Power RAYnkings: 10 Players Who Might Be Next Into The Hall...
After much fanfare last year, Andrew Westcott and myself garnered the most votes and were the latest inductees into the league hall of fame. But the question now is, who’s next? It's been 3 years since I wrote my last Power RAYnkings and as we haven’t had a season since, I figured I would give my top ten of potential players to be on the next HOF discussion. Usually I would write about teams in this scenario, so writing about players should be a fun experience. There have been several players that have gone through the HWL but few have made the impact that I have seen these players make. So without further ado, here are my top ten players that I think should be discussed.
10. Matt Gordon
In 2014 the league exploded with talent across every team. From the Honey Badgers, SOMB, and Wee Willy Wiffle. But that year no team shined brighter than Breaking Balls. Drew McClanahan was the talk of the league and as was Ryan Pritt the team's captain and architect, so it was easy for a player to Matt Gordon become slightly overlooked. "Gordo", as he was called, had a very impressive year in 2014 as he won the bronze slugger and homerun king. He had the 2nd highest batting average with an impressive .467 as well. Going 20-0 in the regular season, Breaking Balls were poised to win it all, but a stray HR given up in the 2014 semifinals would cut their championship hopes short.
2015 came around and Breaking Balls had their eyes set on one goal: winning the championship. The team lost Rob Stewart that year but still had their core group. Gordo was known for his HR power but this year he would have to test his abilities in another part of the game, pitching. With the rotation rules applied this year it would mean someone other than Drew McClanahan would have to throw from the mound. Matt pitched 4 games total and started 3 of them, where he went 3-0 and gave SOMB their only loss of the year. Now a more well-rounded player, Drew had the help he needed and would prove beneficial as Breaking Balls would end up winning the 2015 Championship. "Gordo" may not have had the longest career on this list but he put up an impressive .442 AVG with 32 HRs, 62 RBIs and only 29 Ks. He also had a 0.0579 OBP% and 1.250 SLG % and was the backbone of the Breaking Balls offensive onslaught when he was in attendance.
9. Tyler Roush
After the 2 years of fast pitch play finished up (2014-2015), the league was going with a new format… slow pitch. The league that year had the most teams ever in history with 10 total participating and looked as if SOMB would just run away with it. But midway through that year an expansion team of young players came in June to try their luck with it… the Mothmen. Little was known about this team but they soon exhibited just how talented they were. Among them was a heavy hitter known as Tyler Roush. The team only played in 2 tournaments that year and they won them both, with Roush leading the team in HRs, RBIs, and without striking out in 44 plate appearances!
In 2017, the league went through yet another change with a split format of fast and slow pitch. Not only did the format change again, but we were adding a draft style for the first time in history. With the numbers and athleticism the Mothmen provided in 2016, it was no secret that their players would be a top priority. Roush was selected 4th overall in the first round by Saved by the Balls captain Andrew Westcott. This pick instantly made this team the favorites to win it all, which they ultimately did. Roush led the team with a .646 batting avg., HRs, and RBIs. With these stats he was a no brainer for them selection for the NWLA regional team.
In 2018, the league ushered in the medium pitch format change. And while that year evened out the playing field for the most part, Roush still shined above the others as he still led his team in BA with a .612, RBIs, and tied for HRs on the team. That year his team would have the best league record and would go on to win one of the most exciting championship games against the seasoned SOMB team. Again Roush was selected to the NWLA regional team where they ended up placing 3rd overall and making it to the big dance in Morenci, MI. With his bat and fielding capabilities he helped the team finish in the top 8 making it the highest finish the HWL has ever had in NWLA tournament history. Roush still continues to compete on the national level and performing lights out every time.
