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Eugene Church · 09-30-2021, 12:38 AM

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Saturday, March 30, 1956

SECONDARY LEAGUE SLY SLANTS, SENTIMENTS AND SUSPICIONS

What a season it was last year in the South Island Secondary League!
Three clubs, St. Pete (8-3), Gull Lake (8-4) and Grin Hill (7-4), tussling, scuffling and brawling like "all get out" just for the fun of playing the dear old sport of rounders... the 1955 South Island Secondary League was a thing of joy to watch... now those same good old boys of summer are back in business and are rarin' to go and do it all over again...

Get ready for some more good old baseball South Island style!
It's coming to a local diamond near and dear to you and me this Sunday afternoon.

Last year the St. Pete Pelicans pounded their way to the first-ever Secondary League pennant and earned a promotion upwards to the Supreme League... 31 roundtrippers flying out of the park made a lot of difference... I'm sure the other five clubs are more than happy to say, "Bye bye to the Birds and good riddance."... or maybe at least, "So long Pels, Hello Cats."... that would be the nice neighborly thing to do.

The Pelicans have flown the coop and the Columbia Black Cats are going to use one of their proverbial nine lives to start anew in the South Island Secondary League... spring is bloomin' out all over and away we go -- the baseball season is here again.

All six clubs are refreshing and reloading with some new faces, but there are a lot of old friends, too... last year's runner-up Gull Lake (8-4) will try to repair their pitching corps (4.92 ERA), build up their attack (only 10 HR) and improve the defense... in spite of some tribulations in those areas of the game, they almost won the title last year... the Sailors are hoping newcomers Andre Aubin and Chris Landino will give their pitching rotation a shot in the arm... Curtis Callaway (6-2/4.20 ERA) started all 12 games last season, but finished only 2... relievers Felton Simms (1-1/7.56 ERA) and Lenny Rogers (1-1/9.00 ERA) just didn't cut the mustard... Landino has already impressed enough to take over center field and the leadoff spot in the batting order... hopes are that Landino will kickstart the batting attack and help out left fielder Sal Geraci (.352 BA/1 HR/10 RBI/12 R/5 SB), first baseman Carroll Hardy (.327 BA/4 HR/14 RBI/8 R), third baseman Howard Hayes (.315 BA/0 HR/6 RBI/5 R), right fielder Josh Hayes (.300 BA/1 HR/6 RBI/8 R) and catcher Matt McGovern (.235 BA/4 HR/10 RBI/6 R)... Landino will also improve the outfield defense... only a few changes for Gull Lake, but they will still be serious challengers for the SI Secondary League flag again this year.

The Grin Hill Smileys (7-4) were right up there with the big boys, St. Pete... they could match the Pelican power... they hit 28 homers and scored 93 runs... they topped the league with a skyhigh .319 BA... but they were sorely lacking on the hill (4.95 ERA)... thank goodness, it's the same good old bats, but it's also the same good old clunkers, er, chunkers... it will be Jeff Lynch (3-4/4.47 ERA) and Jim Smiley (2-0/5.35 ERA) doing most of the mound work again... it would really be nice if Smiley could pitch as good as he hits (.409 BA)... I think it would really be nice if Smiley could get his ERA down to something similar... a 4.09 ERA wouldn't be bad... Lynch is a .286 batter... it would really, really, really be nice if he could lower his ERA down to 2.86... don't worry, though, Grin Hill still possesses 2B Jose Jimenez (.391 BA/4 HR/11 RBI/13 R/3 SB), 1B Cody Kaiser (.356 BA/6 HR/14 RBI/14 R), RF Tim Smiley (.326 BA/0 HR/10 RBI/6 R), center fielder Slim Smiley (.314 BA/3 HR/7 RBI/13 R/7 SB), C Lindsey Nelson (.313 BA/7 HR/17 RBI/9 R) and LF Hollis Stanley (.306 BA/4 HR/11 RBI/14 R)... their worst batter is 3B Mark Wade (.283 BA/2 HR/7 RBI/9 R)... 'nuff said... the Smileys will be smiling again this season... may just win the SI Secondary crown... Grin Hill hits that well.

