[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, September 18, 2045

SUN SOX SHINE AGAIN, WIN 4TH FLAG IN A ROW
The IPA defending champion Southport Sun Sox continue to monopolize the Tycobbian South with their fourth flag in a row... to repeat as division champ this year the Sun Sox had to fend off four very good clubs in the IPA's strongest division.

Southport started off 12-14 in April and trailed by 8 games, but quickly turned it around and took the division lead by mid-season and slowly built up a safe lead in the latter half of the season... Summerland took a huge lead in the first month with a terrific 20-6 record, but couldn't sustain it... but the Sunsets did wind up in second place, beaten by 6 games... third place went to San Alejo, who hung with the Sun Sox before they burned out in August, ending up 7 games behind... in the fourth spot were the Cape Coral Hurricanes, who stayed in the running until August, eventually losing out by 10 games... coming in fifth and 11 games back were the Ginza Ninjas... they really only were in the race until June, then faded... Southport will have a pretty good shot at back-to-back Pro Cups... they are strong on the hill and at the plate... their weakness is shoddy defense (.967 FA).

1. Southport is only a recent powerhouse in the IPA... overall the Sun Sox have seldom been in the postseason... this will be their seventh appearance... they will be shooting for their second IPA crown... the season started on a very sour note for them... three primary starters, Billy Hoover (16-7/1.87), Johnny Swanson (14-8/3.46) and Brandon Forbes (15-8/3.36), were out on boycott, along with two regular position players 1B Eddy Douglas (.323/21/63/58) and 3B Craig Glennon (.296/15/63/49)... it's amazing that they won 95 games this year... the number five starter Cade Brocton (20-13/3.73) and an obscure pitcher on the reserve roster, 34-year-old Tiger Tartaglia (9-4/2.97) rose to the occasion and took up the slack, along with the superb bullpen... prior to this year Tartaglia was only 10-12 in three seasons with a mediocre 4.35 ERA... with the return of the prime starters, there was no room on the roster for Tartaglia... life is just not fair.

It was all over when the boycotters came back in June... the Sox really took off and took command... last year's Pro Cup MVP CF Barney Lewis (.259/32/98/94) was the club leader with 32 homers and 98 RBIs... LF Chris Jones (.316/9/67/95) was tops in BA and runs... SS Gonzalo Topez (.305/7/70/89) had a solid season at the plate, too.

2. Summerland has been in the TU South first division for 10 of the previous 11 seasons... they were fifth in 2038... the Sunsets won the pennant in 2040... they haven't won a Pro Cup yet and have made the postseason only three times... pitching is the name of the game in Summerland... the staff led the Tycobbian Union with an impressive 2.99 ERA, third best in the IPA... only two Ruthlandian clubs, the Glasco Athletics (2.80) and the Kilkenny Cats (2.98) were better... the A's won the RU North and will be in the Pro Cup playoffs, however the Cats were fourth in the same division as Glasco and didn't qualify for the postseason... on the mound the Sunsets' fab four were Jayson Hallstrom (21-11/2.37), Billy King (16-10/2.96), Dutch De Boer (17-14/2.92) and Jacob Gillen (15-10/3.12)... with good offensive support the staff easily could have won 100 games and the pennant... but there were no standout sticks... LF Tony Vargas led the team with a .323 BA, but he had only 3 homers and 60 RBIs... 1B Kenny Douglas (.260) led with 26 homers and drove in 74 runs... RF Rick Mayes (.286) had the most RBIs with 89 and was second with 25 roundtrippers... 3B Alex Abbotson (.244) was the leader with 90 runs and third in homers with 16... good gloveman SS Mark Brenneke (.258/3/25/49) was out with the boycott the first two months of the year.

3. San Alejo flamed out in August (12-17) this year... otherwise they could have been in the thick of things in the stretch drive... for the ninth consecutive season the Montaneros were a good ballclub... in the last 14 years they have won four pennants ('32, '34, '35, '37) and one Pro Cup ('32)... the Monties improved from 81-73 and third place last year (23 GB) to 88-66, which was good for third again this season (7 GB)... All-Star Matt Bell (25-9/1.87) and All-Star Will McKinney (17-12/2.82) were the top hurlers... the youngsters are budding superstars... 26-year-old Bell has won 20 games in five of his seven seasons... his worst year was his rookie season when he was 18-18 with a 2.93 ERA... lifetime he is already 145-86 with a super 2.49 ERA... Bell ranked second in the IPA with 25 victories this year... only Beechwood's Jimmy Herman had more... he won 26 for the Bobcats in the Ruthlandian Union... at 25 McKinney has won 20 games in three of the his five seasons... overall he is 89-48 with a 2.96 ERA... at the plate the Montaneros were sparked by superstar All-Star C Filipe Zamora (.280/31/106/88)... 6 times he has made the All-Star team... Zamora is 35... it's a shame San Alejo didn't have its star RF Paolo Teixeira for the whole season... he missed one-third of it due to the player boycott... nonetheless Teixeira hit 29 homers in just 95 games and drove in 63 runs, scored 66 and batted .295... what a difference his bat would have made... OF Charlie Wilberforce (.259) chipped in 23 HRs and batted in 72 runs.

