2020 Drop 100: #65 - #31

The Drop 100 is an annual project focused on highlighting and ranking 100 competitive Wiffle®Ball players based on their performance in fast pitch competition over the prior year. This is not a true talent evaluation, but rather a snapshot of prior year performance. In compiling the list, overall performance, quality of competition, amount played, and variety of competition are considered. Only fast pitch/unrestricted pitch speed competition is considered for the Drop 100. This is not a commentary on those styles of play, but rather a necessity to limit the scope of the project and to allow for more direct comparisons. Medium or fast pitch speed does not have a set definition, so in general leagues or tournaments that self-define as fast (or medium-fast), do not have a MPH restriction, and pass the “eye test” are included. Examples of those leagues are Kalamazoo and MLW. For similar reasons, leagues like HRL or GSWL Yard are not included in this year’s list. The 2020 Drop 100 Introduction podcast contains additional information on the criteria used.

#65
Chris Cheetam ­– Michigan – NR, NR
Trenton Trains (MLW Winter League), MLW White (MLW Wiffle in the Mitten), Great Lake Gators (MLW)

The Trenton Trains finished runner up in the inaugural MLW Winter League and all four members of the team were selected in the 2020 MLW draft. Chris Cheetam was the last of his four winter teammates to be selected when he was taken 6th overall. Despite being left on the board longer than his Winter League teammates, Cheetam arguably outperformed them this summer and fall.

Cheetam and his Trenton Trains’ teammate Brendan Jorgenson handled the bulk of the Gators’ innings. Jorgenson ended the regular season with a slightly lower ERA, but Cheetam otherwise out-pitched him in a roughly equal number of innings. His 1.14 WHIP was tops in the entire league, driven by a low walk rate of 12.6%. Chris was also the Gators’ best hitter during the season, posting an .849 OPS. However, it was the post-season that defined Cheetam’s year. Jorgenson swept the Diamondbacks in two games in the opening playoff series and won the first game against the Eagles before the wheels came off. Brendan last just 1 2/3 innings in the second game versus the Eagles and Cheetam got the start – and the win – in the decisive third game. In the World Series, Jorgensen pitched in just 1 1/3 innings in a loss while Cheetam won the final three games versus the Wildcats to take the Best of 5 series. In all, Cheetam threw 14 post season innings while allowing just one run. He was also that Gator’s postseason offensive star. He hit .394 with six home runs to help the Gators to a championship in their first season.

Outside of league play, Cheetam and the MLW White squad won the 16+ division at the MLW Wiffle in the Mitten tournament beating the defending champions, the West Michigan Wiffleballers, in the semi-finals and taking down MLW Red in the championship game.

#64
Ryan Patnode — Massachusetts — NR, NR
Wiffaholics (UW)

One of several northeast vets who returned to the fast pitch Wiffle®Ball world at the United Wiffle®Ball NCT, Ryan Patnode led the Wiffaholics to an impressive top 16 finish. Noder won three games on Saturday against three very different opponents. Victories against BWBL’s SlaughterHouse and Georgia veterans Savvy got the Wiffaholics into the final 24. Patnode’s signature game of the tournament game late Saturday night versus the Degenerate Gamblers. Going head-to-head with a pitcher more than 10 years his junior, Patnode outdueled John Polanco to get the Wiffaholics through to Sunday. Although Noder and the Wiffaholics were eliminated early Sunday morning at the hands of the eventual runner up, Black Dog Country Club, his three victories on Saturday placed him among the tournament leaders in pitching wins.

#63
Pat Leahy – Massachusetts – NR, NR
603 All-Stars (UW)

With no losses to spare at United Wiffle®Ball, the 603 All-Stars turned to Pat Leahy as they have so often have done in big situations over the years. The team had arguably the most difficult path to a 1-2 opening round record, with a win versus Slaughterhouse sandwiched between tough losses to quarterfinal participants, Black Dog Country Club and the Bronx Royals. Needing two wins to fight their way back into contention and a third to reach Sunday, 603 leaned heavily on Leahy. He was up to the task. Leahy finished off 603’s Saturday comeback with an impressive shutout of a tough Sueño offense (Kenny Rodgers Jr., Ryan Foley, and Dave Capobianco) to get 603 into the Final 16. Leahy was his usual fastidious self, meticulously mixing up his pitches and working the outer edges of the zone with his patented delivery. Leahy had good at bats all tournament long and was the key reason why 603 was able to turn a 1-2 start into a near quarterfinals miss.

#62
Jack Liberio – Pennsylvania – NR, NR
Blue Jays (RPWL), Dirtballs (MAW), Cheeseballs (UW)

In general, offense was up in the Ridley Park Wiffle®Ball League in 2020. Leading the charge was the Blue Jays’ Jack Liberio. There was nary a power hitting category that Liberio didn’t lead all of Ridley Park in. He led the league in slugging percentage, total bases and home runs, among other power hitting categories. Additionally, he finished 3rd in batting average (.282) and first in OPS (1.138) in what has traditionally been a pitching-dominated league. Jack was a monster in the post-season for the championship-winning Blue Jays. He finished second to Dylan Harshaw in average, slugging, and OPS. In the RPWL championship series, Jack went 3 for 7 with a walk and a home run as the Jays swept the Pirates.

Liberio’s power prowess hasn’t quite translated outside of RPWL just yet, but there are signs that it will in short order. In terms of isolated power (slugging % less batting average), Jack jumped from 0.079 during the 2019 MAW tournament season to .197 in 2020. His shortcoming in RPWL and MAW is his patience. He walked only three times in 32 plate appearances in Mid Atlantic this past summer.

