[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 22, 2042

COLFAX CLIPS VOLUSIA BY A GAME IN RU WEST
It was pretty much a season-long battle between Colfax and Volusia in the Ruthlandian West Division... the Vigilantes held a three-game edge at mid-year, but the Blasters had a better second half and came away with the pennant by one game... the V's lapsed a little in the Summertime and allowed Colfax to build up a good lead, which enabled them to hold off Volusia's final charge... the Blasters actually lost the lead with two games to go, but won both of them, while the Vigilantes blew the pennant with two losses... Rocky Rapids and Forest City stayed in the race until the All-Star break and then both of them faded... the Snappers did come in third, 11 games back, while the Lumberjacks wound up fifth, 19 games off the pace... the Sligo Rovers finished fourth, but were never really in contention... defending division champion Middlefield dropped out of sight early in the year and ended up a dismal sixth, 20 games behind in the race.

1. Colfax: the Blasters came close in '41, '40, '37 and '35, but managed to rev it up a bit this year to win their first division flag since 2038... they have one Pro Cup, captured in 2010... the Blasters' strong point is scoring runs... they do it with a .275 BA (5th)... they ranked third with 803 runs... Colfax is better-than-average on the hill with a 3.68 ERA (12th)... could be a tough team in the postseason... the Blasters have a solid core of five .300 hitters in their batting order... All-Star 3B Kristian McEly (.322/33/128/103) ranked fifth in the IPA with 128 RBIs... 2B Gerry Sives (.328/3/71/114) tied for the IPA lead with 222 hits... Cape Coral's Rikky Van Dalen (.371) and Fairfax's John Velasco (.349) were the other co-leaders... McEly also went over the 200-mark with 201... LF Chet Penn (.329/30/106/94), CF Geno Calabrese (.315/10/65/97) and RF Kevin Williams (.300/13/80/87) had good years... 1B Ernie Kidd didn't hit much for average with a .248 mark, but did go deep 22 times and drove in 91 runs... on the mound Colfax was led by three 20-game winners: Nilos Andris (20-13/3.45), Bobby Porter (20-9/3.53) and Ron Paige (22-16/3.79)... the bullpen is in good hands with Jack Scanlon (9-2/2.68/18 saves).

2. Volusia: the Vigilantes greatly improved from seventh place (18 GB) a year ago... the V's last pennants were in 2034 and 2035... their only Pro Cup came in the IPA inaugural season, back in 2001... they are a strong club that features good pitching with a 3.27 ERA (2nd) and average scoring (15th), in spite of a .274 BA (8th) and 162 homers (6th)... Volusia had four solid starters in All-Star Drew Selby (21-15/2.61), All-Star Skeeter Millham (21-9/3.13), Raul Navarro (16-10/3.24) and Andrew Arryn (12-8/3.64/3 saves)... Afonso Tavora (6-1/2.89/11 saves) and Vern Gray (2-2/2.98/4 saves) steadied the relief corps... top run producers were 1B Kris Wilson (.349/23/91/68), CF Cazzie Carvalho (.291/18/84/93), SS Duane Blayney (.283/28/84/73), RF Lonny Womack (.278/19/91/89) and C George Ruffino (.275/20/66/81).

3. Rocky Rapids: the Snappers got their only Pro Cup years ago in 2019 and haven't won a pennant since 2020... but in recent times they have been competitive with four straight first-division finishes... the Snappers are average on the hill with a 3.82 ERA (17th)... average hitting with a .261 BA (17th) and 144 HRs (15th), but well above average in scoring with 769 runs (5th)... bat leaders were All-Star Marty Featherstone (.294/27/102/115), C Carney Kirkpatrick (.330/20/93/85), CF Buddy Hamilton (.261/31/97/92), LF Jose Ramos (.290/11/65/88) and 3B Duncan Musselwhite (.288/7/63/93)... top arms were All-Star Randy Peters (21-12/3.31) and Jamie Taylor (20-14/3.38)... Buster Noland (18-13/3.99) was also a quality starter... bullpen was led by Robby Barnhill (5-3/2.31/3 saves) and Janek Zoldak (2-2/2.85/9 saves).

