The Illowa APBA League gathered last weekend in Downers Grove, Illinois to complete the 2021 postseason, conduct the 2022 rookie draft, and begin regular season play in their 48th season.
Postseason
Congratulations to Dan Bunch! His Colona Hustlers made easy work of my Twin City Thunderchickens, sweeping me all three games including a 17-1 drubbing. He went on to face Chuck Lucas’ Northside Hitmen in the World Series who won the playoff series against the tough Global Glaciers managed by Dennis Jennings. That series went all five games.
What a World Series! Chuck’s Hitmen won the first three games and seemed to have it all wrapped up. Dan pecked away winning one game at a time till it was game seven. Finally, thanks to the Word Series MVP Jose Abreu, the Hustlers came away the winners!
Nice job, Dan!
Now that the postseason was wrapped up, we all could look forward to the 2022 season.
2022 IAL Rookie Draft
First, here are the top five picks in the IAL 2022 rookie draft:
- Wander Franco SS
- Luis Garcia SP
- Garrett Crochet RP
- Chris Flexen SP
- Tyler Stephenson C
Of course, Wander Franco went first. There was no doubt about that. It was the unspoken secret in our league all off-season. Rob Moore even had Wander’s card in his shirt pocket before the draft started just to fend off any hijinks.
Here’s how it all ended up when the draft was done…
This draft had to be one of the strangest ones in IAL history. There was an incredible demand for pitching in our league and it showed in our picks. From our recollection, there have been three D pitchers chosen in the rookie drafts in the past ten years. Guess how many were picked this draft?
Ten.
Grade D pitchers are particularly helpful in the IAL since our league rules increase their player usage limits. Admittedly, my Thunderchickens picked four of them as we were horribly low on innings for 2022.
Looking at the draft, we saw a run on pitching. Beginning in the second there were thirteen pitchers picked in a row. That includes five relievers in a row. The Glaciers’ pick of Garrett Whitlock panicked some managers who felt they needed some bullpen coverage.
Also, the pick of Crochet with the third overall pick sparked some conversation. We were wondering if that was the highest a relief pitcher had ever been picked in our league.
After the draft, we started playing and made a big dent in the 2022. Don’t look for my Twin City Thunderchickens in the 2022 playoffs. We lost our first eight games. It will be a looonng season for Twin City.
Congratulations again to Dan!