8. Jacob Fischer
The year is 2014 and its at the all star break. Teams are gearing up for the late season push, all except one team… the Honey Badgers. They lost half of their team by then and were grasping at straws to keep their hopes alive. Paul Hesson now found himself as the team's captain and had to dig deep to fill the roster. One player he found was a left handed pitcher by the name of Jacob Fischer. We saw a promo video of his potential start to the HWL and knew he was coming with a force, little did we know he was more than had to offer on the mound than just speed. Fischer made an immediate impact that year despite all the elite talent and stood out as the only south paw in the group. When he joined the Honey Badgers at the all star break, they were sitting at 5-5. With his presence, the team went 7-3 the rest of the season, boosting the team into much more of a contender status against the juggernaut that was Breaking Balls that year. The team went 0-4 against them being outscored 11-2 and looked to meet again in the semifinals that year. That game would last 9 innings where a solo shot heard around the league went flying over the fence and Jacob Fischer held the previously unbeaten titans off to give them their first loss and send the Honey Badgers to take on another powerhouse SOMB. That game too would go long into the 10th inning where the hero for the Honey Badgers would be Fischer hitting a 2-run homerun off of Jeremy Ray to capture the title in 2014. After the title game the league went to the NWLA tournament with high hopes of making noise. Fischer was only an alternate for the team (coming halfway into the season) and caught a break when Andrew Westcott wasn’t able to make it because he won a prize of going to the MLB all star game in Minnesota. Out was Westcott and in was Fischer to add another arm into the rotation. Jacob did not disappoint. He threw a gem against a very good KWL team which HWL ended up winning 11-3. Jacob came in halfway through the season and still put up impressive numbers. He hit a .431 in 10 games played with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs and pitched 30 innings with 47Ks, an ERA of 1.17 and a win loss record of 4-1.
In 2015 some new rules were being applied, namely throwing from 48ft instead of 45, and a rotation rule. This seemed to affect pitchers like Fischer and McClanahan but still put up impressive numbers. Jacob struck out 45 batters that year in just 31 innings pitched. His offensive ability also surged with a .352 BA with 25 hits and 11 HRs. His team (Chicken & Waffles) was poised to make another great upset by facing a team they lost to 4 times Sit On My Base) in the regular season hoping that history would repeat itself. But luck was not on their side and they fell short of achieving that in the semifinals. But one thing remained consistent over the two years: Jacob's presence on the mound. Over the course of his career he was known as one of the premier pitchers in the league and we wouldn’t see another hard throwing lefty until several years after him!
7. Nick Kappra
2014 was a fun and magical year full of competition and low scoring games and Nick Kappra was a reason for most of the 1 run games, whether in his favor or not, going into extra innings. Wee Willy Wiffle was not known for its hitting abilities, but Nick kept his team in it with his incredibly hard to hit fastball in hopes that a stray homerun would finish the game. Kappra had 116 Ks in 95 innings pitched and only giving up 43 BBs and managed a mere 0.53 ERA only garnishing 10 ERs that year. One would think with those numbers, far better than Ray's numbers that year, his win loss record would’ve been phenomenal, but he had an 8-6 win-loss record… 8 AND 6!!! To say that Nick was the Jacob DeGrom of the league is an understatement! All of his losses came were 0-1 or 0-2 losses, most of them in extra innings as a result of a walk off heartbreakers. He wasn’t known for his hitting which was right about the middle of the pack with a .347 but still helped himself out with 5 HRs and 16 RBIs. Nick was a top choice to pick for the NWLA tournament that year where he thrived as a consistent starter who could hit the zone from 48ft. The following year the league was making changes and so was Nick.
2015 had arrived and the league went through changes of 48ft distance for the mound and a pitcher rotation rule. A lot of thought processing happened and Nick joined the evil empire known as Sit On My Base. With the 1-2 punch of Kappra and Ray made them instant favorites for winning the championship. Opening day SOMB faced Black Sheep Wiffle (formally known as Bag Tag) and Kappra threw the first no hitter of the year against a seasoned team! But alas we had to imagine what would’ve happened if Kappra was able to stay the entire year. He ended up moving to Maryland for law school, cutting short what would have without a doubt a banner year for Kappra. He ended 2015 playing only a total of 5 games with a batting avg of .333, 3 HRs and 9RBIs and was only able to pitch 15 innings producing 19 Ks and a win-loss record of 3-1. With a performance like that, imagine what he could have accomplished in a full season! His last appearance was during the last Hallowiffle Tournament in 2017.
