[Eugene Church]

YESTERDAY IN THE IPA

The Islandian Times
Friday, September 23, 2022

2022 IPA Elite 8 Series
(best-of-seven)

Ruthlandian Union

Sligo Up By 1, Slips By Sundowners 4-2
Game three of the RU Elite 8 Series was played at Granger Field in Wynnamac, however it didn't make any difference to Sligo as the Rovers rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to take the game 4-2 and move up two games to one in the series... Sligo got an excellent start from Luka Abromowitz (1-0), who limited the Sundowners to 4 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings... closer Sam Tate came in the ninth and finished it off, holding Wynnamac runless... Both teams got 6 hits each... the Sundowners scored single runs in the first two innings... Sligo got one of them back in the fourth on Johnny Lee Harder's sacrifice fly (.300), then wrapped up the game with 3 more in the sixth, highlighted by RBI doubles by Harder and 3B Manny Alou (.250)... loser Dean Barber (0-1) in a good effort went the distance in defeat, fanning 3 and walking 3... Wynnamac CF Ian Holmes (.583) doubled in the first and scored on a wild pitch... 2B Floyd Kidman (.100) doubled in the second score in the second frame... that was it as far as scoring for the Sundowners.

Ancona Comes Alive, Routs Crystal Lake 10-2
The Ancona Red Elephants came alive on the road with 5 home-run blasts in game three of the RU Elite 8 Series and walloped Crystal Lake 10-2 at Lakefront Stadium... the win cut the Crushers lead to two games to one and was Ancona's critical first win the series... CF Ken Rutledge (.308) led the charge with 2 homers, 4 hits and 3 RBIs... 3B Todd Nasso (.091), 1B Alekos Kotas (.182) and RF Louie DiMucci (.100) also went deep... Hubie Croft (1-0) effectively shut down the Crushers, holding them to 2 runs on 8 hits for the win... Dennis Taylor (0-1) was the losing pitcher... he was slammed for 5 runs and 10 hits in 6 innings.

Tycobbian Union

Suns Finally Win, Zonk Zorros 7-4
The Arroyo Grande big guns unloaded today at De la Vega Stadium in Luxora and the Suns finally won a must game from the Luxora Zorros, cutting their lead to two games to one in the TU Elite Series... LF Eduardo Villanueva tied the game at 1-1 with a solo shot in the third inning and C Gary Troxell (.273) unloaded a 3-run salvo in the 4-run sixth inning to put the Suns ahead to stay... rookie Cesar De Leon hurled a decent game, going all the way and checking the Z's on 8 hits and 4 runs... De Leon had 9 Ks and walked 4 in a credible outing... He stranded 12 Luxora baserunners... the Suns committed 4 errors behind him... Each team collected 8 hits apiece... 1B Jim Gurney (.267) sparked the Zorros at the plate with 2 hits and scored 3 times... Valerio Lopes (0-1) lost it, yielding 5 runs and 5 hits in 5+ innings.

Dorignac Halts Reds 5-2, Wolves Lead By A Game
Playing its first game at home on the happy hunting grounds at Joe Wolf Stadium, Midway erupted for 5 runs right off the bat in the opening frame and held off the Rolling Hills Reds 5-2 in game 3 of the Tycobbian Elite 8... it was the Wolves second win in the series and gave them a surprising two games to one lead over the favored Reds... 22-year-old Bobby Dorignac, a 19-game winner in his rookie year, tossed an impressive game, stopping Rolling Hills on 4 hits and one earned run... Dorignac (1-0) whiffed 8 and issued 3 walks in a route-going job... 2B Frank Reinhard's (.182) 2-run single and CF Johnny Lee's (.455) 3-run roundtripper accounted for all of the Midway scoring... the Wolves got 9 hits off four Reds pitchers, pinning the loss on rookie starter Alan Clay (0-1), who was roughed up for 5 runs in two innings.

