All-Time Top Ten Walk Leaders (Batting)

Walks Walk Percentage
 KYLE TOMLINSON 268  MICHAEL SESSIONS .352
 CHRIS PAQUIN 265  ZAC ADAMS .308
 BRANDON CORBETT 228  KEVIN DOBY .288
 CHANDLER PHILLIPS 216  RYAN ALEXIA .282
 EVAN BORTMAS 187  KYLE SCHULTZ .278
 MARK BRANNAN 186  MICHAEL VILLARREAL .275
 DAVID CASTLE 183  ADAM GRANT .273
 DYLAN BRADEN 182  EVAN BORTMAS .268
 GREG BRANNAN 177  RYAN BULLARD .268
 ALEX LINEBRINK 166  CHRIS PAQUIN .265
minimum 200 plate appearances

All-Time Top Ten Stolen Base Leaders

Stolen Bases Stolen Base %
 DYLAN BRADEN 55  MARK PHILLIPS 1.000
 DAVID CASTLE 35  SAM HATT 1.000
 CHRIS PAQUIN 35  EVAN BORTMAS 1.000
 MARK PHILLIPS 33  CHANDLER PHILLIPS 1.000
 SAM HATT 30  DAVID CASTLE .946
 KIEFER HAFFEY 23  KIEFER HAFFEY .885
 EVAN BORTMAS 21  CHRIS PAQUIN .875
 RYAN ALEXIA 18  DYLAN BRADEN .873
 CHANDLER PHILLIPS 16  STEPHEN FARKAS .833
 STEPHEN FARKAS 15  RYAN ALEXIA .818
minimum 15 attempts

All-Time Top Ten RBI Leaders

RBI PA / RBI
 DENNIS PEARSON 252  EVAN BORTMAS 3.73
 CHANDLER PHILLIPS 212  DENNIS PEARSON 3.94
 KYLE TOMLINSON 205  NICCO LOLLIO 3.97
 DAVID CASTLE 198  GREG BRANNAN 4.19
 GREG BRANNAN 191  DAKOTA LADOUCEUR 4.23
 EVAN BORTMAS 187  BRANDON D'AGNESE 4.39
 DYLAN BRADEN 186  AUSTIN BISCHOFF 4.46
 BRANDON CORBETT 174  NATHAN GENDRON 4.66
 DAKOTA LADOUCEUR 164  CHANDLER PHILLIPS 4.82
 CHRIS PAQUIN 159  KYLE TOMLINSON 5.03
minimum 200 plate appearances

All-Time Top Ten Home Run Leaders

HOME RUNS AT BATS / HOME RUN
 DENNIS PEARSON 100  DENNIS PEARSON 8.53
 DYLAN BRADEN 66  NATHAN GENDRON 8.58
 GREG BRANNAN 65  EVAN BORTMAS 9.39
 DAVID CASTLE 62  GREG BRANNAN 9.58
 CHANDLER PHILLIPS 61  NICCO LOLLIO 10.26
 KYLE TOMLINSON 60  KYLE SCHULTZ 10.83
 BRANDON CORBETT 55  BRANDON D'AGNESE 11.00
 EVAN BORTMAS 54  DAKOTA LADOUCEUR 11.23
 NICK BRADEN 48  STEPHEN FARKAS 11.52
 STEPHEN FARKAS 48  AUSTIN BISCHOFF 12.11
 DAKOTA LADOUCEUR 48  
minimum 200 plate appearances

All-Time Top Ten Hit Leaders

HITS BATTING AVG
 DENNIS PEARSON 272  EVAN BORTMAS .377
 KYLE TOMLINSON 255  STEPHEN WERNER .344
 DAVID CASTLE 246  KYLE TOMLINSON .336
 DYLAN BRADEN 212  DENNIS PEARSON .319
 CHANDLER PHILLIPS 205  NICCO LOLLIO .313
 BRANDON CORBETT 204  AUSTIN BISCHOFF .300
 STEPHEN WERNER 192  STEPHEN FARKAS .297
 EVAN BORTMAS 191  MARK BRANNAN .296
 MARK BRANNAN 189  GREG BRANNAN .292
 GREG BRANNAN 182  BRANDON D'AGNESE .291
minimum 200 plate appearances

