2 0 2 3 Season

So, what happened this season? To put it bluntly, this team was too inconsistent in all game phases. Errors, walks, strikeouts, a lack of run support, and inexperience all affected the overall production of this squad. The defense was average at best this season, as the WHAT? Sftbll Club were last in the league in fielding percentage. Errors, mental and physical, can decrease the overall confidence of a team.

Lets begin by looking the positive signs of the 2023 season – The WHAT? Sftbll Club finished the season with a 13-7 record, their best record in 5 years. They had a power hitter in the form of Jake Munson with 10 home runs, .621 Avg, 1.084 SLG, 23 extra base hits and 50 RBIs. Drake Larriuz led the club with a .699 Avg, 5 HRs, 60 runs and 79 base hits with 27 extra base hits. Junior Creekmore, Ito Rivera and Ryan Siembal all belted 5 home runs themselves.

As noted in the epilogue, the WHAT? Sftbll Club started the season hot but, after the mid-season break, it collapsed. This is where the GM Rusty Shackleford did his best job. The team acquired Collin Glassman and Peter Hyde, who brought fresh air to the clubhouse and in a way saved the WHAT? Sftbll’ season.

Now, you have to remember that we are talking about the WHAT? Sftbll Club, who, for some reason, can’t get over itself. There is always something bad lurking around the corner when something positive happens to this franchise. There was a Noah sign on the sky for Noah Roth to appear from the darkness!

Summer League Roster

Pitchers	Catchers	Infielders	Outfielders	Utility Players
James Creekmore	Junior Creekmore	Aaron Archibald	Brad Callahan	Collin Glassman
		Connor Fitzgerald	Kyle Risinger	Ito Rivera
		Drake Larriuz	Jake Munson	Peter Hyde
		Ryan Siembal	Jason Sanchez	Noah Roth

Despite the disappointing playoff exit, the WHAT? Sftbll Club can look back on the 2023 season with pride and satisfaction. This year marked a significant turning point for the franchise. The race between age and expertise is what determines whether an softball players can have the best season of their career after their body begins to fail. But in this case, there seems to be some maturity coming along from current ballplayers. Some of the standout performers of the season were Brad Callahan, Jake Munson, Kyle Risinger and Connor Fitzgerald.

Summer League Stats

#	Poss	STARTERS		Gm	PA	AB	Runs	OB	Hits	O.B.P	1H	2H	3H	4H	S.L.G	X.B.	RBIs	KO	BB	A.V.G	O.P.S	RE	RFC	SF	DP	R / G	OB / G	H / G	BI / G
8	SS	ARCHIBALD	Aaron	28	107	97	39	67	56	.626	43	8	5	0	.763	13	34	0	10	.577	1.389	1	7	2	1	1.4	2.4	2.0	1.2
9	RC	CALLAHAN	Brad	20	66	63	23	40	37	.606	29	4	3	1	.794	8	18	0	3	.587	1.400	0	5	1	0	1.2	2.0	1.9	0.9
69	P	CREEK	James	28	88	70	25	52	34	.591	34	0	0	0	.486	0	15	3	18	.486	1.077	0	2	3	7	0.9	1.9	1.2	0.5
17	C	CREEKMORE	Junior	28	94	84	28	53	42	.564	31	6	0	5	.750	11	33	5	10	.500	1.314	1	5	1	2	1.0	1.9	1.5	1.2
3	1B	FITZGERALD	Connor	24	79	70	22	34	25	.430	21	3	0	1	.443	4	26	4	9	.357	.873	0	7	3	2	0.9	1.4	1.0	1.1
34	MF	LARRIUZ	Drake	28	113	113	60	79	79	.699	52	17	5	5	1.071	27	48	3	0	.699	1.770	0	4	1	0	2.1	2.8	2.8	1.7
27	LC	MUNSON	Jake	26	100	95	41	65	59	.650	36	12	1	10	1.084	23	50	8	5	.621	1.734	1	5	1	2	1.6	2.5	2.3	1.9
13	RF	RISINGER	Kyle	26	90	83	32	54	46	.600	35	4	4	3	.807	11	23	6	7	.554	1.407	1	8	3	1	1.2	2.1	1.8	0.9
25	UP	RIVERA	Ito	26	95	90	30	58	52	.611	37	9	1	5	.867	15	44	1	5	.578	1.477	1	1	6	2	1.2	2.2	2.0	1.7
7	UP	ROTH	Noah	10	35	35	11	20	20	.571	14	2	1	3	.943	6	15	0	0	.571	1.514	0	2	1	0	1.1	2.0	2.0	1.5
5	OF	SANCHEZ	Jason	24	76	72	24	34	29	.447	26	2	0	1	.472	3	16	3	4	.403	.920	1	6	4	0	1.0	1.4	1.2	0.7
28	3B	SIEMBAL	Ryan	28	101	83	31	60	42	.594	28	8	1	5	.807	14	32	1	18	.506	1.401	0	1	3	0	1.1	2.1	1.5	1.1
14	OF	GLASSMAN	Collin	2	6	6	2	3	3	.500	3	0	0	0	.500	0	0	0	0	.500	1.000	0	1	0	0	1.0	1.5	1.5	0.0
2	UP	HYDE	Peter	6	24	24	5	9	9	.375	5	2	0	2	.708	4	5	0	0	.375	1.083	0	1	0	0	0.8	1.5	1.5	0.8
0	UP	KUSTER	Kevin	2	5	5	0	1	1	.200	1	0	0	0	.200	0	0	3	0	.200	.400	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0
0	OF	MARCINKUS	Tony	2	7	7	0	3	3	.429	3	0	0	0	.429	0	0	0	0	.429	.857	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	1.5	0.0
0	C	TUTTLE	Justin	2	5	4	1	2	1	.400	1	0	0	0	.250	0	0	1	1	.250	.650	0	1	0	0	0.5	1.0	0.5	0.0

