[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, June 20, 2034

2034 Ruthlandian East Mid-Season Standings

Wide-Open Race In RU East At All-Star Break
The picks of the litter in the preseason polls had Wynnamac and Cold Creek as the top dogs in the Ruthlandian East... halfway through the year they are tied for third in the standings... Eastshore (47-26), the third-rated club has a slight 3-game lead over Beechwood (44-29), the number six team, which is in the runner-up spot... Wynnamac (43-30) and Cold Creek (43-30) trail by four games... the Ruthlandian East may be the dominant division in the IPA along with the Tycobbian North... both of them have seven clubs playing .500 or better... last year's Pro Cup champ and division winner Elnora (41-32) has performed well, but is in fifth place, six games off the pace... Marston (40-33) and Belle Plaine (38-35) are also good clubs, but still find themselves in sixth and seventh place respectively... even last place Sugar Valley (36-37) is just one game away from the break-even mark.

The first place Eastshore Elegants have the best record in the RU and feature fine hitting and pitching... the Elegants are hitting .297 (1st) with 3.10 ERA (2nd), tied for 9th in scoring with 346 runs and ranked 12th in homers with 71... All-Star CF Scotty Lagrange (.361/24/71/59) is having a marvelous year, along with All-Star Neil Richard (.371/5/31/33) and 3B Glenn Fields (.364/8/28/16)... top mound staffers are All-Star Don Klingenberg (12-3/2.55), Ramon Contreras (10-4/3.21), Teddy Noble (5-2/2.20) and Koy Clampett (9-8/3.38).

The Beechwood Bobcats have greatly improved since last year's cellar-dwelling preformance... statistically they can't compare to Eastshore, but so far the Bobcats are hanging close, just three games behind... they are hitting only .262 (22nd) with 48 HRs (31st)... but do possess good pitching with a 3.47 ERA (11th)... starters Neil Palmer (11-3/3.18), Maury Patterson (10-5/3.07) and Ken Arby (10-5/3.26) are all quality hurlers... RF Howie Baldwin (.249/9/49/43), C Keith Meredith (.296/7/33/27) and CF Pat Pizarro (.293/1/26/27) are the best run producers... Beechwood just might be playing over their heads right now, they were rated sixth in the preseason... baseball scribes expect them to come down-to-earth in the second half of the season.

The Wynnamac Sundowners are trying for a tenth straight season in the RU East first division... picked as the preseason favorite, the Sundowners are a good, well-balanced club with a 3.28 team ERA (4th), .270 BA (10th), 352 runs (7th) and 66 HRs (14th-tied)... all of the starting rotation are veterans: Killara Bardo (10-6/2.66), Jason Meeks (10-5/3.13), Pancho Romero (8-5/3.78) and Jeremy Vincent (7-6/3.40)... All-Star LF Allen Dundee (.307/9/58/42) tops the batting order, helped out by SS Lou Borcellino (.319/6/30/23) and platooners 3B Bailey Holmsworth (.321/5/16/17) and 1B Mick Saunders (.331/2/18/23)... the Sundowners are in the same division as Eastshore, but may not be in the same league competitively this year... Wynnamac needs more offense to stay in the hunt.

This is the year for the Cold Creek Catamounts to step it up and challenge for the pennant... they have excellent pitching with a 2.73 team ERA (1st), no one is close to them in the RU... in fact, the Catamounts lead the entire IPA... All-Star J. J. Gillespie (15-4/1.62) could be headed for a record-breaking 30-win season... it's never been done before in IPA history... Shane Farmer of Turon holds the record with a fabulous 29-3 mark in 2018... other staffers George Bailey (9-8/2.85), Harvey Fullerton (8-4/3.28) and Pete Heller (7-7/3.03) are solid performers... and closer Eddie Brasher (3-3/2.79/10 saves) gets the job done in the bullpen... in the batter's box leading the way are All-Star Guy St. Laurent (.314/14/50/48), 1B Steve Daniels (.298/12/51/32), LF Walt Babin (.326/2/13/31) and 2B Maska Chandler (.267/9/37/40)... Cold Creek has adequate bats with a .270 BA (8th), 314 runs (22nd) and 57 HRs (23rd-tied)... the Catamounts could be in it for the long haul with such good pitching... it should be a heck of race between them, Eastshore, Wynnamac and Elnora.

