BWAL TOP 15 — NO. 2: MATT McCLEARY

The player the 8 Balls once had to defeat became the player they never wanted to face again.

After losing to the 8 Balls in the championship as a member of the Dragons, Matt McCleary crossed sides and joined them.

The result was terrifying.

McCleary arrived as an established star and became one of the most dangerous two-way players in the BWAL. He could overpower a lineup from the mound, then step into the box and completely change the game with one swing.

The countdown has reached No. 2.

At this level, being excellent is no longer enough. The top two are the players opponents actively build their game plans around—and few players create more problems than McCleary.

"Matt is probably the last person you want to see on the mound or at the plate," 8 Balls captain Cam Barto said. "He can dominate an entire game by himself. When we had the opportunity to bring him over, it was an easy decision."

McCleary's journey to the 8 Balls began with heartbreak.

As a member of the Dragons, he helped carry the franchise to the championship game. The Dragons believed they had the talent to finish the run, but the 8 Balls defeated them and celebrated the title McCleary had been chasing.

Then came the trade.

Rather than continuing to battle the 8 Balls from the other side, McCleary joined the franchise that had just ended his season. It was the kind of move that shifted the balance of power across the league.

The most consistent franchise in BWAL history had added one of its most dominant players.

"When you play against Matt in a championship, you understand how dangerous he is," 8 Balls legend Ronnie Swantner said. "Then suddenly he's on your side. You go from worrying about how to stop him to realizing what your team can become with him."

McCleary immediately became a force in the middle of the 8 Balls' lineup. He finished Season 3 with 17 hits, 19 walks, nine RBIs and three home runs while appearing in all nine games.

His Season 3 offensive rankings show just how dangerous he was:

• Tied for first in games played: 9
• Tied for second in home runs: 3
• Tied for third in hits: 17
• Fifth in walks: 19
• 10th in on-base percentage: .554
• Tied for 11th in RBIs: 9
• 13th in batting average: .370

McCleary finished inside the league's top five in hits, home runs and walks. That combination is what makes him so difficult to attack.

He can hit for contact.

He can wait out a pitcher.

He can end an at-bat—and potentially a game—with one swing.

There is no comfortable plan.

Challenge him and risk the home run. Work around him and give one of the league's strongest lineups another runner. Even when McCleary is not hitting the ball out of the park, he extends innings and forces pitchers to work.

"Some hitters have a weakness you can build around," Titans champion Johnny Besecker said. "With Matt, you're mostly choosing which kind of damage you're willing to risk. He can take over at the plate, and then he can turn around and do the same thing on the mound."

That second part is what separates McCleary from nearly everyone below him on this list.

McCleary was not simply a great hitter who occasionally pitched. He carried the largest pitching workload in the league and still produced at an elite level.

His Season 3 pitching totals were staggering:

• First in innings pitched: 65
• First in pitching strikeouts: 150
• Third in ERA: 0.63
• Third in WHIP: 2.08
• 2.31 strikeouts per inning
• 46 hits allowed across 65 innings

Nobody pitched more innings.

Nobody recorded more strikeouts.

McCleary finished with 16 more strikeouts than Willie Burger, the next-closest pitcher, despite facing the responsibility of leading the 8 Balls' rotation through the regular season, playoffs and championship.

He was the league's ultimate workhorse.

"Matt wasn't just giving them a few strong innings," Besecker said. "He was throwing almost every game and still striking everybody out. You knew the 8 Balls were going to put him out there, and knowing it didn't make him any easier to hit."

McCleary's best performance on the mound came against the eventual champion Titans during the regular season.

He pitched eight scoreless innings, allowed only three hits and recorded 16 strikeouts. Against the league's most dangerous roster, McCleary did not allow a single earned run.

That outing showed his ceiling.

When McCleary is fully in control, even championship-level offenses can disappear.

