/22 saves) and Chris Phillips (5-1/2.71), who were both on the Pro Cup winners. Bullpen mates Clem Carmouche (7-6/5.22) and Pavel Volkov (11-16/4.55) were also on the 2026 team, but play lesser roles now. No one is expecting much from the eighth-seeded Mahaska Haymakers, who have the poorest record of all the postseason clubs. The Haymakers only managed an 80-74 mark during the regular season, but they can wield the bats. RF Travis Tuttle won the TU batting title with a .366 batting average, hit 39 out of the park, drove in 132 runs and scored 113. Other solid hitters in Rusty Tanussa's batting order are longtime star C Bucky O'Brian (.307/21/87/70), 1B Paul Davies (.313/22/76/85), LF Johnny Yevteshenko (.297/23/79/77), 2B Todd Tarkovsky (.279/17/87/73) and CF Pasha Yablonski (.271/2/40/97). Mahaska's best pitchers are Arno Vainmaa (22-12/3.93) and Maxim Petrosian (17-14/3.86). Tanussa has very little in the way of pitching after them. Last edited by Eugene Church; 12-23-2023 at 07:20 PM.