[DROP 100] The Drop 100 for 2019: #25 - #11

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The DROP 100 is an annual ranking of the top 100 competitive fast pitch Wiffle® Ball players during the prior calendar year. The list is based on performance/results in fast pitch competition during the past year only and takes into account overall performance, quality of competition, how often a player competed, and diversity of tournaments/leagues participated in.

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25. Sean Steffy
C4

Sean’s lone tournament of 2019 was another excellent one. With Ty Wegerzn struggling some, Steffy was thrust into pitching action earlier than he had been in prior years in Texas. He was more than up to the task and alongside Kevin Norris, he pitched C4 to their third straight Fast Plastic title. Sean threw double digit innings and won three games on Saturday to help position C4 for the title run. Perhaps due to the heavier early workload, he was hit a little more on Sunday than we are accustomed to. On the second day of the tournament, he withstood an offensive barrage from Brian DiNapoli and Remember the Name to get his team to the title game with a 6-5 victory. Although he left the championship game early after allowing three runs, he hit well that game and - for that matter - all tournament long. Sean picked up a couple of key hits in the championship game, led C4 in home runs with five, and hit over .300 for the tournament.

24. Kenny Rodgers Jr.
ERL, Sueño

Key Stats: 77 PA | 23 H | 14 XBH | 7 HR | 9.4 AB/HR | 38% SO rate | .455 ISO | .348/.442/.803 | 212 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season]

If there was any doubt as to how well Kenny Rodgers Jr. would adjust to the two-strike count in MAW, those doubts were erased in an instant. Making his 2019 tournament debut at Mid Atlantic’s Wiffle Wars tournament on June 15th, Rodgers Jr. went 7 for 24 with three home runs and five walks against some stiff opposition. He was even better the following month as he went 11-20 with four home runs and two walks at MAW Wiffle Bash. When asked which team post-season bound players least wanted to see in September, several answered the question by singling out Kenny Rodgers Jr. as the one entity – team or person – they were most worried about facing. The second generation wiffler uses his long arms and quick hands to put a hurting on some pitches he seemingly had no right to hit at all. Kenny slowed down a tad in August and September from the torrid pace he set in June and July but finished off with a good offensive and defensive performance at the Fast Plastic tournament in October.

23. Cam Farro
RPWL Yankees, Blueballs

Key Stats: 48 1/3 IP | 5 R | 62% SO rate | 436 ERA+ | 72 PA | 112 OPS+ [RPWL Regular Season] 6 1/3 IP | 2 R | 51% SO rate | [RPWL Playoffs] 47 IP | 7 R | 67% SO rate | 269 ERA+ [MAW Regular Season]

A notable run in the Ridley Park playoffs last year put Cam Farro on the wiffleball map, but it was his 2019 follow up performance that has placed him among the games’ elite pitchers. Between Ridley Park and Mid Atlantic, the teenage right-hander threw more than 100 high quality innings this summer. While he was essentially learning on the job last August in the RPWL playoffs, Cam came into this season as a fully formed pitcher with an arsenal that includes a quality riser, screwball, side arm drop, and change up. Farro struck out more than 60% of the batters he faced in both RPWL and MAW which more than made up for occasional bouts of wildness. After his pitching breakout last August and a MAW Rookie of the Year season in 2019, what’s next for this high school wiffler? Some – including RPWL commissioner Dylan Harshaw – believe that Farro has the ability to be just as good of a hitter as he already is a pitcher. Harshaw believes that Cam is well on his way to become the best hitter in RPWL which if that comes to fruition, will make him a scary two-way threat.

22. Gino Joseph
Stompers, National Wifflers

Key Stats: 80 IP | 35 H | 22 R | 11% BB rate | 67% SO rate | 147 ERA+ | 135 PA | 12 H | 4 HR | .348 OBP | 103 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season] 14 1/3 IP | 6 H | 4 R | 37 SO [MAW Post Season]