6. "Big" Mike McCoy
The man, the myth, the legend. Big Mike always stuck fear in the hearts of pitchers throughout the league with the long ball. A very in depth article was released about Mike that had many people wondering, why is Big Mike not in contention for the Hall? Well, I heard your cries and put Mike into consideration. Like most of the players on this list, his career began in 2014, and he joined up with 2 seasoned players in Josh and Greg to help form the Green Bears. This team did not reach expectations and stayed at the bottom of the league producing a measly 3-17 record. McCoy would have the 2nd highest BA on the team (.225) and have the most HRs (6) and 10 RBIs. He was not a pitcher but their power hitter, and no hit came louder than game 12 of the season. The Green Bears were the whipping team of the league and had to face the juggernaut team Breaking Balls and Drew McClanahan, maybe you've heard of him? Up to that time, Drew had not given up a single run all season. All 4 fields were going on as usual when Mike McCoy came up to bat in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Drew reared back and sent his fastball in when all you heard was an explosion happen that made the league stand still. Think of the scene in the Sandlot when they played baseball on the 4th of July and stopped to stare at the fireworks, but our scene was a half naked commissioner running around hugging random players. Each game was recording that day and to watch everyones reaction was amazing as they took a moment to appreciate what had happen. From then on he was known as "Big" Mike McCoy.
2015 was a make or break year for the players from 2014 and no one took more opportunity hitting because of the added 3ft to pitching than Big Mike. He improved in every hitting category. He surged to a .449 AVG, 37 runs, 22 HRs, 56 RBIs, and a slugging percentage of 1.202 which helped him pocket the Most Improved Player award that year. He also was part of the All-Star game and won the home run derby competition that year. His team that year was Wifflin’ Dixie which had some of the same components as the year before except Josh Smith. That team had a much better year than before finishing with an 8-12 record. There's no secret to why this team was much more successful than the previous year, they produced run support and Big Mike was the main reason for that.
The year that could’ve been Big Mikes star studded year was 2016 but he missed out due to work schedule. A more detailed article has already been written for the what could’ve been. But we had to wait until 2018 to get to see Big Mike at it again. The style was medium pitch and a new format for McCoy as he was more used to the fire balling that always happened. So how was he going to adjust to this style? Very well actually! He was on a team that gave him the much needed support hitting with Anthony Stidham, Justin Fairman, Rick Patterson, and Ronnie Canterbury. Mike boosted a .434 AVG, 52 runs, 46 hits, a whopping 34 HRs, 72 RBIs, and a slugging percentage of 1.396. He was top 3 in both HRs and RBIs with just 2 HR shy of the leader and Hall of Famer Andrew Westcott which goes to show he is no slouch. Big Mike is deserving of a nomination in the future to where once he gets in everyone will be saying…FINALLY!
5. Paul Hesson
Out of the 10 future Hall of Famers I have on this list, Paul Hesson is the most seasoned. Paul played from 2014 to 2018 playing and captaining for 2 different franchises: the Honey Badgers and the Asthmatics. Paul also played on the NWLA Regional and National teams in 2014, 2016, and 2018. We are going to highlight every season of Paul's career and one of the great managers of all time in the league. So lets dive into the storied career of Paul Hesson.
In 2014 we had some hard throwers in Kappra, McClanahan, and Adkins, but none threw consistently like Paul. With less than a spilt second decision for the hitters, Paul's cut fastball was a force in the league. Paul played for the Honey Badgers as just a player at the start focused on his hitting and pitching. Some crazy things happened like strikezones getting punched and buckets getting kicked (YESSIR!!!) and Paul was barely looking at a team during the All-Star break. With some quick planning he found a couple of players to join up real quick and might’ve heard of one of them… Jacob Fischer and the rest was history. The Honey Badgers was now his team and they ended up winning the 2014 season. During that season, Paul was great on both sides of the ball. He hit .437 with 89 plate appearances, had 31 hits, 10 HRs and 29 RBIs. He was 7th in BA, 2nd in hits, 2nd in HRs, and 2nd in RBIs. If that doesn’t impress you maybe his pitching stats will. Paul was one of the few pitchers that didn’t have to pitch both games. He pitched 40 innings with an ERA of 2.12, had 47 Ks and a win loss record of 5-2 and made him a clear selection for the NWLA tournament team.
