[Eugene Church]

Islandian Pro Alliance

Sunday, April 29, 2001

Ruthlandian Baseball Union

RBU North Division

ZZ Zips Colfax 3-0
In a seemingly effortless performance Zarek Zalewski (2-0) of Valmara blanked Colfax 3-0 at Mountain View Stadium in the first game of a twinbill. ZZ shackled the Blasters on 4 hits, walked none and struck out 4 to gain his second victory of the season. He saw his ERA dropped to a very impressive 0.64. Colfax's Flash Guidry (1-2) had the misfortune of going up against him and suffered his second loss this year, despite his 1.38 ERA. Guidry went the distance, too, allowing only 3 runs and 7 hits with 7 Ks and 2 bases on balls. The Vipers got all the runs they needed in the fourth frame when center fielder Jan Szymanski jacked a 2-run homer, his 3rd this season. Shortstop Mike Ellefson doubled in the other run in the sixth.

Vipers Sweep Blasters
Valmara, the top team in the Ruthlandian Baseball Union North Division, got another fine pitching performance and swept two from the Colfax Blasters. A big 6-5 southpaw Gerry Bart (1-0) checked them on 8 hits in a 3-1 victory. Bart fanned 4 and issued only 2 walks. Jeff Cook did the only damage with a solo roundtripper in the fifth. Viper third sacker Matt Muzurek delivered the decisive blow in the fifth inning with a 2-run homer, his first of the year. That was enough to send Joe Andrews (1-1) down to his first defeat. Andrews went 7 innings and was touched for 6 hits and 2 runs.
With the double wins today Valmara (8-2) remains on top of the RBU North Division, while Colfax (4-6) is in the fourth spot, 4 games out of first place.

Redhawks Win Opener from A's
Far Mountain was outhit 12 to 7 by Glasco, but still won the game 4-2. Winning pitcher Sonny Elliott (2-1) was tough with men on base and weathered just about every threat until he ran out of gas in the ninth. Elliott walked only 2 and fanned 7 in a gutsy performance. He got good relief from Doc Rutledge, who got him out of a serious jam in the ninth. With one run in and the tying runs on first and second, Rutledge stuck out Jose Valenzuela and retired Lloyd Windham on a grounder to get his second save of the year. The Redhawks top batters were CF Hank Gallagher and 3B Al Nixon, who drove in 2 runs apiece. Four Athletics got all 12 hits - CF Chet Reynold was 4-5, RF Valenzuela 3-4, LF Ox Beauvais 2-3 and Zach Byorvik 3-4.
Jesse Balfour (2-1) suffered from shoddy defense as Glasco committed 3 errors and cost him 3 unearned runs. It was Balfour's first loss this season. He struck out 3, walked 2 and allowed 4 runs in 7 innings.

Glasco Gains Split with FM 6-3
Big 6-6 Ernie McCain rose to the occasion and gained a split of the twinbill with Far Mountain. He only allowed one earned run - two were unearned -- in the 6-3 triumph. In his first start of the season McCain (1-0) yielded 7 hits, whiffed 6 and issued only 2 free passes. Offensively 2B Barry McCord sparked the A's with 2 hits, including a 2-run homer. RF Jose Valenzuela drove in 3 runs and had 2 hits. Denny Arthur (0-1) got a rude awakening in his first start and was routed in the second inning after giving up 5 runs and 5 hits. He was the losing pitcher.
Glasco (7-3) fell into second place in the RBU North with the split. The Athletics are now one game behind the first place Valmara Vipers (8-2). The Redhawks (5-5) are in third place, three games off the pace.

Sandoval Stops All-Stars 5-1
Vigilante lefty Raul Sandoval hurled his club past Elnora in the opener of a doubleheader at State Fair Park. Sandoval (1-2) crafted an impressive 5-1 victory, stopping the All-Stars on 7 hits with 9 strikeouts and only 2 walks. Volusia's 12-hit attack was paced by catcher JoJo Nunez, who collected 3 hits in 5 tries and scored twice. 2B Alejandro Salazar was 2-for-5 with a homer and 2 RBIs. The losing pitcher was Ted Gray (1-2), who tossed another good game, but came up on the short end of the score. He gave up 3 runs on 9 hits in 6 innings.

V's Take Pair from Elnora
The Volusia Vigilantes humbled Elnora 12-5 in the second game to take both ends of the twinbill. The V's offense was sparked by 3B Bennie Anderson, who racked up 3 hits and batted in 6 runs and by backup catcher Jorge Rosado with a 3-run homer and a triple among his 3 hits. He drove in 5 runs. LF Alex Luna and 1B Alejandro Salazar scored 4 times each. Pee Wee Cruz (1-2) blanked the All-Stars for 6 frames, but caved in in the seventh and was raked for 4 runs. Cruz did get the win with the save going to Carlos Romero. Elnora's Carl Costas (1-2) picked up the loss. In 6 innings he allowed 5 runs and 6 hits.
With the split Volusia (3-7) and Elnora (3-7) remained deadlocked for last place in the RBU North Division. The clubs are 5 games behind the pace-setting Valmara Vipers (8-2).

