Power Rankings 1.0

Written by Jacke Finne
Jul. 9, 2019

With the past two series that we were able to complete this weekend, we are exactly a third of the way through the regular season, in terms of series that we have completed. The Ironmen have been able to play half their season already, and the Hillcats and the Crusaders have been able to complete a third of their season. To be halfway through the season, the Nighthawks need to play against the Hillcats and the Crusaders.

During the third of the regular season that we have played, we have had some great games, including two that have gone to six innings. The Ironmen came out victorious in both of the games that have gone to extras. The Crusaders made history as the first team to sweep a series, when they won three out of a possible three games against the Hillcats this past Monday. The Hillcats grabbed the first series win in IWL History against the Ironmen.

With all of that said, it's about time that we have our first in-season power rankings.

1. Circle City Crusaders (5-1): With the added incentive of being on the bubble in the most recent batch of NWLA National Rankings, Connor Whaley has led the Crusaders to an amazing start. In the Crusaders' first game against the Ironmen, the Crusaders won, 3-1, after Whaley pitched 9 strikeouts – the most in IWL History. Even though the Ironmen beat the Crusaders in the second game of the series, the Crusaders have since gone on a four-game winning streak, including a series sweep against the Hillcats. The Crusaders have been breaking records and making history left and right. In Game 1 against the Hillcats, Whaley pitched the first no-hitter in IWL History, even though he allowed two runs. Additionally, the Crusaders signed the first female in IWL History to a permanent contract. The Crusaders are off to a hot start, and there isn't a lot that could extinguish them at the moment. Expected Record: 15-3 – Previous Ranking: 1st (–)
2. Indy Ironmen (4-5): After a 4-5 start to the season, the Ironmen have had trouble completing games. During Game 3 against the Hillcats, the Ironmen lost on a walkoff by Jack Marshall.  During Game 3 against the Nighthawks, the Ironmen gave up two runs, due to an error and a solo shot, respectively. During Game 1 against the Crusaders, the Ironmen gave up a three-run home run that ended up being the nail in the coffin. There have been at least two games where the Ironmen could've have won, but have failed to do so due to errors on the field. However, during the last half of the season, the Ironmen have the chance to make a run at the red-hot Crusaders. Jake Fine has all the right stepping stones in place, it's just a matter of being able to close out games and using all of his players to their full potential. The Ironmen also have the easier way out throughout the rest of the season, as 2 of their 3 remaining series are at home. Through 12 games, the home team has won 3 out of the 4 series. However, if the Ironmen can't figure it out, the second half of the season could be another bumpy ride. Expected Record: 8-10 – Previous Ranking: 2nd (–)
3. Hoosier State Hillcats (2-4): If it weren't for being swept against the Crusaders, the Hillcats would definitely be second in the power rankings. The series win against the Ironmen was impressive, and Grady Hadar was able to lead them to a solid start. However, this past series against the Crusaders was something else. To put things in perspective, the Hillcats weren't at their best coming in. They were without their best player in Jack Marshall, and Lawrence Coan had been suffering from a hamstring injury that he picked up during a hiking trip. Even with that said, it was a disappointing performance for the Hillcats against the Crusaders. In both of the first two games, the Hillcats had a chance to grab wins. However, both games were choked away after consecutive 5-run 3rd innings. Simalarily to the Ironmen, even with the most recent performance against the Crusaders, the Hillcats have everything in place to make a run for first, if they are able to get a series win against the Nighthawks. Expected Record: 6-12 – Previous Ranking: 4th (▲1)
4. Naptown Nighthawks (1-2): With one completed series to base the Nighthawks off of, there's not a lot we're going off of. The Nighthawks were able to compete with the Ironmen in the first game, but then they were shellacked in the second game. However, they were able to grab their first win against the Ironmen in Game 3. As aforementioned, other than the one series against the Ironmen, there isn't a lot to go off of. Expected Record: 6-12 – Previous Ranking: 3rd (▼1)

2019 Standings
Team	W	L	GB	XTRA	PCT	RS	RA	DIFF	HOME	ROAD	STRK	PO
Circle City Crusaders	5	1	-	0-0	.833	23	16	+7	2-1	3-0	W4	0-0
Indy Ironmen	4	5	2.5	2-0	.444	39	34	+5	2-1	2-4	L1	0-0
Naptown Nighthawks	1	2	2.5	0-1	.333	9	13	-4	0-0	1-2	W1	0-0
Hoosier State Hillcats	2	4	3	0-1	.333	26	34	-8	2-4	0-0	L3	0-0

Preseason Power Rankings

Written by Jacke Finne
Jun. 18, 2019

With games being played this week after Opening Day weekend was postponed due to numerous reasons, we feel that it's only right for the first set of power rankings to be released.

