Yellow Springs Nine Honor Road Runners for Successful 2056 Season
November 1, 2056
Alomogordo, Somewhere – In what GM Rob McMonigal quipped is now apparently "an annual tradition," the Yellow Springs Nine issued this press release celebrating the 2056 Alomogordo Road Runners for achieving the playoffs for the fourth straight year, a feat not seen by the team since it was operating out of Phoenix, when they went to the playoffs from 2000 to 2008, a team-record 9 times in a row. Then unimaginatively referred to as the Rookie Talons, that version of the squad never made a championship. This team did in 2054.
Those "Granmpa Roadrunners" were a force to be reckoned with, however, winning their division all nine years, just as the 2056 team won its division with a 40-29 record, the lowest win total in the 4-year streak but still good enough to win the Cowboy Division. They took down the Waves of Grain Division winner Chestermere Lunkers 4-1 in the first round, then beat Cayucos Surf 4-2 in round two. Both teams had better records than the Road Runners, so knocking them off was a strong sense of pride for the team.
Unfortunately, in the Championship, Alomogordo ran into the unstoppable Saylorville Nuts, who prevailed in 6 games. Ironically the Nuts are the farm team for the Des Moines Kernals, a division foe for the BBA club.
Stars of the Road Runners included the following players:
SP Pat Rhodes. Brought in due to injuries from a higher level, Rhodes stood like a Colossus going 2-1 in 7 starts with a 2.57 ERA. He kept the team in all his playoff games, though he was 1-2 in 5 starts, with a WHIP in the post-season of .99.
SP Franco Pedrotti. The international scouting discovery went 7-4 in 14 starts in 2056 in the regular season, with a 3.46 ERA. He was 2-1 in 4 post-season starts.
RP Javier Diaz. 2056's fourth round pick was known as a great reliever and he was exactly that for the Road Runners. 2-5 with 21 saves in 30 games and a 3.05 ERA helped get the team into the playoffs. His post-season was 2-2 with 6 saves in 11 games, giving him active involvement in all but 6 of the playoff games.
2B Dennis Rollins. The 2055 6th round selection hit .270 with 14 home runs in the regular season, with the latter figure leading the team in long balls. His strong glove work and big bat gave him the double-feature of winning both awards this year.
OF George Wethington. New to the Nine organization, being selected in the third round of the draft, Wethington featured all across the outfield, with most of his work being in center field. He hit .293 in the regular season and a spectacular .364 in the playoffs.
"I keep referring to my coaches in Alma, er, Alazaza, I mean the Alamos, you know, the Road Runners as "The Dream Team" because they do such a great job with our youngest players. Everyone said the draft was weaker in 2056, but Angel [Cueyas] found a way to get them to the top of the division yet again, his second time in the past three years. He's simply amazing at working with these kids. And Datiz and Gueguen are a big part of that, too. I can't thank them enough for helping develop the next generation of Nine stars.
"It would have been great to win another Championship," said Cuevas, "but I couldn't be prouder of these guys. They're working their asses off to use their talents to be the best ballplayers they've ever been. In a lot of cases, they're exceeding what they did in college. That's because we never take our foot off the gas, from the first pitch to the day we take off the uniforms for the last time that year. And we'll keep doing that, season in and season out, no matter who's playing for me."