#61
Cooper Ruckel – Texas – #38, #28
Cosby Show (TWBL), Bronx Royals (UW)

Cooper Ruckel was not the same force of nature for the Bronx Royals at this year’s United Wiffle®Ball tournament that he had been for them to 2019 Fast Plastic tournament. Cooper never seemed able to get on track during the two-day event, pitching only in short bursts on both Saturday and Sunday. There were times during the tournament – a pitch, a batter, an entire inning – where he looked like his usual overpowering self, but he struggled to find any sort of consistency. His greatest weapon – his velocity – was still there but his mechanics were slightly out of whack and it impacted his command at times. Much to his credit, Cooper – despite not being on the top of his game – was able to provide the Royals with some much-needed shutdown innings in their seesaw final 16 battle with the NY Meats. The ability to battle through in that situation without his best stuff is a testament to his ability and determination.

Cooper was also once again a fixture in the Texas Wiffle®Ball League this summer. It was there that the longtime clean ball pitcher began experimenting more with cut balls. Ruckel pitched well in the TWBL and lead his team, the Cosby Show, to the championship game.

#60
Frankie Campanile – Pennsylvania – #20, NR
Shortballs (MAW, UW), Cardinals (RPWL)

Frankie Campanile was one of the hardest working pitchers on the fast pitch scene in 2019. Between just MAW and RPWL, Frankie threw 135 fast pitch innings that year. Adding on the MAW Winter Classic and Keystone State Games likely pushed him over the 150-inning mark. Unfortunately – as is often the case – that heavy workload took a physical toll. Campanile’s arm did not feel quite right for most 2020 and he wisely did not throw a single inning outside of RPWL. Frankie did pitch some in his home league and pitched reasonably well when he did. His 1.25 ERA in 32 two-out innings led all Cardinal starters.

The silver lining here is that without the pressure pitching outside of Ridley Park, Campanile’s offense was noticeably improved. Frankie entered 2020 with a career MAW batting average just below .100 but he more than doubled that in 2020. In addition to making more consistent contact, the right-hander had a power boost as well with five of his eleven hits going for extra bases. All three of Campanile’s home runs during the MAW regular season were well timed. His first accounted for the only runs in a 2-0 victory versus the Meats on Opening Day, his second sealed an extra-inning win for the Shortballs over ERL in early July, and the third one in late July once again lifted the Shortballs pass the Meats. Frankie did not hit a ton at United Wiffle®Ball in October, but his last inning triple versus the K-9’s tied the game and set up Teddy Drecher’s walk-off home run. Frankie also had his best offensive RPWL season in his first year as captain of the Cardinals. He finished the year with an .865 OPS and four home runs in 83 plate appearances.

If Frankie can pitch even some outside of RPWL next year near his pre-2020 levels and he retains the gains he made on offense in 2020, he is in for a fun summer.

#59
Ray Lutick — New Jersey — NR, #32
POC (MAW), Sueño (UW)

After staying away from fast pitch wiffs for most of 2019 and 2020, Ray Lutick returned late in the 2020 season and picked up right where he left off. At the August MAW tournament, Lutick started all four games for POC and won the first three, including an eight-inning shootout with the Longballs. He helped POC navigate the long road to the finals at the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament after they dropped their very first game of the day in the 10-team double elimination bracket. He didn’t get the desired results at United Wiffle®Ball as a member of Sueno, dropping a couple of close games versus the Cheeseballs and 603 All-Stars, respectively. Ray hasn’t lost any velocity since his breakout 2018 season as a member of the Lemonheads and he can still overpower most any hitter. Ray is finishing out his college pitching career, which understandably keeps him from making a fuller commitment to fast pitch Wiffle®Ball. If he does decide to go full time into Wiffle®Ball when his collegiate career is done, Lutick will undoubtably once again find himself in the upper echelon of fast pitch Wiffle®Ball pitchers.

#58
Jose Marte — New York — NR, NR
NY Dragons (MAW), Outsiders (MAW), OG Goon Squad (UW)

Of the pure rookies — players that never competed in a competitive fast pitch Wiffle®Ball tournament/league prior to 2020 — Jose Marte was arguably the best.

Marte’s entrance into the competitive Wiffle®Ball world began back at the end of June when he attended a Wiffle®Ball tournament in the Bronx for softball players. It was there he meant Vin Lea and other competitive wifflers, who took note of Jose’s naturally strong arm. After being given a crash course in the finer points of Wiffle®Ball pitching, Marte was ready to jump in. He joined up with the Dragons at Vin’s behest for the July 11th MAW tournament. Jose threw a complete game no-hitter in his very first game, showing off some easy-looking velocity in the process. He returned to MAW later that month with his own team, the Outsiders, at the Mid Atlantic/Ridley Park tournament. Jose again got off to a strong start as he and the Outsiders upset High Cheese (Brian DiNapoli, Dan Haverty, and Jimmy Flynn) in their first game of the day. He finished his season in October as a member of the Goon Squad at United Wiffle®Ball. Jose threw his team’s final three games. He won the first two versus the Crusaders and Shortballs, respectively, before suffering a tough luck extra inning loss to the WILL Waves in the final 24. Marte showed significant improvement in all three of his 2020 fast pitch tournaments and should be a force to be reckoned with in 2021.

