In 2023, we will see just how much the perfect draft on paper will translate to success on the softball field. How much can missed games, random bounces of the ball, bad umpire calls derail the team captains almost unanimously have decided is the best team going into this season. Unusually I don’t announce the winner of the captains’ poll until I unveil the results, but there is no suspense if you were following the draft. Out of the 17 captains who participated in this year’s poll, 16 of them voted Drashinsky the best team going into the season. The only captain who did not vote Seth’s squad as the best had his team as the second best.
Here is how the voting works. Captains were asked to rank the five best teams. Five points were awarded if a team was ranked first, four points awarded if a team was ranked second, etc. Captains could not vote for their own team. The final rankings is based on total points received with any tiebreaker going to the team that was mentioned on the most ballots.
Here is a rundown of previous winners that include their eventual regular season record, playoff performance, and percentage of total possible votes received:
2018: Goldfarb 12-10 Lost in first round 53.8%
2019: Brock 10-12 Lost in semis 87.9%
2020: Pollock 11-6 Lost in semis 66.1%
2021: Wallman15-7 Lost in finals 77.5%
2022: Lapine 14-8 Lost in finals 80.0%
2023: Drashinsky??? ??? 98.8%
So far no winner of this poll has gone on to win the championship, but with the exception of Goldfarb in 2018 they have all made it to the semi finals. It would be a disappointment if Drashinsky didn’t make it three years in a row the winner of this poll made the finals.
Here are the top 10 teams going into the 2023 season as voted by the captains(well, all except for one).
Rank Team Total points (# of ballots)
Drashinsky 79 (16)
Wallman 47 (13)
Kessler 34 (12)
Conti 14 (5)
Applebaum 12 (7)
Pingaro 12 (4)
Pollock 10 (8)
Goldfarb 9 (4)
Bykofsky 9 (3)
Meyer 8 (4)
10. Goddard 8 (4)
