[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, April 5, 2049

3-TEAM TANGLE, WALESKA FAVORED OVER CLAXTON AND BELAIR BEACH
A three-team race is forecast in the Ruthlandian South this season with the Waleska Westerners overtaking the defending division champion Claxton Diamonds in a very tight duel... with Belair Beach not very far behind them.

1. WALESKA: the Westerners wound up in a tie for third last season (76-78), but were 16 games back of winning Claxton... this season they supposedly have better pitching than the high-scoring Diamonds and are picked to upend them this year... vets Jeff Woodruff (21-12/3.07) and Niles Nielsen (18-17/2.89) are a formidable twosome with over 300 career wins between them... plus rookie Trey Earnest and second-year hurler Lou Carlson (3-2/2.47) are expected to shine this year, giving Waleska a good chance to knock off powerful Claxton... the Westerners could use more offense... the best bats are limited in number and power... topping the team will be 1B James Ray Kee (.331/17 HR), LF Gene Stevenson (.302/15 HR) and CF Kenny Hardy (.292/15 HR).

2. CLAXTON: the Diamonds won't surrender the division title without a big fight... the offense looks even better this year with several newcomers to compliment the already-potent RF Whit Miley (.357/14 HR), superstar 1B Jojo DeLucca (.279/30 HR/126 RBI), CF Darryl Daniels (.295/12 HR) and 3B Rick Clayburne (.323/9 HR)... Claxton is darn good on the hill, too, with Abe Schiffman (21-13/2.80), Stan Yudash (20-9/3.48), Jared Lipton (11-6/2.71/9 saves), Steven Ellison (18-9/3.79/3 saves) and Gilbert Clagsdale (16-12/3.84) handling the starting roles... and Gary Haskin (5-8/2.95/16 saves) is a good in the bullpen... if the Waleska rookie starters fail to produce, the Diamonds will have an easy time repeating as the division champ... if the newcomers come through for the Westerners, it should be quite a race.

3. BELAIR BEACH: the Sunbirds were second to Claxton last year, 7 GB with a fine 85-69 record... they are a well-balanced club with good pitching and good bats... if rookie pitcher Jeffrey Verblen is as good as the scouts say, it'll be a tight three-team tussle in the RU South this season... he will be a part of the rotation with Ronnie Roy (15-11/3.38), Kevin Tolbert (17-15/3.42), Jose Munoz (17-14/3.56) and Glen Long (16-12/4.19)... the inconsistent bullpen is led by Tom Cook (8-10/3.65/22 saves), the IPA saves leader last season... Cook made 80 appearances... heading up the Sunbird attack is last year's RU MVP and Golden Bat winner, superstar 1B Jason Butler (.311/31 HR/121 RBI)... other top bats are SS Alvaro Abreu (.323/94 runs) and CF Norm Ellis (.280/28 HR)... good things are expected from rookie slugger and SS Kipp Caplinger, too.

4. GRAND CITY: the Cybercats were seventh last year (64-90)... improved pitching could move them up in the standings this year... they have capable starters in Lee Price (13-20/3.02) and Jimmy Engels (10-22/3.42), who suffer greatly from a lack of run support... superstar 1B Benny Hull (.303/48 HR/127 RBI) could have more help this season with highly-regarded rookie RF Harland Blankenship added to the lineup... Blankenship batted a lofty .389 in the Spring... the key to the season will be how well the number three and four starters, Kenny Morrow (13-21/4.05) and Joel Eaton (.13-16/4.02) do... the bullpen is set with Donald Denison (6-4/1.95/8 saves) as closer and rookie Stretch Hoyt projected to help him out quite well... the Cybercats have a decent shot at the first division this year.

5. VALKA: the Blackhawks were part of a four-way tie for third last year (76-68) with Waleska, Crystal Lake and St. John... they have credible pitching with starters Matvey Kazak (17-16/3.08), Tyrone Marte (14-14/3.64) and Royce Netterville (9-7/3.49/3 saves) and closer Ricky Cockburn (5-8/2.49/12 saves)... most of the Blackhawk offense comes from 1B Jess Evans (.321/31 HR) and C Aubrey Plews (.302/15 HR)... some help may come from rookie 2B Ronnie Nelson, who showed some promise in Spring training at the plate with a .316 BA.

6. ST. JOHN: the Crusaders were in that four-way tie for third last year (76-78)... they have a fairly good offense, but have lackluster pitching... Liam Spears (15-13/3.98), Zeke Yoder (15-17/3.89) and Frank Long (16-18/4.30) will have to improve for the Crusaders to move up in the standings... two rookie starters Stan Kallis and Teddy de Grom will get a chance to make the rotation... they both are fireballers with great stuff... the Crusaders hit well for average, paced by RF Cris Hershey (.320/11 HR/87 RBI), 1B Al Pace (.316/19 HR/77 RBI) and CF Skeets Blackstone (.283/11 HR/69 RBI)... St. John needs a couple more productive hitters to be a contender.

7. CRYSTAL LAKE: tied for third last season (76-78)... sports a very good hitting club, but lacks the longball... starting rotation is only so-so at best with Dave McCauley (18-14/4.21), Rick Lowe (16-13/4.04) and Jeth Limbrick (15-18/4.12)... rookie starter Haden Makowiak got high marks from the scouts and did well in the Spring... the Crusher standout closer Josh Crosby (16-4/2.51/15 saves) heads up a fine bullpen with a lot of help from Andy Crutcher (4-3/1.89/12 saves)... at the plate Crystal Lake has a plethora of .300 batters, sparked by LF Jed Murphee (.342/15 HR), star 1B Daryl Brady (.338/17 HR), 3B Ernie Addison (.332/2 HR), RF Paul Dillon (.329/8 HR), CF Jesse Walker (.307/1 HR), OF Kenny Gray (.302/17 HR) and 3B Jim Henley (.302/3 HR).

8. SAN DIMAS: the Rancheros have been bad the last two seasons, coming in seventh and eighth... they were only 55-99 last year with not much on the mound or in the batter's box... the most productive bats belonged to CF Enrique Orantez (.312/23 HR/85 RBI/105 runs), RF Denny Hendrix (.260/23 HR/87 RBI) and 2B Jimmy Woods (.305/16 HR)... Carl Covington (12-25/4.05) was the only decent starter... closer Kenny Robinson topped the IPA with 88 games, notched 18 saves with a 2.32 ERA, but was only 5-10 record-wise.

2049 Ruthlandian South Division Preseason Predictions and Projected Statistics