#57
Dennis Donegan — Pennsylvania — #65, NR
Astros (RPWL), Shortballs (MAW), Longballs (NWLAT), Cheeseballs (UW)

If you are talking about the best Ridley Park hitters in 2020 – taking into account production both inside and outside of the league – you have a bunch of options to choose from. Jack Libero, Dylan Harshaw, and Cam Farro are certainly in the discussion, but this accolade may belong to Dennis Donegan.

The RPWL veteran was 8th in OPS in his home league, but that is misleading. Dennis finished 3rd in batting average and 4th in slugging. His relatively “low” OPS is a direct function of lower-average hitters who walk a lot (and slug to varying degrees) passing him by. It wasn’t that Donegan didn’t walk at all. His 20% walk rate would be really good, if not for the fact that the league wide rate was a an eyepopping 36%. Donegan made more quality contact than almost all his peers and walked at a decent clip, he was just a little more aggressive than others.

Dennis was the Longballs’ best hitter at the NWLA Tournament. He batted .280/.400/.440 in seven games and finished the weekend with a 117 OPS+ (an OPS 17% above the tournament average). His numbers in MAW and UW were not as strong, but he showed flashes of his power. In the former, all of his hits went for extra bases, including walk-off home runs off the Cheeseballs and Waves. In the later, Dennis drove in his team’s only run against the O-Bombers on a triple and his first inning home run off Kevin Norris in the Final 16 temporarily gave the Cheeseballs a fleeting lead over the three-time defending national champions, C4.

#56
Rob Longiaru – New York – NR, #48
Champ’s Here (MAW Winter Classic), NY Dragons (MAW), Bronx Royals (UW)

Rob Longiaru assumed the role of dependable veteran this year in fast pitch competition and played the role very well. It began at the Winter Classic, where Rob — playing with Ty Wegerzn and Sean Steffy — rebounded from a tough extra-inning, bases loaded loss to the Fingerballzzz in his team’s opener to pitch them into the quarter finals. He proved to be a stabilizing and influential presence on the NY Dragons during the MAW regular season. His 2.33 ERA in 12 regular season innings pitched — not to mention seven shutout innings in the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament before bases loaded kick in — were of tremendous value to the pitching-light Dragons. Longiaru also displayed a calmness-under-pressure ability that you want from a veteran player which resulted in a couple of big clutch hits. His 2-run walk-off home run propelled the upstart Dragons over POC at MAW’s Opening Day Tournament. Four months later with his team down to their final out in an elimination game against the NY Meats, Longiaru went back-to-back with Nick Martinez to tie the score in a game the Royals eventually prevailed in.

#55
Brice Clark – West Virginia – NR, #63
Stompers (MAW), Mothmen (NWLAT, WILL. MAW Winter Classic), Waves (UW)

At 28 years old and with four years of national tournament experience, Brice Clark is probably tired of hearing about how he is right on the cusp of breaking out. It is a description – a gap between potential and performance – that has followed him throughout his career. In 2018, Josh Pagano tabbed him for the Phenoms at the Fast Plastic NCT, only to end up as a non-entity in that tournament. In 2019, he personally stumbled at the NWLA Tournament while the team he captained (the Mothmen) went on an unexpected run. That same year he struggled for consistency in his first year as a Stomper in MAW. Later in 2019, he struggled for the O-Bombers at Fast Plastic. His stuff has been undeniable to anyone who has seen it – hence the constant opportunities – but it has been a challenge to put it all together.

In 2020, West Virginia’s top wiffler made significant strides and is right on threshold of shedding that “close but not quite” label that has been stuck to him throughout this career. At the MAW Winter Classic, Clark led the Mothmen – short on pitching – to a final eight appearance in the 16-team tournament. His MAW regular season breakout occurred in August. In a tournament his team eventually won, Brice beat ERL in pool play and threw two shutout innings against the Juggernauts in the semi-finals. His 2.16 ERA in 8 1/3 innings at the 2020 NWLA Tournament was the lowest of his career in that event. He finished out the year on a solid note from a pitching perspective. In his lone start at United Wiffle®Ball, Brice kept it close against the Phenoms in pool play in a 3-0 loss (a final score that belies how well he threw).

#54
Grant Miller — #66, NR
KWL Keggers (NWLAT), Wiff That (KWL)

In 2018 & 2019, Grant Miller established himself as one of the better hitters at the NWLA Tournament. A four-year starter at Western Michigan University from 2014 through 2017, Miller posted a .359/.506/.688 line in his first two NWLA Tournaments. It was business as usual for Miller at the plate in 2020. His .319/.573/.574 line at this year’s event was essentially in line with his career totals. Where this year’s NWLA Tournament differed from prior year’s for Miller was on the other side of the ball. Prior to this year, Grant threw only four innings (all in 2018) at the NWLA tournament. He more than tripled that output this year, throwing 14 innings for the eventual second place finishers, the KWL Keggers. Not only did he eat up much needed innings (KWL played 11 games over the two-day event) but he was reasonably effective as his 3.86 ERA and 14.57 SO/6 IP ratio attest. The highlight of Grant’s tournament from a pitching perspective game against WSEM in the game one of the Group B finals. With his team needing a win to force a decisive game two, Miller came up huge by pitching four scoreless, no hit innings in relief of Nate Thompson.

#53
Tyler Nachbar – Pennsylvania – #36, #53
Longballs (MAW), Shortballs (UW)

The Longballs won their first ever MAW championship at the Opening Day Tournament in late June thanks in large part to the two-headed pitching monster of Cam Farro and Tommy Loftus. So, when word spread that the Longballs would be without both Farro and Loftus for the July 11th MAW event, their chances of repeating seemed to be slim to none.

