[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times
Monday, September 18, 2034

2034 Ruthlandian South Final Recap
Three clubs contended most of the season in the Ruthlandian South with the title finally going to the Crystal Lake Crushers, who whipped last year's champ St. John by four games and Belair Beach by five games... fourth in the race was the San Dimas Rancheros, who finished 9 games behind... Waleska came in fifth, 10 games behind Crystal Lake... Grand City wound up in sixth place and trailed by 12 games... preseason favorite Claxton was a complete bust and ended up in seventh place and 21 games off the pace... last place went to the Valka Blackhawks, a distant 24 game back in the race.

Herman "Baby" George has made steady progress as skipper of the Crystal Lake Crushers (91-63) in the last few years and it all came together this season with the RU South division crown...the Crushers played good ball throughout the year, slumping only in June with a 12-14 mark... Crystal Lake took charge in July with a strong 19-9 mark and kept a comfortable lead the rest of the way, although St. John and Belair Beach kept the pressure on, but couldn't close the gap... George had a potent attack with a strong .292 team BA (1st), 782 runs (3rd) and 140 HRs (15th), while having a little better-than-average mound corps with a 3.70 team ERA (15th)... leading the explosive batting order were veteran 1B Big Sam Takota (.313/31/98/75), a free agent jewel from Denton City, rookie phenom RF Paul Dillon (.342/11/64/102), SS Mack Cummings (.320/22/89/91) and All-Star C Stan Stanek (.315/23/88/76), along with free agent CF Teke Holmes (.293/4/44/43), a free agent signee from Cold Creek... on the hill the Crushers had two standouts in Arnie Cason (21-5/2.84) and Denny Mills (22-13/3.35)... number three and four starters Douglas Merrill (16-16/3.70) and Sonny Marsh (10-6/4.02) were reliable, too... look for Crystal Lake to be a strong contender for the Pro Cup this year, along with the Eastshore Elegants of the RU East and the trio of powers in the Tycobbian Union, the Tuckanarra Blue Jays, Chicopee Braves and the North Hills Hawks.

The defending division champion St. John Crusaders (87-67) may have better overall this year, yet came in second... manager Clayton Luck's club was strong at the plate with a .286 BA (2nd) and 793 runs (2nd), but could use some more firepower... the Crusaders had only 89 homers and ranked last in the RU... only Arlon in the Tycobbian Union had fewer with just 76... sparking the St. John bats were SS Hal Burton (.316/2/71/103), 2B Byron Johannsen (.316/12/73/80), All-Star 1B Johnny Zahn (.319/76/81), 3B Norm Murdoch (.288/3/61/78) and LF Marty Armstrong (.294/15/54/43)... on the hill the ace was All-Star Jeremy Kirk (23-10/2.73)... Nelson Hawthorne (17-14/3.74) was a workhorse, too... 40-year-old Duncan Welch (10-3/2.98) was a surprising free agent gift, who was picked up in June for middle relief and quickly evolved into a solid starter... closer Raydon Burks (12-5/2.16/8 saves) also stood out... last year's ace Zack Dowdle (16-14/2.91) was a crucial loss... he signed with San Dimas, a division foe.

The Belair Beach Sunbirds (86-68) turned it around with some fine pitching and climbed from last place last season to a strong third this year... it's been a long time since the Sunbirds played in the Pro Cup playoffs, last appearing in 2016... manager Slim Mosley has a good club with a 3.41 team ERA (4th), .268 team BA (13th), good scoring with 709 runs (13th) and 131 HRs (19th)... Joel Gregg (19-17/2.97) led the starters in ERA and tied for the lead in wins... Kerstan Mak (19-7/3.57) had a great rookie season, along with another freshman Todd Clyman (17-12/3.85)... third-year man Stefan Zeeman (12-17/3.01) was also a tough customer, but had some hard luck... topping the batting order were All-Star CF Bobby Meusel (.292/26/84/102) and 2B Joey Harris (.270/18/71/104)... vet LF Pat Webb (.291/18/77/78), SS Johnny Wofford (.307/12/73/62) and C Deman Kooken (.296/11/52/58) also lent good bat support.

A poor 11-18 August spoiled a good season for the fourth place San Dimas Rancheros (82-72), who signed several fine free agents... manager Wesley Pate has an impressive lineup that posted a great .292 BA (1st), strong scoring with 782 runs (3rd) and rapped 140 out of the park (15th), while putting up an adequate 3.70 team ERA (15th)... the Rancheros have good bats galore with rookie RF Denny Hendrix (.312/27/78/93), free agent from Grand City 1B Mick Langston (.331/29/92/70), RF Wesley Stanley (.293/19/75/54), rookie 2B Weldon Reeder (.258/20/95/71) and SS Glendon Pratt (.353/12/61/67)... and free agent from Hillsboro Gregg Hughes was terrific with a 19-8 record and 3.23 ERA... Zack Dowdle (16-14/2.91) was tough, too... he come over from last year's RU South winner St. John... San Dimas had two other reliable starters in Raul Carrasco (16-12/3.98) and Carroll Cain (10-9/3.98), a free agent signee from Valmara... however the bullpen was abysmal with a 4.52 ERA (30th).

