MIDWEST MONSTARS
MIDWEST
TOURNAMENT ROSTER
Sam Skibbe (c) – RHP/RHB – Age 32 – Missouri
2016, 2017 NWLA Tournament Runner Up
Caleb Jonkman – RHP/RHB – Age 24 – Indiana
2017, 2019 NWLA National POTY; 2018, 2019 NWLA Tournament Runner Up
Jeremy Ratajczyk – RHB – Age 30 – Indiana
2018, 2019 NWLA Tournament Runner Up
Cameron Smith – RHP/RHB – Age 28 – Missouri
Auston Steffes – RHP/RHB – Age 20 – Minnesota
TEAM OVERVIEW
There has not been a Midwest presence at the fast pitch national championship the past several years, but the Monstars – a collection of players from Indiana, Missouri, and Minnesota – are looking to make some noise out east in 2020.
The team is captained by Sam Skibbe, the founder of the long running Skibbe Wiffle®Ball League in St. Louis. In addition to being a great ambassador of the game, Sam captained the SWBL Cardinals to second place finishes at the NWLA Tournament in back-to-back years (2016 & 2017) and is a very capable player in his own right.
The Monstars are anchored on both sides of the ball by 2017 and 2019 NWLA national player of the year, Caleb Jonkman. The Indiana native is the top player in three separate fast pitch leagues in his home state (Circle City, Leroy, Griffleball) and led the GBL Legends to a runner up finish at the 2019 NWLA Tournament. The tall right-hander is one of the sport’s best players and the Monstars will look to him to lead at the plate and on the carpet. Providing offensive support is Jonkman’s GBL Legends’ teammate, Jeremy Rataczyk. Ratajczyk was unquestionably the best hitter at last year’s NWLA Tournament. Among hitters with more than one game played, Jeremy ranked second in batting average, fifth in slugging, and first in hits. He picked up hits in all of his team’s eight games including multi-hit games against MAW (Robles) and RPWL (Bingnear, Drecher).
Behind Jonkman on the pitching depth chart is St. Louis-area flamethrower Cameron Smith. Cam is a full-time member of YellowBatz Wiffle®Ball in O’Fallon, MO and gained his first national exposure last July as a member of the SWBL Cardinals at the NWLA Tournament. Cam threw a tick under eleven innings that tournament and allowed just three runs on two hits. His best single-game performance came against the eventual champions - the AWAA Blue Kamikazes - when he allowed one run on two hits while striking out twelve in 5 2/3 innings pitched. Cam has an electric arm that allowed him to work around persistent command issues. Rounding out the Monstars is twenty-year old Austin Steffes from the Minneapolis based HRL and MNWA. Steffes will provide the Monstars with yet another potential pitching option as they navigate their way through the tournament.
