Three and one, thirty-one, the league's favorite count. The default count. Brought to you by your thirty-one Metro Detroit Ford Dealers (think Ford first). The flavors! It's about time it gets to shine off the field, as well. Flavors of the Week spotlights 3 especially noteworthy - for good reasons - players, games, plays, trends, WTF moments or interesting asides from the past week. Plus, 1 more that needs to be called out for being less than ideal.

speaking of tomfoolery, i think we've met out match in the wsem crew - truck

The 3

#Superman David Castle (KF) blasted out of the gates in Week 1 with 4 HR: 3 of the 3-run variety, 2 of them coming in 1 inning. The fireworks display led him to 10 RBI and a league-best 2.464 OPS. And in case you were worried, he's still on the way to repeating as Great Lakes Stealer: leading WSEM with 2 SB.

#HaveThreeScoops The Squirrels and Belgian enjoyed playing so much on Sunday that they decided to turn game 2 into 3 more. Stephen Farkas (BW) and Brandon D'Agnese (FS) locked horns in an 18-inning pitchers duel. 0-0 until the final swing, when rookie Zach Adams hit a 2-run walk-off ding dong daddy.

#TripleVanilla Kyle Tomlinson (EL) did the unimaginable Saturday. Taking advantage of the more-than-spacious left field at Jason Matt Memorial, he tied the single season record for triples (3) in a single series! Tripling his career total and tying the all-time record, as well, in the process.

& the 1

#RockyRoad 15-1, 11-7, 19-0, 14-3, 16-12... these are football scores. Football scores are embarrassing. 5 of our first 8 games this season were embarrassing. And long. Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong.

In the Cards '13 - #2: David Castle

David Castle came into WSEM in 2012 as part of an incredible class of rookies. Sharing a lineup card with three more of these future stars caused many to overlook the good season he had. David hit 60 points higher than the league average of .226; his 19 RBI tied for ninth in the league, and was just one behind teammate, RotY Tomlinson; David also was sixth in the league in doubles with 5. For 2013 he has switched from one of the last original 'modern era' teams to the other, and he is using that aggressive style on the basepaths to make a name for himself with the Ducks. In four games Castle has 6 stolen bases! Triple the number of any other player! He is yet to be caught, and is strutting around with all the swagger of Willy "Mayes" Hayes. It looks like the inaugural Great Lakes Stealer (name pending) is all but David's too lose; the better question may be, "will Castle ever be caught?"

Career Stats
Batting	AB	H	BB	2B	3B	HR	SF	R	RBI	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
* 2013:	13	4	6	1	0	0	0	6	0	6	0	.308	.526	.385
2012:	141	40	10	5	0	1	0	17	19	-	-	.284	.331	.340
* As of 5/9/2013

Ducks are Covered

		Your Junk my Happy Zone
		by Brandon Corbett

The Ducks dropped the Thunder from their name and early forecasts saw them limping into the 2013 season. The reason for the dismal outlook was the departure of Chris Lewis and, founding member, Nick Braden to play for the Holy Balls. The move left powerhouse arm Dennis Pearson and big bats Dylan Braden and Josh Nagorski as the only ducks on the pond. Yes, the three totalled 28 HR in 2012, knocked in 68 runs and hit .287, collectively; an impressive three-hit combo to be sure. However, three men does not a Wiffleball team make; just ask the Belgian Wiffles in 2011 or the Manchester Punchouts in the 2012 Championship Series. Who would fill the needed slots on a Ducks roster expecting nothing short of a return to a second championship?

Well, it did not take long to see the big changes brought in - changes that center on one key facet of the game. Freed of the "thunder," the Ducks adopted a new look: a swerving Wiffle pitch with the ball and its trail forming a Ducks head and beak. That designing around the pitch has been the basis of the team's offseason strategy, as well. The Ducks first free agent signing was Mike Constanti. In 2012 with the Squirrels Constanti had a 0.56 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 79 K to 21 BB in 45 IP. Those numbers earned him the start for Garcia in the All-Star game; he now joins the other Garcia All-Star pitcher, Pearson, in the Ducks rotation. They were not done yet, though. David Castle, formerly with Belgian, was then signed as a third dangerous arm in their arsenal. Castle's season numbers were up and down, however, he turned it on when the games mattered in the playoffs: dialing up his speed and locking in his accuracy.