1. Circle City Crusaders (0-0): Captain Connor Whaley had a great draft, taking some steals in the later rounds, including an absolute tank in Bo Marker. However, his earlier picks would make a 3-man roster that would be hard to beat. With the added bonus of Marker and Carter Schaffer, the Crusaders are for sure the team to beat. With high school experience on the mound this past spring at North Central High School, Whaley is looking to be the inaugural Cy Young winner of the Indy Wiffle League. Strong pitches with accuracy will prove Whaley as the toughest pitcher to get a hit off of. As it stands, the Crusaders are definitely the front-runners in terms of winning the IWL Regular Season title, and giving a run for the IWL World Series shortly after. (In addition, congratulations to the Crusaders for receiving votes in the most recent batch of NWLA National Rankings.)
2. Indy Ironmen (0-0): Captain Jake Fine took away some key players in the draft that will bring some consistency within the squad. Questions about the pitching rotation for the Ironmen may be a problem, as no player has a history of playing pitcher, or baseball, for that matter. However, the all-around athleticism for the squad will provide some solid offense and consistent fielding.
3. Naptown Nighthawks (0-0): Even with the first pick of the draft, captain Nate Killeen may not have the strongest team. The Nighthawks still had to pick Mr. Irrelevant and, other than their first pick, no one has a lot of history of playing baseball. Sam Bella is seemingly the pitching ace for the team, but with other obligations over the course of the summer, it may be tough for him to show his ability as a wiffleball player on the pitching rubber this summer. Other than Bella, the rest of the team is similar in the fact that they are all, for the most part, athletic, but Killeen may have some trouble with getting wins on the board.
4. Hoosier State Hillcats (0-0): During the draft, captain Grady Hadar picked solid players in Jack French and Jack Marshall, but his late-round draft picks may prove to be an added weight to the team that doesn't provide an all-around great group of players. We'll have to see throughout the season how the Hillcats hold up, with possibly the most toxic lineup that a team could have picked. 

The first series on Friday will be between the Crusaders and the Hillcats.

IWL Draft completed – On to Opening Day

Written by Jacke Finne
Jun. 3, 2019

After an eventful draft at the commissioner's house, the rosters for all of the teams are set. Everything for the first season in the history of the Indianapolis Wiffleball League is set and ready to go for Opening Day. Within the next couple weekends, the first ever series in IWL history will take place between the first rivalry in IWL history, the Circle City Crusaders and the Hoosier State Hillcats. Albeit the history of both sides are short, the two teams are already intense rivals, and the matchup will be fun to watch.

However, prior to that, the commissioners uploaded the second video onto the IWL official YouTube channel after the completion of the first IWL Draft. The video goes through each round and lists off which player got picked when and where they are headed. In the future, the commissioners will upload more frequently as the season officially gets under way.

You can get to the video three possible ways from here:

1. Press the Videos page on the top of the website
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the YouTube icon
3. Simply watch the video in this article

Regardless of where you watch the video, please subscribe to the YouTube channel so that you can watch most, if not all, of the series throughout the first season, including the 2019 IWL World Series down the road.

IWL Draft Upcoming and Opening Day Scheduled

Written by Jacke Finne
May 31, 2019

After a vacant April and May, and over two months of nothing on our part, we can confirm we are, in fact, not dead. With finals and sports and other obligations, neither of the commissioners, or the other captains, for that matter, have really put too much thought into the league and its status. However, with school over and summer in session for most, we are able to say that the league is in the forefront of all of our minds.

Prior to the inactivity on our part, we had not reached the point of the inaugural draft, meaning that none of the teams are set. After a third run through of confirmations of potential players for this upcoming season, the inaugural Indianapolis Wiffleball League Draft for the 2019 season has been set for Sunday, June 2nd. All of the captains will meet up at a yet to-be-determined  location (probably one of the captain's house) and a yet to-be-determined time (probably not 2:51 a.m.) to make their picks that will decide the outcome of the season.

With that said, Opening Day is planned to be the weekend of June 8th, but the final judgment will be made later this week. In conclusion, the inaugural IWL Season will be kicked off with the draft this weekend and, within the next two weekends, the legitimate season will be underway. Make sure to stay tuned!

A Beginning of An Era | 2019 IWL Season Preview

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 16, 2019

Although most of you most likely already know through social media, this evening, the commissioners posted the first video on the league YouTube channel and you can go check it out now.

The video is hopefully the first of many on the channel, so make sure to subscribe to be able to keep up with the content. As some may know, the commissioners are planning on having all of the games recorded to be able to post onto YouTube. Eventually, the games may be live-streamed on the channel, so if you want to check those out, stay tuned to the IWL's YouTube channel. You can scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the YouTube emblem, or you can click the link right here. Also, you can get the link to a certain video by going to the newly created "Videos" tab, which can direct to the specific video you're looking for.