The following year, the Honey Badgers disbanded with Fischer migrated to Chicken and Wiffles, and Paul started a different franchise in the Asthmatics. There he compiled a team of rookies to compete for another title adding a good pitcher in Josiah Chapman and Rookie of the Year Veronica Stanley. Again, Paul was using his managerial skills to help him compete to win and the Asthsmatics finished at an even .500 with a 10-10 record. That year Paul had another phenomenal hitting year finishing in the top 3 in batting average with a .622, he had 15 HRs with 48 RBIs and only struck out 8 times in 101 plate appearances. On the other side of the ball he finally had the opportunity to be the main ace on the team. He had trouble with command of the ball compiling 109 BBs but tied for 1st in Ks with Jeremy Ray. His ERA was 8.75, further proof that moving back 3 ft hurt a lot of pitchers this year in ERA. Paul’s team made it to the semifinals against none other than Breaking Balls and Drew McClanahan. Last time this happened a lone solo shot sent the “unbeatable” team home. Unfortunately, the stars were not aligned for another upset and lost to the Breaking Balls 7-3.
2016 will be brief only because Paul only played one tournament with a team you wouldn’t expect: Sit On My Base. He helped the team that day solidify its first championship. Paul was still considered a high level player so he was a natural choice to join up with the NWLA tournament team to qualify for the nationals. The Blizzard, as the team was called, brought whoever was willing to go and showed up in Morenci. Unfortunately we didn’t qualify but some interesting things did happen there. Paul became a volleyball player that day as he volleyed a line drive ball off his hands 30 ft away from the fence out of the ballpark. A phantom out happened in the first game as Paul was called out after he crossed the bag and stepped on the ball in foul territory. To this day we still can’t figure it out why it was called but it ended the inning which came back to haunt us as we lost 3-2.
2017 went enter the draft era! Paul is again at the helm of his franchise the Asthmatics and sitting on the last pick in the draft #5 went to work to fill his team to compete. With the 5th pick in the first round Paul chose a solid hitter in Jacob Dunkle. This draft was a snake based draft so if you had the last pick in one round, you have the first pick in the following round. So now Paul had another pick to go with and he went with his buddy Josiah Chapman. Just these three guys alone makes this a dangerous team. The rest of his team fills out with Josh Ross, Hall of Famer Josh Smith, Shawn Huffman, and Scott Taylor. His team is set to take on the 2017 season and looks like he has a team to win he championship. But dismal attendance caused the team to finish at near the bottom of the league standings. Despite all that, Paul still hit a .560 with 17 HRs and 28 RBIs with a slugging percentage of 1.640.
After the failed season of the draft Paul took his franchise into a final swing at another championship in 2018. The team turned it around and finished with a 14-10 record. Paul kept his go to person in Jacob Dunkle and added 2 new players in Cody Brown and Sam Garton. Paul still had a great at the plate season batting .573 AVG with 133 plate appearances 35 HRs, 76 RBIs, and a slugging percentage 1.500. Paul finished 2nd in HRs, 2nd in RBIs, 3rd in slugging percentage, and tied for 1st in hits. His team finished 3rd overall and ran into the other seasoned franchise SOMB if the semifinals of the playoffs. They ended up losing to them and finishing their season. Paul was a great choice to join up with the NWLA team, for the 3rd time, to try to make it to Morenci. He helped the Mothmen lead the charge through the qualifier and the HWL found their way back into national picture. Paul still had the speed pitching and hitting to compete on the national level and the team finished in the top 8 this being HWL highest finish ever.