4. Cape Coral has finished fourth six times in the last decade... the last three seasons in a row... the Hurricanes climbed up from 78-76 last year (26 GB) to 85-69 this year (10 GB)... they were in third place at the end of June, just 3 games off the pace, but slowly faded in the second half... they have the bats, but could use some more pitching to contend with Southport, Summerland and San Alejo... the 'Canes are ranked first in scoring runs in the Tycobbian Union, third with a .271 team BA and fourth with 180 homers... pitching-wise they are just average with a 3.69 ERA (19th)... the line-up is packed with power... five players hit 20 or more out of the park, led by superstud LF Rikky Van Dalen (.333/30/98/111) with 30, SS Scotty Jackson (.270/25/90/69) with 25, 3B Kent Mantle (.266/23/78/70) with 23, RF William Snyder (.311/21/74/74) with 21 and 1B Stan Ferguson (.278/20/61/40) with 20... Ferguson only played 86 games because of the boycott... IF Lou Panko (.299/10/71/89) also had a good year at 2B and filling in for Ferguson at 1B... Benton McCall (25-10/2.74) carried the staff... he was second in the IPA in wins, topped only by Jimmy Herman of the Beechwood Bobcats of the Ruthlandian East... Herman was 26-9 with a 2.72 ERA... other depenable arms in the Hurricane rotation are Vernon Marks (15-15/3.76) and Rik De Meester (12-16/3.85)... Pete Collins (4-5/2.65/12 saves) did well in the bullpen... history-wise Cape Coral has been in the playoffs on 8 occasions, but haven't captured a Pro Cup... the most recent pennant was in 2041.

5. Ginza was 14 games over .500 this season, yet came in fifth (11 GB)... last season the Ninjas compiled a 76-78 mark and also wound up in fifth place (28 GB)... in the club's history they have been in the playoffs 7 times with no Pro Cups to show for it... the Ginza attack is a good one, ranking first in the IPA with a .277 team BA... they are fourth in scoring in the Tycobbian Union and sixth in homers with 172... in the pitching department the Ninjas are rated 20th with a 3.71 team ERA... Ginza is the top defensive team in the IPA with an outstanding .980 FA... sparking the offense is superstar LF Sogo Takagi (.311/32/103/120)... Takagi is number two in the IPA with 120 runs... the batting order is chocked full of reliable hitters... on the club superstar standout SS Sam Essex (.287/34/110/87) had the most homers with 34 and the most RBIs with 110... RF Ichiro Kazumi (.291/16/86/79) and 1B Vic Booker (.277/22/73/76) had good numbers, along with boycotters 3B Jiro Yamamura (.319/7/35/77) and C Whit Harrell (.258/18/54 41)... club leaders on the hill were T. C. Gallimore (21-12/3.00) and Carlos Del Toro (22-11/3.71)... both are first time 20-game winners.

6. Arroyo Grande made great strides this season, rising up from a terrible 59-95 in 2044 (45 GB) to 76-78 this year (19 GB)... top to bottom the TU South may be the best division in the IPA... even seventh place Colchester (72-82) and cellar dweller Turon (71-83) won at least 71 games... this was the 12th season in succession the Suns finished in the TU South second division... you have to go back to 2024 since Arroyo Grande graced the playoffs... the Suns are still seeking their first IPA crown... only four times in the team's history have they made the postseason... the Suns can go deep... they had 169 HRs this year (8th), but they don't hit for average (.245-25th)... the Suns are average on the mound (3.66-17th)... and they sparkle on defense with a standout .979 FA... Anthony Lombardi (16-5/3.05) and Enrique Lopez (17-17/3.18) both had solid seasons... in the bullpen Russ Simmons (6-6/2.56/13 saves) and Jaz Ortega (4-3/2.28/1 saves) did well, too... Fernando Campos (10-8/3.58) sat out the first two months because of the the salary dispute... no one hit for average on the club... CF Kenny Wade was the BA leader with a .276 mark... he also contributed 18 homers, scored 81 times and has 57 RBIs... LF Alfred Novikoff (.254) was number one with 29 roundtrippers and 75 RBIs... 2B Russell Taylor (.270) scored the most runs with 90... he also had 22 HRs and batted in 71 runs.

7. Colchester added to their string of second-division finishes... this is the ninth year in a row for the Elites... they have been seventh the last four seasons... but they did improve quite a lot this year, going from 61-93 (43 GB) to 72-82 (23 GB)... the Elites have only appeared in the postseason four times... 2036 was the last time they won the division title... never has Colchester won the Pro Cup... hurler Dave Lacoste (19-12/2.80) was the ace of the staff... he made the All-Star team at age 37... 29-year-old rookie Maxie Helton (11-7/3.91) and Benny White (14-15/3.67/2 saves) also had fairly good seasons... defensively the Elites are good with a solid .976 FA... Colchester isn't much of a threat offensively, but 1B Ace Diamond had a breakout year at 28... in a killer season he was third in the IPA with 47 homers and 134 RBIs... Red Bluff's David Kelso was the HR leader with a near record 65 and Bayview's Jerry Culpepper was second with 55... the single-season league mark is 66 by Culpepper in 2040... Rolling Hills' Jimbo Foxx led the IPA with 151 RBIs and Culpepper was second with 143... other contributors to the Elites' offense were rookie CF Teddy Drackley (.279/21/72/91), Chet Porter (.301/5/40/62) and 2B Joey Rogers (.262/12/47/82).

8. Turon is a fabled franchise that has fallen on very hard times in recent years... twice in the last three years the Typhoons have come in last... in 2044 they were sixth with a 67-87 record (37 GB)... this season the Typhoons were 71-83 and in the basement again (24 GB)... Turon holds the IPA record with four Pro Cups and has been to the postseason 15 times... only Tuckanarra with 17 appearances has been there more... the Typhoons' last pennant was in 2039... the last Pro Cup was in 2018... Turon has a prolific attack with a .269 BA (4th), 775 runs (2nd) and 194 HRs (2nd-tied), but they are awful on the mound with a 4.76 ERA, the worst in the IPA... the offensive leaders are star All-Star SS C. C. Kingsford (.318/28/98/101), CF Guido Gervasio (.325/15/77/90), 3B Al Salisbury (.300/20/73/100) and 1B Nick Fisher (.286/37/104/94).