See Constanti deal in the first minute of this
video, then Castle starting at four minutes in. These signings seem to be a measured response to being swept out of the playoff semi-finals by the Wicked Aces. Being able to run capably dominant starters out game after game, no matter the situation, is what the Aces were able to do on their march to the title, and now - on paper, at least - the Ducks have matched that ability and paired it with an always potent offense, which also looks to be bolstered by having Castle (.284, 19 RBI) in the mix. With eight of the nine current teams involved in the offseason movement of veteran players WSEM is going to look very different in 2013, but the Ducks have once again positioned themselves as one of the preseason favorites atop the league.

Under the Radar: 4 Players Who Might Sneak Up On You

		Your Junk my Happy Zone
		by Brandon Corbett

Spring is the time to not only get back your feel for the game, but also the time to check out the new talent, improvements made in a returning player's game, size up the league, and make predictions about what is coming up this season. Going into our second year, we have approximately fifty returning players we think we know a good deal about. We also have a large rookie class entering the league. With all this talent running around, there are some players left to fly under the radar. These are four players whom I think will use that element of stealth to their advantage.

Craig Spring  -  Manchester Punchouts To be fair, the entire Punchouts roster are only rookies in relation to WSEM. However, we all know about the pitching and hitting talents of players like Evan Bortmas and Sam Hatt. They along with another previous-unknown, Logan Zigila (aka "Godzilla", aka "the Silver Surfer", aka "Wolverine") and his monstrous power at the plate are taking the light away from what Spring brings to the team: Craig brings that extra base power, too, but he also brings lightning-quick speed. If the ball gets past the pitcher, he has a good shot of reaching first base safely. His speed also helps him make great, wide-ranging plays in the field; including coverage of a large swath of foul territory. On a team full of "rookie" players already receiving a lot of praise, Craig is poised to take the league by storm.

Adam Cosby  -  Jason Mattseals Some of us have experienced what the new Mattseals ace brings to the mound, but most of the league has no idea about him and thinks of Hewlett as the crown jewel of the 'Seals roster. Soon, however, everyone will learn how much they are missing when they see Cosby pitch. One thing that may help keep Cosby's cross-section low is the amount of talent spread across the other new Mattseals' pick-ups: the bat of Mike Myers or Greg Franzen's managing, for example. In his first competitive Wiffleball games, though, Adam easily handled Wiffleball veterans with his assortment of pitches. He is not a dead-to-rights fireballer, but he does have respectable velocity. Adam also pairs that velocity with good movement and deception. Oh, yeah, he brings a good stick to the other side of the plate, too.

David Castle  -  Belgian Wiffles Taking stealth to a new level: this is the highest quality shot we have of David! (Sorry, David, we will get a better one soon.) The serious reason why Castle is flying below the radar in buzz around the league, though, is that his fellow Belgian rookie, Chandler Philips, is already being sized up as a Diamond Digit winner waiting to happen. Nick Walker is also the most recognized name and face of the new Belgian roster. Thus, Castle was quietly able to go about throwing a gem in the innings he pitched against the Thunder Ducks during the satellite tournament. David is confident and impressive on the mound, and gave his team the opportunity to go up 3-0 against the reigning champions in his first Wiffleball start. He is definitely going to be talked-up much more as this season advances and he racks up innings.

Josh Nagorski  -  Thunder Ducks Josh is another victim, or benefactor (depending on your outlook), of playing with teammates who steal the spotlight. Obviously the NWLA Strike-out King and Clown Shu winner, Dennis Pearson, commands a lot of attention. As does the acquisition of Dr. Riser, Chris Lewis, as number-two pitcher in he off-season. Nagorski has thus been improving his game in the shadows. You may have missed it, since your team had been knocked out, but Josh's batting average blew up in last year's playoffs: a stout .304, which was third best among players with more than two games played. He put that number up in seven games, while he only saw action in eight games during the regular season. "Naggie" expects to feature much more regularly in the 2012 Thunder Ducks lineup, and I expect we will see his numbers continue to grow steadily alongside his appearances.