The Longballs got quality innings out of both Sean Bingnear and Colin Pollag early in the tournament on their way to reaching the quarterfinals. Once there, they handed the ball over to lefty Tyler Nachbar. Nachbar — who has not played in RPWL since 2018 but remains a member of the Longballs in MAW — blanked the Dragons in the quarterfinals and then did the same to the Stompers in the semi-finals to get the Longballs to their second straight MAW tournament final. His success on that day was command driven more than anything else. Nachbar has a solid screwball and riser combination but often lacks command and sometimes ends up throwing too many pitches over the center of the plate. When he is at his best, he is nicking the sides of the strike zone, which is exactly what he did back in July. Although he struggled a bit at the MAW Ridley Park tournament later that month, Nachbar still ended his MAW season with a solid 1.83 ERA in 24 innings of work.

Nachbar has legitimate power but he did not hit much in MAW this year, settling for eight hits (two for extra bases) in 19 games played. His biggest hit of 2020 came at United Wiffle®Ball — a lead-off single off Elliot Knower, which kickstarted the Shortballs’ last inning comeback against the K-9’s.

#52
Colin Pollag — Pennsylvania — #74, #13
Longballs (MAW, NWLAT, UW), Phillies (RPWL)

On the heels of a season where he tore the cover off the ball everywhere he played and took major strides as a pitcher, Colin Pollag looked poised to cement himself among the top tier, full-time players. That did not quite happen in 2020. While the 22-year old still had a good year overall — particularly in his home league — his offensive production regressed across the board.

Colin’s NWLA Tournament OPS tumbled about 100 points between 2019 and 2020, largely driven by a 200+ point dive in slugging (which in turn was partially offset by an uptick in walks). Whether pitchers worked him more carefully or he was just more willing to take a walk, Colin led the Longballs with 15 walks and walked at a significantly higher rate than all of his teammates but Cam Farro. Between the walks and the fact that the Longballs batted six the entire tournament, he never seemed to be able to get untracked hitting wise. He struggled to hit for average and power in MAW, as well. Besides for a solid 5 for 25 day on July 11th, Colin followed up his breakout year at the plate with a lowly .108/.318/.169 slash line. His best work at the plate game in his home league, but even his regular season RPWL line of .233/.515/.419 was down from his .239/.521/.717 line the year prior. There did not appear to be any blatant mechanical issues to blame for his struggles and an offensive bounce back in 2021 would not be unexpected.

It was a different story on the carpet, however, where Colin held steady or improved on his prior year performances. He had another fine season in Riley Park and ended up with a solid 1.38 ERA. He had his best pitching year in MAW from a statistical standpoint. Colin ended the year with a 1.71 ERA in just under 12 innings pitched. Except for a one-third of an inning shellacking at the hands of ERL in July, Colin pitched well in each MAW outing by continuing to mix his secondary offerings in with his go-to riser. He also found command of a clean ball for the first time and pitched a 4-inning shutout versus GAWL in what was by far his best pitched game in four years at the NWLA Tournament.

#51
Mike Touhy – Connecticut – #99, NR
O-Bombers (UW)

With pure stuff — in terms of velocity, movement, and overall offerings — that rivals nearly anyone in the fast pitch realm, Mike Touhy sawed through Wiff Inc. and the Cheeseballs to help secure the second overall seed for the O-Bombers in the United Wiffle®Ball elimination round. Tuohy was clocked hitting 90 MPH on the stadium radar gun, but he owed his success to more than outstanding velocity. Touhy has a bottomless bag of pitches to choose from and commands all of them well. He generally did a good job staying out of the center of the zone and working all four quadrants. Against the Cheeseballs, he found success elevating his riser above the zone after some of the Cheeseball hitters started getting a beat on the screwball and riser over the plate. In addition to United Wiffle®Ball, Touhy pitched well in the pair of Massachusetts warm up events prior to the national tournament.

#50
Sean Bingnear – Pennsylvania – #42, #33
Longballs (MAW, NWLAT, UW), Diamondbacks (RPWL)

Statistically speaking, 2020 was Bingnear’s best pitching season in Ridley Park. The captain of the Diamondbacks set career lows in ERA, WHIP, and walk rate, while reaching a new high in strikeout rate. Starting in 2019, Sean worked to incorporate a riser into his arsenal to complement his screwball. He had become too screwball heavy and that predictability especially hurt him in games where his velocity was not at its best. While the screwball is still his go-to pitch and the pitch he has the best command of, the riser has been a big help. Bingnear has also improved his clean ball offerings, which gives him another weapon pitching out of the bucket in RPWL. The value of his expanded arsenal showed up his 2020 RPWL numbers. Sean was in the top five among qualifiers in ERA, WHIP, walk rate, and strikeout rate.

Like his Longballs’ teammate Colin Pollag, Sean benefited from the presence of Cam Farro this year which allowed him and Colin to slot in the fourth/fifth spots of the Longballs’ rotation behind Farro, Tommy Loftus, and Tyler Nachbar in MAW. Sean threw a tick under ten innings in 2020 in Mid Atlantic and allowed just one run while striking out 24 batters. Farro also took innings away from Sean at the NWLA Tournament. A year after being the Longballs’ second pitcher behind Loftus, Bingnear settled into a pool play/early elimination round role in 2020 and allowed two runs in five innings of work. It was a down year offensively for Sean across the board. He has good pop and can get into a groove when things are going well, but he never quite got on track at the plate in 2020.

