The National Wiffle League Association released their 2018 All-NWLA Hitting, Pitching, Fielding, and Rookie teams this past week. The Wiff is Life League was represented in every category, with 11 players total being selected. Jordan Castelli (hitting), Tim Marra (pitching), Steven Keelon (pitching), Adam Carosone (pitching), Austin Berger (fielding), and Brett Carosone (rookie) highlighted the league by being named to the First Team in their respective categories. Rob Licht and Zach Rohaley picked up Second Team All-NWLA Hitting honors, while Matt Mish earned a third team honor in hitting and Jacob Davey along with Josh Clopp secured third team pitching honors to round out the league’s representation. This is the most All-NWLA selections the WILL has had in its 4 year membership in the NWLA, and the first time there has been a selection in every category.
All-NWLA Hitting Selections:
Jordan Castelli was the WILL Silver Slugger and hit for a .577 average, adding a league best 53 home runs. This is the second straight year Jordan has been on the first team. Rob Licht was the WILL MVP this past season and hit for .694 average with 24 home runs, earning him a spot on the second team for back to back years. Joining Rob on the second team is Beaver teammate, Zach Rohaley. Rohaley started the season with the CBG Doughboys then was picked up by the Beavers halfway thru the year. He hit was second in the league in home runs, with 28, and hit for a .616 average. Third on the home run leaderboard in the league and on the third team is Matt Mish, of the league champions Booze on First. Mish hit 28 home runs and had a .527 average on the season.
All-NWLA Pitching Selections:
Tim Marra won the 2018 WILL Cy Wiff award as the ace on the rubber for the Maestros. Tim sported an 18-2 record and a 2.07 ERA over the season. Adding in a league best 16 strikeouts and a perfect game, that puts him on the first team. The dynamic duo of the Beavers staff, Adam Carosone and Steven Keelon, join Marra on the first team. Adam led the league in ERA with a 0.75, he went 9-1 from the rubber and had 7 strikeouts. Steven Keelon dominated just like the two named before him. Keelon threw one perfect game in the 2018 campaign and finished with a 1.33 ERA. He had 10 strikeouts with a perfect 10-0 record on the year. Keelon moved up a team from 2017, when he was named to the NWLA third team as a member of the Crabs. Jacob Davey returns to the third team selection for the second year and this year Josh Clopp joins the list. Davey was the workhorse for Booze on First, going 17-1 with a 4.15 ERA and 7 K’s. Jacob also tossed one perfect game versus Suwaa. Clopp was the go to man for the Barton Bombers, he finished with an 8-5 record and a 2.37 ERA. Josh was fifth in the league in strikeouts, with 10.
All-NWLA Rookie Selections:
For the second straight year, the WILL Rookie of the Year has been named to the first team of All-NWLA Rookies. This season, Brett Carosone of the Golden Goats earned that honor. Brett did it from both sides for the semifinalist Goats. He went 10-7 from the rubber with a 3.14 ERA and 13 K’s, the ladder was good enough for second best in the league. From the plate, he slapped 14 home runs and had a .363 average.
All-NWLA Fielding Selections:
The 2018 WILL Golden Hands winner, Austin Berger, was named to the first team of the All-NWLA Fielding selections. Berger patrolled the outfield for the 20-2 Maestro squad. Mainly securing right field Berger earned the votes for the best fielder in the league.
The NWLA is a member organization of 43 Wiffle Ball leagues across the country. At the end of each season the voting committee selects players to fill 3 teams in each of the categories listed above. To see all of the All-NWLA teams visit their website, nationalwiffleball.wixsite.com/nwla or click here. For the latest NWLA news follow them on Twitter, @_NWLA, and for the most up to date WILL news follow us @wiffislife on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.