4. Brice Clark
2016 was running full steam, Rocket Boys and Sit On My Base battling it out for top spot in the league. Then the June tournament comes around and these 2 teams join up that month, one being Dinger City (played in Hallowiffle tournaments) and team of unknowns that called themselves the Mothmen and captained by Brice Clark. The Mothmen lost the first match against Dinger City but would rebound to win that June tournament and it was their only loss the rest of the year. They ended up winning the July tournament as well and had they played in the April and May tournament, I believe they could have made a run to be the overall league champion that year. The team had such a stellar roster but out of the group of players none shined brighter than Brice. A solid left handed hitter and pitcher, he also served as the voice and leader of the team. In those 2 months Brice put up a .674 Batting Avg with with 14 HRs and 22 RBIs. He finished in the top 10 in BA and would’ve pushed for top spot if had he played the other months. The Mothmen came in a month too late as we already had a group going to the NWLA qualifier. If they were there, several would’ve been selected to go with Brice being a top choice.
In 2017, Brice entered the draft as a possible number one draft pick. The skill set he displayed would’ve been a no brainer to have on any team had would join. He was selected as the number 2 overall pick by Ian Handy and the Thunderducks. With the format of the 2017 season being half fast pitch and half slow pitch, Brice got the opportunity to show what he can do on the fast pitch portion. He was 2nd in the league in BA, 4th in the league in HRs, and 1st in slugging percentage. Pitching fast pitch was an adjustment for the lefty as he had an ERA of 9.45 but still lead the league in strikeouts with 22 but more impressively only walked 3 batters in 13.1 innings Pitched. Seeing the potential in the lefty, Brice was asked to join the NWLA in 2017 and showed a display of greatness that he will continue to show to this day. If it wasn’t for a hiccup of a call in Wilkes Barre, the group of rookies (minus Jeremy) would’ve been playing in Morenci.
Brice found himself back in his comfort zone with the Mothmen in 2018. With the format as medium pitch, Brice still shined amongst the top of the pack. He finished 4th overall in BA with a .611, 5th in hits, 3rd in runs scored, 7th in HRs with 26, 8th in RBIs, 2nd in On Base Percentage, and 4th in slugging percentage with a 1.495. That is a top 10 finish in each of the major hitting categories! On the other side of the ball, Brice finished 3rd in ERA with 11.35 (mind you its medium pitch), 7th in Ks with 16, and 3rd in WHIP with a 1.78 and finished with a win-loss record of 5-2. Needless to say his team was hungry for a championship. They ended up facing Sit On My Base in the championship where it was a top 10 all time greatest games played in HWL history where his team hit a walk off HR to win 6-5 and the championship. Again Brice and several other Mothmen were selected to come and compete one last time for the HWL in Regional play in Indiana. Brice grew as a pitcher and a hitter on the fast pitch spectrum and only suffered 1 loss in 2 games pitching to a great GAWL team. The team always goes to the event as the champions of the league which this year was the Mothmen. Playing the last game in pool play, the Mothmen were 1-2 getting ready to face a PWL team that has been at every NWLA in its existence. In order for the Mothmen to make it the needed to win the game by 17 runs in order to be the top 3 and not go into the Dangerfield bracket. They finished winning by 22 runs and moved on to the NWLA tournament for the first time since 2014. Brice was the Ace! There was no debating this going into the tournament as he provided leadership on the mound. All the starts that Brice did ended as a win for the Mothmen and finished in the top 8 in the nation! Brice would only continue to grow as a player and become the best wiffle ball player in WV history!
3. Anthony Stidham
2015 is in full swing with SOMB and Breaking Balls running away with the top 2 spots. One team that everyone circled on their calenders as a time to add on their stats was the Plain White Tees. Having the most turnover rate of players coming week in and week out, this team never got traction in moving forward to be successful. Two players really stood out on this team, one being Andy Hill the captain who showed up to almost every game, and another being Anthony Stidham. Anthony was hanging out in a card shop with Ronnie Canterbury and Ronnie asked if he would be interested in playing wiffle ball. Intrigued, Anthony said sure why not and showed up not knowing what he was getting himself into. He showed up as part of the whipping team of the league and took it in stride. Unlike most players, Anthony came back. He was just getting his feet wet as a player and only played 6 games for the PWTs. Starting off his numbers weren’t that great hitting .205 with 5 HRs and 15 RBIs. But that is with only 6 games played and no supporting staff around him.