#49
Kevin Norris – Pennsylvania – #10, #15
C4 (UW, MAW)

Kevin Norris’ role for the three-time defending national champions, C4, at United Wiffle®Ball was to bridge the gap between Ty Wegerzn in the contenders round and Sean Steffy in the later elimination stages. He did exactly what was asked of him by defeating Way Too Beautiful late Saturday evening and Cheeseballs early Sunday morning in the first two elimination rounds before handing the ball off to Steffy in the quarterfinals. Norris barreled through W2B, picking up the complete game, shutout win. The next day he allowed an early solo home run to the Cheeseballs’ Dennis Donegan but shutout the upstart Ridley Park team the rest of the way in what ended up being a blowout 13-1 victory. In 2020, Norris saw the least amount of fast pitch action that he has going back several years with United Wiffle®Ball and the MAW Opening Day Tournament as his only two fast pitch events of the year.

#48
Tom Gannon – Massachusetts / Nevada – #37, #66
AWAA Blue Kamikazes (NWLAT), Stompers (MAW), NY Dragons (UW), Mothmen (MAW Winter Classic), Reds (Fanway), Wahoos (Meriden PBL), Cannons (MLW Battle of Boston)

With all due respect to the great Chad Heflin, the title of Wiffle®Ball’s Iron Man currently belongs to Tom Gannon. A global pandemic could not stop Tom from reaching the 100 fast pitch games played mark the second straight year. Gannon is a rare 2020 wiffler that doesn’t have what could be considered a traditional, home base. Instead, he spread his time somewhat evenly among a few different fast pitch leagues and as many big tournaments as he could find.

Tom got off to a quick start once games got underway again at the end of the spring. In June, Tom was on the championship team at a GAWL (Massachusetts) tournament and threw 15 shutout innings. He joined the Fanway Park Wiffle® league for the first time in 2020, ultimately throwing 48 high quality fast pitch innings. One week at the end of June, Tom threw 33 fast pitch innings over a six week stretch between Fanway Park, GAWL, and Meriden. By his own admission, he was never quite the same – at least pitching wise – after that hellacious stretch.

That’s not to say there weren’t highlights later in the summer. In early July, Tom had his best MAW tournament of the year. He went 6 for 20 at MAW Wiffle Wars, with two home runs and a double. He won two games at the NWLA Tournament for the 3rd place Kamikazes, including filling in for an ineffective Vin Lea early on in the Block A finals versus HRL. Tom allowed four runs that game over 4+ innings but kept things close long enough for the AWAA offense to rally back to force a decisive game two with a 13-10 victory.

#47
Adam Milsted – New Jersey – #93, #39
York Yaks (MAW), Way Too Beautiful (UW, local tournaments), Diamondbacks (RPWL)

It was a busy summer for this veteran New Jersey wiffler. Milsted joined the Ridley Park Wiffle®Ball League for the first time and was snatched up by Diamondbacks’ captain Sean Bingnear in the 2020 draft. He slotted as the D-Backs’ number two pitcher but struggled with his control throughout the season. Adam only had one game out of six - June 17th against the hapless Dodgers - where he struck out more batters than he walked. To his credit, he managed to lessen the damage from those free passes as the season went on and allowed just seven earned runs over his final 20 ½ innings after giving up eleven earned runs in his first 6 ½ innings pitched. Offensively, Milsted never found his power stroke in Ridley and ended the season as a slightly below league average hitter.

That was in stark contrast to how he hit in Mid Atlantic all summer long. In fourteen games played, Milsted failed to reach base in only four of them. He picked up at least one hit in nine of them. By the end of the season, Adam’s name was splattered across the offensive leaderboards. Among qualifiers (48+ PA’s), he finished 5th in batting average (.260), 5th in OBP (.413), 1st in SLG (.660), 1st in ISO (.400), tied for 4th in HR’s (6), and 1st in OPS (1.073). He did all of this without much in the way of support in the Yaks’ lineup. Four times during the summer tournament season, Adam hit a home run to score the Yaks’ only runs of the game. Outhitting the likes of Kenny Rodgers Jr., Tim McElrath, Ben Stant, Ryan McElrath, Vin Lea, and Jordan Robles is no easy task, but that’s exactly what Adam did this summer in MAW.

#46
Chris Scipione – New Jersey – NR, NR
Fugs’ Poolside Barbershop (MAW Draft), Way Too Beautiful (UW)

It had been more than five years since Chris Scipione last competed in a fast pitch setting, but you would hardly know it. Between the MAW draft tournament and the United Wiffle®Ball National Championship, Skip threw just under 30 innings of quality Wiffle®Ball. He was a workhorse for W2B in October as he pitched all but one of his team’s games as they came a couple of runs away from defeating the three-time defending champions and moving through to Sunday. It is fair to describe Skip’s pitching style as “max effort.” He slings the ball from across his chest and often ends his motion a good foot or two to the right side of the rubber. That deception works well for him, however, and his pitch mix ranks out well above average.

#45
Dylan Harshaw – Pennsylvania – NR, #93
Longballs (MAW, NWLAT, UW), Angels (RPWL)

When Dylan Harshaw made contact in 2020, the ball usually went a long way.

In the Ridley Park regular season and playoffs, the Longballs’ captain collected 15 hits. 9 of those 15 hits (60%) left the park. 10 of his 12 hits during the Mid Atlantic tournament season (83%) went for extra bases – 5 home runs, 1 triple, and 4 doubles. His most impressive streak of the summer came at the MAW Opening Day Tournament. Harshaw homered in three consecutive games during the elimination round, taking a murderer’s row of Sean Steffy, Chris Sarnowski, and Dan Whitener deep on the way to the Longballs’ first Mid Atlantic tournament title. Dylan did not hit much at either NWLA Tournament or United Wiffle®Ball, but his power barrage during the summer in MAW and RPWL was one of the more notable – if not unexpected – offensive accomplishments of the 2020 season.

