[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, July 31, 2037

ALL-STARS STILL HAVE THE LEAD IN THE RU EAST
The Sugar Valley Rattlers have the best offense in the IPA, the Cold Creek Catamounts have the best mound staff, but the Elnora All-Stars still have first place in the Ruthlandian East... the All-Stars have a good mixture of both and a four-game margin over second place Sugar Valley and six games better than Cold Creek... still it's an open race for the RU East flag and the automatic spot in the Pro Cup playoffs, set to begin in late September... Elnora and Cold Creek were 18-11 this month, while Sugar Valley finished with a 16-13 mark... the All-Stars were up by only two games over the Rattlers at the beginning of July, while the Catamounts remained six games behind them.

Elnora has a strong staff with Dan Pitts (17-7/3.32), Stan Kivas (13-6/2.70) and Jeremy Sellers (12-9/3.49), all solid veterans... the All-Stars have some strong bats, too, with Danny Bierhoff (.331/22/77/56), Jan Kobak (.312/15/62/50) and Akihiro Samurakami (.310/8/33/71)... Elnora will be one of the favorites for the Pro Cup this season, along with defending IPA champion North Hills, Blue Lake, Tuckanarra, East Point and San Alejo, all in the Tycobbian Union... the All-Stars lead the IPA in victories so far, but they are going to have fend off Sugar Valley and Cold Creek first in the regular campaign to get their chance to shine in the postseason.

Sugar Valley has a slew of good bats, paced by superstar Bobby Gamble (.359) with 28 HRs, an IPA-leading 104 RBIs and 83 runs... rising star Roger Hobbs (.291) with 27 HRs, 85 RBIs and 77 runs... and Tyler White (.237) with 30 HRs, 79 RBIs and 69 runs... the Rattlers have some quality arms, too, with Juan Navarro (13-5/2.75), Christopher Dunsberry (11-4/3.05) and Jeremy Blanchard (13-10/3.62)... their ERAs are really inpressive considering the small park they have to play in.

It would be hard to name a better starting four than Cold Creek's J. J. Gillespie (17-6/1.96), Joey Baker (12-9/2.58), Jules Capet (10-5/3.04) and Rob Hutchins (13-10/3.71)... but the Catamounts are severely limited by the lack of an appreciable offense... they just don't generate many runs... catching Elnora this late in the season may be too big of a task for them.

The Ruthlandian East is chocked full of good ball clubs... six of them have winning records... Eastshore, Wynnamac and Beechwood will have to be happy to play for fourth place this year... seventh place Marston and last place Belle Plaine will just have to wait until next year.

3-WAY FIGHT IN RU WEST, SLIGO ON TOP
Very tight pennant races have been the norm the last few years in the Ruthlandian West Division... this year is no exception with a three-way tussle between first place Sligo, second place Fort Benton and third place Colfax... the Rovers have a two-game edge over the Defenders and four in front of defending champ Colfax... it should be a thrilling and exciting finish in the wild RU West... regardless of which team prevails, not a lot is expected in the Pro Cup travails... the RU West Division is considered one of the lesser divisions in the IPA... only three of the teams will probably post winning records.

The Sligo Rovers are a well-rounded team... they get by with pretty good pitching... Tom Pierson (15-6/3.69), Randall Steele (14-11/2.77) and Joey Hicks (8-4/3.14) are steady and reliable starting pitchers... and Scotty Price is one the best closers in the IPA with 21 saves, 1.84 ERA and a 3-3 record in 44 games... and the Rover bats are effective and above average with a .267 BA (13th), 521 runs (13th) and 119 HRs (8th)... Sligo has no real standouts at the dish... just a lot of reliable hitters like Denny Simmons (.314/13/53/74), Neil Mitchell (.297/10/42/74) and Damon Klein (.317/8/44/44).

On paper the Fort Benton Defenders look to be the class of the division with a .271 BA (5th), 534 runs (10th) and a 3.50 ERA (5th)... but they fall short with only 79 HRs (28th-tied) and in the bullpen with a 3.95 ERA (24th)... Augie Marquis (15-7/2.88), Tommy Baylor (15-8/3.07) and Jordy Raeburn (13-12/3.40) are a steady threesome... and the top bats are D. D. Badeaux (.316/13/43/70), Mitch Hamilton (.328/1/27/63) and Oscar Pendleton (.274/14/61/37).

The Colfax Blasters have a lot in common with Fort Benton with a .267 BA (11th), 537 runs (8th), 94 homers (22nd) and a 3.56 ERA (9th)... the difference is in the relief corps which has compiled a strong 2.44 ERA (2nd)... the Blasters go deep a little more often, too... Randell Perkins (18-6/3.27) is the ace with the most wins in the IPA... Perkins is tied with Frankie Quinn (18-4/2.53) of Blue Lake in the Tycobbian North... both have won 18 games this season... Nom Harbison (12-11/2.63) has been very effective, too, as the number-two man on the staff... the key hitters are Chet Penn (.376/19/91/73), Gerry Sives (.336/5/57/76), Kristian McEly (.294/24/83/63) and Mitch Fullerton (.291/16/66/62)... Penn is second in the IPA with a .376 BA, topped only by Johnny Petrak of the Eastshore Elegants with a .386 mark.

The remainder of the clubs in the RU West run from bad to mediocre and don't have a lot of talent or hope this year.