The fifth place Elnora All-Stars are not the juggernaut they were last year when they copped the Pro Cup... both offense and pitching is on the decline compared to last season... the All-Stars are only average this year with a .269 BA (11th), 338 runs (14th) and 63 HRs (16th-tied)... on the hill they have registered a 3.61 ERA (13th)... yet they are still playing .562 baseball, good in any league and just six games back... the big difference is Freddy Pfeffer, a 20-game winner the last two years, but only 6-6 with a sky-high 4.50 ERA this season... and Jeremy Sellers, a 20-game winner the last three years, is just 7-10 with 3.68 ERA... if they can get it going in the last half of the season, Elnora would be a shoo-in for the division title... All-Star Stan Kivas (8-3/1.77) and Jesus Robles (7-3/3.64) have been the most reliable pitchers... topping the attack has been All-Star 2B Akihiro Samurakami (.343/6/25/42) and All-Star RF Travis Glass (.278/18/51/42)... LF Clint Thomas (.299/7/41/49) and 1B Matt Boyd (.308/10/38/34) have been rock solid, too... 3B-1B Danny Bierhoff (.320/6/23/16) is back in the lineup after missing a month in May with an injured thumb.

The Marston Nine have been a second-division also-ran the last five years... in THE ISLANDIAN TIMES preseason poll Marston was predicted to be the worst team in the division, however this year they are doing quite well with a .548 percentage, but are still 7 games out in sixth in the RU East... the Nine carry a .264 BA (16th), have scored 328 runs (18th) and ripped 73 out of the park (8th-tied)... and they sport a pretty fair 3.45 ERA (9th)... Pat Brown (11-6/2.78) and Alex Ehrlich (9-8/3.21) are both quality arms and lead the staff... bat leaders All-Star 1B Marco Ameche (.315/11/50/45), SS Johnny Church (.313/5/22/40) and RF Warren Cleveland (.290/13/46/51)... Marston has some talent, but just not enough of it... may fade in the second half.

In seventh place and nine games behind leading Eastshore are the Belle Plaine Musketeers... the Muskies were forecast to wind up seventh, so the pros are on target...nonetheless the Musketeers are three games over .500 in a very tough division... Belle Plaine is batting .266 (14th), scored 339 runs (13th) and have 60 HRs (20th-tied)... on the hill they have chalked up a 3.83 ERA (21st)... All-Star RF Noel Martin (.323/11/61/50), CF Harry Tashina (.313/8/31/59) and C Derek Roman (.317/10/35/31) have sparked the offense, but they need more support... the rest of the batting order has come up way short... the Musketeers miss 1B Carl Bentley and his .337 BA... he was injured in May and will be out until sometime in August... Leon Lacombe (12-2/2.74) and Benny Lucas (11-4/3.50) are the top hurlers as well as closer Johnny Duncan (5-3/2.82/10 saves).

The Sugar Valley Rattlers were expecting a better season this year... they wound up fifth last year, 8 games above .500... in the preseason poll they were selected to finish fourth... thus far, they are dead last and 11 games out of first... compared to last year, both pitching and batting is off, especially on the mound with a 4.06 ERA (26th)... the Rattlers still can go deep with 89 homers (2nd), but so can the opposition in the tiny Farmers Memorial Park with its 310 feet down each line... the Rattler staff has permitted 98 roundtrippers (30th)... Juan Navarro won 20 games last season, but is only 6-9 this year... however his ERA is still a standout 2.93... All-Star CF Bobby Gamble (.335/14/49/48) and SS Jesse Burns (.324/2/20/42) are the best hitters... LF Tyler White supplied 15 homers and 51 RBIs, but is batting only .253... as a team Sugar Valley is hitting only .249 (28th) with 322 runs scored (20th).