[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Tuesday, September 22, 2043

SUN SOX PRO CUP PICK
Islandia is once again buzzing with baseball adulation, speculation and prognostication. It's time for the 2043 IPA Pro Cup playoffs - a time when everybody's fancy turns to baseball. Play begins tomorrow afternoon. Opening round action in the Ruthlandian Union pits Sugar Valley on the road at Volusia and Crystal Lake hosting Valmara... In Tycobbia, Southport will be at home against North Hills and the defending champion South Fork Stallions opening up out-of-town in Arlon. The Stallions won it all last year, sweeping the Colfax Blasters in four games.

And just who's going to take the crown this year? South Fork, Southport and Volusia are back for another try. Will it be one of the holdovers from last year or one of the newcomers? The defending champion South Fork Stallions made it back this year, but like last year, they are getting no respect. In a Pro Cup Preview poll conducted by The Islandian Times, the Stallions were rated no better than sixth in the postseason. The Southport Sun Sox, last year's favorite, have been picked again to win. Ranked number two in the voting were the Sugar Valley Rattlers, who are forecast to win the Ruthlandian title and play the Tycobbian champ Southport for the whole shebang.

The North Hills Hawks were selected third and given the best chance to defeat Southport in the Tycobbian Union League Championship Series. Volusia, ranked fourth, is expected to test Sugar Valley in the Ruthlandian LCS. The Crystal Lake Crushers came in at number five in the Pro Cup polling, followed by South Fork, Arlon and Valmara.

2043 Pro Cup Poll

1. Southport: the Sun Sox have only made four appearances in the Pro Cup playoffs in history... they have won the TU South for the last two seasons and are set to win their first-ever Pro Cup this year... they were the favorite last year, but got knocked off in first-round action by Hartsdale... Southport is getting a lot of support to take it all this year... strong bats with excellent power and rock-solid pitching make them quite formidable in the postseason... All-Star 3B Craig Glennon (.290/51/127/104) had a fantastic year and paced the IPA with 51 HRs and 127 RBIs... 1B Eddy Douglas (.309/32/97/90) was another big bat, along with 2B James Long, who slugged 33 out of the park, drove in 84 runs and scored 88, but batted a sparse .255... CF Barney Lewis also chipped in with 24 roundtrippers, 73 RBIs and 75 runs, while batting .273... other dependable bats were C Vasilis Vlachos (.279/17/79/67) and SS Gonzalo Topez (.306/10/58/70)... on the hill it was ace Billy Hoover (27-11/2.83), who led the IPA for the second time in victories with 27... he won 26 last year... Johnny Swanson (18-16/3.02) and Gordon Forbes (17-10/3.79) also contributed good seasons... leading the strong bullpen were Hal Combs (4-6/2.78/13 saves) and Wayne Stewart (4-2/3.00/7 saves).

2. Sugar Valley: the Rattlers returned to the top of the division with their 11th pennant in 43 years of IPA play... the last one came in 2038 when the team rang up 104 victories... this was the ninth straight season to finish in the first division as they moved up from third place in 2042 (7 GB)... a very good offense combined with solid pitching brought home the division title... the Rattlers have one of the best starting fours in the IPA with Jeremy Blanchard (20-11/3.15), Christopher Dunsberry (20-12/3.15), Davey Brennan (19-13/3.19) and Joe Snow (16-5/2.88)... the only holdback is a poor relief corps... Blanchard is 38 and has composed a 292-244 record in 17 seasons with a 3.36 ERA... gifted superstar and All-Star LF Bobby Gamble (.336/40/127/127) had a monster season leading the IPA with 127 runs and tied for second in RBIs with 127... he was sixth with a .336 BA... All-Star CF Carl Ramsey (.281/29/108/114) had a strong season, too... other contributors were RF Jeff Harvey (.301/22/106/85), 2B Richie Fry (.331/7/52/101) and SS Roger Hobbs (.285/20/56/104)... Sugar Valley also got 25 homers and 72 RBIs from C Delmer Campbell (.215), 23 homers and 76 runs from 1B James Milton (.275) and 16 HRs and 84 RBIs from 3B Kent Rasmus (.277)... seven of the regulars got double-digit homers.

3. North Hills: the Hawks came in third last year (5 GB)... this year they won the title with some breathing room, ranking third with a .276 BA and fifth with a team ERA of 3.56... now the Hawks are flying high again with their ninth division title in the last ten years... North Hills will going for their fifth Pro Cup in the last decade... veteran starters David Michael (19-13/2.65), Tony Mack (19-8/3.24), Joey Santini (19-11/3.51) and Nelson Hooper (19-15/4.28) all won 19 games... the offense was better-than-average with All-Star LF Adam Thurgood (.295/32/112/88) and 3B Jim McDermott (.304/18/81/85) in the lead... the Hawks also play excellent defense with a .977 FA... North Hills led the IPA with 93 wins, one better than Southport of the TU South and Volusia of the RU West.

