The Winter WILL took place on Saturday (Dec. 22) morning at North Strabane Park. Five wiff faithful battled it out in near 30° temperatures. Chris Sarnowski (8 runs) outlasted the other four participants, Mike Graziani (7 runs), Jordan Castelli (5 runs), Jake Davey (3 runs), and Adam Carosone (1 run), for the tournament crown.
The tournament featured an individual format, where the players rotated from pitching to hitting to fielding and to taking a rest. After each player batted against each of the other players and in turn having pitched to each of the players for one inning the runs were totaled and a winner was declared.
Graziani, Davey, and Carosone all went scoreless in their first innings off of their respective pitchers. Sarnowski jumped out to an early lead in the first with a 3 run inning off of opposing pitcher Jordan Castelli. Castelli nibbled at the lead, scoring one of his own in the first.
In an active second inning, Graziani and Carosone each scored one apiece, while Sarnowski explodes with 5 runs off of Jake Davey including 3 home runs in the inning. Davey and Castelli stay within reach with both scoring 3 in their second inning in the box.
Graziani highlighted a quiet third, with 3 runs off of Castelli. Into the fourth, Graziani, who was 4 behind the leading Sarnowski, clawed all the way back with 2 home runs but fell just short, finishing with 7 runs. Sarnowski was then set down by Graziani, concluding the faceoff with a strikeout. Adam Carosone was also held scoreless in the final frame, this one by Davey, capping his day off with a 1 run total. Davey came up looking to make a run and got bases loaded but a ground out to right field spoiled it, ending his day with 3 runs. Castelli was the lone contender left, Sarnowski was in right field with little control of what happens, Adam Carosone was the pitcher. Castelli got one run across via a home run, but with runners on first and second a groundout ended his bid for the championship. Castelli finished with 5 runs, in third place. The 8 spot from Sarnowski was enough, and he was crowned 2018 Winter WILL Champion.
That’s the final offseason event for the WILL, as focus turns to the 2019 WILL season. Stay updated by following the WILL on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@wiffislife). Our YouTube and this site will also be updated over the coming months.