#44
Ed Packer – Pennsylvania – #40, #17
C4 (UW, MAW)

In two fast pitch tournaments this year, Packer was his usual hard-to-contain self at the plate. He hit well at United Wiffle®Ball and was only really shut down – along with the rest of his team – by the Black Dog Country Club duo of Colin Prentiss and Dan Whitener. C4 put up a lot of runs in their four wins. Their unrelenting offense scored 33 runs during those four games and Packer was in the middle of many of those run-scoring rallies. In his other fast pitch tournament of 2020 (MAW Opening Day), Packer picked up a pair of game-winning home runs off Ben Stant and Noah Silverman, respectively.

#43
Pete Taynton — California — NR, NR
Whippets WC

To make a run to the final four of a 40-team event as competitive as the 2020 United Wiffle®Ball NCT, a team often needs three or four of its players to have strong performances. The Whippets got just that. Veteran Pete Taynton was an integral part of the Whippets puzzle, providing quality innings and at bats. While Randy Dalbey was the ace of the Whippets’ rotation, Pete won big games on both Saturday and Sunday as his team made a surprising run to the semi-finals. The SoCal standout picked up pitching wins against the Northeast Bomb Squad and the Midwest Monstars in the Final 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, on Sunday while pitching in the kind of cold and blustery conditions that he likely doesn’t have to deal with often out west. Taynton was especially big against the Northeast Bomb Squad. After Randy Dalbey struggled early on and made an early exit, Tanyton took over and held the Bomb Squad down the rest of the way, providing his team with enough time to mount a comeback against Mike Stiles.

#42
Austin Berger – Pennsylvania – #57, #40
WILL Waves (MAW, NWLAT, UW), [Various Teams] (WILL)

The Waves’ ace kept chugging along as one of the more consistent and productive pitchers – across all different styles – in the sport this past year. The Wiff is Life League moved to a hybrid fast pitch/medium pitch format this year. Berger threw well when he went the fast pitch route, with the highlight of his season being a combined no-hitter against the WWW Mothmen at the June 13th Battle in the Burg tournament. Austin shut down the Mothmen for five regulation innings and then pitched ten additional no-hit innings under WILL’s unique extra inning format (runner on second to begin each half inning, one out to start each half-inning, all batters start with a 4-2 count).

In his first full season in Mid Atlantic, Berger stuck with what has worked for him everywhere else, mainly an ability to pound the strike zone. His 7.25 SO/BB ratio compared favorably with the league leaders. Two weekends after his marathon outing versus the Mothmen in WILL, Berger shutout the York Yaks for 8 1/3 innings before allowing a walk off home run to Adam Milsted (the only hit he allowed the entire game). On August 15th, Berger and the Waves faced Garrett Torres and the OG Goon Squad in what was a critical game for the Goon Squad. Berger shut them down and allowed just one hit and two walks in a six-inning victory.

For whatever reason – perhaps a full season of throwing cut balls in Mid Atlantic threw off his clean ball command – Berger uncharacteristically struggled to throw strikes at the NWLA Tournament. Over a pair of games against AWAA and Ridley Park, Berger walked fourteen hitters while striking out sixteen. Despite the walks, the results were still pretty good, particularly against AWAA (one run over six and two-thirds innings). Those walk issues followed him into his first game of the United Wiffle®Ball NCT, although not as dramatically. He walked six Anarchy hitters in three innings in the Waves’ second pool play game before returning to his old strike-pounding habits against the Goon Squad in the Knockout round. In that game, he walked one in a 7-inning complete game, shutout win. In a year where more players crossed stylistic boundaries than in the prior years, few pitched as consistently well across as many different styles of gameplay as Berger.

#41
Nate Smith – Pennsylvania – #26, NR
Angels (RPWL), Shortballs (MAW), Cheeseballs (UW)

He tends to get lost in the shuffle, but once again Nate Smith quietly proved himself to be one of the best of the Ridley Park players, both in and out of the league.

In his first year as an RPWL captain, Nate handled the lion’s share of innings for the Angels. The 46 ½ two-out innings he pitched were second most in the league and he allowed just ten hits all season. Nate was just as effective outside of RPWL. He threw just ten innings during the MAW regular season but allowed only four hits while striking out 26. At United Wiffle®Ball, Nate shifted over from the Shortballs to the Cheeseballs in a move that paid off big for both player and team. The southpaw — reaching back for a little extra something throughout the tournament — pitched the Cheeseballs to upset victories against the Juggernauts and Sueno on Saturday. He also delivered the decisive blow in the Cheeseballs’ mercy rule victory over the Juggernauts — a monster walk-off home run to straight away center. Largely because of Nate — who was named the Saturday MVP — the Cheeseballs slid into the 8th seed in the single elimination round on Sunday. The Cheeseballs came up short against defending champions C4 in the Final 16, but Nate hung tough against a relentless lineup. True to form, Nate didn’t hit for average anywhere he played but showed off his power every now and again. He posted a solid ISO in RPWL (.226) to go along with four regular season home runs.

