For my last time in a long while, I’ve decided to volunteer and write the Commissioners Poll (Gio Lorenzo and Jason Oliver will be writing the next four straight).  This end of season Commissioners Poll is always controversial, as the Commissioners strongly disagree between ranking teams by placing a higher emphasis on their regular season results versus placing a higher emphasis on playoff results (or trying to find a happy medium between these two extremes).  However, we’ve tallied the final votes, and here it is at long last – our post-season Commissioners Poll! This version of the Commissioners Poll was written by Rene Medina.  Enjoy!

1. Life’s a Pitch – 2 first place votes. 29 points; previously 2nd.  Congratulations to the only team in K.O.A.L.A. Kickball history (Tropical Park and Miami Lakes) to complete a perfect regular and playoff season!  They came back and finished playoffs on a makeup date after falling behind 5-1 and showed their grit and experience in defeating a pesky Kickball Team that was intent on capturing the Tropical Park league trophy.  This team’s deservedly the #1 overall team in our poll.

1. PSN Slidaz – 1 first place vote. 27 points; previously 6th.  And congratulations also to our winning team in the Miami Lakes playoffs, PSN Slidaz.  Even though this season saw this team uncharacteristically lose a few games during the regular season, they finished the regular season strong and stormed through the playoffs to capture the third playoff title for team captain Garsha.
2. Kickball Team – 24 points; previously 5th.  A certain Commissioner (cough, cough, me) had penciled this team in as his sleeper team to win it all at Tropical Park, and if their surprise run to the championship game had ended in the middle of the third inning, that Commissioner’s sleeper pick would’ve been completely validated.  Unfortunately for them, they weren’t able to hold on to the lead against an experienced Life’s a Pitch squad, but a second place playoff finish is nothing to be ashamed of for this Kickball Team.
3. The Only Tenn’s They’ll See – 17 points; previously 4th.  They suffered a tough loss against a talented and athletic Kickball Team in Tropical Park, but they still had a great regular season (where they finished 7-1) and beating defeating Always Pitching in the playoffs before that game.
4. Balls & Dolls – 16 points; previously 1st.  I’m shocked this team fell to fifth, but somehow, here they are.  They were the regular season undisputed champions in Miami Lakes after defeating great teams in a tough schedule for them, but somehow after suffering only one loss in the playoffs, they were significantly punished by the Commissioners (or by one Commissioner) to cause them to fall to fifth in the standings. Still, a spectacular season by Balls & Dolls.
5. Kick It and Quit It – 15 points; previously unranked.  Kick it and Quit went on a tear in the playoffs, as the team had dominant pitching that kept them close in every game until suffering a tough loss against a possessed PSN Slidaz team in the playoff championship round.  Still, this past season’s success only has this team salivating for more success next season.
6. Green Tea Baggers – 14 points; previously 9th.  This team suffered only two regular season losses and lost to undefeated Life’s a Pitch by only two runs.  If the nucleus of this team returns for next season, they will definitely remain a force to be reckoned with.
7. Team No Name – 12 points; previously 8th.  They played their opponents close, won a good number of games in the regular season, and deservedly earned a spot in our Top 10.  Who knows what they would have accomplished in playoffs had they played at full strength?
8. Wicky Wawiors – 6 points; previously unranked.  Even though they were without talented players Nick and Jose Roca, this team played as tough as any team behind the inspired play of Jorge Gomez (who went 7 for 9 and single-handedly scored 3 of his team’s 4 runs in their last game against Green Tea Baggers).  Their talent level ensures that they can remain competitive in seasons to come.
9. District 28 – 4 points; previously 3rd.  Not used to seeing this team all the way at the bottom of the Poll after the core of this team routinely finishes top three in our polls, but it’s a testament to the quality of players found in this team that even on a down season, they were still able to muster a season that placed them in the top third of our league in our poll.

Quick Reminder on How the Poll Works: Once both leagues have played at least 2 games each, the Commissioners each cast an anonymous ballot for the teams that they think are the top 10 in K.O.A.L.A. Kickball across our Miami Lakes and Tropical Park Leagues. The first ranked team in each ballot gets 10 points, the second ranked team in each ballot gets 9 points, and so forth all the way to the tenth ranked team in each ballot, which gets 1 point. The points that each team gets from each ballot are added up, and then the 10 teams with the highest total number of points are declared the Top 10 in the Commissioner’s Poll. Remember that this poll does not affect standings or playoff seeding in any way; it’s only for fun!