All-Time Top 10 Strike Out Leaders

STRIKE OUTS STRIKE OUTS / 6 IP STRIKE OUTS / BB
 CHANDLER PHILLIPS 982  AUSTIN BISCHOFF 16.26  STEPHEN FARKAS 10.08
 CRAIG SKINNER 915  STEPHEN FARKAS 16.17  EVAN BISCHOFF 7.31
 STEPHEN FARKAS 877  MICHEL BAYLEY 15.65  JOE SETO 6.19
 DENNIS PEARSON 862  TREY JARDINE 15.65  CLIFF COMSTOCK 5.21
 AUSTIN BISCHOFF 664  DENNIS PEARSON 15.24  ADAM COSBY 4.46
 TRAVIS STROJNY 651  SCOTT KUJAWA 15.16  AUSTIN BISCHOFF 4.37
 CHRIS PAQUIN 646 >  RICHARD FISHER 15.04  TREY JARDINE 3.86
 DAVID CASTLE 512  CRAIG SKINNER 14.97  CHRIS PAQUIN 3.82
 SCOTT KUJAWA 480  WILL MUNDEL 14.94  KIEFER HAFFEY 3.68
 SAM HATT 457  CHANDLER PHILLIPS 14.83  SAM HATT 3.66
COFFEE GROUNDS THE JACK HOLY GROUNDS GILL YARDS
 FIRST TRIP 23 13 40 26
 SECOND TRIP 24 36 45 11
 THIRD TRIP 24 44 26
 TOTAL 71 93 111 37
 GAMES PLAYED 30 30 28 14
 AVG HR per GP 2.37 3.10 3.96 2.64
 STD DEVIATION 0.6 16.1 9.8 10.6

2017 Handies - Year End Individual Awards

This may come as a surprise, but this is Kyle Tomlinson's first Batting Title, despite having 2 MVPs to his name and being in contention almost every season. The .412 batting average is completely ridiculous, but let's give Kyle credit for this finishing strong down the stretch: 29 of his 54 hits came in the month of July.
 
These 23 HR posted by Greg Brannan are not only Rod Allen's Country Strong Home Run King for the 2017 season, but they also stand as the single season WSEM home run record. This marks Greg's second time winning the HR King, last wearing the crown in 2015 when he won it with just 14 HR.
 
We're doubling the law enforcement on the basepaths! David Castle and Michael Villarreal ended the year tied with 53 BB a piece, resulting in two badges given out to the co-Walker Texas Rangers. It's the first time for both to earn this award. Villarreal made it happen with a severe spike in his walk percentage: having been .230 over his career coming in, that climbed to .384 this season. Castle got here on sheer volume of plate appearances: 209 total (second in WSEM). His walk percentage was only .255 by comparison, but this Ranger brought the numbers to back him up.
 
It's a good thing we've double the number of Rangers, because we're also doubling the number of criminals! Dylan Braden and Mark Phillips tied with 16 stolen bases a piece to share the honor of co-Great Lakes Stealers. What can I say? We love ties in WSEM. Mark was never caught; a perfect 16 for 16 in his attempts. Dylan was caught twice (16 for 18); while those may have been embarrassing moments, the failures don't factor in here. The GLS is only about who goes home with the most swiped bags. This is Mark's first time to win the GLS, while it marks three consecutive years for Dylan claiming the honor.
 
Normally, the reveal of the Clown Shu would be held to the end of this list. This year, however, it's considered a no contest - as obvious as any of the counting awards above. Stephen Farkas drastically outshone his competition this season to earn his third Shu in four years. Seriously, no other pitcher was in the same the ballpark as the numbers Farkas put up. Travis Strojny and Craig Skinner were the closest, and just check out the disparity in how they compare in the table below:

IP RA H BB ERA WHIP OBA K/6 K/BB
 Farkas 69.2 11 22 16 0.95 0.55 .096 15.3 11.1%
 Strojny 74.0 17 44 40 1.38 1.14 .167 14.5 4.5
 C. Skinner 63.0 15 23 47 1.43 1.11 .108 15.2 3.4
 