4. Sligo: after winning back-to-back flags in '39 and '40, the Rovers slipped to fifth (12 GB) and fourth (17 GB) since... they won their only Pro Cup trophy in 2021... the staff had the best ERA in the RU with a fine 3.25... the offense is poor with only 655 runs (30th) and a .259 BA (20th)... All-Star Scotty Price (21-13/2.07) had the best ERA in the RU and third-best in the IPA with a superb 2.07 ERA... Randall Steele (20-17/3.41) also won 20 games... the other two in the rotation Buzz Bumgartner (11-16/3.61) and Tom Pierson (9-14/3.58) also chipped in with some quality starts... run support was a problem for all of them... the bullpen leader was Davey Hunter, who chalked up a 10-4 record with 10 saves and a 3.30 ERA in 47 games... All-Star 1B Denny Simmons topped the club in almost everything with a .332 BA, 39 doubles, 24 HRs, 96 RBIs and 94 runs... he got some help from LF Rudy Putnam (.280/10/75/70) and SS Neil Mitchell (.280/15/70/77).

5. Forest City: for the fifth consecutive season the Lumberjacks were a second-division club... last year's sixth place (12 GB) was in fact better than this year's fifth (19 GB)... the 'Jacks have never won a Pro Cup and last copped a pennant in 2013... they haven't even come close to winning the division... they were within five games of first on just two occasions, '18 and '29... the Lumberjacks can hit with a .278 BA (3rd), can score with 755 runs (7th) and have fair power with 130 HRs (21st-tied)... but have lackluster pitching with a 4.11 ERA (24th) and a terrible bullpen (4.87 ERA-31st)... All-Star 2B Kelly Hardison (.337/19/67/95), All-Star CF Carlo Velucci (.312/23/82/117), C Bob Brisdon (.332/12/83/79) and 1B Pistol Pete Ricard (.301/21/84/69) all hit .300... 3B Jarrod O'Neal still contributes at age 36 with 17 HRs, 85 RBIs, 81 runs, but hit only .255... 22-year-old Rusty Howard (20-13/3.00) was the ace of the mound staff... he was aided by Walter Gibbons (19-16/3.81).

6. Middlefield: the Roosters collapsed on the mound this year with the team ERA rising up from 3.59 to 4.24... last year they won the pennant, this year they slumped to sixth place (20 GB)... in 2005 Middlefield won its only Pro Cup... ace Larry Wheelhouse declined from 22-8 and a 3.08 ERA to 14-17 with a 3.87 ERA... James Long (17-15/4.22) posted the most wins on the staff... relievers Ray Owens (6-5/2.14/12 saves) and Ricky Farris (4-1/2.25/8 saves) were very effective... 1B Cliff Patterson was the only genuine threat at the plate with a .334 BA, 24 HRs, 88 RBIs and 81 runs... CF Norman Antonioni walloped 36 HRs in the lead-off spot and scored 94 runs to lead the club, but batted only .243, while driving in 64 runs... because of its homer-haven ballpark, the Roosters were still among the leaders in HRs with 196 (3rd).

7. Stoner: last year the Stars were last in the RU West (19 GB), this year they were seventh (23 GB)... Stoner has never won a Pro Cup and hasn't made the postseason since 2029... they are fairly good at scoring with 737 runs (11th-tied), but have very little power... pitching is not so good with a 4.48 ERA (28th)... aging vets CF Jason Garrett (.293/8/65/62) and RF Felix Jobin (.300/16/68/67), both 36, had the best averages... however, 34-year-old All-Star C Barney Swindell (.287/25/88/72) did the most damage... Michael Keller (22-16/3.71) stood out on the hill... not much help after him.

8. Fort Benton: the Defenders came in third last year (10 GB), but bombed this year and ended up in the cellar (28 GB)... for about 10 years from 2030 to 2040, they were regularly in contention, winning their only pennant in 2037... Fort Benton is still looking for its first Pro Cup... they are not a very good team at the plate (.261 BA-18th), no power, only 95 HRs (32nd), nor on the mound with a 4.38 ERA (27th), but they play excellent defense with a .978 FA... vets Tommy Baylor (13-13/3.45) and Augie Marquis (14-19/3.75) were the only effective starters... at age 36, Marquis is 322-245 in 18 seasons... Jordy Raeburn (14-21/4.97), normally reliable, had a frustrating season this year... the most dependable bats were RF Cayden Crittenden (.300/22/78/90) and 3B Mitch Hamilton (.297/4/71/84)... not much in the batting order after them.