The 2025 ballots are in. The trophies are engraved. Below are the players who carried the season, with the ball, with the bat, and a couple times with the cameras conveniently looking the other way.
Most Valuable Player
Sam Thomas — Wiffle House
Hitting: 18 G | .566 / .667 / 1.053 | 9 HR | 45 RBI | 1.719 OPS | 167 wRC+
Pitching: 8 G | 35.0 IP | 7-0 | 43 K | 1.54 ERA (league lead) | 1.34 WHIP | .271 OppAvg
Brother Quinn Thomas won this last year. Sam said hold my beer.
The slash line is loud. The line on the mound was louder, and arguably the loudest in the league. Sam led every starter in ERA, went 7-0, and walked so few hitters from the back rubber that the count looked like a typo. And good luck putting one through the infield with his stellar defense. The bump and the box, both his.
Cy Young
Aaron Hunter — 100% Real Juice
30.0 IP | 53 K | 2.00 ERA | 1.63 WHIP | .167 OppAvg
Hunter is used to holding this trophy. The Hall of Famer came back this year like he never left, stacking Cy Young on top of Comeback Player of the Year for an arm-and-bat double that nobody in the league actually wanted to face.
Aaron Hunter of old. Maybe better.
14 G, .481 AVG, 5 HR, 33 RBI, 1.387 OPS at the plate.
Silver Slugger
Eddie Brown — Bilabial Stops
18 G | .618 / .732 / 1.109 | 7 HR | 28 RBI | 1.841 OPS (league high) | 179 wRC+
Brown is known for the arm. The bat used to be a side note. He pitched fewer innings this year and the bat noticed. His second batting title (first since 2022), highest average in the league, top of the OPS leaderboard. Contact and power, all in one swing.
The Slugger isn't a participation award. This year nobody else was close.
Rookie of the Year
Sam Matterazzo — Caught Cooking
16 G | .482 AVG | 6 HR | 15 RBI | 1.358 OPS | 116 OPS+
Caught Cooking, indeed. Matterazzo showed up out of nowhere and hit .482 in his first ride. The pop is real, the athleticism is obvious. There's a pitching ceiling here too once the raw talent gets a little less raw.
Comeback Player of the Year
Aaron Hunter — 100% Real Juice
Year-over-year tells the story:
- Pitching. 2024: 3.2 IP, 8 K. 2025: 30.0 IP, 53 K, 2.00 ERA.
- Hitting. 2024: 2 G, .333, 1 HR. 2025: 14 G, .481, 5 HR, 33 RBI.
Barely there last year. Cy Young this year. The arc that wins a Comeback in any league.
Captain of the Year
Eric Sanford — Sheryl Crows
Sanford has been here a decade. He's the captain other captains call when they're not sure what to do. Every team has lost to his Crows at least once and walked off the field liking him more.
Most Improved Pitcher
Naveen Rohila — Berserkers
Year-over-year:
- IP: 26.2 → 41.0
- K: 23 → 38
- ERA: 15.57 → 10.24
- WHIP: 4.12 → 3.37
Rohila has been putting in real work with the young Berserkers crew. The front-rubber stuff is sharp, and there's a disappearing pitch at the bottom of the zone that left even the league's best hitters checking their bats for cracks. Volume up by half. ERA down by five-plus runs. That's not adjustment. That's another pitch in the bag.
Most Improved Batter
Michael Laudick — West Coast Washout
Year-over-year:
- AVG: .277 → .474
- HR: 3 → 6
- RBI: 8 → 23
- OPS: .871 → 1.373
Laudick keeps proving he's one of the most reliable bats in the league. Rookie of the Year his first season, an All-Star nod and a Home Run Derby win in between, MIB now. Plus he's a new dad. The dad strength is real, and we are nowhere near peak dad strength yet.
Sportsman of the Year
Bennett doesn't need anyone to remind him to shake hands after the game. He plays the way you wish everyone played, and the league's better for it.
Heart and Hustle
Eric Sanford — Sheryl Crows
Sanford's second piece of hardware on the night, and the more emotional one. The hardest-working guy on the field, beloved by teammates, captains, and pretty much anybody who's ever met him.
He announced his retirement ahead of the 2026 season. His spirit will roam Cowen Park for years to come. Probably literally. It's his backyard.
Defensive Play of the Year
Reed McFeely — Wiffle House
Reed cosplayed Superman in the divisional round against SwingDome, robbing what every replay says was a clean home run off the bat of Alex Hatch.
Whether it actually happened is technically still under debate. The video stream's view of the play was, conveniently, blocked by Reed's commissioner-and-teammate Phillip Thomas, who happened to be on the mound. So nobody can say for sure.
Knowing Reed, none of us are going to forget either way.
Baserunner of the Year
Paul Rogers — Bilabial Stops
Unyielding aggression on the bases. Rogers tied for the league lead in triples this year (with Greg Nyssen), and his career-triples lead is not even close to close.
Some say it's dumb luck. He tends to round bases without bothering to check who has the ball. Rogers would say it's pure speed and agility. My honest guess is generous bookkeeping.
Platinum Palm
Phillip Thomas — Wiffle House
Speaking of cooking the books. A clinic at third all season. He started running cameos on the mound this year too, just to twist the knife. Maybe his brother Sam can match. Maybe.
18 G | .591 AVG | 10 HR | 56 RBI (league-leading) | 1.652 OPS
The bat made plenty of noise too.
Golden Palms
A loud round of applause for the league's defensive standouts. Ten gloves you didn't want hitting toward this season:
- Jeff Hanschmann — .483 / 8 HR / 40 RBI / 1.368 OPS, plus 46.0 IP and 95 K on the mound
- Quinn MacWatters — 16 G, .484 / 3 HR / 16 RBI / 1.206 OPS
- Zach Gottschalk — .395 / 0 HR / 7 RBI / .992 OPS
- Travis Lavenski — .326 / 0 HR / 6 RBI / .816 OPS
- Max McDaniel — .500 / 1 HR / 6 RBI / 1.270 OPS
- Greg Markles — .383 / 2 HR / 13 RBI / 1.020 OPS
- Aaron Hunter — see Cy Young (third trophy of the night)
- Sam Thomas — see MVP
- Eddie Brown — see Silver Slugger
- Ben Cahill — .298 / 0 HR / 9 RBI / .814 OPS
Hall of Fame — Class of 2026
Greg Nyssen — Bilabial Stops
Nyssen has been in this league since 2016. Four different teams. One reliable habit: he comes back. Every year. The only multi-time Comeback Player of the Year this league has ever produced. Resilience, yes. Competitiveness, yes. And cunning, always cunning.
Greg also puts the leaning in Leaning Man. We will not elaborate.
"If there is any solace I can take from the invention of micro plastics, it is wiffleball." — Greg Nyssen
The induction line was already a frontrunner for quote of the year. Welcome to the Ring of Honor.
Congratulations to every winner, every nominee, and every captain who scrawled a vote on a folded scrap of paper at the Cowen Park bench. See you in May for the 2026 opener.
