Monday, September 29, 2070
6 DIVISION CHAMPS ROMP TO IPA TITLES... BELAIR BEACH AND RED BLUFF SWEAT TO THE END
The 70th season of the Islandian Pro Alliance did not play out according to predictions... only two of the division favorites did what the pundits prognosticated... as forecast, reigning Pro Cup titlist Rolling Hills and Red Bluff both captured their pennant races... dark horses like Valmara, Belair Beach, Volusia and White River were pleasant surprises... and well-thought of contenders Wynnamac and Turon came through with slight upsets in their divisions... there will be a few new names in the Pro Cup playoffs this season... Belair Beach will be appearing for the first time in 23 years... the Sunbirds last made the postseason in 2047... after missing the playoffs for a decade, Turon and Volusia are returning... there are still a lot of old familiar names that will once again be contesting for the overall Islandian Pro Alliance crown.
Valmara (97-57) was not highly-thought of in the Ruthlandian North, but the Vipers after a slow start in April, took charge in August and won going away by 13 games, leaving second place LaGrange (84-70) and Ranford (84-70) in their dust... an infusion of productive rookies made the difference... defending champ and this year's favorite Taranto (81-73) was in the race until late summer, then faltered down to the fourth spot... Far Mountain (69-85) was expected to challenge, but flopped badly this year, winding up in sixth place, 28 GB... Valmara will be making its record-setting 27th appearance in the IPA playoffs... Rolling Hills and Turon are tied for the runner-up spot... the Racers and Typhoons are in the postseason playoffs for the 22nd time in their histories.
The Ruthlandian South pennant chase was a spine-chilling thriller between the
Belair Beach Sunbirds (91-63) and the Valka Blackhawks (90-64), two pennant-hungry aspirants... it was torrid finish with the battle going down to the final day of the season with the Sunbirds flying just a wee bit higher than the high-flying Blackhawks... the RU South was forecast to be a wide-open race between favored St. John (79-75), perpetual winner and defending champion Claxton (76-78), Crystal Lake (78-76) and Belair Beach and Valka... the Blackhawks opened up a good lead at the end of June and held it until the middle of September when the Sunbirds passed them in a late-season surge... all of the other challengers except Belair Beach had fallen to wayside by the first of July... it was a tough loss for Valka... the Blackhawks have only won 5 pennants, the last one came in 2054... going into September Valka led Belair Beach by 4 and a half games... Claxton lost the division flag for the first time in 8 seasons.
From the git-go the
Wynnamac Sundowners (99-55) showed their stuff and took command... only Marston (87-67) pressured them at all during the campaign... the Nine were a slight favorite to take the Ruthlandian East crown this year like they had in three of the past five seasons... the Macs built up a comfortable lead by June... then Marston put some pressure on them halfway through the season, trailing by 3 games... they remained fairly close until August... but the Nine floundered badly in September and fell completely out of the race... the Sundowners won handily down the stretch with nobody in sight... Wynnamac posted the best record in the Ruthlandian Union and the second best overall... only Rolling Hills with 101 victories outperformed them... the third place Eastshore Cotton Kings (85-69) and fourth place Elnora Clippers (83-71) had good seasons, but fell out of the hunt at midseason... it was only a two-team race in the Ruthlandian East this year.
The best this season in the Ruthlandian West Division was the
Volusia Vigilantes (94-60), who led start-to-finish... the V's were were overlooked by the pollsters... they were picked a distant fourth in the pennant chase... Volusia won it with superior pitching, the best in the IPA... they topped everyone with a splendid 2.82 ERA... a good influx of rookies gave them a big boost to the season... the Vigilantes pulled away from the pack by August and handily captured the RU West flag by 9 games over the Rocky Rapids Snappers (85-69)... unheralded Stoner (84-70) wound up in third place... preseason pick Forest City (80-74) came in fourth... defending champion and perennial power Sligo (75-79) slipped badly this year to sixth place, 19 GB... it was the Rovers' first-losing season since 2052... they had won 6 pennants during that time and finished in second place 10 times... third place was Sligo's worst finish and that only happened one time in the 19 years.
