[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 17, 2030

2030 Ruthlandian West Final Recap

Colfax Survives Stoner, Sligo, FTB Surges
Leading the division halfway through the season doesn't mean a lot unless you have a huge lead. Colfax topped Sligo by 8 games at the All-Star Game, Fort Benton by 11 and last year's champ Stoner by 12, then held on during those clubs' second-half surges for the Ruthlandian West title. The Blasters outlasted Stoner by 2 games, Sligo by 4 and Fort Benton by 6. Even the Middlefield Roosters made a little bit of a run and wound up 7 games off the pace, after trailing by 13 at mid-season.

Many years have come and gone since the Colfax Blasters (84-70) reigned supreme in the RU West... they won 7 flags in 9 years from 2008 to 2016, including the Pro Cup in 2010... manager Ilya Szabo was a star pitcher during that period, good enough to be inducted in the IPA Hall of Fame in 2027 with a 327-210 record and a terrific 2.57 ERA... now Szabo has garnered the club's eighth pennant... the Blasters hit the ball well, had decent starters and super relievers... C Mitch Fullerton (.338/25/87/92) and 1B Doug Kirkwood (.301/19/95/72) fueled the offense with lots of help from SS Dino Manale (.300/8/67/92) and CF Hal Granders (.282/2/39/97)... Rudy Rosario (4-3/1.80/11 saves) and Norm Harbison (4-1/1.99/7 saves) were bullpen standouts, while starters Jon Cruise (19-15/3.09), Bobby Fleetfoot (16-15/3.23) and Smoky Rogers (17-18/3.16) were solid and steady... the Blasters suffered through a 19-24 record in August and September and almost blew the pennant.

Benny Stern's Stoner Stars (82-72) closed with a rush, cutting the Colfax lead from 10 games in August down to just 2... the Stars went 27-16 over the last six weeks of the season... Stern has strong bats with a .281 BA (3rd) and ranked third in scoring... starting pitching was pretty fair with Glenn Tackett (21-13/3.60), Travis Wallace (15-10/3.51), Raul Hidalgo (17-17/3.25) and Norm Dawson (11-10/3.23)... the relief corps was anchored by Darrell Geoffrey (7-6/1.97/19 saves)... Stoner's best sticks belonged to OF Marty Berrigan (.325/15/55/62), RF Neil Mooney (.329/5/48/51), 3B Jeff Henderson (.314/13/71/61), LF Kevin Fisher (.315/8/64/105), catcher P. J. Blake (.301/3/63/55), 1B Fletch Fowler (.302/15/65/58) and CF Al Rispone (.290/15/69/61)... they were all veterans of last year's Pro Cup Finals, which they lost to champ Rolling Hills.

The Sligo Rovers (80-74) went into August 8 games back and cut it to 4 games by year's end with a 23-20 mark... the Rovers don't look too good stats-wise with a .249 BA (29th), ranked 24th in runs and chalked up a 3.76 team ERA (21st), but they made a race of it... Sligo has won two flags and has finished in the top three teams for 7 years in a row... the Rovers have racked up four pennants in the last 10 seasons... and copped the Pro Cup in 2021... Earl Perkins (13-10/3.17) and Terry Bailey (18-14/3.91) led the mound staff with 1B Maury Rice (.271/28/100/83), CF Teddy Brunet (.280/23/76/78) and C Archie Shanahan (.224/13/91/51) topping the batting order.

Manager Robbie Brooks of the Fort Benton Defenders (78-76) had the fourth best offense in the RU with a .279 BA... but suffered on the hill with a 3.93 team ERA (24th)... best batters were 1B Ernie O'Day (.289/21/80/84), CF Danny Reisner (.326/12/83/88) and 2B Monty McMurtry (.308/6/53/85)... Frankie Quinn (20-11/3.00) won 20 games for the third time in his four IPA seasons and carried the club... the Defenders came in fourth and were 7 games behind pennant-winning Colfax... Fort Benton has never made the postseason in its history... the Defenders have graced the first division only 10 times in 30 seasons.

Fifth place went to the Middlefield Roosters (77-77) of Bailey Norcross... from 2023 to 2027 his Roosters ruled the roost in the RU West by winning four straight titles... since then the have missed the postseason... overall Middlefield has notched 6 division titles and the 2005 Pro Cup... the Roosters don't score a lot of runs (19th) with a .254 BA (24th), but do go deep occasionally with 146 roundtrippers (9th)... and they compiled a decent 3.51 team ERA (12th)... 1B Rusty Reese (.343/20/78/56) is the top offensive performer, aided by LF Nickie Tomasiewicz (.302/17/61/48), CF Victor Parsons (.286/7/57/77) and C Rollie Hinkle (.290/8/46/67)... OF Nick Kanellis topped the team with 23 homers, but batted just .232 for average... Norcross' starting four did a quality job, headed up by Tyrus Cobb (18-13/2.92)... Ken Crawford (10-8/2.85), Asa Schmit (17-15/3.57) and Judson Davis (14-17/3.04) were also reliable.

For six dismal years the Rocky Rapids Snappers (74-80) have lounged in the second division, finishing up sixth this year and 10 games back... for a pennant you have to go back to 2019, which wrapped up four consecutive RU West crowns... the Snappers even grabbed the 2019 Pro Cup... those are the club's only postseason appearances... starter Walter Noland (13-11/3.57) and closer John Young (3-4/1.79/10 saves) were the best hurlers for manager Junior Noland, Walter's older brother, while 1B Angelo Nardone (.315/25/83/83), 2B Rod Cook (.290/16/73/70) and RF John Charboneau (.267/16/74/85) were the top hitters.

It's been 25 years since the Volusia Vigilantes (73-81) have been in the playoffs with only one Pro Cup to show for - that was in the IPA's inaugural season in 2001... Alfonso Feliz is still at the helm after 30 years, but is thought to be stepping down after this season... Volusia made the postseason its first six seasons, but none since... the V's ended up only 11 games out in the race, but came in seventh... the Vigilantes have a pretty fair offense with a .268 BA (13th), ranked 10th in scoring, 12th in homers with 137 and a so-so 3.68 team ERA (19th)... free agent RF Sonny Oliver (.322/22/87/93) from Valmara was well worth it... CF Vasco Aguilar (.308/28/104/91) also had an excellent year... other contributors were 1B Joao Rosales (.298/14/67/69) and LF Dave Skoglund (.280/17/78/78)... Greg Moss (15-15/2.97) was an effective starter for the V's, along with Val Cameron (13-10/2.96).

After last year's surprising third place finish, the outlook was quite optimistic this season for the Forest City Lumberjacks (62-92), but skipper Joe Judlin's mound staff floundered and flopped and the team returned to the basement, the worst team in the TU West... the 'Jacks slipped 22 games behind... only Taranto of the RU North had a worse record at 60-94... the Lumberjacks have been absent from the playoffs since 2013 and have never taken the Pro Cup... Judlin's best pitcher was young Walt Wright with a 9-5 mark and a fine 3.19 ERA... Wright was signed in July... 36-year-old closer Andy Velasco (3-5/2.96/13 saves) is still a strong reliever after 17 years in the IPA... 1B Steve Burns (.341/28/76/82) is one the few productive bats in the lineup.