Fall Ball Battle Royale

September 24th. It's just an ordinary day. It's not associated with any holidays. Charlemagne was crowned King of the Franks that day in 768. Benedict Arnold fled the revolutionary army for the red coats in 1780 once it was discovered that he was going to surrender West Point. 60 Minutes premiered on CBS in 1968. But screw all that noise. No one will remember that hundreds of years from now because on September 24, 2013 the Wiffle Ballers and Bag Tag will be playing one last time in the fall ball season to break the tie they have for first place. Up until Week 4 of the season the Wiffle Ballers were the undisputed first place team with a 6-0 record. They dominated with spectacular defense, impressive pitching from Steven Adkins, and the swift and effective offense they exhibit. Week 4 showed us their human side as they lost both of their games against Master Batters and Bag Tag. Bag Tag did not have such a positive start. They went 1-1 in Week 1 and lost another in Week 2 before beginning their current 5-game winning streak. They were originally favored to be the best in the league and originally disappointed while Wiffle Ballers were racing to the top. But things have changed and Bag Tag are now surging but does that mean that Wiffle Ballers have fallen from grace? We will not know until Sept. 24 when we settle once and for all who is the most dominant team of the fall ball league. 

The two teams are impressive enough on their own but what sets them apart? Pitching appears to be the biggest difference between them. Wiffle Ballers have only one pitcher, Steven Adkins, who has done phenomenally considering 90% of the fall league (including Adkins) are rookies. He is quick to get grounders and get back to the circle, he has a great curveball but will it be enough? Pitching seems to be Bag Tag's forte as they had a rough start at the beginning of the season but have since turned it around. Brian Ball has the lowest ERA (0.71) in the league and Paul Martin and Zach Blatt have really improved their accuracy on the mound with super curveballs. They also have improved their defense over time to rival that of Wiffle Ballers. So whoever walks away with the win at the Battle Royale will have to fight to the death* for it as it does not seem likely that it will be an easy win for either party. Take a look at the stats below and decide for yourself. Feel free to comment below on who you believe will walk away as the best team in the fall ball league.

Individual Batting Leaders

# Name Team AVG GP GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K FC LOB TB OBP SLG Tim Wilson-Byrne Wiffle Ballers .700 8 8 40 40 16 28 3 1 7 11 0 6 1 11 54 .700 1.350 Paul Martin Bag Tag .698 8 8 45 43 22 30 3 1 6 17 2 3 3 5 53 .711 1.233 Nick Kappra Pitch Slappers .692 5 5 14 13 4 9 1 0 3 9 1 1 0 0 19 .714 1.462 Alex McCoy Bag Tag .667 2 2 9 9 4 6 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 4 12 .667 1.333 Brandon Woolum Bag Tag .659 8 8 47 44 15 29 4 1 4 17 3 5 1 5 47 .681 1.068 Steven Adkins Wiffle Ballers .629 8 8 36 35 13 22 1 0 11 26 1 6 1 5 56 .639 1.600 Jacob Dunkle Pitch Slappers .600 8 8 27 25 13 15 0 0 10 18 2 4 0 0 45 .630 1.800 Greg Sowards Green Bears .591 8 8 28 22 8 13 1 0 1 4 6 4 0 3 17 .679 .773 Josh Smith Green Bears .579 8 8 26 19 6 11 0 0 3 9 7 4 0 12 20 .692 1.053 Josh Berletich Honey Badgers .577 7 7 32 26 5 15 3 1 2 5 6 1 2 9 26 .656 1.000 Adam Rose Go Jackie Go .556 2 2 10 9 4 5 0 0 2 4 1 1 0 2 11 .600 1.222 Zach Blatt Bag Tag .553 8 8 46 38 17 21 1 0 9 24 8 7 1 14 49 .630 1.289 Russell Odono Master Batters .550 5 5 26 20 5 11 0 0 2 6 6 6 1 8 17 .654 .850 Mike McCoy Green Bears .526 8 8 27 19 6 10 1 0 3 12 8 2 2 17 20 .667 1.053 Brian Ball Bag Tag .500 2 2 10 6 4 3 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 7 3 .700 .500 Scott Hatfield Go Jackie Go .480 7 7 28 25 6 12 2 1 2 4 3 3 0 4 22 .536 .880 Daniel Payne Go Jackie Go .471 6 6 19 17 3 8 1 0 2 2 2 5 0 0 15 .526 .882 Jamie Reagan Master Batters .464 6 6 29 28 9 13 1 0 4 6 1 8 2 9 26 .483 .929 Patrick Rayl Pitch Slappers .455 7 7 24 22 8 10 0 0 4 8 2 0 0 4 22 .500 1.000 Stephanie Schritter Wiffle Ballers .444 8 7 39 36 10 16 1 0 2 5 3 11 3 8 23 .487 .639 Paul Hesson Honey Badgers .437 5 5 16 16 1 7 1 0 1 2 0 4 0 3 11 .437 .687 Matt Wingate Master Batters .421 5 5 27 19 3 8 0 0 1 3 8 5 0 4 11 .593 .579 Andy Hill Pitch Slappers .417 8 8 28 24 6 10 0 0 2 4 4 6 0 3 16 .500 .667 Kara Dills Bag Tag .417 5 5 26 24 9 10 0 0 4 10 2 7 1 8 22 .462 .917 Jeff Kim Master Batters .400 6 6 32 30 6 12 1 0 3 7 2 7 1 14 22 .437 .733 Julie Meadows Green Bears .400 6 6 19 10 7 4 0 0 0 3 9 4 1 1 4 .684 .400 Aaron Fradd Wiffle Ballers .355 8 8 36 31 7 11 0 0 3 5 5 13 1 10 20 .444 .645 Jimmy Scott Go Jackie Go .353 6 6 18 17 2 6 1 0 2 2 1 6 0 6 13 .389 .765 Chris Foltz Pitch Slappers .350 8 8 25 20 9 7 2 0 1 4 5 9 1 8 12 .480 .600 David Dillon Honey Badgers .348 7 7 28 23 2 8 2 0 0 2 5 8 2 8 10 .464 .435 Wade Napier Pitch Slappers .333 3 3 10 9 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 3 3 .400 .333 Todd Scott Go Jackie Go .286 8 8 30 28 3 8 0 0 1 6 2 8 1 7 11 .333 .393 Daryl Pullin Green Bears .267 6 6 18 15 5 4 0 0 0 4 3 5 0 2 4 .389 .267 Jamie Reagan Wiffle Ballers .250 1 1 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 Mike Saxton Green Bears .238 8 8 28 21 3 5 0 0 0 2 7 9 2 10 5 .429 .238 Alex Caughran Master Batters .231 4 4 15 13 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 3 3 .333 .231 Arielle Hord Honey Badgers .120 7 7 30 25 1 3 1 0 0 0 5 8 1 14 4 .267 .160