Fourth place Littleville (4-6) and Moon Valley (4-6) had some good moments under the sun last year... they both put some runs on the scoreboards at times... Littleville was lucky they had a decent starter in Eddie Jackson (4-2/4.03 ERA)... but they were also unlucky to have a bullpen filled with the likes of Dave Corley (0-2/7.62 ERA) and Kent Clarke (0-1/8.31 ERA)... Randy Jones (0-1/12.00 ERA) was even worse... sadly for the Supermen, there is no help on the hill in sight... it will be the same old same old... only Luke Lexus made the roster this year... he will take over in left field for good fielder and longballer Randy Jones (.200 BA/3 HR/8 RBI/8 R)... Lexus will join the lineup of 3B Gerald Williams (.400 BA/6 HR/9 RBI/15 R), 1B Bobby Carty (.372 BA/5 HR/12 RBI/9 R), 2B Jimmy Olson (.345 BA/2 HR/8 RBI/5 R/5 SB), SS Duane Wicker (.303 BA/1 HR/7 RBI/2 R) and CF David Barbour (.262 BA/4 HR/8 R/8 R/6 SB)... Littleville will probably stay in the bottom half of the SI Secondary.

The Moon Valley Dreamers (4-6) pretty much kept the status quo... they added three newcomers, but only one of them, outfielder/pitcher Andy Lockwood, looks like he will get playing time and that will be in right field... pitching will still be lousy... Karl Isenberg (1-3/4.03 ERA) will still be the #1 starter... little-used Julien Cassimere (0-0/5.06 ERA/5 IP/2 games) may be in the mix, too... along with Denny Dyess (2-2/10.29 ERA/8 games), despite his atrocious ERA last season... there will be another new starter, 2B Warren Johnson, a good-fielder, no-hitter... Cassimere will take over at shortstop... he's a pretty good gloveman, but has no bat and no punch... C Red Ryder (.200 BA/0 HR/0 RBI/4 R) will be an improvement behind the plate and might up the offense a little... heading up the offense will be LF Max Kleindienst (.350 BA/0 HR/2 RBI/10 R/9 SB), 3B Preston Ward (.294 BA/1 HR/5 RBI/6 R/2 SB), CF Lucky Malone (.262 BA/2 HR/10 RBI/12 R/7 SB)... the Dreamers were no threats last year and don't look any better this year... near the bottom of the heap is what we see in EC's crystal ball for Moon Valley.

The Billings Rams (1-9) were terrible last year and will not be very much better this year... the Rams didn't pick up any quality players except for a pretty fair college pitcher... Clifton Chenier stood out for the Southwestern Louisiana Institute Ragin' Cajuns during his time in the Gulf States Conference from '50 to '53... he made the All-Conference team his junior and senior years... the last two years he pitched pro ball in the Evangeline League for the Lafayette Bulls and did well, but he didn't like the money... Chenier will be tossed to the wolves this weekend... his backups, all from last year, will be Arnold Palmer (0-4/4.82 ERA/8 starts/10 games), Darnell Banks (1-3/5.54 ERA/2 starts/9 games) and Clancy Renard (0-1/4.50 ERA/4 games)... sadly, the offense is worst than the mound corps... Billings only batted .233 with 7 homers and only managed to put a pathetic 32 runs across home plate... 2B Carroll Magee (.375 BA/0 HR/5 RBI/5 R/2 SB) and 1B Jimmy Rogers (.314 BA/3 HR/6 RBI/5 R) were the only decent threats in the batting order... new outfielders Brian Curry and Ralph Ziegler could add a little punch and hitting to the lineup... don't look for the Rams to move up in the Secondary League standings this year.

Right now, we want to say a big howdy do to the newest team in the league, the Columbia Black Cats (2-8)... they were demoted to the Secondary League this season... Columbia will give us a good direct comparison to the talent levels of the two leagues... the Black Cats hit OK (.273 BA) with a fair offense, but they had the worst pitching (5.25 ERA) in the Supreme League... Columbia was paced at the plate by LF Artie Spencer (.368 BA/2 HR/8 RBI/6 R) and SP Roland Carlson (.313 BA/1 HR/7 RBI/5 R/1 SB)... that was pretty much it... Carlson (2-7/5.20 ERA/10 starts) was a workhorse on the mound, but did not do very well... Jack Sullivan (0-1/3.20 ERA) did pretty well out of the bullpen... he may get some starts early this season, along with new arms Angelo Cervelli and Vincent Gendusa... both were fair-to-middling for Louisiana College and Loyola in Gulf States Conference circles in recent years... Cervelli will see more action in center field... none of the other three new position players are expected to be starters... it looks like the Columbia Black Cats may struggle in the Secondary League, too... not much talent.