Anyways, I hope you all are ready for the Beginning of the Indianapolis Wiffleball League and the Beginning of an Era.

Jake Fine's Mock Draft 2.0

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 14, 2019

Jake Fine
Captain of the Ironmen
and Co-Commissioner

After roughly a week, Jake Fine has sent in his second version of his Mock Draft, with some slight adjustments. As we said in the last one, for those of you out there who want to make one, too, just send an email to indywiffleofficial@gmail.com with your list and we'll add it to the website.

Captain of the Ironmen and co-commissioner, Jake Fine, has sent in his second Mock Draft for the 2019 season. As it is his second, we have decided to slap on the 2.0 at the end of the name. Essentially, in this Mock Draft, don't expect too much to change because we haven't had a chance to play to really see who are the better players and who are the not-so-better players. Really, Fine is just guesstimating at this point and going off of what the players have said about how well they play. Once we get into some gameplay and the IWL combine kicks off in late March to early April, we'll see who drops where. Additionally, some players may lose some positions in their draft stock because they have stated they may not show up to a couple games due to vacation, summer school, and other events of the sort.

Jake Fine's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 2.0
Round	Pick		Name	Team
	Rd.	Ovr.
1	1	1	Cameron Smith	Naptown Nighthawks
1	2	2	Sam Bella	Indy Ironmen
1	3	3	Matthew Klein	Circle City Crusaders
1	4	4	Jack Gibson	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	1	5	Jack French	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	2	6	Jack Marshall	Circle City Crusaders
2	3	7	Logan Tetrault	Indy Ironmen
2	4	8	Evan Huff	Naptown Nighthawks
3	1	9	Bo Marker	Naptown Nighthawks
3	2	10	Carter Schaffer	Indy Ironmen
3	3	11	Sam Reed	Circle City Crusaders
3	4	12	Teagan Cohen	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	1	13	Ian Houle	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	2	14	Matt Harvey	Circle City Crusaders
4	3	15	Alex Tabor	Indy Ironmen
4	4	16	Will Harvey	Naptown Nighthawks
5	1	17	Sebastian Alford	Naptown Nighthawks
5	2	18	Loïck Trampont	Indy Ironmen
5	3	19	John Churchman	Circle City Crusaders
5	4	20	Ansel Hendrix	Hoosier State Hillcats

The recruitment stage has been completed for the IWL, so the field is set for the IWL draft to take place. Before that, however, the captains and the commissioners will be holding an evaluation session at the to-be-determined location for the league's games. As we move on, Cameron Smith is still at number one, as he was in Fine's first Mock Draft, who Fine believes is still arguably the best player in the draft

From there, he had the Ironmen selecting Sam Bella and the Crusaders picking Matthew Klein. The Hillcats pick Jack Gibson and Jack French back-to-back, and the Crusaders pick up Jack Marshall (for three straight picks with kids named Jack). Originally, Fine had Jack French and Jack Marshall in front of Jack Gibson in the first round, but he has since switched put Jack Gibson into 4th. Additionally, Sam Bella and Matthew Klein swapped places.

From there, the second round continues as Logan Tetrault gets signed by the Ironmen, and Evan Huff and Bo Marker get picked by the Nighthawks in back-to-back picks. Carter Schaffer gets picked by the Ironmen, and Sam Reed gets picked by the Crusaders. Teagan Cohen and Ian Houle make their first appearances in the mock draft, as they both get signed by the Hillcats. Sam Reed slid down from the 7th pick all the way down to the 11th pick, mostly due to the fact he claims he will be out of town for most of the summer. Additionally, Evan Huff, and Bo Marker both shoot up in the draft. Carter Schaffer also slid down due to a trip at the beginning of the summer and summer school in the latter half.

Matt Harvey gets picked by the Crusaders, while Alex Tabor gets picked by the Ironmen. Finally, to round out the fourth round, Will Harvey picked by the Nighthawks. Matt Harvey falls into 14th. Alex Tabor also slides down into 15th, due to the crushing blow to Tabor's case that he actually doesn't have too much baseball experience and claims that he has poor hand-eye coordination. Honestly, he's lucky to be in 15th.

In the first mock draft with the fifth round, we have three additions to the draft. Sebastian Alford gets picked by the Nighthawks with the 17th pick, and Loïck Trampont slides down into 18th, which is a pick by the Ironmen. John Churchman and Ansel Hendricks finish the draft off, getting picked by the Crusaders and the Hillcats, respectively.

