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| Matt Wingate on the mound for the Master Batters |
Fall Ball has gotten off to a great start. We have more teams involved than originally anticipated when the idea for Fall Ball came about in June. What's truly unique about the players involved with Fall Ball this year is that 90% of the players were not participants in the 2013 regular season. The Terrorhawks were unable to fill their roster as only 3 of their players returned for Fall Ball. Brandon Woolum created his own team (Bag Tag) and therefore Beaver Fever was in the same boat as the Terrorhawks - as a result they combined forces to create the Green Bears. They still had a spot left on the roster and added newcomer Mike McCoy to complete their team. A total of 7 franchises have been involved with the fall season so far - 5 of which are brand new teams. They are: Jeff Kim's Master Batters, Stephanie Sadler's Wiffle Ballers, Todd Scott's Go Jackie Go, Patrick Rayl's Pitch Slappers, & Brandon Woolum's Bag Tag.
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| Josh Berletich returns |
The biggest surprise as far as teams go was the return of the Honey Badgers. Josh Berletich was originally rumored to be returning as a player (possibly to the Terrorhawks) before decided that he wanted to captain his old team again. The Honey Badgers have had some adjusting to do as the league has changed quite a bit since they finished runner-up in 2012. They lost their first 3 games in Fall Ball but have recently won 2 in a row, partly due to their new player Paul Hesson. What is disappointing is the fact that most of the players from the 2013 regular season did not participate in Fall Ball. The only teams that are believed to return for 2014 are Holy Balls, Pink Penguins, and perhaps Maroon $quad. The Terrorhawks and Beaver Fever seemed to have found a good blend with their new endeavor with as the Green Bears. However, the sudden influx of brand new teams gives reason to hope that the league could grow to 8 or 10 teams (possibly more) for the 2014 regular season.
The league has been experimenting with some new rugs at home plate and on the mound. The pitcher's rug has been modified with a 14'' pitcher's rubber and has been performing nicely. The batter's rug, however, needs work and is constantly moving throughout games. Games have been moving along fairly smoothly considering that many players learned the rules as they went along and initially had little idea of how to fill out the score book. All things considered Fall Ball has been a success and a blast to participate in. Hopefully all of the new players and teams will stick around and be involved in next season. Competition has been pretty stiff as many of the teams appear evenly matched. Many teams initially struggled with pitching but have since dramatically improved - making for really close games. There are just two more weeks left of Fall Ball before the off-season.
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