[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2042

SUNDOWNERS FINALLY RISE UP IN RU EAST
The surprise team of the IPA, the Wynnamac Sundowners, finally rose up and snared the Ruthlandian East Division championship this year after going 12 years without a pennant... and they did it the hard way, going from worst to first... Wynnamac came in last a year ago, 22 games out of first... the Sundowners turned it on in the second half and beat four other contenders... Beechwood, the leader at mid-season, wound up second, five games out... last year's winner Cold Creek and Sugar Valley tied for third place, trailing by seven games... and Elnora was fifth, ten games behind.

1. Wynnamac: the Sundowners were much improved over 2041... the pitching ERA went from a terrible 4.66 to a fairly decent 4.02 (21st), considering the offense went from a .266 BA to a very impressive .281 (2nd)... however, they are poor defensively (.969 FA)... top bat was superstar All-Star RF Nioka Inkamara (.329/49/141/117), who had another super season leading the IPA with 141 RBIs, the RU with 49 homers... Inkamara also was tied for second in the RU with 117 runs scored... other quality hitters were CF Darrell Donnelly (.303/14/82/88), 3B Duane Hudson (.293/5/73/91), C Edward Williams (.308/16/91/85) and 2B Curtis Whetstone (.278/8/75/83)... top starters were Geoff Hobart (18-10/3.53) and Shirai Nakamura (21-10/4.10)... best in the bullpen was Johnny Mitchell (8-7/3.33/18 saves)... sometimes good offensive clubs do well in the Pro Cup playoffs, if they can get some decent pitching to go with it... be wary of Wynnamac.

2. Beechwood: the Bobcats went from fifth (11 GB) to second and only 4 GB... have an explosive offense and better pitching helped... team ERA went from 4.29 to 3.79... defense is solid with a .975 FA... Beechwood hasn't been to the postseason since 2027 and has never won a Pro Cup... long-time star and ace Ken Arby (21-10/3.33) and Jimmy Herman (22-15) led the mound corps... best reliever was Freddy Manale (3-3/2.12/10 saves)... at the plate the Bobcats boomed 215 homers (1st), the most in the IPA and were fourth in the RU in scoring with 773 runs... they had nine players hit 12 or more HRs... RF Eddie Wilson (.3-5/41/104/90) was the biggest threat with 41 homers... 1B Corky Callahan (.280/27/70/71) was second with 27 HRs... CF Howie Baldwin (.271) had 24... CF Carlos Manuel (.275) had 19, C Paul Jackson (.282/17/71/67) hit 17 roundtrippers, LF Rich Nellis (.262) clouted 16 and SS Leonard Mason (309) socked 15 out of the park.

3. Cold Creek: for the last ten years the Catamounts have been in the first division in the RU East with five pennant in the last seven seasons... won the pennant the last three years, but tied for third this season... they were holding their own until the final six weeks when the 'Cats slumped to 23-25... Cold Creek is still looking for its first Pro Cup trophy... superstud J. J. Gillespie (19-12/2.49) is still the ace... except for Rob Hutchins (16-11/3.51) he didn't get the help he usually does... the bats were down quite a bit, too. from .274 to .251... CF Ken Brennan (.292/8/61/80) led the club with a .292 BA... veteran 2B Akihiro Samurakami (.287/12/57/99) came over from Elnora in July in a trade for 37-year-old starter Tommy Wynn (15-13/3.59)... they were the only decent hitters on the team... the Catamounts have no power at all with just 99 HRs (31st).