As I said before, if anybody would like to send in a Mock Draft, let us know by emailing us at indywiffleofficial@gmail.com.

Alex Tabor's Mock Draft 1.0

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 13, 2019

Alex Tabor
Future IWL Player

Alex Tabor has gotten into the mix, with a mock draft of his own. A future player in the IWL, he's the freshman goalkeeper at Brebeuf, who is most infamous for allowing 7 goals in a single game. Maybe his poor performance on the soccer pitch can translate to something good in the wiffleball field? Ehh, probably not.

Either way, he was generous in his picking of the mock draft, as he put himself in the late first round. We'll have to see how his picks work out in the upcoming IWL draft – the first of its kind. The commissioners and the captains are still debating whether or not the draft will be live-streamed via Instagram or even YouTube, or whether they will create a video and post it on a later date. We'll see, but let's get into Alex Tabor's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 1.0.

Before we begin, as a disclaimer, this was made before the additions of those who are interested.

Alex Tabor's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 1.0
Round	Pick		Name	Team
	Rd.	Ovr.
1	1	1	Sam Bella	Naptown Nighthawks
1	2	2	Jack French	Indy Ironmen
1	3	3	Bo Marker	Circle City Crusaders
1	4	4	Alex Tabor	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	1	5	Cameron Smith	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	2	6	Carter Schaffer	Circle City Crusaders
2	3	7	Sam Reed	Indy Ironmen
2	4	8	Noah Skaggs	Naptown Nighthawks
3	1	9	Evan Huff	Naptown Nighthawks
3	2	10	Matthew Klein	Indy Ironmen
3	3	11	Loïck Trampont	Circle City Crusaders
3	4	12	Jack Gibson	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	1	13	Matt Harvey	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	2	14	Will Harvey	Circle City Crusaders
4	3	15	Luke DeMilt	Indy Ironmen
4	4	16	Jack Marshall	Naptown Nighthawks

With the first pick, the Nighthawks select Sam Bella, in Tabor's Mock Draft. Jack French and Bo Marker are then picked by the Ironmen and the Crusaders, respectively. Alex Tabor and Cameron Smith are selected by the Hillcats, then Carter Schaffer is selected by the Crusaders. Sam Reed goes to the Ironmen, while Noah Skaggs and Evan Huff are picked by the Nighthawks. Matthew Klein gets picked by the Ironmen in the third round, and Loïck Trampont and Jack Gibson round off the third round, getting picked by the Crusaders and the Hillcats, respectively. Matt Harvey starts off the fourth round, and Will Harvey is then picked by the Crusaders. Finally, Luke DeMilt and Jack Marshall finish off the draft.

However, as I said, this mock draft was made before the addition of four players who are interested in playing this year, so this draft isn't up-to-date. Stay tuned for more mock drafts, this time containing the four players who expressed interest recently.

Connor Whaley's Mock Draft 1.0

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 11, 2019

Connor Whaley
Captain of the Crusaders

After the mock draft that was sent in by Jake Fine, we have had a couple more entries sent in to be put up on the website (Honestly, it's more really us just recruiting people to do it, so it's not just Fine every single time, making some tweaks here or there to his first entry).

As a disclaimer, since Fine's first entry, there have been four additions to the list of those who are interested. If you know anybody who may be interested in joining, send us an email (at indywiffleofficial@gmail.com) or DM us on Instagram (@indywiffleofficial). You can also contact us via Twitter (@IndyWiffle_) Make sure that they follow the guidelines of the IWL Rulebook in that they must be younger than 16 upon Opening Day, which will most likely be the first week or so of June. Additionally, if you would like to send in a mock draft for us to post, let us know by emailing us.

Also as a disclaimer, this mock draft was created prior to the additions of those who are interested. Anyways, let's get into Connor Whaley's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 1.0.

Connor Whaley's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 1.0
Round	Pick		Name	Team
	Rd.	Ovr.
1	1	1	Sam Bella	Naptown Nighthawks
1	2	2	Cameron Smith	Indy Ironmen
1	3	3	Matthew Klein	Circle City Crusaders
1	4	4	Jack Marshall	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	1	5	Jack Gibson	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	2	6	Jack French	Circle City Crusaders
2	3	7	Carter Schaffer	Indy Ironmen
2	4	8	Matt Harvey	Naptown Nighthawks
3	1	9	Noah Skaggs	Naptown Nighthawks
3	2	10	Will Harvey	Indy Ironmen
3	3	11	Bo Marker	Circle City Crusaders
3	4	12	Luke DeMilt	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	1	13	Loïck Trampont	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	2	14	Evan Huff	Circle City Crusaders
4	3	15	Alex Tabor	Indy Ironmen
4	4	16	Sam Reed	Naptown Nighthawks

