The 2018 FWILL Tournament was completed in a wiff filled day at North Strabane Park on Friday, November 23rd. The tournament saw 6 teams compete, as the Frozen Noodles were a late drop. Teams played two ‘pool play’ games prior to being seeded based off their performance in those two games. The seeded 6 then played out a double elimination bracket to determine a tournament champion. After pool play, the Dawgs were on top with a 2-0 record and a plus 7 in the run differential column. As a wise man once said, “seeds mean nothing”. That held true in the FWILL, as EHP went on to win the tournament as the 5 seed. The weather was phenomenal for the time of year, staying sunny and not too windy all day long. Below is a brief recap of each teams performance through the day.
Barton Bombers:
The Bombers picked up a big opening game win over EHP, 4-3. Siwula hit a big three run homer in that game and was the winning pitcher. In the final pool play game they were facing a mercy rule loss, but an offensive explosion made it close. The deficit was just a little too much for them to overcome, as the Dawgs won 19-16, in the highest scoring game of the day. They still got the 3 seed in bracket play, with only a -2 run differential and the 1-1 record. The Barton Bombers saw the Turkeys in the 3v6 matchup. The game needed extra frames to decide it, as the Turkeys gobbled their way to a 7-5 victory in 6 innings. Facing elimination now and an unlucky break for the Bombers found them facing the number 1 seed, Dawgs, in the first round of the losers bracket. Their second matchup was similar to the first, except the Bombers didn’t get that offensive explosion inning they had in pool play. The final went 11-1 in favor of the Dawgs and the Bombers were the first to be eliminated.
Turkeys:
The Turkeys played well but didn’t get the result they were looking for. The squad’s offense was nonexistent in game 1, when they lost 5-1 to the Dawgs. Damian Yenzi was the lone source, providing that run with a deep solo shot to center field that cleared the fence behind the fence. The second game went much better, but they still didn’t put it all together. It was a 7-5 loss against Don’t Stop Ballieving. Jake Davey pitched the majority of innings for the team, Mike Graziani and Alek Tesla each saw spot innings. The Turkeys were as low as they could get, as they headed into bracket play with the 6 seed out of 6. The third game they put it all together and secured an extra inning victory over the Bombers, 7-5. All the players had big hits contributing to the win. In the next round, they saw Don’t Stop again and again it was a back and forth battle. The Turkeys were sent to the losers bracket though in a 7-5 loss, the same score as the first game between the two teams. In elimination game number one, it stayed close until the fourth inning when EHP’s bats went off. The Turkeys couldn’t answer and were eliminated with a 10-2 loss.
Dawgs:
A tale of two halves of the day it was for the Dawgs. This high powered team rolled through pool play with wins over the Turkeys and Barton Bombers behind the power bat of Jordan Castelli and the pitching of Steven Keelon. Austin Berger’s and Keelon’s bats were big in the hot start as well. The Dawgs sat at 2-0 and plus 7 run differential, earning them the number one seed in the bracket play. As the top seed they earned a bye and faced the Beavers in game 1, who beat EHP to get to this spot. During the bye, Austin Berger had to leave early so the team picked up Justin Davey, who was teamless. The Beavers quieted the Dawgs bats and defeated the top seed by a score of 6-2. The bats weren’t quiet for long however, the Bombers found that out in an elimination game. Home runs and hits across the board lead the Dawgs to survive another game, 11-1. EHP was next on the docket for a spot in the losers bracket final. Red Sarno was dealing from the rubber, as EHP eliminated the number 1 seeded, Dawgs, 6-1.
Don’t Stop Ballieving:
This squad was quietly good all day long. The Ballievers went 2-0 in pool play earning them the second seed in the bracket due to run differential. Some impressive wins they were too. They took down the Beavers 9-6 and fought out a 7-5 win over the Turkeys. As the two seed they earned a bye and matched against the Turkeys yet again. In another good battle between the teams the same result happened, a 7-5 win for the Mish, Morris, Marra trio. The win sent them to the winners bracket final to face off against their other pool play opponent, Beavers. The Beavers were coming off two huge wins and just couldn’t be stopped. A 15-3 schalaking sent Don’t Stop to the losers bracket final, fighting for their tournament lives. They yet again ran into a red hot opponent, EHP. In a pitchers duel between Sarno and Morris, EHP was the victor sending Don’t Stop Ballieving home in third place.
Beavers:
The Beavers started off a tad slow, but that’s what pool play is for. A 9-6 loss to Don’t Stop started the day, it was a good game by both sides, just didn’t go the Beavers way. Rob Licht took over the pitching duties and hit a walk off home run in game 2 of pool play to defeat EHP, 9-8, and head into the bracket. The bracket saw EHP and the Beavers turn right back around and play each other to start in the 4v5 matchup. In another close game game, the Beavers pull it out again, this time in 9-7 fashion. The top seeded Dawgs were next, and the Beavers quieted the Dawgs bats and defeated the 1 seed by a score of 6-2. Heating up, the Beavers took on the Don’t Stop Ballievers for a spot in the championship. The bats of Licht, Zach Faigley, Greyden Piechnick, and Adam Carosone were on fire as the Beavers won the winners bracket with a 15-3 victory, avenging their only loss of the tournament to the point. The Beavers were rolling into the championship with 4 straight wins, but they met a familiar opponent who was just as hot, if not hotter. EHP steamrolled through the losers bracket and handily took the first game of the championship, 4-0. It wasn’t all over just yet, since the Beavers hadn’t lost yet, there was a winner take all championship game at this point. The Beavers started out leading by one, EHP tied it right back up quick. It was quiet until the 5th, when EHP won the tournament on a walk off groundout. The Beavers finished in second place, sounds familiar doesn’t it?
EHP:
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