2019 had its first breakout star before the snow had thawed in the northeast. Gino Joseph made his competitive debut in two August 2018 tournaments. He pitched all eight games for his team and struggled, but his improvement in the two-week period between the tournaments was remarkable. Gino took another giant step forward in his maturation as a wiffleball pitcher at February’s Winter Classic. Pitching for the National Wifflers, Gino won a pair of games as the team made an unlikely run to the final four. The results were impressive, but it was the stuff behind the results that turned heads. Gino pitched with great velocity, a high-level screwball and riser, and consistent command all tournament long before running into a stacked Fingerballs line up (Chris Sarnowski, Ben Stant, Rob Longiaru, Ty Wegerzn, Kevin Norris) in the semi-finals. That performance put Joseph on the radar and he stayed on it with a tremendous rookie season in MAW. Gino threw around 120 fast pitches from February through October. His tournament MVP performance on June 1st in Ridley Park - where he beat the Juggernauts, ERL, ATF, and NY Meats in a stacked 11-team tournament - was one of the more impressive and composed individual performances from a teenage pitcher this past year. While there were bumps in the road, you can’t ask for much more in a rookie season. Gino is still a work in process at the plate - mainly when it comes to pitch recognition - but he has a good eye and obvious power potential. 

21. Dave Capobianco
New School Risers

Key Stats: 88 2/3 IP | 27 R | 10% BB rate | 62% SO rate | 132 ERA+ | 176 PA | 30 H | 3 HR | 103 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season] 34 2/3 IP | 15 H | 4 R | 8 BB | 82 SO [MAW Post Season] 

The iron man of the 2019 competitive wiffleball season was the New School Risers’ Dave Capobianco. Not only did Dave throw 120+ innings in Mid Atlantic this summer, he did so often as his team’s only pitcher. Capobianco averaged 17 innings pitched per tournament, getting only slight reprieves – one game per tournament at most – from pitching duty. On two occasions, Dave went at it alone with a replacement player at MAW tournaments (one-player teams are prohibited) and on three different occasions played alongside only one of his teenage children. Competing without much in the way of support is of course nothing new for Dave, who was known to play in an occasional Wiffle Up! Tournament all by himself. While the heavy workload certainly wore on him as the season progress, Dave never wilted. At September’s Mid Atlantic Wild Card Tournament, he threw a nine-inning game against ERL, a 12-inning game against the Yaks, and another 9-inning game versus the Stompers, eliminating the latter two teams along the way. He had an up and down year offensively – perhaps pressing a bit at times – but his power from the left-side of the plate is legit and many MAW pitchers will tell you he is one of the guys they least like to face in a tight game. Lastly, Dave was arguably the best defender in MAW this past year or at the very least, the most spectacular one. He is a tip-top athlete with great instincts and made a habit out of taking sure base hits away from opposing hitters.

20. Frankie Campanile
RPWL A’s, Shortballs

Key Stats: 48 2/3 IP | 11 R| 62% SO rate | 198 ERA+ [RPWL Regular Season] 18 1/3 IP | 8 R | 62% SO rate [RPWL Playoffs] 60 IP | 7 R | 13% BB rate | 71% SO rate | 343 ERA+ [MAW Regular Season] 8 IP | 3 H | 4 R | 23 SO [MAW Post Season]

Few pitchers threw as many high-quality innings in 2019 as Frankie Campanile did. Between MAW, RPWL, and the Keystone State Games, Frankie amassed more than 120 fast pitch innings. These were far from empty innings, too. Campanile entered the spring/summer wiffleball season as the Shortballs’ second pitcher behind Teddy Drecher. However, after scoring an upset at the Mid Atlantic Opening Day tournament over the Juggernauts, those roles quickly changed. Frankie’s signature win of the season came the following month when he out dueled Dan Whitener in a tournament final to give the Shortballs their first title. In RPWL, Frankie was the ace for the runner up A’s, pitching almost all of that team’s innings during the regular and post-season. To top it off, Frankie’s Shortballs took down the first ever wiffleball competition at Pennsylvania’s Keystone State Games at the end of July. Frankie has plus velocity and a good game plan to go with a riser/drop/screwball mix. At the plate he is a work in progress but showed a lot of promise as a future above average hitter in both Mid Atlantic and Ridley Park.