Most Improved Player is always a tight race with many moving parts and different angles in play. Josh Nagorski deserves an honorable mention; the incredible leap he made in his pitching had many eyes looking his way. If he'd managed to keep his batting numbers close to level, this award would likely have been his. However, he fell off significantly at the plate across all of the major math stats, which took him out of the running. Michael Giguere was another name in the running and receiving votes. He posted impressive jumps in AVG and SLG, which are not to be overlooked. However, it was a step back in RBI (and PA/RBI) production that played a key role in the nod going to Dakota LaDouceuer over him, as well as a head-to-head comparison of their slugging numbers: both finished at .640 - Giggy went up .185 (140.7%); Laddy went up .328 (205.1%). Slugging and RBI are the most important stats when it comes to production, and Dakota clearly distinguished himself in both categories. He improved across the board, as well, increasing his AVG .120 points, and perhaps most impressively cutting his AB/HR down to 38.3% of last season (2017: 10.7 | 2016: 28.0). This is Dakota's third Handy. He was a co-Country Strong HR King in 2012 and a Diamond Digit in 2014.

HR TB RS AVG OBP SLG PA/RBI AB/HR
 LaDouceur '17 7 48 20 .307 .441 .640 4.7 10.7
% change  175.0% 137.1% 200.0% 164.2% 141.8% 205.1% 70.5% 38.3%
 LaDouceur '16 4 35 10 .187 .311 .312 6.6 28.0
 
Unanimously, Rookie of the Year was considered to be the tightest race to call this year - despite there only being two strong contenders. And it was not a unanimous decision in the end. This was a face-off between Mark Joyce and John Skinner. Skinner was on the Balls roster from Opening Day and played 18 games during the season; he was the early favorite for RotY. Joyce first appeared for the Islanders Week 6, and played every subsequent game for the Isles. The perceived impact the rookies had on their teams and the league was affected by the level of dedication both shown. Skinner played in only 2 of the Balls' final 12 regular season games, while Joyce was in every game and producing for the Isles. Skinner did pitch and showed promise, which factored in his favor; although he pitched in a fairly limited capacity: 3 games (2 vs Stinky Nuts, 1 vs Aces) for a total of 13 innings. Those two factors essentially amount to a wash, which meant this race would come down to the offensive numbers. The two did trade off #1 and #2 rankings: Skinner does have a slight edge in AVG (.005) and H (3), and his biggest win was in OBP (.083). Joyce, however, had the edge in twice as many big categories: HR, TB, RBI, SLG, PA/RBI, and AB/HR. More important here than the number of categories won is the spread by which they were won. Skinner's stat wins were mostly by slight margins (OBP being his big win at +18.0%). Joyce had more significant distance in many of his wins: +44.7% in AB/HR, +32.8% in PA/RBI, +16.0% in SLG. That is where Joyce distinguished himself, and so for back-to-back years an Islander has been named Rookie of the Year.

H HR TB RBI AVG SLG PA/RS PA/RBI AB/HR
 Joyce 19 8 43 17 .284 .642 5.5 4.5 8.4
 J. Skinner 22 5 41 15 .289 .539 5.3 6.7 15.2
 
Greg Brannan put up a lot of big numbers this year. We've already addressed his record 23 HR above, and Greg also posted a league-leading 124 TB and 51 RBI. In terms of the major stat categories, Greg placed either first or second in every one outside of average, including 3.5 PA/RBI and 6.3 AB/HR. More impactful than any of the accrued numbers, though, is the value he presented to his team. Greg carried the See Yas offense and was solely responsible for a huge chunk of his team's production, accounting for percentages significantly higher than any other slugger. He plated 37.5% of the See Yas RBI, hit 44.2% of their HR, and had 32.7% of their hits. Take away Greg's production and the See Yas would have been closer to the Aces finish. No player provided a bigger offensive value to their team than Greg.

Kyle Tomlinson does deserve recognition for the numbers he put up this season. His .412 AVG and .908 SLG are off the charts. Two things work against Kyle, though. The first is that when it came to the more 'mathed' stats, he slid down the rankings a bit. Kyle is third in AB/HR and fourth in PA/RBI. Those lower rankings hurt in a tight race. The second count against Kyle is the value to his team. Kyle accounted for only 25.5% of El Diablos RBI, 28.3% of their hits, and 30.5% of their HR is the most significant. All of those are relatively low in comparison, leading to the theory that if you take Kyle off El Diablos, they wouldn't miss him nearly as much as the See Yas would miss Greg.