EC'S CRYSTAL-CLEAR CHATTER, CONTORTIONS, CONTRIVANCES, CHOICES AND CONFIRMATIONS

1. GRIN HILL SMILEYS
2. GULL LAKE SAILORS
3. LITTLEVILLE SUPERMEN
4. MOON VALLEY DREAMERS
5. COLUMBIA BLACK CATS
6. BILLINGS RAMS

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Name: SOUTH_ISLAND_SECONDARY_LEAGUEx.png
Views: 106
Size: 14.4 KB

09-30-2021, 12:38 AM	#180
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,877	Saturday, March 30, 1956 SECONDARY LEAGUE SLY SLANTS, SENTIMENTS AND SUSPICIONS What a season it was last year in the South Island Secondary League! Three clubs, St. Pete (8-3), Gull Lake (8-4) and Grin Hill (7-4), tussling, scuffling and brawling like "all get out" just for the fun of playing the dear old sport of rounders... the 1955 South Island Secondary League was a thing of joy to watch... now those same good old boys of summer are back in business and are rarin' to go and do it all over again... Get ready for some more good old baseball South Island style! It's coming to a local diamond near and dear to you and me this Sunday afternoon. Last year the St. Pete Pelicans pounded their way to the first-ever Secondary League pennant and earned a promotion upwards to the Supreme League... 31 roundtrippers flying out of the park made a lot of difference... I'm sure the other five clubs are more than happy to say, "Bye bye to the Birds and good riddance."... or maybe at least, "So long Pels, Hello Cats."... that would be the nice neighborly thing to do. The Pelicans have flown the coop and the Columbia Black Cats are going to use one of their proverbial nine lives to start anew in the South Island Secondary League... spring is bloomin' out all over and away we go -- the baseball season is here again. All six clubs are refreshing and reloading with some new faces, but there are a lot of old friends, too... last year's runner-up Gull Lake (8-4) will try to repair their pitching corps (4.92 ERA), build up their attack (only 10 HR) and improve the defense... in spite of some tribulations in those areas of the game, they almost won the title last year... the Sailors are hoping newcomers Andre Aubin and Chris Landino will give their pitching rotation a shot in the arm... Curtis Callaway (6-2/4.20 ERA) started all 12 games last season, but finished only 2... relievers Felton Simms (1-1/7.56 ERA) and Lenny Rogers (1-1/9.00 ERA) just didn't cut the mustard... Landino has already impressed enough to take over center field and the leadoff spot in the batting order... hopes are that Landino will kickstart the batting attack and help out left fielder Sal Geraci (.352 BA/1 HR/10 RBI/12 R/5 SB), first baseman Carroll Hardy (.327 BA/4 HR/14 RBI/8 R), third baseman Howard Hayes (.315 BA/0 HR/6 RBI/5 R), right fielder Josh Hayes (.300 BA/1 HR/6 RBI/8 R) and catcher Matt McGovern (.235 BA/4 HR/10 RBI/6 R)... Landino will also improve the outfield defense... only a few changes for Gull Lake, but they will still be serious challengers for the SI Secondary League flag again this year. The Grin Hill Smileys (7-4) were right up there with the big boys, St. Pete... they could match the Pelican power... they hit 28 homers and scored 93 runs... they topped the league with a skyhigh .319 BA... but they were sorely lacking on the hill (4.95 ERA)... thank goodness, it's the same good old bats, but it's also the same good old clunkers, er, chunkers... it will be Jeff Lynch (3-4/4.47 ERA) and Jim Smiley (2-0/5.35 ERA) doing most of the mound work again... it would really be nice if Smiley could pitch as good as he hits (.409 BA)... I think it would really be nice if Smiley could get his ERA down to something similar... a 4.09 ERA wouldn't be bad... Lynch is a .286 batter... it would really, really, really be nice if he could lower his ERA down to 2.86... don't worry, though, Grin Hill still possesses 2B Jose Jimenez (.391 BA/4 HR/11 RBI/13 R/3 SB), 1B Cody Kaiser (.356 BA/6 HR/14 RBI/14 R), RF Tim Smiley (.326 BA/0 HR/10 RBI/6 R), center fielder Slim Smiley (.314 BA/3 HR/7 RBI/13 R/7 SB), C Lindsey Nelson (.313 BA/7 HR/17 RBI/9 R) and LF Hollis Stanley (.306 BA/4 HR/11 RBI/14 R)... their worst batter is 3B Mark Wade (.283 BA/2 HR/7 RBI/9 R)... 