2016 is a new year new me type deal for Anthony as he joined up with veterans this time to help form Make Wiffleball Great Again. He and PWTs member Andy Hill joined up with slugger Jacob Dunkle, commishioner and HOFer Patrick Rayl, and HWL legend Josh Smith. One thing you can say about this team is they were definitely a lot of fun! But aside from the fun, this team put up runs and competed for top spot and Anthony had a big part of that. Anthony thrived in the slow pitch format where he was hitting .466 with 20 HRs and 29 RBIs. A significant increase from last year results because he had help around him. He was 2nd in most hitting categories on the team, Dunkle being the leader of those categories. Pitching wasn’t an issue as we didn’t keep the stats for pitching that year. The season came to a close and Anthonys team finished 3rd overall, but Anthony ended up joining the Blizzard and went with us to Morenci to try and qualify for nationals. That car ride with Anthony, Andrew, Paul, and myself was the most fun I had since seeing the weenie-mobile. Jabs about not having Bluetooth happened every 5 mins, and still happen to this day with one jab being his bathroom light had Bluetooth before my car did.
2017 the year of the draft as its mostly known by now and Anthony was fit to be a top pick. He was selected as the first pick in the 3rd round by the Wiffle Hit Wonders and joined with teammate Jeremy Ray. This team had a lot of promise from the start, but fell short of expectations. The team even made the top 10 worst teams in HWL history despite finishing 3rd overall. Attendance was the main factor for the teams demise. Anthony still managed to hit .316 with 10 HRs and 20 RBIs. Anthony also got to pitch during this season and managed a 1-1 record in 5.1 innings and 3 Ks. He was selected to join up and manage the HWL regional team but wasn’t able to go. One thing that was special about Anthony this year, he picked up the chore of toting the equipment to and from the fields. Something that is often overlooked by players as the fields are normally already set up by the time they get there, the set up. Greg Sowards was the main person that somehow just fell on him to do this task, now fell on Anthony. Without that type of dedication for the league, we don’t function.
2018 again new year new format this time as medium style pitching. Headed by famous one arm slinger Justin Fairman, Anthony joined up with a group of sluggers to help complete the OD Bangers. A favorite team to see as they wise cracked and poked at everyone they played against. Full of talent OD Bangers was full of nostalgia players with Big Mike McCoy, Ronnie Canterbury, and Rick Patterson. Anthony fit right on in with this group, not only did he fit… he thrived! Anthony lead his team with a .564 avg (the only one above .500) and hits with 53. He was 2nd in runs scored with 49, HRs 26, and RBIs with 40. His .589 OBP was a big factor for this group scoring runs and his 1.426 slugging percentage helped out as well! More of his format for pitching as his has great movement on the ball, medium style would help Anthony. He pitched 30 innings, had 19 Ks, had a win loss record of 4-4 with an ERA of 17.70 and a WHIP of 2.73. They fell to 4th in the standings and had to play the eventual champions the Mothmen. This group and Anthony were a lot of fun to be around
2. Brian Ball
2014 was such a fun year with talent galore. Every week was a battle and the year of the pitcher was born. In baseball or wiffleball, you have great hitters and great pitchers, but one position that is overlooked is defense. Brian Ball was the best defensive player we had in our league, who was incredibly smart and turned more double plays than anyone in HWL history. Hitting was tough enough but getting a hit and having it taken away from you because of Brian was rough! He played on a well known team called Bagtag (his kickball team name) full of his kickball teammates. The captain of bag tag was Brandon Woolum and he knew how to use Brian best… the field. Watching how he played kickball was the same mentality for wiffleball. Make the play, get the out, move on! That year he was a good on base player hitting .358 scoring 13 runs with 4 doubles and an OBP of.528. Though he didn’t hit a HR that season, he was asked to join up with the HWL Brewjays on the national team mainly for his defensive purpose. Brian also did pitch a little bit in 2014. He pitched 18 innings with 19 Ks recording an 0-3 record with a 3.06 ERA and a WHIP of 1.89. Team Bagtag ended up losing to Wee Willy Wiffle in the first round of the playoffs causing Brandon to rebrand the team next season.
