PBL Players of the Month - August
PBL Players of the Month (August 2023)
The PBL Players of the Month awards recognize players who stood out and led their respective teams to success over the course of the month. Each month, the PBL will select two position players and two pitchers for recognition – one from each division. For the month of August, our honorees are: catcher John Michael Faile of Billings, outfielder Jacob Cruce of Grand Junction and pitchers Alfredo Villa of Missoula and Nico Zeglin of Rocky Mountain. In addition, this month both PBL Batters of the Month will receive a free Dynaswing Training Bat courtesy of Dynaswing.
North Division Pitcher of the Month: Alfredo Villa, Missoula:
Alfredo Villa has been one of the best PBL pitchers in the 2023 season, and August was no exception. This is the second time he has won the PBL North Pitcher of the Month award this season, after taking the honors in June. Villa started six games for Missoula during the month - all of those were PaddleHeads wins - recording 39.2 innings pitched with 38 strikeouts, 30 hits, and 11 walks and a sparkling 1.59 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. His last appearance in August was a seven-inning complete game against Great Falls, a 9-2 victory with seven strikeouts. Missoula leads the North Division second-half standings, and Villa, who leads the PBL in ERA (2.89), Strikeouts (121) and Wins (12), is in line to become the first pitcher to win the league’s Triple Crown since 2000.
North Division Batter of the Month: John Michael Faile, C/DH, Billings:
John Michael Faile was the driving force in a strong Billings campaign in August, a month in which the Mustangs finished on a 10-win streak and with a 20-7 record, just one game behind Missoula for the lead in the North Division Standings. Faile had 34 hits in 23 games in the month, with 11 homers, 34 runners brought in and 77 total bases. His batting average was .391, slugging an impressive .885 and with an on base percentage of .459. Faile recorded at least one hit in 17 of his 23 appearances, with 12 multi-hit games and ending the month on a 9-game hitting streak. He was clutch in a win against Northern Colorado in the middle of the month after a two-run homer to right field broke the deadlock and gave Billings a lead they would keep until the end of the contest. Faile also received two PBL North Division Batter of the Week awards, in the first and fourth weeks of August.
South Division Pitcher of the Month: Nico Zeglin, Rocky Mountain:
Nico Zeglin joined Rocky Mountain from Long Beach State in early August, and has had an instant impact in the Vibes rotation that helped them reach the top of the South Division Second-Half standings. Zeglin started five games for the Vibes - all of those were wins - and slowly increased his usage and productivity. He ended the month on three straight outings of six innings and only four hits conceded, each with at least five strikeouts in the process. He finished the month with 24.2 innings pitched, allowing 22 hits and eight walks, with 30 strikeouts and a 2.55 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 10.95 K/9.
South Division Batter of the Month: Jacob Cruce, OF, Grand Junction:
Jacob Cruce had a strong month of August, earning him the title of South Division Batter of the Month honors. His performance helped the Jackalopes turn their season around, and push for a postseason spot after finishing last in the first-half standings. In 27 games during the month, Cruce had 50 hits, with eight homers and 29 RBI, a .435 batting average, a .500 on-base percentage, and slugging .696. He recorded a hit in all but three games, while achieving 15multi-hit games, including two impressive five-hit games, in wins against Ogden (27-15 on Aug 6th) and Rocky Mountain (7-4 on Aug 14th), and ending the month on a 12-game hitting streak. On August 5th, his solo home run in the bottom of the eighth was the difference maker to help Grand Junction beat Ogden 3-2. Cruce also received the PBL South Batter of the Week honor in the fourth week of the month.