VINELAND - To say it was hot is an understatement. To say there were a lot of walks sells it short. But when the smoke cleared on the 18th wiffleball championship of the world, there were some familiar faces hoisting the trophy. Bert Brigade, after a change in management, rose to the occasion to win their 3rd title in tournament history.
"This one's for Jake", said multiple members of Bert's squad, referring to Jake Hatki, their former captain who selflessly relinquished control this year. "Glad we could get one in his honor. This team wouldn't exist without him". For Bert, this year was more about hanging around than pure dominance. This year was decided by a very thin margin, and their ability to grab timely hits proved the difference. But it's burying the lede to wait this long without mentioning the tournament MVP and Top Rookie, Jake Guglielmi. What a performance. Guglielmi burst onto the scene, swatting 4 HR and driving in 12, becoming just the 3rd player in tournament history to win MVP and Top Rookie in the same tournament (Matt Creamer - WP7 & Sawyer Brown - WP12).
Last year, Bert flamed out. Their first non-playoff year ever, capped by a blowout forfeit loss to Temp Agency. It was the pitching that had failed, a lack of adjustment to the new mound distance. Some questioned their future. They used that fuel in the offseason. Their pitching this year wasn't dominant as it's been in the past, but it was a steadying force. They walked the 2nd most hitters, gave up the 2nd most runs, but they also struck out the 2nd most amount of hitters. Their big pitches were timely. They didn't have to beat everyone, just the teams in front of them. The road fell out before them perfectly, and their premier players came up big when it mattered most. Ken McCormick & Tony Donato, two playoff legends, delivered clutch pitches when needed most. 2 months ago, it was unsure if they'd ever play again. Today, they are champions for a 3rd time.
FINDING THE ZONE
The story of the day became about the walks. The event started late, and it felt like teams and tournament officials spent the whole day trying to catch up. Games were cut short on time limit, and it seemed like some of that at least came because of extremely long innings caused by multiple walks. But a deeper dive shows that this year's overall numbers were not that far departed from the norm.
|
Hits |
% |
BB |
% |
SO |
% |
HR |
% |
Total PA |
|
|
WP14 |
134 |
20.8% |
159 |
24.7% |
241 |
37.4% |
47 |
7.3% |
644 |
|
WP15 |
174 |
26.5% |
132 |
20.1% |
221 |
33.7% |
71 |
10.8% |
656 |
|
WP16 |
114 |
17.3% |
193 |
29.3% |
263 |
40.0% |
29 |
4.4% |
658 |
|
WP17 |
135 |
21.7% |
223 |
35.9% |
175 |
28.1% |
48 |
7.7% |
622 |
|
WP18 |
119 |
20.6% |
208 |
35.9% |
157 |
27.1% |
36 |
6.2% |
579 |
A look at the 5-year trend, shows that while walks have gone up, there was no difference year to year and at volume, there were actually fewer walks this tournament than last. The overall fewer plate appearances (almost 7% drop), I believe, was caused by the delay at the start and trying to catch up/ having to cut games short. There will be discussions this offseason to try and find solutions to that. Overall, the numbers among other stats seem to fluctuate within an expected range. The only other point of note to point out, seems to be the dramatic shift in walks and strikeouts since the mounds got moved back after WP16. In the 3 tournaments prior to that change, walks came at a 24.7% rate, while strikeouts jumped up over 37%. In the 2 tournaments since, those numbers have virtually flipped. Walks have sat at 35.9% and strikeouts are down almost 10%, to right about 27%. The goals of that move were to reduce strikeouts and get more balls in play. Hits however haven't increased. In fact, they've dropped a half of a percent. The league remains committed to looking at ways to increase balls in play, but some are skeptical it's possible without dramatic changes.
WIFFLE NUGGETS
- For just the 7th time, both top seeds reached the title game. The 1 seed now holds a 4-3 record in those matchups.
- G'fellas captain Rocco Lombardo became the first player in Wifflepalooza history to reach 90 games played.
- Ryan Ricci became the 3rd player in history to reach 100 career hits.
- Allen Cruz became the 12th player in history to reach 60 career hits.
- Ken McCormick & Allen Cruz, became the 11th & 12th players respectively to reach 20 career HR.
- Ken McCormick & Taylor Cheli both reached 40+ career RBI.
- Sawyer Brown & Jeff Lunsford each eclipsed 50 career RBI.
- Mike Tedesco & Ryan Ricci each earned their 20th career pitching wins.
- Dan Volpe, WP18 Cy Young Winner, not only did not allow a run in this tournament over 17 innings (ties ERA record, 1 inning short of total record), he became the first pitcher to not even allow a hit while pitching more than 8 innings. His 17 no-hit innings, and 3 subsequent no-hitters are both tournament records.
- While not officially announced by the league office yet, it seems like Wifflepalooza XIX will take place Saturday, August 2, 2025, in the same format and same location as this past year. HR Derby will be planned again for the night before.