He was nearly as dominant against the Cherrypickers earlier in the season, pitching seven innings with 16 strikeouts while allowing only two earned runs. In the playoffs, facing the Cherrypickers again, McCleary increased the pressure and recorded 19 strikeouts across seven innings.

Across those three games, McCleary pitched 22 innings, struck out 51 batters and allowed only five earned runs—a 0.23 ERA.

Then McCleary grabbed a bat.

"He's one of the few players who can beat you for the entire game," former Dragons teammate Will Byler said. "You spend one half trying to hit him, and then the other half trying to get him out. There's never really a break."

McCleary's move to the 8 Balls also required an adjustment.

With the Dragons, he was one of the defining faces of the franchise and helped lead them to a championship appearance. With the 8 Balls, he entered an established culture featuring Barto, Swantner and Alex Cruz—a group that had already proven it could reach the final.

McCleary did not disrupt that identity.

He made it more dangerous.

The 8 Balls returned to the championship game for the third consecutive season, becoming the only franchise to appear in every BWAL final. McCleary's presence as a power hitter and ace pitcher gave them another path to victory whenever a game became difficult.

"He fit with us immediately because he wanted the same thing we wanted," Barto said. "Matt didn't come over just to put up numbers. He came over because he wanted to win, and you can see that in how seriously he approaches every game."

The championship ending was painful once again.

McCleary had left the Dragons after losing to the 8 Balls, only to help the 8 Balls reach the final and fall to the Titans. For all his dominance, the championship he has pursued remains unfinished business.

That makes him even more dangerous entering Season 4.

"He has already been close from both sides," Cherrypickers star Dylan Atkinson said. "He knows what those games feel like, and he knows how little separates winning from losing. A player that talented with something still to prove is a problem for the whole league."

McCleary's career offensive rankings already place him among the greatest players in BWAL history:

• Second all-time in home runs: 16
• Second all-time in RBIs: 47
• Tied for third all-time in hits: 56
• Third all-time in runs: 40
• Tied for fourth all-time in walks: 41
• Sixth all-time in catches: 39

His career pitching rankings are equally impressive:

• First all-time in innings pitched: 106
• First all-time in pitching strikeouts: 239
• Fifth all-time in ERA: 0.69
• Sixth all-time in WHIP: 2.28
• 2.25 strikeouts per inning

McCleary is not merely one of the league's most accomplished pitchers. He is its all-time leader in both innings and strikeouts.

He has thrown more than 100 career innings and recorded 239 strikeouts while maintaining a career ERA below 0.70. That combination of volume and effectiveness is unmatched.

Only Will Byler has hit more career home runs. Only Byler has driven in more runs. McCleary is tied with Swantner for third in hits and sits third in career runs.

That means McCleary ranks first all-time in two major pitching categories while sitting second all-time in two of the league's most important power-hitting categories.

That is not merely a strong résumé.

It is one of the most complete résumés the BWAL has ever seen.

The case for McCleary at No. 2 is straightforward.

He is an all-time power hitter, an elite run producer and the most prolific strikeout pitcher in league history. He led Season 3 in innings and strikeouts, finished third in ERA and helped a second franchise reach the championship game.

There is also a legitimate case that McCleary could be No. 1.

Very few players can match his combination of power and pitching. Even fewer have been this productive for this long. If the ranking were based purely on how dangerous one player can become during a single game, McCleary might already sit at the top.

But No. 2 carries its own message.

McCleary is not simply one of the league's better players. He has separated himself from almost everyone else. He is one of the two players who define the highest level of BWAL competition.

The trade changed his uniform.

It did not change what opponents see when he steps onto the field.

A problem on the mound.

A threat at the plate.

A player capable of taking control of everything.

"Matt is the kind of player who makes you say 'wow' at least once every time he plays," Swantner said. "The power, the pitching, the competitiveness—he can do things that almost nobody else in this league can do."

McCleary has already lost a championship to the 8 Balls and another championship with the 8 Balls.

Now he returns with the talent to make sure the next ending is different.