The Wiff is Life League's fifth season has come to an end and in familiar fashion. The Booze on First team has won the league title for the third straight year! The team has won every year since its creation in 2016, yet the roster has been different each of those three years. This year saw just one change from the 2017 championship roster, that was the addition of Matt Mish. Mish joined two year member and new captain, Jordan Castelli, and two of the original Boozers, Jacob Davey and Josh Palma. The Beavers were the second place team, losing in 3 games to Booze. The championship was Davey's 4th, Palma's 3rd, Castelli's 2nd, and Mish's 1st of their respective careers. For the Beavers squad, this was their 3rd trip to the championship in their 4 year existence and they still are in search for that last step to the top. Now for how it all happened.
The Road to the Championship:
Booze on First: The team saw a defeat in their regular season finale to the Beavers, to get the number 2 seed in the playoffs. In round one they matched up against the Step Dads. Two blowout, shutout victories (10-0, 12-0) sends Booze to the semifinals without a fight. Next up, a surprise opponent, the 6 seeded Golden Goats who upset the 3 seeded Maestros in round one. The Golden Goats put up a fight in game one, but the powerful offense of Booze on First was too much to handle and a 2 game sweep (14-6, 14-2) sent Booze on First to the Championship Series for the third straight year.
Beavers: The team earned the number one overall seed in the 2018 Playoffs, the second straight year that they finished atop of the league standings at the end of the regular season. In their first round matchup, they saw the winner of the "Eight Seed Extravaganza", the Splunkers. The first game gave the Beavers a challenge, but Zach Rohaley stepped up and hit a walk off home run to claim the first game 4-1. The second game saw no challenge, as the Beavers rolled into the semifinals with a 7-0 win to complete the sweep. The fourth seeded LumberKings were next up,- and this series was well fought by both teams and went to all three games. Beavers took game one 8-2, LumberKings took game two 5-2. In game 3, it was close until the Beavers exploded in the third and ended up taking the series and secured a spot in the Championship for the second straight year by the score of 16-6.
The Championship:
Game 1: (BOX SCORE) Early and often. The Booze on First offense came out firing with an 8 run first inning and never looked back. Home runs by Davey, twice, Castelli, and Mish carried the team to 10 runs on the game. Davey was the winning pitcher for Booze on First, allowing 5 runs and striking out one. Zach Rohaley got the nod on the rubber for the Beavers and suffered the loss. He stayed in all 5 innings for the team and settled in after his shaky first inning, but that first inning held up for the Booze win. Licht and Piechnick each had home runs in the 10-5 loss for the Beavers.
Game 2: (BOX SCORE) Early scoring is the story of this game as well, just for the other team. The Beavers came out firing for 5 runs in the top of the first and as it was for Booze on First in game one, this was enough for game 2. One more run was added by the red hot Greyden Piechnick, who hit three home runs in the game. Licht also added a home run, his was in the big first inning. Steve Keelon was the pitcher for the Beavers, who went all five allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. Of those 5 hits for Booze, three of which were home runs. One home run was by Castelli and the other two by Matt Mish. Jacob Davey pitched again for Booze and went the distance suffering the loss on 9 hits, 6 runs. The Beavers lead the whole game.
Game 3: (BOX SCORE) Game three was one for the ages. The game was back and forth the whole way. Both teams sent out the same pitchers as game two, Steve Keelon (BVR) and Jacob Davey (BoF). Booze was ahead early in the game, but the Beavers didn't go away. In the bottom of the 4th the Beavers tied it 9-9. The Beavers offense would then stop there after the fourth, meanwhile Booze on First got fired up in the top of the fifth and went off. Each of the players hit a home run in the top of the fifth, as Booze on First put up 7 runs in the inning. In the game Catelli homered four times, Mish three times, Josh Palma twice, and Davey once. Piechnick and Rohaley each homered three times for the losing Beavers. Davey sat them down without a threat in the bottom half and Booze on First completed the threepeat.