In Connor Whaley's mock draft, the Nighthawks select Sam Bella with the first pick of the IWL Draft. With the following pick, the Ironmen sign Cameron Smith, followed by Matthew Klein getting picked by the Crusaders. The Hillcats select Jack Marshall and Jack Gibson with the last pick in the first round and the second pick in the second round. The Crusaders select Jack French with the Ironmen picking Carter Schaffer with the pick after. Matt Harvey and Noah Skaggs are picked by the Nighthawks in successive picks, while the Ironmen select Will Harvey with the 10th pick of the draft. Bo Marker is picked by the Crusaders, and then Luke DeMilt and Loïck Trampont are picked by the Hillcats. Evan Huff is picked by the Crusaders, and Alex Tabor is selected by the Ironmen. Finally, Sam Reed is selected by the Nighthawks with the final pick in the draft.

Way-Too-Early Power Rankings 2.0

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 10, 2019

With these power rankings, we actually have some sort of direction. You would think that the teams with higher draft picks would ultimately be better than those with the lower picks – and that's essentially what we're going off of. In addition to the actual rankings, we will be giving projected records for each of the teams, to give an additional prediction to where the teams will end up.

As I said before, we're essentially rankings these teams based on who gets what pick. Expect to literally see the teams in order of the picks that they get because I'm too lazy to actually come up with reasons to rank a team a certain way.

If you want to check out the original power rankings before you go through these, you can click here to get there. Now that we've gotten the basics out of the way, here are the Way-Too-Early Power Rankings 2.0.

1. Naptown Nighthawks (0-0) – With the first pick in the draft, the Nighthawks can get the best player in the draft, who is arguably Cameron Smith. If captain of the Nighthawks, Nate Killeen, uses his pick wisely, he can get a head start on the other teams and take a big leap towards grabbing the first-ever regular season title and even possibly the first-ever IWL World Series title.  Even without another pick for seven picks, the Nighthawks are in a good position to take hold of an easy lead with the best player in the draft. Projected Record: 12-6 — Previous Ranking: 3rd
2. Indy Ironmen (0-0) – With the second pick in the draft, the Ironmen can pick up a solid player that captain Jake Fine can utilize. After a seemingly obvious pick in Smith, Fine has literally anybody to choose from, whether it be Matthew Klein or Jack Gibson. The Ironmen have the ability to take a shot at the Nighthawks with a solid player, but, ultimately, I believe that the Nighthawks will trip them up and prevent them from obtaining the IWL regular season crown. Projected Record: 11-7 — Previous Ranking: 4th
3. Circle City Crusaders (0-0) – Even with arguably the worst picks in the draft, the Crusaders look to be in a solid position to fight for a .500 season. The experience of Connor Whaley will ultimately be a game changer, as I believe Whaley has what it takes to take the Crusaders places. Watch out for a dark horse run out of the Crusaders later this summer in the IWL playoffs. Projected Record: 8-10 — Previous Ranking: 2nd
4. Hoosier State Hillcats (0-0) – Even though the Hillcats don't get a pick until the end of the first round, the fact that they start off the second round is huge. However, even with this, the Hillcats don’t look like they’re in the best of positions. They get the chance to pick up the fourth and fifth best players for some consistency on the team, which is great, but I don’t think it’ll ultimately be enough to provide the Hillcats with a ton of wins. Their season won’t be for naught, however, with captain Grady Hadar at the helm. Projected Record: 5-13 — Previous Ranking: 1st

This will most likely be the last of the Way-Too-Early Power Rankings unless something major happens in the next couple weeks leading into the draft. I'll continue to do power rankings throughout the course of the season.

Rebranding Two Months In – A Special Thanks to Circle City Wiffleball!

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 8, 2019

After roughly two months into the league's history where the league was a known entity, we have our first official logo. Thanks to the guys over at Circle City Wiffleball for the amazing new look for us! If you haven't already (and we have no idea how you wouldn't have already), go check them out – they're a wonderful group of guys who really exemplify the sport of wiffleball. They've been extremely welcoming in the world of Indiana Wiffleball and we can't thank these guys enough!

Now: some in-depth analysis on our new (wonderful) logo. The league colors, navy and orange, are the center-point of the logo through the Indianapolis skyline. The overlay of the giant wiffleball over the skyline looks somehow both ominous and beautiful. Like a huge wiffleball monster is walking towards the city. Then the acronym of the Indianapolis Wiffleball League, IWL, underneath the skyline really wraps up the logo nicely. Overall, it's amazing (I can't say that enough) and we're really grateful for the guys over at Circle City.

