WHIPPETS WIFFLE CLUB
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
TOURNAMENT ROSTER
Peter Mocabee (c) – RHP/LHB – Age 41 – California
Randy Dalbey – RHP/RHB – Age 36 – Arizona
2003 Fast Plastic National Champion
Dan Foster – RHP/RHB – Age 30 – Illinois
Pete Taynton – RHP/RHB – Age 42 – California
TEAM OVERVIEW
As a longtime Wiffle®Ball team captain, Peter Mocabee has put together (more than) his fair share of interesting and competitive teams over the years. The SoCal Wiffle®Ball mainstay has cycled through many of California’s more prolific players and captained contending Golden Stick teams like the Gunslingers (Fast) and Swingmen (Yard) in the first half of the 2010’s. For the 2020 United Wiffle®Ball National Championship, Mocabee has taken his current squad - Whippets Wiffle Club - and made them over with a few key additions.
The key to the Whippets’ tournament likely lies with Randy Dalbey. The longtime member of the Arizona Vipers figures to be both the Whippets’ top pitcher and best all-around player. As he approaches the 20-year mark as a competitive wiffler, Dalbey still has explosive stuff and the ability to go multiple games during a tournament without a significant drop off in production. A tall and slender right-hander with a smooth motion, Randy gets right on top of hitters which allows his already quality stuff to play up even more. This is not the first time that Mocabee has recruited Dalbey for a national championship team. Randy was a member of the 2012 Gunslingers at the GSWL Fast Pitch Open.
Pete Taynton is another veteran with national tournament experience, who could see some time on the carpet this October. In a large tournament without many walk-over teams, Taynton could be a one-game, big moment option for Mocabee. He also might be of the more overlooked quality hitters going into the tournament - a byproduct of being an almost exclusive West Coast player in a tournament where a vast majority of the teams reside out east. Taynton is a quality, veteran hitter whose bat could prove to be a difference maker.
For the 4th spot on the Whippets, Mocabee ventured away from the West entirely - but stayed within the realm of former teammates - to snag Illinois wiffler Dan Foster. Bestowed with the title of “Chicago’s top player” prior to the 2014 GSWL Fast Pitch Open, Foster made his name as a member of the Quad City Wifflers in the GSWL Midwest region in 2013. Foster is a two-way player and he accumulated some video game-like offensive statistics in the offensively minded 2013 GSWL Midwest region. He was also that region’s best pitcher in 2013. For Foster - like many others - his success in this tournament will be determined how the layoff impacts him, either positively or negatively. It has been five years since Foster last played nationally (alongside Mocabee as the two drafted members of the Bandits) in the 2015 GSWL fast pitch national championship draft tournament. If the time off means a fresh arm and little rust, that could mean potentially big things for both Foster and the Whippets.
In any event, Mocabee has put together another intriguing squad that could quietly make some noise on Saturday and into Sunday. This is a team that has a few pitching options and a true veteran leader in Dalbey, which makes it easy to imagine them quietly and confidently playing themselves into Sunday and beyond.