'nuff said... the Smileys will be smiling again this season... may just win the SI Secondary crown... Grin Hill hits that well. Fourth place Littleville (4-6) and Moon Valley (4-6) had some good moments under the sun last year... they both put some runs on the scoreboards at times... Littleville was lucky they had a decent starter in Eddie Jackson (4-2/4.03 ERA)... but they were also unlucky to have a bullpen filled with the likes of Dave Corley (0-2/7.62 ERA) and Kent Clarke (0-1/8.31 ERA)... Randy Jones (0-1/12.00 ERA) was even worse... sadly for the Supermen, there is no help on the hill in sight... it will be the same old same old... only Luke Lexus made the roster this year... he will take over in left field for good fielder and longballer Randy Jones (.200 BA/3 HR/8 RBI/8 R)... Lexus will join the lineup of 3B Gerald Williams (.400 BA/6 HR/9 RBI/15 R), 1B Bobby Carty (.372 BA/5 HR/12 RBI/9 R), 2B Jimmy Olson (.345 BA/2 HR/8 RBI/5 R/5 SB), SS Duane Wicker (.303 BA/1 HR/7 RBI/2 R) and CF David Barbour (.262 BA/4 HR/8 R/8 R/6 SB)... Littleville will probably stay in the bottom half of the SI Secondary. The Moon Valley Dreamers (4-6) pretty much kept the status quo... they added three newcomers, but only one of them, outfielder/pitcher Andy Lockwood, looks like he will get playing time and that will be in right field... pitching will still be lousy... Karl Isenberg (1-3/4.03 ERA) will still be the #1 starter... little-used Julien Cassimere (0-0/5.06 ERA/5 IP/2 games) may be in the mix, too... along with Denny Dyess (2-2/10.29 ERA/8 games), despite his atrocious ERA last season... there will be another new starter, 2B Warren Johnson, a good-fielder, no-hitter... Cassimere will take over at shortstop... he's a pretty good gloveman, but has no bat and no punch... C Red Ryder (.200 BA/0 HR/0 RBI/4 R) will be an improvement behind the plate and might up the offense a little... heading up the offense will be LF Max Kleindienst (.350 BA/0 HR/2 RBI/10 R/9 SB), 3B Preston Ward (.294 BA/1 HR/5 RBI/6 R/2 SB), CF Lucky Malone (.262 BA/2 HR/10 RBI/12 R/7 SB)... the Dreamers were no threats last year and don't look any better this year... near the bottom of the heap is what we see in EC's crystal ball for Moon Valley. The Billings Rams (1-9) were terrible last year and will not be very much better this year... the Rams didn't pick up any quality players except for a pretty fair college pitcher... Clifton Chenier stood out for the Southwestern Louisiana Institute Ragin' Cajuns during his time in the Gulf States Conference from '50 to '53... he made the All-Conference team his junior and senior years... the last two years he pitched pro ball in the Evangeline League for the Lafayette Bulls and did well, but he didn't like the money... Chenier will be tossed to the wolves this weekend... his backups, all from last year, will be Arnold Palmer (0-4/4.82 ERA/8 starts/10 games), Darnell Banks (1-3/5.54 ERA/2 starts/9 games) and Clancy Renard (0-1/4.50 ERA/4 games)... sadly, the offense is worst than the mound corps... Billings only batted .233 with 7 homers and only managed to put a pathetic 32 runs across home plate... 2B Carroll Magee (.375 BA/0 HR/5 RBI/5 R/2 SB) and 1B Jimmy Rogers (.314 BA/3 HR/6 RBI/5 R) were the only decent threats in the batting order... new outfielders Brian Curry and Ralph Ziegler could add a little punch and hitting to the lineup... don't look for the Rams to move up in the Secondary League standings this year. Right now, we want to say a big howdy do to the newest team in the league, the Columbia Black Cats (2-8)... they were demoted to the Secondary League this season... Columbia will give us a good direct comparison to the talent levels of the two leagues... the Black Cats hit OK (.273 BA) with a fair offense, but they had the worst pitching (5.25 ERA) in the Supreme League... Columbia was paced at the plate by LF Artie Spencer (.368 BA/2 HR/8 RBI/6 R) and SP Roland Carlson (.313 BA/1 HR/7 RBI/5 R/1 SB)... that was pretty much it... Carlson (2-7/5.20 ERA/10 starts) was a workhorse on the mound, but did not do very well... Jack Sullivan (0-1/3.20 ERA) did pretty well out of the bullpen... he may get some starts early this season, along with new arms Angelo Cervelli and Vincent Gendusa... both were fair-to-middling for Louisiana College and Loyola in Gulf States Conference circles in recent years... Cervelli will see more action in center field... none of the other three new position players are expected to be starters... it looks like the Columbia Black Cats may struggle in the Secondary League, too... not much talent. EC'S CRYSTAL-CLEAR CHATTER, CONTORTIONS, CONTRIVANCES, CHOICES AND CONFIRMATIONS 1. GRIN HILL SMILEYS 2. GULL LAKE SAILORS 3. LITTLEVILLE SUPERMEN 4. MOON VALLEY DREAMERS 5. COLUMBIA BLACK CATS 6. BILLINGS RAMS Last edited by Eugene Church; 10-31-2021 at 05:29 PM.