Carter Schaffer's Mock Draft 1.0

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 8, 2019

Carter Schaffer
Future IWL Player

After he saw the mock draft sent in by Jake Fine, Carter Schaffer decided to send in his own mock draft. A future player of the IWL, this is Schaffer's first appearance on the website for anything (Honestly, I forced him to make one, but it's all good – sorry, Carter).

Schaffer knows about half of the players' abilities and he hasn't met the other half, so this could either go terribly, or he could get lucky and get some things right. Hopefully, it goes well for him and Carter gets some of these right.

Alright, enough of the dilly-dally. Here is Carter Schaffer's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 1.0.

Carter Schaffer's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 1.0
Round	Pick		Name	Team
	Rd.	Ovr.
1	1	1	Sam Reed	Naptown Nighthawks
1	2	2	Noah Skaggs	Indy Ironmen
1	3	3	Cameron Smith	Circle City Crusaders
1	4	4	Evan Huff	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	1	5	Carter Schaffer	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	2	6	Matthew Klein	Circle City Crusaders
2	3	7	Loïck Trampont	Indy Ironmen
2	4	8	Sam Bella	Naptown Nighthawks
3	1	9	Jack Gibson	Naptown Nighthawks
3	2	10	Alex Tabor	Indy Ironmen
3	3	11	Jack French	Circle City Crusaders
3	4	12	Jack Marshall	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	1	13	Will Harvey	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	2	14	Matt Harvey	Circle City Crusaders
4	3	15	Bo Marker	Indy Ironmen
4	4	16	Luke DeMilt	Naptown Nighthawks

Schaffer went with Sam Reed at 1 and Noah Skaggs at 2, followed by Cameron Smith to Crusaders, and Evan Huff and himself to the Hillcats. Matthew Klein is sent to the Crusaders, as Loïck Trampont is picked by the Ironmen. Sam Bella and Jack Gibson are picked by the Nighthawks in successive picks, while Alex Tabor is picked by the Ironmen in the third round. Jack French gets picked by the Crusaders, and Jack Marshall and Will Harvey are picked by the Hillcats. Matt Harvey gets selected by the Crusaders, with Bo Marker and Luke DeMilt rounding out the draft with picks by the Ironmen and the Nighthawks, respectively.

Jake Fine's Mock Draft 1.0

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 6, 2019

Jake Fine
Captain of the Ironmen
and Co-Commissioner

As we inch closer and closer to the undetermined date of the 2019 IWL Draft, it's about time we start rolling out these Mock Drafts. For those of you out there (are any of you out, to be honest?) who want to make one, too, just send an email to indywiffleofficial@gmail.com with your list and we'll add it to the website.

Now, captain of the Ironmen and co-commissioner, Jake Fine, (who has really been in the news lately) has sent in his 2019 Mock Draft, claiming it is the 1.0 version of just that. That makes us think here in the IWL Committee of Very Important and Very Smart Writing Committee (IWLVIVSWC, for short) believe that Fine will be pumping these out. Which is, in all honesty, good because we need content and we honestly think that no one has read anything on this website, except maybe Sam Skibbe(?) (and that's a stretch) (love you, by the way, Sam).

I digress. Here it is. Jake Fine's Official 2019 Mock Draft 1.0.

Jake Fine's 2019 IWL Mock Draft 1.0
Round	Pick		Name	Team
	Rd.	Ovr.
1	1	1	Cameron Smith	Naptown Nighthawks
1	2	2	Matthew Klein	Indy Ironmen
1	3	3	Sam Bella	Circle City Crusaders
1	4	4	Jack French	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	1	5	Jack Marshall	Hoosier State Hillcats
2	2	6	Jack Gibson	Circle City Crusaders
2	3	7	Sam Reed	Indy Ironmen
2	4	8	Bo Marker	Naptown Nighthawks
3	1	9	Carter Schaffer	Naptown Nighthawks
3	2	10	Evan Huff	Indy Ironmen
3	3	11	Matt Harvey	Circle City Crusaders
3	4	12	Noah Skaggs	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	1	13	Alex Tabor	Hoosier State Hillcats
4	2	14	Will Harvey	Circle City Crusaders
4	3	15	Loïck Trampont	Indy Ironmen
4	4	16	Luke DeMilt	Naptown Nighthawks

Obviously, not everybody who the commissioners want to be able to recruit has agreed to join the league quite yet, but Fine has had to make do with the players that have shown interest. For Fine, he claims that Cameron Smith is an easy pick at number one, no matter who had the pick. With Smith's pitching ability and a solid bat, he could easily be a frontrunner for MVP and the Cy Young this year.

