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Andrew Doran, Wes Ellis Win 2018 Cy Young
Throughout last month, the 2018 season awards were announced on the official ORWBL twitter account (@ORWBL). All awards were voted on by the 14 Managers of the league.
When it comes to those hurling junk from the mound, nobody did it better in their respective league's than Twin Branch's Andrew Doran and Maple City's Wes Ellis. Doran was awarded his first Cy Young award in the Billy Goats' inaugural season while Ellis received his second straight AL Cy Young award.
Starting with the National League it was the Manager Andrew Doran who came away with the Cy Young honors. Doran was an animal on the mound this season for the 1st year franchise as he went 15-8 on the bump with 131 Innings Pitched. Doran had a decision in 23 out of the Goats 24 games.
Doran played a major role in the Billy Goats success in their inaugural season as a member of ORWBL. His 15 wins to go along with a 2.83 ERA certainly were crucial to the Goats success. Doran actually broke Shane Anderson's ERA record but it also happened to fall on the same year that New Carlisle's Koby Keck had a ridiculous 1.52 ERA to break the record himself.
Despite coming in 2nd in the ERA department, Doran's overall body of work and time spent on the mound seemed to be the difference maker in what was a pretty close vote for the National League Cy Young.
After a phenomenal regular season, Doran then helped lead the Goats to the NLCS where they were just 1 win away from winning the National League Pennant. After just 1 season in the league, the Billy Goats have shown that they are championship threats and Doran's success on the mound will be a key to their success in year 2!
Meanwhile over in the American League, it was Wes Ellis of the Maple City Magic who took home American League Cy Young honors for the 2nd consecutive season as he becomes only the 4th player in ORWBL history to win multiple Cy Young awards.
Ellis also became only the 2nd player in ORWBL history to win back to back Cy Young awards, joining his now Maple City teammate George Stainko who did it back in 2012 and 2013 with the Will Township Federalists.
For many years, Ellis was looked at as just a primetime slugger at the plate while also pitching occasionally for the G-Slugs and B-Slugs. After signing with the Magic in 2013, Ellis did not really start to see much action on the mound until the 2016 season.
In 2017, things seemed to really all come to place as Ellis has become well known around not just the league, but the wiffleball community in general as one of the best pitchers in the game. Ellis and his signature hop on the mound prior to each pitch has become a fan favorite in Maple City.
After winning the Cy Young and helping lead the Maple City Magic to their 1st ORWBL World Series Championship last season, Ellis followed suit with another special 12-2 regular season on the mound while also striking out 15 batters. Ellis ran away with the voting in the American League as his knuckleball fooled hitters all year long.
Wes followed up his Cy Young winning regular season by going a perfect 9-0 in the playoffs which boosted his combined record to a potential NWLA award winning 21-2 campaign. Just as he did in the regular season, Ellis silenced even the best hitters in the league in the postseason.
With the defense behind him of Caleb Jonkman, Drew Luther, and Shane Anderson, teams were lucky to get anyone on base as teams only hope off of Ellis was to hit the ball out of the ballpark. Ellis concluded his 2nd Cy Young award winning season by winning Co World Series MVP honors along with his talented and lanky Left-Fielder Caleb Jonkman.
Overall, it was another incredibly successful season for the 2 time Champion and 2 time American League Cy Young award winner. Ellis will look to help lead Maple City to their 3rd straight ORWBL World Series Championship in 2019, a feat that no ORWBL franchise has accomplished.