3. Sugar Valley: the Rattlers came in third for the third year in a row... last appeared in the playoffs in 2038... never won a Pro Cup, but did make the Finals in 2004 and 2024... they are a good scoring team (6th-765 runs) with power (199 HR-2nd) and fairly good pitching (3.51-9th), but defense is bad with a .969 FA... 37-year-old slugger LF Tyler White (.224) led with 31 roundtrippers, CF Carl Ramsey (.262) was second with 29, superstar All-Star RF Bobby Gamble (.312) had 28, 1B James Milton (.277) also had 28, and C Delmer Campbell (.252) totaled 22 HRs... Gamble drove in 112 runs and scored 120 runs... Ramsey knocked in 112 runs and scored 83... SS Roger Hobbs had a sub-par year with a .268 BA, 16 HRs, 63 RBIs and 109 runs... the starters were very good, led by 37-year-old Jeremy Blanchard (21-11/3.29), Davey Brennan (16-12/2.97) and Christopher Dunsberry (16-14/3.35)... Harry Fuller (4-2/2.71/7 saves) was the top reliever.

5. Elnora: the All-Stars had a winning season, but still wound up in the fifth spot in the standings, 10 games off the pace... the were sixth (12 GB) last year... they won their only Pro Cup in 2033 and last appeared in the playoffs in 2035... an average all-around club in all respects... good, but aging rotation, headed up by 37-year-old Jeremy Sellers (17-10/3.74), Stan Kivas (15-17/4.09) and Dan Pitts (15-18/3.84)... they picked up 37-year-old Tommy Wynn from Cold Creek in July... he was 15-13 overall with a 3.59 ERA... Wynn was 6-5 with a 3.35 ERA for the All-Stars and 9-8 with a 3.76 for the Catamounts... youngster Jamie Pananga (3-2/1.98/7 saves) showed good potential in the bullpen... best stick was All-Star LF Enos Conrad (.369/22/77/102), who flirted with the .400 mark until August and won the RU batting title with a .369 mark... another fine bat was All-Star C Cannon Johnson, who collected 22 HRs, drove in 98 runs and scored 71 runs with a .279 BA... 1B Cooter Whitter also had a solid season with a .326 BA, 20 HRs, 77 RBIs and 70 runs.

6. Belle Plaine: out of the blue the Musketeers shot up to second in '41 (3 GB), but came back to earth this year with a sixth-place finish (16 GB)... the Muskies have never won a Pro Cup and have made the playoffs only one time, way back in 2009... Tyrone Marte (15-9/4.23/5 saves) was just fair as a spot starter/reliever... Kurt Tandberg (6-5/3.50/16 saves) did fairly well in the bullpen... three guys carried the offense: RF Boo Boudreaux (.304/42/97/117), CF Noel Martin (.299/31/92/104) and 1B Mitch Mason (.302/29/83/83).

7. Marston: the Nine came in near the bottom again for the third successive season... no Pro Cups in its history... last postseason appearance was far back in 2028... Val Farnsworth (17-21/4.05) won the most games, John Newton (13-10/4.32) had the best record... young Felix DeLatte (9-5/3.50) had the best ERA... best performers at the plate were LF Alan Bailey (.338/13/56/65) with the best BA at .338, 3B Philip DeWey (.273/25/88/83) with the most homers, 25, and RBIs, 88... CF Marco Ameche chipped in with 14 homers, 80 RBIs, 68 runs and a .284 BA.

8. Eastshore: fell from fourth place (9 GB) to last place this year, 32 GB... poor pitching was the main culprit (4.62 ERA-29th)... no postseason since 2034, but the Elegants have won two Pro Cups in back-to-back seasons, 2016 and 2017... they can score runs, ranking 9th with 743 runs and 5th in homers with 171... All-Star SS Johnny Petrak (.311/24/126/73) had a standout season driving in 126 runs, seventh best in the IPA... 2B Marty O'Reilly (.274/24/79/79), RF Troy McFarland (.269/22/80/80), CF Scotty Lagrange (.274/20/62/58) and 3B Abe Bronstein (.319/6/28/64) also provided some offense... relievers Kenny Chandler (4-4/2.80/6 saves) and Delaney Moss (3-5/3.19/2 saves) were the best of the lot on the staff... 38-year-old Koy Clampett (11-16/4.93) and 34-year-old Teddy Noble (11-25/4.13) won the most games.