4. Volusia: the Vigilantes were runner-up to Colfax last year, losing out by just one game... prior to this season the V's last won the division in '34 and '35... this will be their eighth playoff appearance... Volusia has won one Pro Cup... that came in the very first year of the IPA in 2001... the Vigilantes came close to another title in 2006 when they lost in the Finals to powerful Turon... they should be a contender this year with a good mix of pitching, hitting and defense... the starters are as good as anyone in the IPA with Drew Selby (20-12/2.58), Skeeter Millham (20-15/3.18), Raul Navarro (20-15/3.32) and Leandos Dizon (13-6/2.95/10 saves)... not a lot in the bullpen since Dizon became a starter... at the plate the V's could use some help, but they do have good power from All-Star 1B Kris Wilson (.358/26/93/84), SS Duane Blayney (.273/33/94/94), RF Lonny Womack (.265/27/83/83) and CF Cazzie Carvalho (.266/25/72/96).

5. Crystal Lake: last season the Crushers were 4 GB in fourth place... they won the pennant this year with a high-powered offense... the Crushers led the IPA with a .290 team BA and 874 runs... pitching-wise they weren't very good with a 4.27 ERA... leading the way were LF Kenny Gray (.327/24/88/68), 1B Daryl Brady (.329/17/80/67), 3B Marv Roy (.277/20/104/83), RF Paul Dillon (.324/13/91/98), C Del Peevy (.293/12/92/93) and 2B Jim Henley (.306/6/64/72)... leading the mound corps was Eddie Lane (11-9/2.82/14 saves), who split time between starting and relieving, finally starting after 11 seasons in the bullpen... Dave McCauley (18-14/3.93) was the club's big winner... Crystal Lake could do well in the playoffs with such fine hitting... all they need is to get some fairly good pitching.

6. South Fork: the Stallions batted .271 (8th), scored 712 runs (15th), hit 156 homers (14th), play good defense (.975 FA) and posted a fairly good 3.63 ERA (8th)... they are pretty much the same club that won the Pro Cup last year... who says they can't do it again?... All-Star Chris Sorensen (22-12/2.68) was the staff leader with some help from Jay Murphy (15-14/3.01) and Big Murph McAlister (16-13/4.16)... Murphy came nowhere near his 2042 Golden Arm season when he was 25-7 with 1.90 ERA, but he is still a quality arm... the Stallions still have a good group of hitters in 3B Elton Jacoby (.314/28/92/93), who led the club with 28 HRs and 92 RBIs... All-Star 2B Pete Arnold (.331/4/50/99), the team leader with a .331 BA, 208 hits and 99 runs... Arnold finished fourth in the Tycobbian Union batting race, won by Corky DiNozzo of Kenwood, who hit .344... Arnold also ranked third in the IPA with 208 hits, beaten only by Claxton's Jojo DeLucca with 226 and Colfax's Gerry Sives with 210... four other reliable hitters were RF John Dunham (.281/17/64/83), last year's Pro Cup MVP SS Jess Wilkerson (.284/22/81/77), 1B Paul Sexton (.281/25/79/68) and CF Scotty O'Sullivan (.292/19/74/61)... if Murphy and McAlister come up big on the hill, the Stallions could repeat as IPA champion.

7. Arlon: in a surprise the Champions won the division for only the fourth time in history... Arlon was seventh in '41 (23.5 GB)and '42 (17 GB), but they rose up and took the title for the first time since 2039... the Champs have never won a Pro Cup, but did reach the Finals in 2039, losing out to Waleska in six games... a good offense put them over the top this season... they batted .269 (9th), were tied for third with 794 runs, hit 177 roundtrippers (10th)... on the hill not so good with a 4.31 team ERA (28th)... Arlon's top guns were All-Star 1B Robby Westin ((.334/38/115/107), All-Star RF Mark Cameron (.309/38/106/104), C Nick Shafer (.301/22/98/80) and CF Scotty Durham (.281/12/68/107)... fireballer Lanny Gray (13-11/3.95), Pat Stuyvesant (17-13/4.34) and Paul Sweet (14-11/4.50) were the main starters.... for Arlon to have any chance in the Pro Cup playoffs the pitching will have to do better than they did in the regular season.

8. Valmara: rose up from fourth (17 GB) to first place... last pennant in 2031... only Pro Cup was in 2024... top players at the plate were CF Don Ritchie (.324/14/77/100), 1B Cain Greene (.295/23/93/73) and All-Star C Antonio Dominguez (.263/21/100/70)... top starters were All-Star Teddy Twardzik (16-15/2.59) and Zak Reeder (23-12/4.22)... best in the bullpen was Paul Holloway (5-5/2.31/11 saves)... the Vipers had a good first half and then just enough to win in the second half...Valmara is not a particularly strong club and plays in one of the weaker divisions in the IPA... the Vipers are not expected to do much in the Pro Cup playoffs.