In 2015 Brian had a blast of a season. Now part of a new team name Black Sheep Wiffle, they added a stong fast pitcher in Steven Adkins which kept Brian where he thrives… in the field. Something I didn’t mention that he has always been a force with was his base running capabilities. He would force you to make a choice on whether to make a throw or not because if you did he normally took an extra base or added another necessary run. During the regular season in 2014, Brian didn’t record a single homerun (to be fair there weren’t many due to extreme pitching). In 2015, he recorded 20 of them! A dramatic increase to say the least. But Home Runs weren’t the only thing Brian improved on, his Batting Avg went up to .679 which was 2nd in the league, 3rd in the league in Hits with 55, he lead the league in doubles with 8, he was 6th in Home Runs with 20, he only K’d 7 times in 81 at bats, he lead the league in OBP with a .833 and was 2nd in the league with a 1.600 slugging percentage. To say that Brian had a good year in 2015 is an understatement, if he we on SOMB or Breaking Balls that year he would’ve been in talks of potential MVP.
2016 Brian had a small season like Paul and joined SOMB to help secure their first title. He was recruited to play defense but his bat went off that day. Totaling around 25 HRs, Brian helped secure a top 4 finish to give the title to SOMB.
2018 after a years leave of absence Brian came on to a well known team of Sit On My Base with the likes of Jeremy Ray and Andrew Westcott. Brian was known for his amazing defense which is why he was brought on in the first place. That year, he was a major threat on both sides of the ball. Despite being off for almost two years of speed pitching (2016 was slow pitch), he hit an amazing .507 with 78 plate appearances, 40 runs, 34 hits, 21 HRs, 32 RBIs, 7 Ks, and a slugging percentage of 1.478. With no need to pitch with 4 pitchers on the team, Brian was in his element of defense. Rarely ever making a mistake, he robbed homeruns and hits all season which is what he has done for every season he played. Brian was called out by podcasters across the nation on hitting 0 homeruns in 2014. Since then, he hit has hit over 50 HRs becoming one of the most balanced players in HWL history.
Before we go into our number 1 player on the list, let give some honorable mention to some players who will be in discussion in the future:
Scotty Westcott- 2x champ, 3x Runner up, 5 years in the league
Justin Fairman- 1x champ, 4 years in the league
Rick Patterson- 1x champ, 4 years in the league
Wyatt Zuspan- 2x champ, 3 years in the league, 2 year HWL national team member
Kevin Chattin- 2x runner up
Steven Adkins- 2014 HWL national team member
Jacob Dunkle- 1x runner up, 5 years in the league
Finally our number 1 member...