		Totals		28	1091	1001	374	634	538	.581	399	77	21	41	.779	139	359	38	90	.537	1.360	6	56	29	17	13.4	22.6	19.2	12.8

		STARTERS		28	1044	955	366	616	521	.590	386	75	21	39	.791	135	354	34	89	.546	1.381	6	53	29	17	13.1	22.0	18.6	12.6

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

In the end, the 2023 season was a tale of two sides for the WHAT? Sftbll Club. While the playoff sweep was disappointing, the season as a whole marked a significant step forward for the franchise. The WHAT? Sftbll have rekindled excitement among their fanbase, tasted postseason softball once again, and demonstrated their potential to contend in the future. The ball is now in the players’ court to decide if they are willing to make the financial push necessary to take the next step towards greatness.

Most Valuable Player

Ito Rivera, has previously been close to the award, but this was his best shot by far. His previous top-10 finishes were fifth (2013), sixth (2016), fourth (2018) and eighth (2019) before being the top dog this season. Ito Rivera hit .578 Avg / .611 OBP (1.477 OPS+) with 9 doubles, a triple, 5 homers, 44 RBI, 30 runs and 4.9 WAR during the abbreviated 2023 campaign.

Winning both August Player of the Month Award and Utility Player of the Year Award, It’s arguably Ito Rivera best season of a stellar career with the WHAT? Sftbll, along with his first winning season, even if it was an abbreviated 26-game campaign. It also was a bit of a proving ground for the 48-year-old, who came to Spring Training in the best shape of his life.

Rookie of the Year

WHAT? Sftbll utility player Noah Roth is Softball America’s 2023 Rookie of the Year, making this his first ever major league award to be won in his up and coming career. The Nevada native, earn the honor in unanimous fashion, receiving all 30 first-place votes cast by members of the Softball Writers’ Association of America.

Made his team debut on Tuesday, May, 9th, 2023 vs. PF Flyers Squad, Gm 1. at SportsPark A’.. He ranked first among Lake County rookies in bWAR, fWAR (3.6), home runs (3), triple, RBIs (15), while batting .571 with an 1.514 OPS in 10 games and winning a Silver Slugger Award in the utility category.

We all have a soul family, the ones that ignite and support our truth. They feed something in us we weren't aware we needed before them. They'll make you face yourself and become raw and authentic. You'll roam but never too far from eachother for the invisible thread of connectedness; once opened can never be locked. They are the ones who will see you through all the awkward days of your life no matter what tributes and trials you face. They'll just be there, in presence, in synchronicity or in spirit.