Individual Pitching Leaders

# Name Team GP GS IP R ER H BB K CG W L S HLD BS ERA WHIP Brian Ball Bag Tag 2 1 7.0 1 1 3 2 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0.71 0.71 Jeff Kim Master Batters 5 3 18.0 7 7 18 2 14 3 3 0 0 1 0 1.94 1.11 Matt Wingate Master Batters 3 3 10.0 5 5 10 18 9 1 1 2 0 0 0 2.50 2.80 Josh Berletich Honey Badgers 7 6 32.0 19 19 35 9 31 6 4 3 0 0 0 2.97 1.37 Zach Blatt Bag Tag 8 6 26.0 18 18 38 9 19 4 5 0 1 0 0 3.46 1.81 Greg Sowards Green Bears 5 4 20.0 17 17 34 1 7 4 3 1 0 0 0 4.25 1.75 Chris Foltz Pitch Slappers 5 5 18.0 16 16 32 16 9 3 1 4 0 0 0 4.44 2.67 Jacob Dunkle Pitch Slappers 5 2 10.0 9 9 13 2 7 2 2 0 0 0 0 4.50 1.50 Steven Adkins Wiffle Ballers 8 8 42.0 39 39 72 13 37 8 6 2 0 0 0 4.64 2.02 Paul Martin Bag Tag 2 0 4.0 4 4 4 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.00 3.00 Russell Odono Master Batters 1 1 5.0 6 6 9 1 8 1 0 1 0 0 0 6.00 2.00 Adam Rose Go Jackie Go 2 0 7.0 9 9 7 3 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 6.43 1.43 Todd Scott Go Jackie Go 4 3 8.0 12 12 10 22 6 2 0 3 0 0 0 7.50 4.00 Daniel Payne Go Jackie Go 4 3 15.0 27 27 39 6 8 3 0 3 0 0 0 9.00 3.00 Josh Smith Green Bears 2 2 7.0 16 16 25 2 6 2 0 2 0 0 0 11.43 3.86 Mike McCoy Green Bears 2 2 7.0 16 16 22 5 5 1 0 2 0 0 0 11.43 3.86 Scott Hatfield Go Jackie Go 2 2 2.0 6 6 6 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15.00 7.50 Patrick Rayl Pitch Slappers 3 1 4.0 12 12 15 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 15.00 4.50 Alex McCoy Bag Tag 1 1 1.0 4 4 3 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 20.00 9.00

 *Not really a fight to the death. Unless unperceived circumstances such as space junk come into play that are not sanctioned by the Huntington Wiffle League.