Saturday, May 19, 1951
NIRLSECOND DIVISION FIRST HALF RECAP
1st Place: Joliet Green Giants (9-2)
JOLIET 1-GAME LEAD OVER AVALON IN NIRL 2ND DIVISION
For most of the first half in the North Island Recreational League Second Division, it was pretty much all the Joliet Green Giants (9-2)... but lately Avalon has shown to be a thorn-in-the-side of the Jolly Green Giants... the Oldtimers snapped Joliet's nine-game winning string last weekend and have given them both of their losses this season... it looks like Joliet is the king of the hill this year... Avalon (8-3) and Theodore (6-5) are playing for second place... West Chester (4-7), Kinston (3-8) and Wafford (3-8) will be fighting to stay out of the cellar.
No wonder Joliet has dominated the NIRL Second Division this season, they are tops in just about every statistical category... the Green Giants are far and away the best attack with a .333 team batting average, 13 homers and 76 runs scored... Joliet also has the best pitching... Grant Mosher is tops with 9 wins, 1.99 ERA, 69 strikeouts, 90 innings pitched and 2 shutouts... the Green Giants have the top three hitters in the league with Jim Calahan (.432 BA), Zach McDonald (.426 BA) and Tim Lytle (.415 BA) all over the .400 mark... Lytle leads with 6 homers, 14 runs and 14 ribbies... the top five in hits are all Green Giants, led by McDonald with 20... defense may be the only shortcoming... Joliet is third behind Avalon (.986 FA) and Wafford (.969 FA) with a .962 FA... it is really hard to pick anybody else to win the Second Division this season... Joliet has too many strengths... they are hard to beat with a batting order that features Lytle, Johnny Holt, Zach McDonald, Clancy Dupepe, Bradley Stinson and Jim Calahan... plus the league's best pitcher, Grant Mosher.
