No. 6: Johnny Besecker

For Johnny Besecker, the numbers were important.

The championship meant everything.

At No. 6 on the BWAL Season 4 Top 15 is Besecker—the league's founder, one of its most accomplished hitters and, finally, a BWAL champion.

After years of organizing the league, preparing the field and watching other teams celebrate, Besecker finally experienced that moment himself. The Titans defeated the 8 Balls in the Season 3 championship, giving him the achievement he had wanted more than any individual accolade.

"I'm just happy to finally call myself a BWAL champion," Besecker said. "I've watched so many great players and teams win on this field. To finally experience it with this group means everything to me."

Besecker did not simply ride along for the championship run. He produced one of the best offensive seasons of his career.

He finished Season 3 with 21 hits, 11 RBIs, 10 runs and 11 walks while batting .438. Besecker appeared in all nine of the Titans' games and became more dangerous as the stakes increased.

His Season 3 rankings placed him among the league's elite:

• First in games played: 9
• Second in hits: 21
• Second in singles: 17
• Second in at-bats: 48
• Third in batting average: .438
• Tied for third in doubles: 2
• Fifth in RBIs: 11
• Fifth in catches: 12
• Eighth in runs: 10

"He wanted that championship badly," Titans teammate Bubba Brezina said. "You could see it in the way he played, especially toward the end of the year. He wasn't going to let another opportunity get away."

Besecker's season changed during the Titans' marathon game against the Cherrypickers. He entered the matchup with only four hits through his first four appearances.

Then everything clicked.

Besecker went 5-for-7 with a double, three walks, an RBI and two runs. In his next game against the Dragons, he collected four more hits, another double, two RBIs and four runs.

Across those two games, he reached base 13 times and recorded nine hits. The slow start was over, and the Titans suddenly had another dangerous bat entering the postseason.

"Johnny kept getting better as the season went along," Cherrypickers star Dylan Atkinson said. "By the time the playoffs arrived, he was locked in. He became a completely different problem."

His best performance came when the Titans' season was on the line.

Facing the Dragons in the semifinal, Besecker went 5-for-6 with four singles and his first home run of the season. He drove in a run, scored three times and helped send the Titans to the championship game.

Then came the moment he had spent three seasons chasing.

Against the 8 Balls in the final, Besecker collected two hits and drove in four runs. He did not score, walk or homer. He simply delivered when runners were waiting for someone to bring them home.

"He came through when it mattered," 8 Balls veteran Matt McCleary said. "Four RBIs in a championship game is huge. You have to give him credit. He waited a long time for that opportunity and took advantage of it."

Besecker recorded seven hits and five RBIs across the two postseason games. Those seven hits represented one-third of his entire Season 3 total, showing how much his production increased when the pressure was highest.

The championship also strengthened an already impressive career résumé.

Besecker ranks second all-time in hits, singles, doubles, triples, RBIs and at-bats. He is fourth in career home runs, fifth in catches and sixth in batting average.

His career rankings include:

• Second all-time in hits: 70
• Second all-time in singles: 50
• Second all-time in doubles: 7
• Second all-time in triples: 5
• Second all-time in RBIs: 46
• Fourth all-time in home runs: 8
• Sixth all-time in batting average: .534

"People sometimes overlook Johnny because he does so much outside the actual games," Dragons legend Will Byler said. "But the numbers speak for themselves. He's been one of the best hitters in the league since the beginning, and now he has the championship to complete the résumé."

There is a case that No. 6 is too high. Besecker hit only one home run and did not provide the overwhelming power of several players ranked around him. He also endured an inconsistent start before finding his rhythm late in the season.

There is also a strong case that No. 6 is too low.

He finished second in hits, third in batting average and fifth in RBIs. He then elevated his production in the postseason, going 7-for-12 with five RBIs while helping the Titans capture the championship.

Most importantly, he delivered when the title was directly in front of him.

"I'll remember that championship forever," Besecker said. "The stats are great and I'm proud of how I played, but nothing compares to winning that final game with my teammates."

That is Johnny Besecker entering Season 4: an all-time BWAL hitter, a proven postseason performer and, at long last, a champion.