Gino Joseph will captain the Stompers for the WILL’s Battle in the Burg tournament on Saturday. He had the third and sixth pick in the draft and took Nate Morris, then Jake Davey. Joseph and Morris played together in the 2019 WILL. Davey has been alongside Morris multiple times, but never played with Joseph.
Joseph toed the rubber for the second most innings (15) of any pitcher at the Opening Day Tournament on the last day of May. He will likely be on the rubber for the majority of time for his team again this weekend. In the first tournament, he went 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 25 K’s. In the box, he led his squad, which finished second place in the tournament, with a .345 average.
Nate Morris could eat some innings for the team from the rubber, if needed. He threw a seven inning game where he struck out seven, but got the short end of the stick and lost the game 1-0. Morris was the leading hitter on his respected team at .364 and had the fourth best on base percentage at .500 in the Opening Day Tournament.
Jake Davey comes into the second tournament with the third best average in the league (.425). He knocked eight home runs and had a tournament best three doubles. The left handed hitter / right handed thrower has the ability to see time on the rubber, but with the depth on the mound from this team and no inning limits he might have to wait to see his first fast pitch innings come at the Summer Showdown.
The Stompers have a power arm, in Joseph, and quality bats, but so do the rest of the teams in the tournament. It will be interesting to see how Saturday plays out.
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Visit Lovie's Frosty Twist on South Main Street in Houston for ice cream this summer, tell 'em the WILL sent you!