19. Caleb Jonkman
GBL Legends, Lake County Liners

Key Stats: 23 IP | 5 H | 3 R | 9% BB rate | 51% SO rate | 567 ERA+ | 60 PA | 13 H | 4 HR | .271/.417/.542 | 147 OPS+ [NWLA Tournament] 39 IP | 14 H | 0 R | 85 K | 65% SO rate | 168 PA | 112 H | 58 HR | 220 OPS+ [Leroy]

With the possible exception of Trevor Goforth in JAL, no other pitcher blitzed through the competition in their league the way Caleb Jonkman did in Leroy. Caleb faced 130 batters during the season and 85 went down on strikes. He allowed just 14 hits and it is reasonable to wonder how many of those hits would have been canceled out if not for the unique rule in Leroy that mandates lob pitches after a specified number of balls during an at bat. Jonkman was just as much a force on the other side, picking up hits at such a high rate – 67% of total plate appearances – that there is likely not a whole lot left in the remaining 33% other than random error outs. No matter the competition level, that is still an impressive feat. However, where Caleb really made his mark was at the NWLA tournament. Jonkman was arguably the best all-around player in the tournament. The tall right-handed pitcher outdueled Jordan Robles and the MAW Mafia in twelve innings during a pivotal winner’s bracket game and allowed just three runs over twenty-three total innings of work. Caleb showed off a quick line drive swing with a yellow bat that allowed him to square up against some of the tournament’s better pitchers. He picked up hits against Robles, Sean Bingnear, and Aidan Palmer, among others.

18.  Josh Pagano
Phenoms, Paper & Plastic, Hartford Whalers, Adderall or Nothing

Key Stats: 26 PA | 6 H | .261/.346/.348 | 134 OPS+ | 15 IP | 9 H | 4 R | 7% BB rate | 68% SO rate | 144 ERA+ [GSWL Pro]

The celebrated veteran picked up another tournament title and another a runner up finish in 2019, the latter of which marked the third year in a row where a Pagano-led team came in second to C4 at Fast Plastic. Josh picked up much of the early innings for his team in that tournament and pitched well. The Phenoms won three of their first four games to reach the pool play round in large part thanks to Josh’s contributions on the carpet. Against Remember the Name in his team’s second game of the day, the GSWL Massachusetts mainstay opted to use a significantly less cut up ball than usual. The idea was that Remember the Name’s lineup was 75% fellow GSWL MA veterans - all of whom had seen Josh’s normal cut ball stuff hundreds of times - so a ball that moved a little differently might neutralize the familiarity factor. While the plan didn’t work out quite as hoped, his willingness and ability to think outside the box and adjust is partially what has made him such a formidable player for so long. Josh won a National Wiffle title for the second year in a row in July. He returned to GSWL fast pitch action this summer with the debut of GSWL Pro in Massachusetts. He pitched and hit well in limited action in that league late this past summer.

17. Ty Wegerzn
C4, ATF, ERL, Fingerballs

Key Stats: 17 1/3 IP | 7 H | 2 R | 16% BB rate | 59% SO rate | 350 ERA+ | 47 PA | 6 H | 2 HR | .426 OBP | .121 ISO | 124 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season]

For eight long months, Ty couldn’t seem to avoid . . . well . . .ties. Through three Mid Atlantic tournaments spanning seven months and three different sets of teammates, Ty’s teams only managed to score just as many runs as he gave up. It began at the Winter Classic in February where the championship game ended in a curfew mandated 1-1, eight-inning dead lock with Ty pitching for the Fingerballs. At MAW Opening Day, Ty threw 7 2/3’s scoreless innings before giving up a home run to Jimmy Cole to knot the score at one in a game that ultimately ended in nine innings on total bases. In August at Backyard Brawl, Ty and ERL once again met in a 1-1, total base battle. And for good measure, Ty ended that tournament battling the Blueballs to a 0-0 finish. The tied games came to an end in his first game at Fast Plastic, where his C4 teammates piled on six runs in a victory over Sueño. Wegerzn wasn’t as good as he was in prior years at that tournament on the rubber (a high bar to clear, to be sure) but along with his teammates was part of a relentless offensive attack that led C4 to their third straight Fast Plastic title. Ty’s fourteen hits were the second most on C4 – behind Norris – for that tournament.

16. Dan Whitener
ERL, POC, Remember the Name

Key Stats: 27 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 74% SO rate | 1,075 ERA+ | 102 PA | 26 H | 7 HR | 147 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season]

With his collegiate pitching career behind him as of this past May, Dan Whitener - arguably the best wiffleball pitcher of the 2018 summer - turned his focus towards wiffs. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Dan’s bat that was the story of his early-season. Through his first seven games in MAW, Dan was 15-45 (.333) with 5 home runs.  While he was unable to keep up that torrid pace, Dan finished the MAW season with a quality .277/.333/.532 slash line in 102 plate appearances. This was no offensive/defensive trade off either, as Whitener continued to display the stuff and results that makes him one of the greatest pitchers in the sport today. Dan led Mid Atlantic in ERA thanks to giving up just a single run in 27 innings pitched. For Fast Plastic, Whitener hooked on with Remember the Name. His team kept him relatively fresh on Saturday (although he did see some action on Saturday), leading into a big showdown with C4 in the semi-finals on Sunday. His team staked him with an early lead, but Whitener stumbled down the stretch against C4’s unrelenting lineup. He was pulled in the top half of the last inning with runners on base and his team clinging to a one-run. Two of those inherited runners would eventually score which marked a rather bitter end to an otherwise quality season.