The Waleska Westerners (81-73) got a new manager and made strides both on the hill and at the plate, but still came in fifth, 10 games behind first place Crystal Lake... for the sixth successive season after Waleska copped the IPA Pro Cup in 2028, the Westerners failed to make the postseason... the Westerners faded in the final six weeks of the year, but challenged into August... ace Kevin Meeks held out until late May, then got hurt in July and missed the critical part of the schedule... Meeks would have made a huge difference if he has played the entire year... in just 14 starts Meeks was 9-2 with a 2.25 ERA... things are looking up under new skipper and Hall of Famer Roy Hobbs... the Westerners batted .271 (10th), scored 745 runs (6th-tied) and belted 129 roundtrippers (20th-tied)... on the mound they chalked up a decent 3.77 team ERA (18th)... Hobbs has a bunch of talented players, including his son, rookie Roger Hobbs, who led the club with a .324 BA and 193 hits... Hobbs scored 91 times, hit 10 homers and drove in 55 runs... RF Niles Gregory boomed 31 home runs, drove in 105 runs, scored 112 and hit .266 in a fine season... 1B Glenn Childress batted .279, but had 18 homers, 100 runs batted in and scored 83 runs... superstar LF Loco Dillinger missed more than a month with injuries, but still put up good numbers with a .301 BA, 20 HRs, 80 RBIs and scored 73 times... 3B Monty McMurtry (.287/9/49/95) also had a productive year, too... veteran ace Terry Richards (14-12/2.73) was the only reliable pitcher... the starters were decent, but the bullpen was bad with a 4.37 ERA (28th).

Wade Joslin's Grand City Cybercats (79-75) were supposed to be a serious contender for the RU South title this year... they were rated second best to Claxton, the number one choice in The Islandian Times preseason poll... as it turned out both were dismal failures... the Cybercats came in sixth, 12 games out, while Claxton was seventh in the standings... Grand City had its string of four consecutive first-division finishes snapped this year... they were in the running for the pennant, but slumped in the summer and dropped out... they were tied with St. John for the lead at the All-Star break... Joslin has a good offensive attack with a .278 BA (5th), 755 runs (4th), 160 HRs (9th) and a better-than-average 3.62 team ERA (10th)... the loss of star RF Thomas Hall for half the season was a big loss... Hall averages 30 homers a year with over 100 RBIs... he still hit .304 with 20 homers and 63 RBIs in just 86 games... All-Star 2B Teddy Grantham (.327/34/80/95), LF Bull Durham (.284/26/84/80), SS Tony Ptacek (.297/14/72/80) and 3B Dave Sulligent (.336/7/51.50) sparked the Cybercats at the plate... the mound staff was led by Norm Dawson (15-14/2.84) with help from All-Star Herb Stewart (19-15/3.64) and Quentin Tyler (16-13/3.65).

The Claxton Diamonds (70-84) under manager Dixie Baker were forecast to shine this year and take the division flag for the second time in three seasons... things tarnished quickly from the git-go when star 2B Gary Colton went down in spring training and missed almost all of the season... he played in only 4 games at the end of the year because of knee problems... the Diamonds dipped to seventh place and were a distant 21 games behind winning Crystal Lake... Claxton hit .263 (21st), scored 697 runs (15th), went deep 136 times (17th) and compiled a 3.75 team ERA (17th)... Tommy Brothers (16-13/3.83), Richie Raeburn (12-7/3.98) and Max Jung (13-12/3.54) were the best pitchers, while RF Ivan Krause (.278/37/86/87) was the offensive leader... 3B Jonas Weiss (.272/17/75/88), free agent from Hillsboro 1B Alekos Kotas (.280/18/63/59) and C Jaan Hoogendoorn (.310/11/60/64) were productive, too.

For the sixth straight year the Valka Blackhawks were near the bottom of the division... this year they were basement bound, winding up 24 games off the pace... manager Eddie Lasky's club got off to a great start and led the RU South at the end of April, but the season quickly turned sour and the Blackhawks spiraled downward into the second division... Valka has a good offense with a .273 BA (7th), 739 runs (8th) and 128 home runs (22nd), but they are horrendous on the hill with a 4.40 team ERA (31st)... the Blackhawks' best bats are 1B Mikk Kukk (.301/13/81/79), 3B Bill Bradford (.309/14/84/60), All-Star 2B/SS Olari Ojastu (.275/17/82/79) and RF Kenny Mitzusaka (.294/11/72/61)... the only reliable pitcher was Jake Weiland (17-14/3.36), the only one with an ERA under the 4.30 mark.