#40
Zane Johnston – Pennsylvania – #45, NR
Royals (RPWL), Shortballs (MAW), Cheeseballs (UW)

Zane had an MVP caliber season in Ridley Park, where he carried the Royals to an 8-4 regular season record. He was particularly excellent when his team needed him the most late in the season. After getting out to a 3-0 start, the Royals dropped their next four to fall below .500. Over the next three games — all wins — Zane went 5-16 with two game winning home runs while allowing four runs on just four hits in 15 ½ two-out innings. That was enough to get the Royals into the post-season. Zane was just as good in the Royals lost playoff series with the Blue Jays. He allowed two runs on six hits over 12 innings of work. For the season, Zane finished top five in average, slugging and OPS, as well as pitching wins, innings pitched, games started, and strikeouts.

Zane was solid as the Shortballs’ secondary pitcher this past year in MAW. He allowed eight runs on ten hits in 24 innings and struck out more than 2 ½ batters per inning. Post-season Wiffle®Ball was not kind to Johnston in 2020. In addition to the heartbreaking loss to the Blue Jays in RPWL, he dropped a tough one to the OG Goon Squad in the rain at the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament in September and lost his only game of the United Wiffle®Ball NCT to the O-Bombers.

He might be well-served by following in Sean Bingnear’s footsteps and adding a riser to his arsenal. In 2020, Zane relied heavily on his screwball along with his unique sidearm drop that he throws across his body from a low arm angle. Hitters were able to look screwball against him and knew what was coming anytime he dropped low. A riser from down low would make the drop less predictable and allow him to use the screwball (which is his best pitch) a bit more judiciously.

#39
Matt Griffin – Massachusetts – #35, NR
Black Dog Country Club (UW)

Black Dog Country Club’s run at the United Wiffle®Ball national championship was truly a team effort, but the biggest offensive blows were delivered by Matt Griffin. The team captain put BDCC up on C4 for good in pool play with a solo shot off Ty Wegrzyn. While not a must-win, that home run helped place BDCC in a nice spot with a bye to the Final 16 and a matchup with the Wiffaholics. BDCC won that one without much trouble — with Griffin contributing on the carpet — before their date with the Phenoms in the quarterfinals. Griffin took Jordan Robles deep twice — the first time pulling the ball to left field, the second time an opposite shot to right-center — which provided more than adequate cushion for Dan Whitener. Griffin continued to have strong at bats in the semi’s and finals, as BDCC came up just short in their quest for a national title.

#38
Joe Evanish – Colorado – NR, NR
Usual Suspects (UW)

If you surveyed players before the United Wiffle®Ball National Championship and asked them who they thought would pitch the championship game for the Usual Suspects should they find themselves in the finals with Ryan Wood having thrown “only” two games the entire weekend, Wood would have been a popular answer. The Suspects did ultimately find themselves in that position but called on lefty Joe Evanish instead. Joe rewarded his team’s faith in him with a bend-but-don’t-break 5-3 victory of a hungry Black Dog Country Club team in the finals. In all, Joe tossed 10 innings for the champs — five-inning complete games against the WSEM Dream Team in the Final 16 and against BDCC in the finals — while allowing just three runs. Joe pitched on guts all Sunday long and overcame the handicap of only having one pitch that he could consistently throw for strikes against Black Dog. Evanish did a very good job containing Brian DiNapoli and did a good job handling the one right-handed batter in BDCC’s lineup — team captain Matt Griffin – as well.

#37
Ryan Wood – New York – NR, #45
Usual Suspects (UW)

Ryan Wood has been winning championships and frustrating both opposing pitchers and hitters for twenty years now. In 2020, Wood added another national title to his trophy case to go with his four Wiffle Up! World Series titles and 2010 Golden Stick fast pitch national title. Ryan played a key role in the Usual Suspect’s second national championship, taking down a pair of California-based teams – the O-Bombers and Whippets – in the quarterfinals and semi-finals, respectively. Showing that he is still very much a two-way threat, Wood took Dan Whitener deep in the national championship finals against Black Dog Country Club. Ryan competed in just one fast pitch tournament this year, but it was a big one and he was instrumental in the Suspects’ second national championship victory.

#36
Dan Haverty – Massachusetts – #72, NR
High Cheese (MAW), O-Bombers (UW)

Haverty made his Mid Atlantic debut in July with High Cheese and had a strong all-around tournament. He picked up hits in four of his team’s six game and carried High Cheese’ offense in the tournament championship against Ryan McElrath and the Juggernauts. He threw parts of three games covering 13 innings and allowed just two runs – both coming on walks – while racking up 34 strikeouts. Haverty only pitched one game at United Wiffle®Ball in October. Although it ended in a loss to the eventual champions, he pitched well aside from allowing a game winning solo home run to Johnny Costa. Haverty hit well throughout the two-day tournament in games versus Wiff Inc., Cheeseballs, and the WILL Waves.

#35
Randy Dalbey – Arizona – #62, #21
Whippets WC (UW)

The Whippets’ unlikely run at the 2020 United Wiffle®Ball National Championship was a full team effort, but undoubtably the team MVP was Randy Dalbey. The Whippets went to the 20-year veteran in almost every big moment. Dalbey started Saturday games against Way Too Beautiful (needing a win to avoid the 1-2 team bracket) and Juggernauts (final 24 elimination game). On the final day of the tournament, Randy started the Whippets’ Final 16 game versus the Northeast Bomb Squad, came into close things out against the Monstars in the quarterfinals, and started the semi-final game versus Usual Suspects. Randy had an early exit versus the Bomb Squad – although his team eventually came back to win that game – and picked up the loss in the semi’s but was successful in the other three outings. The Arizona veteran also hit all tournament long. He picked up the game winning hit versus the Juggernauts and contributed to his team’s big Sunday morning comeback versus the Bomb Squad. Few players have been as consistently productive for as long as Randy has been and he appears to have plenty still left in the tank.