15. Chris Sarnowski
Juggernauts, Sueño, MAW Mafia, Fingerballs

Key Stats: 63 IP | 30 H | 16 R | 12% BB rate | 67% SO rate | 158 ERA+ | 122 PA | 20 H | 6 XBH | .311 OBP | 105 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season]

A year after finishing in the top two or three in most every conceivable statistical category in MAW, Red formed his own team for the 2019 Mid Atlantic season and proceeded to surround himself with a veritable all-star squad. As great as many of those teammates were, Sarno was still the core and driving force behind the Juggernauts’ successful season. He followed up on a 72 regular season innings in 2018 by tossing 63 regular season innings in Mid Atlantic in 2019. He was third in Mid Atlantic in games started with 17 and his underlying statistics – mainly strikeout rate and walk rate – cleared or equaled the high bars he set for himself in 2018. While he allowed a few more runs than he would have hoped, he was also hit hard by an unusually high 4.1% home run rate which was highest among MAW pitchers. There were several games and tournaments where he was clearly without his best stuff, but always found a way to make things work, a true sign of a top-level player. His passion for competing rivals that of anyone. This was perhaps best exemplified at the MAW Fall Draw tournament in October. A week after throwing a large number of innings in Cedar Park at Fast Plastic, Red threw 15+ high-leverage innings in the draft tournament as he helped his team to a 1st place finish. Between Mid Atlantic, the Fast Plastic tournament, and the NWLA Tournament, Red easily joined the 100+ fast pitch innings pitched club.

14. Vin Lea
Palisades Reds, Bronx Royals, POC, Dragons, AWAA Blue Kamikazes

Key Stats: 81 PA | 29 H | 16 XBH | 10 HR | 162 OPS+ | 29 IP | 15 R | 151 ERA+ [Palisades Regular Season] | 8 IP | 5 H | 3 R | 1 BB | 73% SO rate | 31 PA | 7 H | 2 HR | .250/.323/.500 | 140 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season] 41 PA | 5 H | 2 XBH | .366 OBP | 101 OPS+ [NWLA Tournament]

Vin popped up in more and more places in 2019, giving more and more people a firsthand look at one of the sport’s better all-around young players. In addition to Palisades, Vin added the NWLA Tournament, Fast Plastic, and several MAW tournaments to his 2019 itinerary. He started the year with an impressive pitching display at the MAW Winter Classic with his main team, the Dragons, and was one lost-battle with Jordan Robles away from reaching the final four. His bat took a major leap forward in Palisades relative to his 2018 performance in that league, while once again splitting pitching duties with teammate Oliver Avallone. Vin struggled to find his command pitching out of the clean ball bucket at the NWLA Tournament but was a solid presence in the Kamikazes’ championship-winning lineup in addition to providing above average defense. Vin finished the season strong with an excellent October. He took his airline frustrations out on opposing pitchers in Texas by belting five home runs after arriving late. Although he didn’t pitch quite as well in Cedar Park, he made up for that with 14 innings of 1-run wiffleball in the MAW Fall Draw tournament. Ranked highly last year on the strength of his pitching in Palisades, Vin was an all-around excellent player in 2019. Even better, there is still some room for growth between what he accomplished this year and his potential ceiling.