1. Ryan Pritt
Oh the infamous 2014 year, the tales of old folklore and unicorns. Every podcast, every article always seems to go back to this year… but why? If you look at who is in the HOF, every single member was present during that season. Not only founders, but top players of the league. This list alone has 7 from that year which speaks to how important and how significant that year really was. And something that was really significant was the team Breaking Balls. Of course Drew McClanahan garnered all the attention as being someone that was unhittable, but just like Michael Jordan needed Scottie Pippen to go along the ride with, Ryan Pritt did the quiet work to get them where they needed to be. In a year where a good season offense was hitting above .250, Ryan laid the ground work to complement Drews pitching by hitting .318 with 53 plate appearances. Along with his AVG. he had scored 15 runs, 14 hits, 7 HRs, 11 RBIs, 9 BB, 11 Ks with a slugging percentage of .818. Again, these numbers seem low considering every other year the batting averages were higher. You just had to be there to see the dominant pitching that kept these numbers low. Ryansplay was always at critical times that helped his team win games. One play that sticks out is a game against the Honey Badgers, pre Jacob Fischer. Josh Berletich was pitching and gave a homerun. You might say “so what” but when its crucial to not give up any runs and that was his 2nd homerun given up. As it sails over the fence, you hear a major “YES SIIIIIIIIRRRRR!!!!” as a bucket goes flying across the yard from being kicked by Josh. The Yes Sir guilty party was none other than Ryan Pritt. As I stated before, Michael Jordan needed Pippen; just as Drew needed Ryan. Ryan Pritt kept that team together to help build one of the strongest dynasty teams in HWL history. That year Ryan also got an opportunity to pitch 2 games. Going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 8 innings pitched, giving up 1 hit, striking out 8 batter, walking 10, and had a WHIP of 1.37! As the story goes Breaking Balls were one hit away from making it to the championship but a rare and stray Home Run by David Dillon ruined their chances of a championship. Next year, Ryan would come back with a vengeance.
The focus of the 2015 Breaking Balls was only on one thing… a championship! Ryan was captain of that team bringing back all members of the previous season. Drew is coming back from a rough outing at nationals, but one player who didn’t have a rough outing all season was Pritt. He led his team in every hitting categories that year starting with a .521 avg. up over.200 from last year. He had 150 plate appearances, 63 hits, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 26 HRs, 75 RBIs, 29 BBs, 16 Ks, with a On Base Percentage of .613 and a 1.198 slugging percentage. He was 7ththat year in BA, was the silver slugger with 63 hits, was 2nd in HRs, and was 2nd in RBIs that season. Three feet really helped wake his bat up that year. That same year we added a new rule of a pitching rotation to try to help with the offense. Ryan got to pitch 6 times that year with 25 innings pitched, giving up 37 runs, 44 hits, 37 walks, 27 Ks, an ERA of 7.40, a WHIP of 3.24 and a record of 5-1. That brought his total fast pitch record to 7-1 which is pretty impressive due to the fact Drew McClanahan hardly gave up the ball. In 2014 the Breaking Balls squad didn’t lose a regular season game going 20-0. In 2015, they had dents in their armor going 18-2. So far Ryan has captained a franchise to 38-2 regular season record in just 2 seasons! But the big question is how they would fair in the playoffs. Going 1-1 last year and losing in the semifinals, they hoped to dominate their division to send them to a championship game… which they did. Their only 2 loses came from interleague play from SOMB and Chicken and Wiffles. Which it comes to no shock those two teams face each other in the semis with SOMB coming away with a 4-0 win. Now the match up was set for the 2 best teams to go at each other. Ryan Pritt always seemed to have Jeremy Rays number from the box and sent a ball over the fence in the 2ndinning which is all they would need to capture the title winning 6-0.
2016 was the year that the format changed for equal play. No longer was a fast pitcher needed to dominate the scene to win a championship. Now you needed a strong hitting team, and Ryan Pritt teamed up this year with a strong hitting franchise…Sit On My Base. For the first year all Ryan had to do was sit back and hit dingers. He joined up with the Jeremy Ray, Andrew Westcott, and Scotty Westcott, along with power hitters Rick Patterson and the one armed man Justin Fairman. Every year, Pritt's offensive numbers went up. He added another .100 hitting .641 in 64 at bats, 41 hits, 28 HRs, 38 RBIs, walked 3 times, only had 2 Ks, an OBP of .657 and a slugging percentage of 1.953. Astronomical numbers from last year. He was 8th in Hits (which was 5th on the team), 6th in HRs, 8th in RBIs, and 9th in slugging percentage. Which goes to show, he still shined out in a different format finishing in the top 10 in every hitting category. Ryan is one of the most consistent players in HWL history and just the right piece for SOMB to fight for a title once again for the 3rd year in a row. He helped them secure a tournament and the overall tile giving SOMB their long desired championship! At the end of his career end, Ryan never had a losing season, which is a testament to his playing abilities and competitiveness and why he's on the top of my list.
