Here’s the last matchup of the second round!

  • Dalton Oates defeated Zach Neff (Waynesboro) in the first round, 79.4% to 20.6% (34 votes). His writeup: “Dalton Oates was lights out for Purcellville in 2018. In 12 games and 29 1/3 innings pitched, Oates went 3-0, 0.61, with a 1.058 WHIP, 2.2 BB/9, and 12.0 K/9. He was ATVL’s fourth best reliever that year (evidence showing that ’18 was a reliever-heavy year). Oates pitched for Shippensburg, a Division-II school in Pennsylvania, in both 2018 and 2019, but has left the program, and I was unable to locate where he might be at the moment.”
  • Mario Morales defeated Zach Blatt (Luray) in their matchup, 63.6% to 36.4% (11 votes). His writeup: “Mario Morales came to the Cardinals after his first season pitching for Campbellsville, in a season when he went 4-3, 2.33, with a sick 3/52 BB/K ratio in 69 2/3 innings. He pitched out of the bullpen in the summer (obviously) for the Cards, and went 2-2, 2.11, with a 0.966 WHIP, 1.4 BB/9, and 7.8 K/9 in 38 1/3 innings. ATVL named him the third best reliever that summer. After college, Morales did not play organized pro ball, but carved out a little career for himself in Independent ball and the Mexican League, playing for four seasons. Overall in those years, he went 12-6, 3.38, with a 1.328 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, and 6.9 K/9 in 197 1/3 innings. (And he might still be active- he obviously has no stats from 2020, but perhaps he will from 2021.)”

Vote by going to twitter.com/JohnATVL.

And by the way, if you want to read a ton about either the 2015 or 2019 VBL season, be sure to check out this post on the 2019 Valley League Annual.

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  • Oates at Shippensburg
  • Morales