Thursday, October 9, 2081
RU AND TU TITLE SERIES MADE IN HEAVEN
It is almost perfect. Baseball fanatics in the Islands are in for a treat. The top three picks to win the 2081 Pro Cup survived the first round. Only one of them, number four LaGrange didn't survive. The Bulls had the misfortune to meet third-ranked Crystal Lake and the Skippers were at their best. The Ruthlandian Union and Tycobbian Union Final 4 Series are matches made in Heaven. Crystal Lake will host number five Fort Benton for the RU title and the right to go on to the Pro Cup Series for the overall IPA championship. In the TU title series number-one choice and reigning Pro Cup champion White River will be at home against number two Rolling Hills. Both are exciting crackerjack matches. They almost couldn't be better. Any one of the four challengers could win the coveted Pro Cup Trophy. Only Fort Benton has never won the IPA overall title. White River and Crystal Lake have the homefield advantage.
The victors in this round will be the team that gets the best pitching. Based on first-round statistics Fort Benton has a pretty good chance to upset Crystal Lake. The Cannons will edge the Skippers in a seven-game affair. Fort Benton is hot at the plate and on the hill. Crystal Lake might not have the depth in the pitching department, but the Skippers can swing the bat just about as good as the Cannons.
The Tycobbian title series will also go the full-seven game distance with White River skimming by Rolling Hills. The Rascals have the edge in home-run power. The mound corps are pretty even.
The Pro Cup outlook is for the Pro Cup Finals to be between the Fort Benton Cannons and the White River Rascals. Then again, you could also say it will be Crystal Lake and Rolling Hills. Yeah, buddy, the fans are in for some great postseason baseball this year. Both series will be rootin' tootin' shootouts.
Rolling Hills has nabbed the most Pro Cups, a total of 9, followed by Crystal Lake with 4 and White River with one. The Rascals won it last year, the Racers captured it two years ago and the Skippers were triumphant in 2074. Poetic justice would be for the Cannons to win the whole shebang this year. That's how it would be in a Hollywood script - however, as you and I both very well know, things like that don't happen in the real world of Islandia.