Saturday, May 10, 1952
PELS, LIONS TIED FOR 1ST IN SIFL
After a half season of play in the South Island First League homer-happy Labadieville (6-4) and hill-happy Opelousas (6-4) are the co-leaders, but not by much... Des Allemands (5-5) and Claiborne (5-5) are just one game behind in third place... and also-rans Mystic (4-6) and Bar Harbor (4-6) are also within striking distance, only two games off the pace... pitching has taken a back seat to the offense thus far in the SIFL... the pennant is still up for grabs... nobody is out of it yet.
1st Place (tied): Labadieville Pelicans (6-4)
So far the Pels have survived on longballs, decent pitching and so-so defense (.945 FA)... they top the league in scoring runs with 14 homers, paced by A. J. Touhy (.400) and Gaston Bellanger (.311) with four apiece... Leon Renoir (.200) has walloped 3 out of the park, too... Labadieville has a high-scoring attack with a lineup chocked full of quality hitters... Emile Robert (.351), Dennis Denslow (.275), Raphael Fournier (.270) and Phillippe Voiselle (.238) have been productive bats, too... no one in the batting order is an easy out... on the mound David Bosley (3-2, 3.30) and Maurice Ganucheau (3-1, 3.46) have split the 10 starting assignments with Bosley the current number one... things are progressing well for the Pelicans in their first season in the league.
1st Place (tied): Opelousas Lions (6-4)
The Lions have thrived on the fine pitching of Raymond Colbert (5-2, 2.16)... and backed up by good relief work from Donnelle Cartier (0-1, 2.16)... defense is alright with a .951 FA... run-scoring is subpar compared to the other contenders... the most reliable batters are Alain Roche (.372), Leon Rousseau (.311), Pete Larkin (.316) and Jozef Zelazny (.283)... but none of them go deep very well... Opelousas has hit only 3 roundtrippers this year... home-run power makes a difference... it might be tough for the Lions to win the pennant without it... it's tough to win with just pitching.
3rd Place (tied): Des Allemands (5-5)
The Eagles have pretty good power with 10 homers, but don't hit for average... they come up short in comparison to Labadieville's attack... but they have better pitching than the Pelicans and the Lions... in fact, Des Allemands has the best mound stats in the league with Otto Ostwinkle (4-4, 2.49) and his bullpen buddy, Maxie Rosenthal (0-1, 1.69)... offensively, Oskar Seewald has carried the club with a .289 BA, 4 homers and 13 runs batted... Hans Hildebrandt has also helped out quite a bit with a .333 BA, 3 HR and 9 ribbies... Dieter Heinberg (.250) and Ostwinkle (.258) have aided a little bit, too... the Eagles need some bats to step up in the second half and give Seewald and Hildebrandt some much-needed offensive support... that will be key to the Des Allemands' pennant aspirations.
3rd Place (tied): Claiborne Cardinals (5-5)
The Cards hit better than Des Allemands, but they really suffer on the hill, especially in the bullpen... they are very fortunate to be at the .500 mark with such poor pitching... Robby Duplessis (2-3, 3.23) has gotten 7 starts and done fairly well, but no one else has helped out at all... when Duplessis gets in trouble, the game is over... luckily, Claiborne can hit the ball with the likes of Roy Ducote (.424), Benjamin Pardue (.364), Bill Belliveau (.333), Nick Varone (.313) and Luke Arceneaux (.310)... Ducote tops the SIFL in batting average and Pardue is best with 15 RBIs... a little bit of pitching can go a long way in the pennant race... if Duplessis can keep the Cardinals in the game, the bats may win it for him... the second half looks good for Claiborne.
5th Place (tied): Mystic Mariners (4-6)
The Mariners are a complete bust at the plate... they can't hit a lick (.215 BA)... but they have decent pitching, especially in the last 5 games since Shane Donovan (2-3, 3.45) has moved in as the primary starter... offense is minimal... Dustin Carmouche (.368) and Dizzy Benoit (.295) are the only consistent hitters in the lineup... actually, Mystic has been in almost all of their games despite the lousy offense... they handle the gloves alright (.948 FA)... the outlook for the rest of the season is not very good... the Mariners are the fifth or sixth-best team in the South Island First League.
5th Place (tied): Bar Harbor Acadians (4-6)
The Acadians began the season like gangbusters, winning four of the first five games, but they have tanked since then, dropping their last five games in a row... Bar Harbor is the exact opposite of Mystic... they hit the heck out of the ball, but can't get anybody out (5.60 ERA)... top gun Duke Rabouin (.325) has 5 homers, which leads the league, and 11 RBIs... Teebo Thibodeau (.356) and Pierre Marquette (.302) are also quality batters... and Jimmy Armstrong (.233) and Alex Korda (.250) have driven in 9 runs and 6 runs respectively... pitching-wise the Acadians have used 5 different starters, none particularly effective... their regular third baseman Danny Church (0-0, 4.32) may be the best of the bad lot... plus Bar Harbor is terrible defensively with a pitiful .919 FA... looks like the Acadians and the Mystic Mariners are headed to the SISL next year.