From there, he had the Ironmen selecting Matthew Klein and the Crusaders picking Sam Bella. The Hillcats pick Jack French and Jack Marshall back-to-back, and the Crusaders pick up Jack Gibson (for three straight picks with kids named Jack). Sam Reed gets signed by the Ironmen, and Bo Marker and Carter Schaffer get picked by the Nighthawks in back-to-back picks. Evan Huff gets picked by the Ironmen, and Matt Harvey gets picked by the Crusaders. Noah Skaggs gets signed by the Hillcats, and Alex Tabor gets picked in the Hillcats' successive pick. Will Harvey gets picked by the Crusaders, while Loïck (lou-EEK) Trampont gets picked by the Ironmen. Finally, Luke DeMilt gets picked by the Nighthawks.

As I said before, if anybody would like to send in a Mock Draft, let us know by emailing us at indywiffleofficial@gmail.com.

It's Official – The Ironmen are the 2019 IWL League Fan Favorites!

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 4, 2019

After a close battle between the Crusaders and the Ironmen, the Ironmen have been crowned as the official IWL Fan Favorite for the 2019 season. The tough battle culminated in a last-second push by the Ironmen, who ended up recruiting other leagues, such as the Uintah Blitzball League and the AE Blitzball League, to vote for them in the polls.

The Ironmen got off to a quick start, leading by a whopping 5 votes to none. The Crusaders then pulled a couple votes back, bringing the vote to a 7-2 lead for the Ironmen. Then, the Circle City squad brought in some heavy hitters, as Crusaders' captain, Connor Whaley, recruited friends and other accounts of his to vote for the Crusaders. At one point, the Crusaders actually brought the scoreline to a 9-9 tie. A last-minute surge by the Ironmen deflected this off, though, with votes from other recruits. At a final score of 12-9, the Ironmen gained their first title in the IWL, with the 2019 IWL Fan Favorite voting.

In other news, the 3rd-place match finished with the Nighthawks defeating the Hillcats, 14-8, in an impressive outing after a disappointed first matchup against the Ironmen. Additionally, the Ironmen surprised us with the overwhelming support after our Way-Too-Early rankings slotted the Ironmen back in fourth. Maybe we need to reconsider some things...

Fan Favorite Voting on Instagram and Some League Trash Talk – Go Vote Now!

Written by Jacke Finne
Mar. 2, 2019

Commissioner Jake Fine has taken it upon himself to figure out who the fans are going to be behind in this inaugural season for the Indianapolis Wiffleball League. Via the league's Instagram account's stories, Fine has set up polls, facing the rival Hillcats and Crusaders (the first proclaimed rivalry in the league's history) off against each other and the Nighthawks and the Ironmen together. As the Ironmen's captain, Fine may be a little biased against the other teams, but his banter on the stories are all in good fun.

Oh, wait...

You're not allowed to vote,
@sadie_blue1021...

Fine slammed the Nighthawks after the Nighthawks' account was shut down by Nighthawks' captain, Nate Killeen. The account was shut down after it was infested with... less than ideal fan accounts. Let's just say that it was probably hacked by people who aren't great role models. Even with these events occurring roughly two weeks ago, Killeen hasn't set up a replacement for the Nighthawks organization and it seems like Fine might be expecting a little bit more from Killeen.

Later on, Fine went at fellow commissioner and Hillcats' captain, Grady Hadar, and his girlfriend, Sadie Schmitt, who has been known to heckle other teams in the comments sections of the other teams. Schmitt has been banned from voting in these polls, as she breaks Section 4, Article 20 of the IWL Rulebook: "No team may have a fan base at all. In fact, no team is allowed to have contact with people at all." As a result, any submitted votes by Schmitt will be disallowed because, as stated, paying of a girlfriend to support your team is not allowed.

Fan Favorite – 2019 Edition

In serious news, the commissioner's fan favorite voting on Instagram is a nice outlook for how Instagram and the league's followers may react to certain results this upcoming season. You may expect to see more of these, as the season grows and expands and adds more teams, to see where the current state of the league is at. At the moment, it looks like the Ironmen are the most popular team in the league, with a whopping 9 votes over the Nighthawks' 4. The voting between the Hillcats and the Crusaders is unbelievably close, as the Crusaders lead by just a single vote, 8-7 – and that's without the reduction of a Schmitt's vote (she completely disobeyed Section 4, Article 20).

[EDIT: The Crusaders beat the Hillcats, 11-9, while the Ironmen dominated the Nighthawks, 13-6. The Ironmen are beating the Crusaders, 12-9, in the finals, and the Nighthawks are leading the Hillcats, 14-8, for third-place. Looks like the Ironmen are the most popular team in the league!]