Right up there with the rise of Valmara and Volusia were the
White River Rascals (96-58), who shot up out of nowhere and easily snatched the Tycobbian North from habitual past winners Hartsdale (84-70) and Oxford (80-74)... by midseason the race was over... only the Hellcats offered any kind of resistance, rarely coming within 8 games of first place in the final three months... the Rascals were far-and-away the best team, winning the TU North by 12 games... White River did it with strong pitching... they paced the Tycobbian Union with an impressive 2.87 ERA, second-best to Volusia's 2.82 ERA, which was tops overall in the entire IPA... the Luxora Zorros were favored in the preseason poll to take the TU North... the Z's languished in sixth place most of the season... never challenged whatsoever... second choice Mahaska (76-78) never did much either, winding up in the fifth spot in the standings.
Proverbial power Southport (88-66) was the chosen team in the preseason poll to again come home the winner in the Tycobbian South race... the Sun Sox had won it four times in the previous six seasons and had even captured two cherished Pro Cups... according to the baseball gurus Southport was only going to get token competition from the
Turon Typhoons (99-55)... no other TU South teams were in the proverbial ballpark so to speak... it was only a close race for the first month of the season with even the last-place teams only 6 games off the pace of first-place Turon... by June only second place Summerland was within 10 games of the Typhoons... the Sunsets clung closely in July and August, just 3-4 games behind, however, they wilted in the final two months and lost the TU North by 7 games... favored Southport slumbered under .500 until midyear, but the Sun Sox finally did get it into gear and wound up the year 22 games better than the .500 mark, but it was too little, too late to catch Turon and Summerland... at season's end Southport came in third, 11 games off the pace.
In the preseason fortune-telling,
Red Bluff (93-61) was supposed to rout all comers in the Tycobbian East Division and win it by a double-digit margin... after all was said-and-done, the Red Sox did rampage past all comers and win it by double digits, except for the valiant Tuckanarra Tiger Cats (91-63), who stuck it out the entire season, only to fall 2 games short in a torrid race... it was a 5-team tangle for the first four months of the season between Red Bluff, Tuckanarra, South Fork, High Mesa and Hillsboro... only 4 games separated them heading into August... the Stallions, Mustangs and Blazers couldn't stand the heat of the pennant race and dropped out of the running during the month... but, lo and behold, the Tucks hung in all the way fighting the Red Sox tooth-and-nail down to the last two days of the regular season... Red Bluff blew the pennant a year ago in a total collapse, but not this year... the Red Sox beat out a tough band of Tiger Cats to cop the TU East crown... both Red Bluff and Tuckanarra won with solid pitching... the Red Sox defense may have made the difference... they were the best defenders in the Tycobbian Union.
And now for the Tycobbian West Division... what can you say about the
Rolling Hills Racers (101-53) that hasn't been said or written over the last dozen seasons?... this is the amazing 11th straight year the aging Racers have won the TU West... and they just may haul in their second Pro Cup in a row this season, win an unprecedented 8th IPA Pro Cup trophy in the team's history and the 5th in the last decade... Rolling Hills has had an amazing decade of dominance... except for a couple of days in April, the Racers have rolled through the entire season in the top spot in the TU West standings... Denton City (89-65) stayed right with them for a month or so, but slowly drifted behind in the race... La Claire (90-64) joined the fray at midseason... the Redbirds and Lynx were just 3 and a half games out on July 1st... the rest of the teams were double-digits back... by August 1st Rolling Hills is rolling on all cylinders and has upped their lead to 6 and a half games over La Claire and by 9 and a half games over Denton City... the TU West is pretty much decided... by September the Racers enjoy an 11-game and 14-game bulge over the Lynx and Redbirds... the season is over... Rolling Hills has won again by a wide margin, finishing 11 ahead of La Claire and 12 games better than Denton City... how have the fantastic Racers done this? --- with their high-octane arsenal --- they just outscore the opposition... that is what they have done this year and all of the previous years... Rolling Hills put 902 runs on the scoreboard... Elnora was second best in the IPA with 882, followed by Kenwood with 839 and Belle Plaine with 831 runs... the Racers are not bad on the mound either with a 3.59 ERA, 9th best in the Tycobbian Union... Tuckanarra stayed in the race with its fine pitching staff (3.07 ERA)... and Denton City depended on its bats and 821 runs scored to challenge Rolling Hills... the sands of time are flowing faster than ever in the Racers' hourglass... 7 players are into their 30s, far past their primes, but the old guys are still rolling along and still winning games, pennants and Pro Cups in record numbers.
