[Litty]

2020

The first WBLA amateur player draft took place on June 5th 2020. With the first overall pick, Cape Cod selected pitcher Mikala Keaton from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Keaton was a promising all-rounder with a sidearm release. Some pundits were sceptical given her two-pitch range but many agree that her arm had promise.

There were also two major trades prior to the start of the season. On February 13th, New York sent three top-20 prospects in exchange for starting pitcher Wanda Nadine. It was an odd trade, given that Nadine had gone 0-8 with a 7.45 ERA in 2019. On March 1st, Salisbury traded three players to Richmond for Kerry Hendrickson, a reliever who had managed one save in 24 games in 2019.
At the trade deadline (July 30th), Salisbury and New York swapped an established and a ranked prospect each. The Riveters received #13 prospect Anna Williams and third basewoman Jay Abel in exchange for #34 prospect Erica Hall and leftfielder Cherry Zeck.

The WBLA Cup once again came down to New York and Richmond. The Valkyries went 29-19, going 10-2 to start the season and finishing the season on a 7-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Storm went 27-21 for a second consecutive season, with nine losses to New York being the deciding factor. Also repeating the same record was Cape Cod, who once again finished last at 14-34. After this second poor season, Cape Cod fired GM Justin Stockton, replacing him with
The 2020 WBLA Cup was closer, with New York retaining the title in 6. However, it would be Richmond’s Belle Leachy who was named series MVP, going 11-for-24 with a home run. Her .458 batting average was nearly .100 better than New York’s best batter, Joan Shea.

Salisbury’s Antonia Peres was the league’s best batter, with a .356 average. This once again marked the third place team boasting the best hitter in the league. It was also a huge jump for Peres, who had finished the 2019 season with a .251 average. Peres also had a 3 home run a game on July 8th, the first in league history. New York’s Edith Fitzsimmons and Richmond’s Belle Leachy lead the league with 17 home runs each, marking the second year that 17 was the magic number for the league’s longball queen. And it was Cape Cod’s Taylor DeVos who would be named take the best RBI total, with 44. It should be noted that Fitzsimmons finished second in both average (.346) and RBIs (43). Maria Rodriguez, now with Richmond after joining them in free agency after the 2019 season, recorded a triple crown performance with her new team. 1.48 ERA, 8 wins (8-1 in 11 starts) and 75 Ks blew the rest of the field out of the water.
At the 2020 awards, Jackie Toms won the league’s first Rookie of the Year award for her .236 average season with Richmond. Maria Rodriguez unanimously won Pitcher of the Year while Belle Leachy won a second MVP award for her .330, 17 home run season.

On November 9th, the league held an expansion draft for two new teams- the Charlotte Valiant and Bristol Bears. The league also split into two divisions- north and south. Bristol, Cape Cod and New York would play in the North and Charlotte, Richmond and Salisbury would play in the South. The playoffs would now see the division leaders as well as the two highest wildcards regardless of division. However, the proposed 24 additional games were postponed until the 2022 season.