100 Thieves Season Preview Served by Lovie’s Frosty Twist
The 100 Thieves open their season Sunday (June 2) with a bye in the WILL’s first ever tournament day. They will take on the winner of Beavers and Splunkers matchup at 5:00 pm.
Roster: Steven Keelon captains the squad, this is just his second time being the man in charge on his team in the WILL. Previously he captained the Rubberducks to a playoff appearance in 2016. He is accompanied by two league veterans and two rookies. The veterans are Nate Morris and Austin Berger. Meanwhile the rookies are Chris Sarnowski and Gino Joseph. Sarnowski and Joseph played in the FWILL Tournament this past offseason. After struggling in pool play, they busted out 5 straight wins to win the crown and must’ve caught the eye of Keelon.
Fielding: Austin Berger should be the staple in the outfield for the 100 Thieves. He is coming off a Golden Hands award winning season in 2018. Berger bounced around in left and right field for the Maestros last season, expect to see him mostly in left but he is comfortable in any position on the field. Gino Joseph is a likely candidate for the other outfield position.
Pitching: The way Steven Keelon manages his pitching staff during the year could be key to the success of the team. Three quality arms that have ace potential highlight the staff of the 100 Thieves. Keelon was the go to guy for the Beavers last season and is the probable ace for his team this year. He went 8-0 in the regular season in 2018 with a 1.33 ERA, the second best among qualified pitchers. Nate Morris has experience from the rubber in the WILL as well and was the ace on his team, the Step Dads, last year. Morris posted a 3.17 and struck out 15 over 86.2 innings of work with the Step Dads. Both the strike outs and the innings pitched were good for second best in the league. Chris Sarnowski was the rubber arm for EHP in the 2018 FWILL Tournament. EHP won the tournament championship and it was the first time with the new balls. Sarnowski is an experienced wiffler, but new to the WILL, could his experience with the official Wiffle Ball be the deciding factor to put him on the rubber?
Hitting: Keelon went out and created his own team for multiple reasons, one of those reasons is to be in the lineup to hit. Last year, the Beavers DH’d for him. Keelon had 48 at bats and hit 3 home runs with the Beavers. The previous year with the Crabs, he hit a solid .529 with 23 homers. Gino Joseph and Chris Sarnowski both showed the ability for offensive outburst when they carried their team to a FWILL title this past fall. Sarnowski came back for the Winter WILL and won that as well in an individual format, showcasing both his hitting and pitching. Nate Morris struggled with the long ball last year, which is a key factor in the WILL. He hit just 4 home runs in 94 trips to the plate. A solid .467 average though and hustle form Morris could help his cause to get the nod into the lineup. Austin Berger led his team in average last season posting a .577 average making his case strong to be in the lineup. Berger launched just 7 long balls last year, making the teams total to just 14 home runs between the 3 returning players. Power could be an issue for the 100 Thieves, but they could make up for that with their superb jobs of hitting for average. Look for Keelon to tweak the lineup here and there in the early stages of the season and then settle into one by tournament day 2.
Other: Follow the 100 Thieves on Twitter @100ThievesWIFF.
This preview was served by Lovie’s Frosty Twist. Stop down to Lovie’s on South Main Street in Houston for some of the best ice cream you’ll have this summer.