Fine has confirmed that the voting will be a bracket. Immediately after this initial round, the winner between the Crusaders and the Hillcats and the winner between the Ironmen and the Nighthawks will face off in a final to determine the official fan favorite of the inaugural, 2019 season. "I can't wait to see what team the followers are looking forward to rooting for," said Fine. "It may be a little biased from the very beginning because one-fourth of the followers right now are captains or accounts of the captains or even the teams. Hopefully, when we get bigger and gain a following from the wiffleball community, these kinds of things will actually give us some insight on who the followers are rooting for."

And by the way. In case you haven't caught on yet. He was joking.

I'm joking.

2019 Draft Picks Announced

Written by Jacke Finne
Feb. 26, 2019

Commissioners, Grady Hadar and Jake Fine, have announced the Draft order for the opening season for the Indianapolis Wiffleball League. The Nighthawks have the edge over the other teams with the first pick of the 2019 draft. After the Nighthawks, the Ironmen and the Crusaders come up next with the second and third pick, respectively. Finally, the Hillcats round out the first round with the fourth pick. The remainder of the draft will go in a snake-like fashion.

Reportedly, the current plan for the league that the commissioners and the team captains went over during the meeting a weekend ago is that all of the recruited players will be invited to a combine of sorts. On back-to-back weekends, the players will have the chance to make their case to get picked in the opening round of the 2019 IWL Draft in a tryout-like event.

"As of now, we believe that we will be holding a weekend, followed by another weekend the week after, of pickup games," IWL Commissioner Jake Fine said. "The Sunday night of the second weekend is when we will have our draft, and the subsequent weekends are when we will have something similar to Spring Training. We have no dates set in stone quite yet, but the other captains and I are looking to get a schedule out soon."

In other news, as you may have already known, the commissioners and the captains created the IWL Rulebook for the 2019 season during the meeting a weekend ago. "It was an extremely productive meeting," Fine reported. "We were able to... do stuff." 

2019 Off-season Under Way After Founding Teams Announced

Written by Jacke Finne
Feb. 7, 2019

Both commissioners, Grady Hadar and Jake Fine, announced through the Instagram page that the 2019 season will consist of four teams – the Circle City Crusaders, the Hoosier State Hillcats, the Indy Ironmen, and the Naptown Nighthawks. All named after nicknames or names related to the city of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana, the teams will be captained by Connor Whaley, Grady Hadar, Jake Fine, and Nate Killeen, respectively.

With the introduction of these four teams, we expect to have the structure of the regular season and the postseason, and many other necessities, such as the rulebook, that a well-organized league should have. An inside source has reported that the commissioners and the remaining captains are thinking of having an 18-game season, with each team playing the other three teams in two separate series of three games, for a total of six games against every other team. Additionally, the source has reported that the playoffs will have all four teams in the postseason. Supposedly, the teams will play a best-of-3 series in the semi-finals and a best-of-5 series in the finals, but the source has confirmed that nothing is confirmed quite yet. The source has also confirmed that the commissioners and the captains are looking to schedule a meeting to go over these sort of important regulations within the next couple of weeks.

That being said, even with no rosters whatsoever and no telling for how each team will fare, I have created the Way-Too-Early Power Rankings – the first of its kind for Indianapolis Wiffleball History.

1. Hoosier State Hillcats – The Hoosier State Hillcats look to be one of the frontrunners in the IWL. As aforementioned, it's way too early to tell just how good a team is without the team having any players, but Grady Hadar is an extremely solid baseball player, which should translate well to the wiffleball field.
2. Circle City Crusaders – The Circle City Crusaders, led by captain Connor Whaley, is a team that can definitely have a great inaugural year if he is able to find some good players and fill up his roster with talent. Also a baseball player, Whaley should be able to take his knowledge of the baseball game to the wiffleball field.
3. Naptown Nighthawks – The Naptown Nighthawks, although in third, could also be a very good team. Nate Killeen is the leader for the Nighthawks and Killeen is an athletic player that can get all up in your business if you mess with him. Picking up some consistent players in the IWL Draft can definitely help out the Nighthawks.
4. Indy Ironmen – The Indy Ironmen, even with arguably the best name, doesn't look like a team that can win it all and produce some high-quality wins, especially when it comes down late in the season. Captain Jake Fine is not a baseball player, who last played in the second grade. Even though he did gain runners-up honors back in 2012 with the Orioles in the Broad Ripple Little League, he doesn't seem like he will be able to lead a team to a great season.

That wraps up the very first article on the Indianapolis Wiffleball League history. Along with Grayson Henderson, I will be writing most articles on the IWL, so be prepared to read more of this sort of writing. As I reported, the commissioners and the captains are looking to meet quite soon to set down the regulations for the league, so stay tuned to more information when that meeting is over.