#34
Colin Prentiss – Massachusetts – NR, NR
Black Dog Country Club (UW)

When Black Dog Country Club made Colin Prentiss a late addition to their United Wiffle®Ball roster, they had only one role for him in mind — pitch the team through to Sunday.

It was a big ask, particularly coming from a team with very real championship aspirations. The task grew even more daunting when BDCC was drawn into a Saturday bracket with a “chalk” path of the 603 All-Stars, Wiffaholics, and C4 if they were to win their group. Undeterred, Prentiss calmly carved through all three veteran lineups to get BDCC into Sunday with all their other arms intact. It was an incredibly impressive performance — particularly by a pitcher who does not have a ton of recent fast pitch experience — made all the more so by the fact that the three teams Prentiss beat combined for 12 wins that weekend. There were no give-me wins to be had.

The best way to describe Prentiss’ pitching style is deliberate. He doesn’t necessarily work slow but follows a careful routine. He gets into his open stance, stares in towards the zone, places his right hand and the ball behind his back (hidden from view of the batter), and then shifts his left hand over the ball as he starts towards the plate. The ball does not full reveal itself to the batter until well after he has pushed off the rubber and has started his lower and parts of his upper body towards the plate. This result is pitches that seem to get on top of you even quicker than they actually do. Colin comes over the top with a hard riser/slider — the same arm angle as his drop and screwball — which also add to the difficulty level of facing him.

#33
Greg Myers – Pennsylvania – #47, NR
RPWL Pirates (RPWL), Cheeseballs (MAW)

Greg Myers continues to chug right along as one of the best performing and most consistent pitchers in the Ridley Park Wiffle®Ball League. Greg improved on all the underlying facets of his pitching game in 2020, which is impressive considering the strength of his 2019 campaign. Greg experienced an uptick in his strikeout rate, to go along with a slight decrease in WHIP and a significant drop-off in walk rate. Greg has the reputation of being a smart pitcher and for good reason. Despite having above average stuff that he could easily lean-on, Greg consistently and effectively works the edges of the zone and has a strong grasp on pitch selection. He allowed significantly more hits in 2020 than in 2019 – which was at least partially a function of an increase in offense league wide – but offset that by posting the strongest SO/BB ratio of his career.

Myers has plenty of guts to go with that high Wiffle®Ball IQ of his. This past June, he pitched all 18 innings of a double header for the Ridley Park Pirates without allowing a single hit.

Greg made his long-awaited MAW debut this summer, captaining the Cheeseballs at Wiffle Bash. He pitched all three of his team’s games that day and allowed just three runs in regulation over 15 1/3 innings. Myers suffered hard luck losses to both the NY Meats and Shortballs on his way to an 0-3 record. However, the underlying numbers – 36 strikeouts, 7 walks, and only 6 hits – paint a more accurate picture of how well he pitched that day.

#32
Ben Stant – Delaware – #11, #30
Juggernauts (MAW, UW), Fingerballzzz (MAW Winter Classic), MAW Mafia (NWLAT)

Aided by a two+ season head start over Kenny Rodgers Jr., Ben Stant holds a strong claim to the title of “best all-around hitter” in MAW’s still rather brief history. At first glance it was a typical season for the Wiffle®Ball world’s youngest grizzled veteran. He finished 2nd with a .289 batting average and his 16% walk rate was in line with his career averages. Where his performance differed from his career norms was in the power department. After posting a .600 slugging percentage and .296 ISO in 2019, Ben managed to slug just .395 with a .106 ISO in 2020. Just three of his hits went for extra bases – although he certainly earned them with home runs off Noah Silverman and Teddy Drecher and a triple off Dan Whitener – to go along with 19 singles. The power downturn could very well be a one-off, small(er) sample size blip. Stant did pick up another home run in the Mid Atlantic Championship tournament.

At national tournaments, it was a bit of a mixed bag. His first experience at the NWLA Tournament wasn’t very pretty. Stant went 5-32 in Canonsburg with 4 walks. While his bottom line (.156/.250/.219) is certainly not awful for his first time out, it fell well short of his usual production levels and his MAW power outage didn’t disappear in that yellow bat tournament. Likewise, Stant wasn’t able to come up with the big home run – as he so often has over the past few years – for the Juggernauts at the United Wiffle®Ball National Championship.

#31
Brian DiNapoli – Massachusetts – #19, #12
High Cheese (MAW), Black Dog Country Club (UW)

Nine years after capturing his first national title, Brian DiNapoli is still one of the all-around best players at any fast pitch tournament he is a part of. DiNap’s 2020 unrestricted pitch speed resume was limited to one MAW tournament, a pair of “warm up” events in Massachusetts, and the United Wiffle®Ball NCT. He picked up 9 hits in 30 at bats in his MAW debut in Ridley Park, including two doubles and two homeruns. On the other side of the ball, he shutout a pair of Ridley Park teams — the Longballs and Shortballs — over eight combined innings while striking out 23. In October, DiNapoli was his usual unrelenting self at the plate. He also picked up some key innings earlier in the day on Sunday and again in emergency relief versus the Usual Suspects in the tournament finals. The latter game was particularly impressive. DiNapoli entered in a tough situation under less-than-ideal weather conditions and kept his team in it, giving them a chance to nearly pull out a comeback in the final inning. Like several others in this year’s Drop 100, the only variable at this point in DiNapoli’s placement among the fast pitch’s best players in any given year is the number of games he gets in.