Saturday, February 27, 1954
WIDE OPEN RACE IN NI ELITE
The big question in the North Island Elite League is whether demoted teams from the superior North Island Premier League will dominate in the coming 1954 season?... it hasn't happened in past years... the league champions always comes from the holdover teams... if that is true, that is good news for the returning clubs, Avalon, Kinston and Kofa... from the looks of things, it will be a wide-open pennant race... expatriate from the NI Premier League Jackson is expected to hold its own and just might be the preseason favorite, mainly because the rest of the teams have not performed very well in recent years.
1st Place:
Historically, the Jackson Jackalopes have performed well in its 5 seasons in Islands' baseball... they had good years their first two years... second place in the Second Division 17-13 in '50 and 14-6 after being promoted to the First Division in '51... but it's been downhill since (19-22)... Jackson has a good starting pitcher in Jalen McCoy... now in his 5th season McCoy has done well with a 30-21 overall record with a solid 3.06 ERA... he really thrived in 1950 with a 12-5 mark, the Jacks' best season, but he can't go deep into the game... since then, McCoy has had to toil in the NI Premier League where he has held his own, but he has not been a winner (13-14)... mainly just average... in the upper league Jackson had a weak bullpen and lacked depth in its batting order... that's why it could not compete and was relegated to the NI Elite... rookie shortstop Toby Williams appears to be a good addition... Williams hit .385 in the spring and won a spot in the infield somewhere... shortstop has been manned well by Edward Nolan (.312) in the past two seasons... rookie Clint Black may add some depth to the outfield... rookie left-hander Nate Rubin really stood out in springtime and should be a valuable contributor this season... Rubin was 1-2 with a standout 2.00 ERA in 27 innings and 8 games... he could push McCoy for the number spot in the pitching rotation... Tommy Warner (.396), Billy Mann (.307), Doug Collings (.308) and Edward Nolan (.286) are the best returning batsmen... Williams, Black and Rubin could be keys to a good year for the Jackson Jackalopes.
2nd Place:
The Kinston Firebirds look like the best bet to challenge Jackson... they tied for third place (10-10) last year... Kinston has just been a mediocre club (40-50) and has spent all four years in the secondary league... third place in 1950 was its best season (15-15)... Firebird pitching has just been mediocre at best over the years with Mick Morrison (14-14/3.38 ERA) and last year with Anton Groezinger (4-3/3.61 ERA)... second baseman Fernando De Leon (.301 career BA) has been a standout stick, but hasn't had a lot of help... but he batted a very poor .213 last season... the only productive hitters last year were shortstop Danny Brown (.319) and catcher Dan Dusenberry (.337), along with DeLeon and first baseman Frank Gullo (.234), neither hit well, but they did drive in runs... a team can't really compete for a pennant unless the have solid pitching and a lineup full of solid hitters... Kinston has neither... judging by the performance of the rookies in the spring, the Firebirds will not get any help this year... center fielder Wayne Nelson (.229) and third baseman Chad English (.167) will get a shot at the starting lineup this year... they are hoping they will at least improve the defense.
3rd Place:
The Avalon Oldtimers are no more... changing the school's nickname was quite a controversy... the old Oldtimers did not go without a feisty fight... the current students wanted a name that was more related to Avalon and chose the Valiants, in honor of the King Arthur folklore and legend... Prince Valiant was a Knight of King Arthur's Roundtable, hence, the Valiants... the old Oldtimers lost the fight... they were outvoted... only a few of them were still in school and could vote in the election.
Avalon has one of the poorer records in Island league history (38-52)... the Oldtimers started in the First Division in 1950 (10-20), but were demoted back to the Second Division... they did very well the second season (14-6) in '51 and got promoted back to the First Division and promptly got relegated again (7-13) in '52... and they continued to do poorly last year (7-13)... Avalon doesn't have any pitching and any offense... the Valiants have a veteran staff composed of Dan May (17-19/3.02 ERA), Kirk Kaufman (9-6/2.86) and Nick Brewer (6-9/4.37 ERA), but except for 1951 they have never been successful... strangely, they seem to pitch better in relief than starting... Avalon is woefully weak at the plate, too... the only reliable hitters in the batting order are first baseman Jason Alpert (.279 career BA) and left fielder Skyler Johnson (.299 career BA)... Johnson has a strong season last year with a .386 average... catcher Bobby Bannister hit .328 and third sacker Curtis Kahl batted .291... not much in lineup except for them... Alpert (.234) did not have a good year last season... this year the only rookie in the lineup will be right fielder Chuck Vincent... but he did not hit well in the spring (.176)... however, Vincent should bolster the defense.
4th Place:
The Kofa Kings started off like gangbusters in the First Division, winning it in 1950 (20-10), but it's been lackluster ever since... they went 10-10 in 1951... only 7-13 in 1952 and were relegated to the Second Division... and did not do well last season (8-12)... the Kings have never had a good offensive team and the pitching has only been good the pennant-winning 1950 season... Matt Lilly (2-1/0.83 ERA) did well this spring and has been named the number-one starter over 36-year-old veteran Cody Doll (14-19/3.26 ERA)... Doll was 5-9 with a solid 2.99 ERA last year... it is hard to score runs when your best-career batters are first baseman Angelo Cantarella (.259), second baseman Bobby Seals (.249) and shortstop Billy Neal (.259)... hopefully some help is on the way... rookie third baseman David Hahn (.316) and rookie left fielder Brian Wilson (.308) did well in the spring and won starting spots.
North Island Elite League Outlook:
It looks like the Year of the Jackalope in the North Island Elite League this season... Kinston may contend with them some... also Avalon... Kofa looks to be headed for a bleak season again.