County Line's Kody Webb and Lynn Street's Levi Miller named Gold Glove winners
Throughout the week, the Old Republic Wiffleball League will be handing out its yearly honors. Today we announce the Gold Glove award winners from both the American and National League.
Starting in 2017, the Old Republic Wiffleball League began handing out the Gold Glove award which is presented to the top fielders in each league.
On the American League side it was County Line's Kody Webb who received the most votes after receiving a whopping 50% of the total first place votes. Maple City's Caleb Jonkman finished in 2nd place after taking home the honor last season.
For Webb, this is his 2nd consecutive Gold Glove award but 1st on the American League side after winning the National League vote last season as a member of the Olive Township Mechanics.
Webb joins Granger Panthers left fielder Seth Campbell as the only players to win the award twice. By winning the award this season, Webb becomes the first ORWBL player to win the award both in the American League and National League.
Over the past four years, Webb had become a household name on the defensive end over in the National League after seeing those teams a fair share of times.
Now with the Kings in the American League, Webb got an opportunity to showcase his stellar hands to those who hadn't seen as much of him.
Webb now winning the Award on the American League side certainly goes to show you that this guy has made more than enough plays to garner the attention and respect that he is receiving.
The 2016 National League Rookie of the Year award winner was originally not set to play in ORWBL this year after Olive Township folded at the conclusion of their 2019 ALCS run. Webb did however end up signing with the County Line Kings over the offseason in hopes of building County Line into a winner.
Webb had a phenomenal year as the Kings starting left fielder, providing the highest scoring team in all of ORWBL with a lockdown defender in left. Webb has become known for his ability to rob the long ball as he has taken back many would be Home Runs.
With Webb in left, County Line thrived as they finished the regular season with an impressive 18-6 record while earning the number two overall seed in the American League. Webb and his Kings will look to keep their remarkable season alive as they will travel to Magic Park on Sunday as they hope to knock off the 3x defending World Series Champion, Maple City Magic.
Meanwhile over in the National League, the 2020 Gold Glove award goes to Lynn Street Leprechauns starting outfielder Levi Miller. This is Miller's first time winning the award after he received much voting support as he was able to best Granger's Daivyn Davis and Elkhart's Chaz Boyd in what turned out to be a three man race.
This one has to feel good for the ORWBL journeyman who many argued was the best fielder to not have won the award prior to this season.
After bouncing around from Saugany Lake to Hudson Lake during the early stages of his career, Miller decided to bring his own franchise back to Saugany Lake as he served as the Manager of the Landsharks from 2018 to 2019.
Miller certainly made his mark as the Manager of that franchise as he was named as the 2018 National League Manager of the Year. After being at the helm for two seasons, Miller announced that his Landsharks would be folding after their 2019 season came to an end.
Miller immediately became one of the premier free agents in all of the league. That was when Lynn Street Manager and General Manager Nick Brassell entered the picture as he was able to sway the sure handed defender and quality bat to come by play his home games at Rocko's Park.
"Papa Lev" stepped in as Lynn Street's starting left fielder and unquestioned leader of the defense. After years of shaky defensive play, the Leprechauns defense began to improve drastically with Miller now on their team.
The first time Gold Glove winner proved to be a much needed presence as the rest of the Leprechauns defense began rallying around him. Leps' teammates "Guy" Wilson and Nick Brassell notably made their fair share of plays as the entire Lynn Street defense made improvements in 2020.
As Lynn Street's defense improved, so did their win total as they saw that number rise from 6 to 9 this season. Miller had a major role in the improvements made by the Leps' both on the offensive and defensive sides.
To top it all off Lynn Street picked up their first ever playoff win as they knocked out Emery's Army in the Wild Card game, advancing to their first NLDS in team history. With Miller leading the charge in left the Leps' gave the top seeded Panthers all they could handle, dropping both games by a combined 3 runs.
All in all, Miller proved to be a fantastic offseason acquisition as they will look to keep taking steps in the right direction in 2021. After doing his share of moving around, it appears Miller is ready to settle down in Lynn Street.
Awards week moves forward tomorrow as we announce the 2020 ORWBL Cy Young award winners.