RBU South Division

Benson Blanks BB in Opener
Sugar Valley's Ron Benson (2-1) really zeroed in on Belair Beach in the opening game of two at Farmers Memorial Park. The Rattler righthander blanked the Sunbirds 3-0 on a 6-hitter and struck out 10. In doing so Benson dealt Carl Thompson his first defeat of the season. Thompson worked 7 innings and gave up all 3 runs on 7 hits. He fanned 5 and walked 1. 2B Rudi Oliver tripled in the first run in the second inning, SS Flipper Bird doubled in the second score in the third and Benson singled in the last one in the seventh.

Rattlers Take Twinbill from Sunbirds
The Sugar Valley Rattlers won a close one from Belair Beach to win both ends of the Sunday doubleheader to take over the top spot in the RBU South race. Phil Howard (1-0) and Gregg Neal teamed up for the 4-3 victory. Howard tossed 8 good innings, struck out 8 batters, walked 3 and permitted only 3 runs and 7 hits. Neal came in and registered his 2nd save this year with a scoreless ninth. The Rattlers rattled the boards with 13 hits, but didn't do a lot of damage. Cy Bartz had a 2-run blast in the second inning. Rudi Oliver and Slingshot McFall drove in the other two runs. SS Danny Church was just about all the offense the Sunbirds could find. He went 3-4 with 2 solo homers. Dirk Garrett (0-3) lost his third staight start. He departed after 3 innings after allowing 4 runs on 7 hits.
The Rattlers (7-3) have won three in a row and climbed 1.5 games ahead of second place Marston (6-5), who have lost their last four. Belair Beach (5-5) is tied for third with Forest City (5-5).

Hutchinson Halts Marston 8-0 in First Game
Forest City's Buddy Hutchinson (1-1) copped the first game of a twinbill with Marston, blanking them 8-0. In a strong outing he checked them on 7 hits, struck out 4 and walked only 2. Backed up by 11 hits, the Lumberjacks had an easy time of it. SS Pops Keller slapped out 3-5, scored twice and homered. CF Ryan Morse drilled a pair of base hits and plated 2 runs to led Forest City. Nine starter Nick Pace (1-2) took it on the chin, took the loss and was gone in the third after surrendering 5 runs and 6 hits.

'Jacks Shutout Nine Twice in Twinbill
In the nightcap 22-year-old southpaw Brian Charles picked up right where Buddy Hutchinson left off and also shut out the Marston Nine -- and he did it by the same score 8-0. Charles (2-1) fanned 7 on the way to a 3-hit shutout. Forest City started the game with back-to-back homers by Ryan Morse and Benny Davis and got a 3-run shot by Chuck Hill in the second inning to go up 7-0 and never looked back. Losing pitcher Eric Vogler (0-1) lasted only one inning in his first start this season.
It was the Lumberjacks fourth consecutive victory over Marston. The Nine have now fallen out of first place in the RBU South with a a 6-5 record, 1.5 games behind Sugar Valley (7-3). Forest City moved up to a third place tie with Belair Beach, both are 5-5.

Claxton Clubs Waleska 9-5 in Opener
The Claxton Diamonds pounded out 15 hits on the road to whip Waleska 9-4 in the first game of a doubleheader. RF Dixie Baker led the attack with 3-5, including his 4th home run of the year, 3 RBIs and 3 runs. 2B Donny McCoy had a perfect 3-for-3 day with 3 RBIs and LF Winky Rush was 2-5 with 2 runs batted in. On the hill Tetsunori Nakashima (2-1) labored but went the distance, in spite of giving up a dozen hits. The 28-year-old righthander fanned 5 and walked just 2. Losing pitcher Joel Harrell (1-2) departed in the sixth, after he was ripped for 9 hits and 7 runs. 2B Yoshihide Nishida topped the Westerners at bat with 2 hits and 3 RBIs. He tagged his second roundtripper of the season in the ninth.

Westerners Gain Split with Diamonds
Waleska blew a 4-2 sixth-inning lead, but rebounded with 3 in the last of the eighth to gain a split of the doubleheader with Colfax. The Westerners won the game 7-5, belting out 11 hits and 2 home runs. RF Big Hoss Burkhalter and CF Milt Carlson delivered the homers and drove in a pair of runs each. 1B Timmy Ballard had 3 hits and 2 RBIs. The Diamonds also had 2 fourbaggers, one each by CF Wayne Wilson and RF Dixie Baker. It was Baker's 5th of the year. The only pitcher of note was Waleska's starter Gary Hill, who did a nice job in his six innings, only yielding 2 runs on 5 hits. Jack Wagner (1-0) picked up the win, despite blowing the save in eighth. Marv Chancellor came on in the ninth and got the save. He gave up a two-out single, but then finished off Claxton by striking out the dangerous Baker.
The Westerners (5-6) are in the fifth spot in the RBU South Division standings and trail first place Sugar Valley by 2.5 games. The Blasters (3-7) are stuck in the basement and are 4 games off the pace.