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‘The biggest league in the world’: Major League Wiffle Ball welcomes eight new players in 2022 Draft
April 18, 2022
The Major League Baseball season is in full swing as teams across the country recently concluded their first week of games.
For Major League Wiffle Ball, an 8-team wiffle ball league based in Brighton, Michigan, players will have to wait a few more weeks before swinging the bat or throwing a pitch on Opening Day.
As MLW gears up for another summer of clutch home runs and wicked breaking balls from the mound, the league held its third annual draft. Eight draftees were announced and welcomed to their respective teams in a YouTube video released Friday afternoon.
The draft consists of one round where player-managers select prospects in the order opposite where they finished in the playoffs the previous season. The glory of winning the MLW World Series comes with the consequence of picking last. If a team fails to qualify for the playoffs, they are rewarded with either the first or second pick in next season's draft. Picks can also be traded, allowing teams to draft more than one player in any given year.
One or two high-rated draft prospects can propel a losing team into the playoffs the following year, like how the Great Lakes Gators acquired Brendan Jorgensen and Chris Cheetam in the 2020 Draft en route to winning the 2020 World Series.
For the first annual draft in 2020, MLW hosted a winter league where in-state teams participated in a five-week showcase. Only the players who took part in the 2020 winter league were eligible to be drafted for the 2020 summer season.
However, MLW didn't host a winter league for the 2022 Draft, and therefore, any player in the country could hear their name be called on draft day.
"We didn't have a winter league, so whoever caught the managers' eyes in our tournaments, their own wiffle ball leagues, or their own baseball leagues (are eligible to be drafted)," MLW founder and player-manager Kyle Schultz said.
The 2021 last place Midwest Mallards had the first overall pick in the 2022 Draft and selected New York native pitcher Jordan Robles from the Mid Atlantic Wiffle Ball League.
Robles is an experienced wiffle ball veteran who has competed in national tournaments for more than 10 years. Robles will fill in for former Mallard pitcher Trevor Bonham, who was traded to the Metro Magic during the 2021 season for future draft picks.
"I'm excited to be playing in front of the biggest audience in all of wiffle ball, the biggest league in the world," Robles said to manager Tommy Coughlin in a phone call.
The Pacific Predators were next up on the podium, and manager Alec Warda selected utility player Mac Hawley from Alma College.
Hawley does not possess nearly as much competitive wiffle ball experience as Robles. However, Hawley is college baseball teammates with current Pacific Predators Ryan Kracht and Stephen McGlade. The trio's chemistry on the baseball diamond has the potential to transfer over to the wiffle ball field and bring the Pacific Predators back to the playoffs in 2022.
Coastal Cobras manager Drew Davis selected pitcher Sawyer Behen from the Elite Wiffle Ball League with the third pick. Behen's pitching arsenal features an impressive 12-6 styled drop ball.
Continuing down the line, The Eastern Eagles had the fourth pick, and manager Daniel Schultz selected utility player Landon Yurgaites from the Bay City Bone Krackerz. Yurgaites has a curveball, drop ball and rise ball combination on the mound to keep hitters off-balance. He also was awarded Most Valuable Player honors last season playing in the Bay City Wiffle Ball League.
With the fifth pick in the draft, Great Lakes Gators manager Brendan Szerlag selected outfielder Reece Harris from the National Wiffle Ball Association.
"I want to thank you guys for taking a chance on me," Harris said in a phone call with Szerlag.
Harris, who bats left-handed, is the second collegiate baseball player in the draft class and adds depth to the Gators team that did not have a selection in the 2021 Draft via trade.
Mallard manager, Coughlin, was set to return to the podium for the following selection. However, he traded the Mallards' sixth pick to reigning World Series champions, the Downtown Diamondbacks, in exchange for Diamondback outfielder Ben Wilson. Diamondbacks manager Jimmy Knorp selected pitcher Trey Flood, the second player from the Bay City Bone Krackerz in the draft class. Once teammates on the same tournament team, Flood and Yurgaites will now face off as opponents in MLW.
With the recent retirement of Ryan Kelly from the Western Wildcats, Kyle Schultz knew his team needed an adequate replacement and drafted pitcher Ty Smith from the Portage Wiffle League. The Wildcats already have a talented lineup. Adding another throwing arm alongside Schultz bolsters the pitching rotation.
"We've known about him since 2018, at the MLW Cedar Point Slugfest, where Smith led his squad to a tournament championship over a bunch of MLW guys," Schultz said.
Knorp returned to the podium with his original slated eighth pick and selected outfielder Casey Bennett. The Illinois native has a reputation for being a tough out at the plate and can replace Wilson, who Knorp traded for the sixth pick.
Only time will tell which picks in this year's draft were the best. Until then, Opening Day is right around the corner on May 1. The first series features a rematch of the 2021 World Series.
"We have Spring Training dropping in two weeks (and) Opening Day in three weeks where my Wildcats will be playing Jimmy Knorp and the Diamondbacks," Kyle Schultz said.
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