This was pretty much a race between Greg and Kyle, but one other name needs to be thrown in the mix. Dennis Pearson had a relatively quiet year. Playing in a 6-man lineup almost every game, he wasn't able to amass huge numbers. That kept him out of true contention here, but he does have a couple remarkable numbers worth mentioning: 2.8 PA/RBI and 6.1 AB/HR. Both - Dennis is number one in both. His percentage of team RBI and HR are also very respectable, just slightly behind Greg. He is down the rankings in too many stats, though, to have a real shot at overtaking Greg and Kyle. You can review the head-to-head-to-head stats of all three MVP candidates below.

H TB RBI SLG PA/RBI AB/HR % of
Team H
% of
Team HR
% of
Team RBI
 G. Brannan 50 124 51 .849 3.5 6.3 32.7% 44.2% 37.5%
 Tomlinson 54 119 49 .908 3.7 7.3 28.3% 30.5% 25.5%
 Pearson 35 83 42 .847 2.8 6.1 26.9% 38.1% 34.7%

Championship Results, 8/19: El Diablos @ Flying Squirrels

WSEM Championship Games 1 & 2 1:00 PM
3-1 vs EL in regular season
Lead series 2-0
Game 3
2
WP: C. Skinner
1
LP: C. Phillips
Game 4 (if nec)
0
LP: Nagorski
2
WP: Hatt
HR: Tomlinson
  Game 5 (if nec)  
REGULAR SEASON OFFENSE
AVG OBP SLG PA/RS AB/HR
.241 .399 .500 5.7 12.7
REGULAR SEASON PITCHING
ERA WHIP OBA K/6 K/BB
3.32 1.79 .191 13.1 2.0
H2H vs EL DIABLOS OFFENSE
AVG OBP SLG PA/RS AB/HR
.183 .493 .396 6.4 10.1
H2H vs EL DIABLOS PITCHING
ERA WHIP BB% K/6 K/BB
3.27 1.73 .243 15.0 2.2
Ineligible Pitchers: Nagorski (1 game)
REGULAR SEASON OFFENSE
AVG OBP SLG PA/RS AB/HR
.347 .483 .733 3.7 9.3
REGULAR SEASON PITCHING
ERA WHIP OBA K/6 K/BB
4.29 1.99 .193 12.9 1.7
H2H vs SQUIRRELS HITTING
AVG OBP SLG PA/RS AB/HR
.167 .385 .369 8.6 15.6
H2H vs SQUIRRELS PITCHING
ERA WHIP BB% K/6 K/BB
4.29 1.81 .260 12.6 1.8
Ineligible Pitchers: Brown (1 game)

2017 All-Star Game & HR Derby

C: Mark Brannan ( .359 AVG, 1.067 OPS)
P: Travis Strojny (1.38 ERA, 1.14 WHIP)
P: Scott Kujawa (1.84 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
H: Kyle Tomlinson (.412 AVG, 1.477 OPS)
H: Greg Brannan (.342 AVG, 1.304 OPS)
H: Chris Paquin (.333 AVG, 1.178 OPS)
C: David Castle (.252 AVG, .982 OPS)
P: Stephen Farkas (0.95 ERA, 0.55 WHIP)
P: Craig Skinner (1.43 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)
H: Chandler Phillips (.344 AVG, 1.133 OPS)
H: Dennis Pearson (.357 AVG, 1.304 OPS)
H: Ray Brown (.291 AVG, 1.111 OPS)
All-Star Game
4
LP: Paquin
5
WP: Castle
S: C. Phillips
HR: Brown
HITTING
AVG OBP SLG PA/RBI AB/HR
.327 .464 .578 4.3 12.9
PITCHING
ERA WHIP OBA K/6 K/BB
1.59 1.21 .166 14.7 4.0
HITTING
AVG OBP SLG PA/RBI AB/HR
.288 .450 .545 3.9 12.6
PITCHING
ERA WHIP OBA K/6 K/BB
1.18 0.81 .102 15.2 5.3
Opening Round of Ten

9

12

15

17

3

4

9

6

9

0
Final Round (Top Two from Opening Round)
7 14