The Islandian Times
Saturday, September 24, 2022

2022 IPA Elite 8 Series
(best-of-seven)

Ruthlandian Union

Wynnamac Wins 6-0, Evens Series With Sligo
Wynnamac's Lon Marshall evened the Elite 8 Series with the favored Sligo Rovers with a superb 1-hit shutout in game four of the best-of-seven series... at his home field, Marshall blanked Sligo 6-0, beating the Rovers for the second time in the series... the teams are now knotted up at 2 games apiece... Marshall beat the Rovers 3-1 on 6 hits in the opening game... in this one Marshall (2-0 0.50) fanned 7 and walked 3, while going the distance... the Sundowners were led by 2B Liam Cadbury (.313) with 2 hits, 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs, including a home run in the seventh... Wynnamac collected 8 hits off two Sligo pitchers... loser Les Patterson (0-2 4.96) worked 6 and a third innings and gave up all the hits and all of the runs... Rover 1B Johnny Lee Harder (.333) spoiled the no-hitter with a fifth-inning single.

Crushers Rip Red Elephants 8-2, Up 3-1 In Series
The Crystal Lake Crushers took a giant step towards winning the RU Elite 8 Series with Ancona by smashing them 8-2 in game four to take a three games to one edge... one more win will send the Crushers to the next round, the RU Final 4... Crusher ace Duncan Welch sparkled again on the hill as he shut down hard-hitting Ancona for the second time in the series, stopping them on 6 hits in a complete-game performance... Welch (2-0 1.00) had 6 strikeouts and walked just one... Crystal Lake cracked 12 hits, paced by 1B Phil Gravelli (.267) with 2 hits and 3 RBIs, 3B Tommy Gompers (.412) with 3 hits, 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs... Gompers had 2 triples... and SS Alton Sonnenberg (.583) with 3 hits, 1 run batted in and 1 scored... Ancona ace Clete Dukas (0-2 3.38) took it on the chin... the Crushers belted him for 11 hits and 8 runs in 5+ innings... 3 of the runs were not earned as the Red Elephants committed 3 errors.

Tycobbian Union

Suns Even Series, Slam Z's 6-3 In 10
It was quite a tussle at De la Vega Stadium in Luxora... for 9 innings it was a tense 1-1 duel between the teams' number-one hurlers - Sixto Zamora for Arroyo Grande and Tiago Torres for Luxora... but when they left, all heck broke loose against the teams' bullpens... the Suns exploded for 5 runs in the top of the tenth and held on for a 6-3 triumph after the Zorros mounted a mild comeback in the bottom half of the inning with 2 runs... Arroyo Grande pinchhitter Andre Lajoie snapped the 1-1 tie with a double, CF Johnny Whittier (.059) blasted a 3-run homer and 1B Rusty Vizcarra (.333) finished off the Suns scoring with an RBI single... Arroyo Grande got 10 hits, while Luxora totaled 9... Zamora (1-1 4.14) got credit for the victory as he went 9 innings, allowed 7 hits and a run, while fanning 6 and walking 2... Suns bullpen specialist Jason Patrick struggled in his only inning and gave up 2 runs in the tenth... closer Jay Brewer (0-1) was rocked for 4 runs in the tenth for the loss... Luxora starter Tiago Torres was terrific, striking out 10 in 9 innings, limiting the Suns to just 4 hits and one run, while permitting 3 walks.

Midway Takes 3rd Straight, Reds Trail 3-1
The underdog Midway Wolves got another fine pitching performance and continued to hit with authority to mow down the number-two seeded team Rollings Hills 6-2 in game four of the Tycobbian Union Elite 8 Series... it was the Wolves third win in a row, giving them a chance to finish off the favored Reds by winning just one more game in the best-of-seven series... Rolling Hills will have to run out the series to keep its season alive... Dakota Dyami (1-1 4.85) tossed a complete game and held the Reds to 5 hits and 2 runs, striking out 4 and walking 3... Dyami got a lot of offensive support as the Wolves piled up 11 hits, led by 2B Frank Reinhard (.333) with 2 doubles, a single, 2 runs scored and an RBI... RF Kyle Rigney (.400) rapped a pair of hits and scored twice... C Sammy Murphy (.231) drove in 2 runs for the winners... game-one winner Errol Gaudet (1-1 4.20) caught the loss as he surrendered 4 runs and 9 hits in his 7 innings.