Under New Management: Bert Brigade Look To Climb Back With Different Vibes

 What an offseason. A flame out of last year's tournament, talks of mass retirements, withdrawing from WP18 only to be taken over by a new owner and not only re-enter the tournament, but frankly might've built the best roster of any team in the field. That's life for Bert Brigade these days. Their tournament experience began with a run of four-consecutive title games, something no other team has done at any point. The last two years however, have seen them upset in the semi-finals in 2022, and then blasted off the map in their final game in 2023 in the statistically worst loss in franchise history.

That loss was the root cause of change. Jake Hatki has stepped back, Rick Fifer is out for WP18. Taylor Cheli has stepped forward. And after a clean out of the back half of the roster and some background controversy.. the new additions for Bert have certainly raised eyebrows. Joining a lineup of nothing but all-stars, two rookies are ready to take the stage for Bert, and they might be the most talented of the bunch. Mason Maxwell, former D-2 all-conference player, headlines the tournaments' new additions as a whole. As we've seen before, success on the diamond isn't always a direct translation to success on the wiffle fields (see Jojo Rodriguez, Tyler Norris, Wifflebots, et.al), but Bert has reason to believe that he and fellow newcomer, former D-3 stud Jake Guglielmi are the key to their return to the top. 

The infrastructure, culture and experience are all in place. And the talent gap that appeared briefly last year appears to be closed. Now it's on Bert Brigade to reach their own lofty expectations in trying to earn their 3rd title.

Projected Batting Order

1. Sawyer Brown

2. Mason Maxwell

3. Taylor Cheli

4. Jake Guglielmi

5. Ken McCormick

6. Tony Donato

Bench: Pete Ojeda

Projected Pitchers

Tony Donato

Ken McCormick

Jake Guglielmi

One Interesting Fact

In their first 4 tournaments, where they reached the title game in all, Bert Brigade won 40% (8 of 20) of the major tournament awards. Their 18 all-stars in their first 6 tournaments are tied for 2nd most of any franchise (Flapacs - 20, Goodfellas -18).

Key Factor To Watch

Tournament officials decided after WP16, the mounds needed to be moved back just slightly. Going from 40 to 42 feet. It's unclear if that's what caused Bert's pitching to fall of hard, or if it's something else. But the key here is seeing if they can adjust. If that was the cause, it'll be the same this year. And the staple of Bert over the previous 5 years, more than even their thunderous lineup, was their lights out pitching.

Draftkings Odds

-115 to win WP18, O/U win total: 2.5