That all said, teammates are expecting to see Risinger step up one more time and perform like the comical veteran ball player he’s been and become. He might not be the same on the outside, but it will still be an enjoyable revisit through his old Chula Vista stomping grounds and the memories found there.

Fall League Stats

#	Poss	STARTERS		Gm	PA	AB	Runs	OB	Hits	O.B.P	1H	2H	3H	4H	S.L.G	X.B.	RBIs	KO	BB	A.V.G	O.P.S	RE	RFC	SF	DP	R / G	OB / G	H / G	BI / G
8	SS	ARCHIBALD	Aaron	11	36	34	13	18	15	.500	6	5	1	3	.912	9	20	1	2	.441	1.412	1	2	3	0	1.2	1.6	1.4	1.8
9	RC	CALLAHAN	Brad	6	18	18	6	11	10	.611	7	2	0	1	.833	3	7	0	0	.556	1.444	1	0	2	0	1.0	1.8	1.7	1.2
69	P	CREEK	James	11	30	27	10	13	9	.433	9	0	0	0	.333	0	4	1	3	.333	.767	1	0	0	2	0.9	1.2	0.8	0.4
17	C	CREEKMORE	Junior	11	37	37	18	25	25	.676	10	6	0	9	1.568	15	23	0	0	.676	2.243	0	1	2	0	1.6	2.3	2.3	2.1
3	1B	FITZGERALD	Connor	11	31	28	17	23	19	.742	9	7	1	2	1.214	10	14	1	3	.679	1.956	1	0	0	0	1.5	2.1	1.7	1.3
14	OF	GLASSMAN	Collin	7	19	17	9	13	11	.684	10	0	0	1	.824	1	6	0	2	.647	1.508	0	0	1	0	1.3	1.9	1.6	0.9
2	UP	HYDE	Peter	11	36	34	12	19	17	.528	11	4	1	1	.765	6	12	0	2	.500	1.292	0	2	2	0	1.1	1.7	1.5	1.1
34	MF	LARRIUZ	Drake	11	37	36	17	23	22	.622	16	4	0	2	.889	6	13	1	1	.611	1.511	0	0	4	0	1.5	2.1	2.0	1.2
27	LC	MUNSON	Jake	11	33	31	16	19	17	.576	11	2	0	4	1.000	6	14	1	2	.548	1.576	0	0	1	1	1.5	1.7	1.5	1.3
13	RF	RISINGER	Kyle	9	23	21	7	13	11	.565	7	1	1	2	.952	4	8	1	2	.524	1.518	0	1	1	0	0.8	1.4	1.2	0.9
25	UP	RIVERA	Ito	11	37	32	19	26	21	.703	14	1	0	6	1.250	7	20	1	5	.656	1.953	0	0	1	0	1.7	2.4	1.9	1.8
5	OF	SANCHEZ	Jason	9	22	19	8	15	12	.682	9	3	0	0	.789	3	11	0	3	.632	1.471	0	2	1	0	0.9	1.7	1.3	1.2
28	3B	SIEMBAL	Ryan	11	36	31	19	25	20	.694	12	6	0	2	1.032	8	11	0	5	.645	1.727	0	0	0	0	1.7	2.3	1.8	1.0
0	UP	VAUGHAN	Kyle	2	8	8	4	6	6	.750	4	1	0	1	1.250	2	4	0	0	.750	2.000	0	0	0	2	2.0	3.0	3.0	2.0

		Totals		11	403	373	175	249	215	.618	135	42	4	34	.984	80	167	7	30	.576	1.602	4	8	18	5	15.9	22.6	19.5	15.2

The trading cards commemorate Outfielders Kyle Risinger and James Creekmore Jr. Risinger is the last remaining ball player from the original 2012 younger squad. Making his debut on February 18th, 2022 vs. InFamous Softball Club at Myrtle Beach S.C. going ( 1 for 3 , BB ). Creekmore Jr. becoming the first rookie ball player to hit over .600 during summer play. Player of the Month in May, Creekmore Jr. lead the squad in runs scored, RBI’s, HR’s and extra base hits.

WHAT?

2 0 2 3 Season

Summer League Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Utility Players

Summer League Stats

Most Valuable Player

Rookie of the Year

Fall League Stats