[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, October 2, 2047

2047 IPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - GAME 6

Ruthlandian Union

ROOSTERS RULE RUTHLANDIA, TAKE LEAGUE TITLE
The postseason pollsters made Middlefield the favorite to win the Ruthlandian Union championship and they did it... the Roosters finished off the Far Mountain Redhawks 6-4 in game six at Sky High Stadium in Far Mountain and now head to the Pro Cup Finals against the Tycobbian champ... in the club's history the Roosters have won only one Pro Cup... that was long ago in 2005... they also lost to South Fork in the 2025 Pro Cup Finals.

The Roosters smacked 13 hits and got just enough pitching to get the job done... 1B Jorge Carpenter (.269) led the way at the plate with three hits and three RBIs... 2B Ike Gary (.269) added a homer and a triple, drove in a pair of runs and scored twice... and LF Alejandro Dominguez (.283) chipped in with one hit and two runs.

Chris Collier (1-2/4.44) started and went seven shaky innings, but came away with the victory... Collier was touched for three runs on nine hits, fanned seven and walked one... Collier exited with the score 5-3... Ricky Farris was the second Middlefield pitcher... he gave up a run in the eighth... closer Ray Owens (1-2/1.76) finished up for him, though he struggled, too... Owens permitted four hits and no runs in two innings... fortunately for the Roosters, the Redhawks stranded 13 baserunners... Stan Smith (2-2/4.03) caught the loss as he was bashed for 12 hits and six runs in seven-plus innings.

Far Mountain also numbered 13 hits, but just didn't come through in the clutch... both SS Warner Ronstadt (.500) and RF Bert Richter went 3-5 in the game... and CF Todd Purdom (.324) and 2B Rance Hawkins (.224) notched two hits each... Hawkins led with a double and a triple.

Middlefield skipper Ricky Tinker told reporters, "Great pitchers are tough to beat... and we've got two of the best in James Long and Larry Wheelhouse... they give us a chance to win every series we play."

In 5 starts in the postseason this year Long has posted a 3-0 mark with a super low 1.05 ERA... Wheelhouse is 2-0 in 4 starts with an outstanding 1.09 ERA.

Tinker also added, "Thank goodness for Beach, Conner and Gary... they have provided what little offense we managed so far."

SS Jimmy Beach has hit .328 in the playoffs with 4 home runs and 9 RBIs... RF Sidney Conner has batted .328 with 3 homers and 5 RBIs and 2B Ike Gary sports a .269 BA with 2 roundtrippers and 11 runs scored.

Losing manager Don Nichols bemoaned his lack of offense. "Hey, we have a pretty good lineup... there were two pretty good reasons we didn't hit well... their names are Long and Wheelhouse... they thoroughly shut us down."

Tycobbian Union

TYCOBBIAN CROWN TO SOUTHPORT
The Southport Sun Sox are the champion of the Tycobbian Union... they defeated the Pro Cup favored Red Bluff Red Sox in six games to gain the right to play for the IPA Pro Cup trophy, emblematic of baseball supremacy in the Islands... the Sun Sox eliminated the Red Sox 4-3 at Red Bluff Park... Barney Lewis slammed a pair of crucial homers for the victory... he hit a two-run blast in the top of the third for a 3-2 lead and then broke up a 3-3 tie in the sixth with a solo smash... Lewis now has five postseason roundtrippers... Lewis was the Pro Cup MVP in 2044 when he led Southport to its second Pro Cup title.... the Sun Sox also captured it in 2027.

Southport starter Brandon Delmore (1-2/4.30) labored but grittied out the win... he only allowed three hits and three runs in eight innings, but walked six, while striking out seven... Hal Combs (2-0/0.00) closed out the TU title game with a perfect 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth... George Reynolds (2-1/3.18) was the losing hurler... he went the distance, struck out seven, walked three batters and was tapped for four runs and nine hits.

CF Barney Lewis (.341) sparked Southport with three hits and four RBIs... he now has driven in a team high 15 runs in the playoffs... SS Ricky Whitaker (.333) and 1B Eddy Douglas (.372) each collected a pair of hits for the winners... CF Ike Sweetwater (.286) had a solo homer for the Red Sox... LF David Kelso (.386) and SS Leemon O'Donovan (.308) batted in the other runs.

Lorne Evans took over for longtime Southport manager Charley Oscar this year. "It's been an amazing year for me, my first year on the job... but it doesn't surprise me... the Sun Sox have a lot of talented and gifted players that make my job kind of cushy... we have a solid core of hitters in Barney (Lewis), Craig (Glennon), Vasilis (Vlachos) and Eddy (Douglas)... plus Billy Hoover, who is equal to anybody in the IPA on the mound... five of the last six years he has chalked up at 20 victories... and he is 13-7 in 21 postseason starts... Johnny Swanson and Brandon Delmore give us two more quality arms... our pitchers didn't have it easy... the Red Sox probably are the best hitting club in the IPA... but we outhomered them 7 to 4 and outscored them 24 to 21 in the series... our staff did a pretty creditable job, considering who they were playing."

Lewis leads the Sun Sox with 15 RBIs in the postseason... Glennon has 14 so far... Vlachos has driven in 8 runs and Douglas has 7... Glennon is tops with 6 homers and 12 runs... Lewis is second with 5 home runs and 11 runs scored...Douglas is tops with a .372 BA, followed by Lewis at .341, 2B Ricky Whitaker at .333, SS Gonzalo Topez with .311 and Glennon is batting .306... Hoover is 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA in four starts, while Swanson is 2-0 with a 3.34 in four starts... in 3 starts Delmore is 1-2 with a 4.30 ERA.

Red Bluff manager Jim Schubert said, "We did our best at the plate and on the hill... I feel bad for Jud Cox, who pitched his heart out, but he just didn't get any run support... in the postseason he was 2-2 with a 1.11 ERA... Cox only allowed three runs in 15 innings against Southport... overall, the Sun Sox really blistered the ball in the series and in the playoffs... they have hit 17 homers so far in 11 games... Middlefield will have their hands full."