13. Colin Pollag
RPWL Phillies, Longballs

Key Stats: 32 2/3 IP | 13 H | 10 R | 57% SO rate | 145 ERA+ | 13 G | 73 PA | .239/.521/.717 | 7 HR | 203 OPS+ [RPWL Regular Season] 49 PA | 8 H | 13 BB | 2 HR | 130 OPS+ [NWLA Tournament] 132 PA | .250/.386/.370 | 2 HR | 129 OPS+ [MAW Regular Season] 29 PA | 3 H | 2 HR | .345 OBP | 8 IP | 5 R | 23 SO [MAW Post Season]

Prior to 2019, the book on Colin Pollag – arguably the most accomplished pitcher in Ridley Park Wiffleball League history – was that as well as he pitched in RPWL, he struggled equally as mightily out of it. Whether it was the NWLA Tournament, Mid Atlantic or elsewhere, Colin had historically struggled to replicate his RPWL results outside of Ridley. Colin’s puzzling pitching resume somewhat obscured the fact that he was already an above average hitter – with the potential to be great – in any environment. Colin was even better at the plate in 2019 as he posted an OPS 30% to 45% higher than league average in RPWL, MAW, and the NWLA Tournament. Even more impressive is that all three of those environments tilted towards being pitcher friendly. Colin was an all-around hitter in 2019, combining an ability to hit for average with a very strong grasp of the strike zone and natural power. In August and September, Colin was – at long last – able to export his RPWL pitching results elsewhere. At the August Mid Atlantic tournament, he pitched seven innings and allowed a single run. In September at the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament, Colin built off that momentum and threw 8 scoreless innings against the Shortballs, including the semi-final clinching game #3. His best individual performance might have come last. At the MAW Fall draft tournament in October, Colin won three games, fared well against some quality hitters, and carried his team offensively all day on the way to a runner up finish. A little bit of uptick in velocity, some added deception, and command of several additional pitches to go with his trademark low riser made the difference. Colin ended the year as one of the more well-rounded full season players and took home MVP honors in RPWL. If he can keep his late-season pitching performance up over a full season, watch out.

12. Brian DiNapoli
New England Cannons, Remember the Name

Key Stats: 31 2/3 IP | 8 H | 0 R | 2% BB rate | 70% SO rate | 59 PA | 15 H | 5 XHB | 2 HR | .319/.458/.532 | 191 OPS+ [GSWL Pro]

This seasoned New England wiffler ran roughshod over GSWL Pro in that league’s late summer schedule. DiNapoli went unscored upon in a tick under 32 innings, which is up there with Mike Speek Jr.’s scoreless run earlier in the season as one of the more impressive pitching streaks of 2019. Even more impressive was how DiNapoli went about it. Hitters knew he was going to come right after them – the microscopic 2% walk rate is proof of his control – but they were helpless to do much about it. Hitters struggled to make contact off him, going down on strikes a league-leading 70% of the time. He allowed just eight hits and little in the way of hard contact, as all eight hits allowed went for singles. DiNapoli was just impressive offensively. He led the league in OPS and led or tied for the lead in doubles, triples, and home runs.

Playing for Remember the Name at the Fast Plastic, DiNapoli was a huge factor in that team’s run to the final four. Brian played a big role on both sides of the ball for RTN, but especially at the plate where his performance earned him the top hitter award for the tournament. While Remember the Name ultimately fell to C4 in the semi-finals, it was through no fault of DiNapoli whose two home runs off Sean Steffy put his team in a position to reach the finals before a late-inning comeback flipped the script. 

11. Ben Stant
Juggernauts, Sueño, Fingerballs

Key Stats: 132 PA | 35 H | 10 HR | 11.5 AB/HR | .304/.394/.600 | 169 OPS+ | 15 IP | 8 H | 3 R | 51% SO rate | 202 ERA+ [MAW Regular Season] 14 PA | 5 H | 2 XBH | .357/.357/.643 [MAW Post Season]

A list of the top hitters in wiffleball is incomplete without Ben Stant. The young veteran has one of the most efficient left-handed swings in the sport. He plants his foot and gets his hands to the ball without almost any excess movement and his timing in doing so is often impeccable. Ben led Mid Atlantic with ten regular season home runs. He finished near the top in every significant hitting category including total bases (#1), average (#3) and slugging (#3). At Fast Plastic, his last-at-bat game tying two-run homer against the Royals was one of the few times all tournament that a batter did significant damage off Cooper Ruckel. Although his right arm has seen far healthier days, Stant was effective in limited pitching duties. He allowed three runs in fifteen innings for the Juggernauts during the MAW regular season. It is difficult to quantify the impact of certain intangibles, but Stant has an ever-growing reputation as a wiffleball savant. Although he didn’t pitch much in ’19 due to injuries, he was often seen using his vast pitching knowledge to talk his team’s pitchers through big situations and to assist them with technique.