The WILL Waves opened up their 2019 season at the Ontario County Wiffle Association (OCWA) Opening Day Tournament (ODT) on Saturday (May 11) in Rochester, New York. The Waves won all six of their games, finishing the day with the tournament championship.
To start the day in pool play the Waves went 3-0. In the opener they took down the Crazed Loons, 13-7. Immediately following the first game the Waves battled it out with Freaky Franchise. WILL outlasted Franchise, 8-7. Then, after a game break the Waves routed the Blue Kamikazes, 17-8.
WILL received the number 1 seed going into bracket play with a 3-0 record and plus 15 run differential, earning themselves a bye. The Waves were the lone unbeaten team after pool play and were one of two teams with a positive run differential. The Waves scored a tournament best 38 runs during the pool play games.
In the first bracket game, the Waves took on Franchise for the second time of the day. The fourth seeded Freaky Franchise defeated the five seed, Papa Jack’s, in the opening round. The Waves advanced with a 9-6 win. Into the winners bracket final, the Waves faced the Blue Kamikazes for the second time in the day. This one came down to the wire, but the Waves scored 5 in the bottom of the 4th to walk it off and win 9-8. The Blue Kamikazes went on to win the loser’s bracket and meet WILL for the third time in the day, this one for the championship. The Waves stayed perfect to win the title by a score of 7-4.
GAME BY GAME (last to first):
Championship vs. Blue Kamikazes
Rob Licht toed the rubber for the Waves against Brett Delano for the Blue Kamikazes. WILL opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a Rob Licht two out, solo home run. The Blue Kamikazes wasted no time to punch back. Three straight hits got runners on and plated one, then two batters later an Anthony Lavalle three run homer put the Kamikazes ahead. After one and a half innings the Waves trailed, 4-1.
Like the Kamikazes, the Waves punched right back. Licht homered to lead off the inning, then capped the inning off with a 3 run homer putting the Waves back in front 7-4, at the end of 2 due to the inning run limit. Licht followed up with two runless innings from the rubber to hold on to the 7-4 victory.
Licht was the winning pitcher. He struck out three over four innings of work, allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and 1 walk. Offensively, Licht went 4 for 6 with three home runs and a triple. Davey pitched in 3 singles. All seven hits the WILL had combined came around to score.
Winner’s Bracket Final vs. Blue Kamikazes
Late inning heroics helped propel the Waves to victory in the winner’s bracket final. The pitching matchup featured Rob Licht for the Waves and Brett Delano for the Blue Kamikazes.
After a scoreless first by both sides, the Blue Kamikazes had two outs with a man on second and rattled off 5 straight hits to reach the inning run limit. They scored six runs in the inning, the rally was capped off by an Anthony Lavalle two run homer.
The Waves put up three in the bottom of the second via a three run, two out home run by Jake Davey. Then, they manufactured a run in the bottom of the third after holding the opponents scoreless in the top.
In the top of the fourth Lavelle and Delano both recorded an RBI to push their lead to 8-4 going to the last half inning. Davey collected two singles and Licht reached on an error to load the bases. With one out, Davey stepped to the plate and drove a Delano pitch over the center field roof, tying the game 8-8. Three batters later, Licht walked it off with a single to left field to send the Waves to the championship with a 9-8 win.
Licht was the winning pitcher. He allowed 8 runs on 12 hits, while striking out three including two in a row in the fourth. Davey hit for the cycle for the second time in the day and went 10 for 12 at the plate. He had 2 doubles and 2 home runs, including the game tying grand slam in the bottom of the fourth.
Bracket Play Game 1 vs. Freaky Franchise
A late push wasn’t enough for Freaky, as the Waves held on to win their bracket opener. The Waves came out swinging, scoring 5 in the first and 4 in the second. In the first, Rob Licht homered in his second at bat scoring 3 runs on the hit. Davey added an RBI double and single to reach the run limit.
The second inning was highlighted by the long ball. Licht and Davey combined for three straight home runs on just 4 pitches. Licht got two over the wall in the inning. Ryan Bush settled in on the rubber for Freaky Franchise after the second and held the Waves scoreless in the third.
Franchise got off to a slow start but made a late push. The lone run in the first three innings came via a Justin Tomkins double. Down 9-1 in the last inning, Franchise made their final push and it was valiant. Bush homered and they scored 5 runs, but Licht got Bush to groundout to end the inning and the game.
Licht won the game from the rubber, allowing 6 runs on 11 hits. From the plate Licht produced 6 RBI’s, with 3 home runs in the game. Davey went 9 for 11 from the plate with a home run and three doubles.
Pool Play Game 3 vs. Blue Kamikazes
The Waves scored multiple runs in every inning en route to a nine run victory in their final pool play game and earn the one seed in the bracket. Rob Licht homered four times, Davey three.
The 5 run rule limit top of the first got the Waves hot early and a 7 run top of the fourth kept the Waves hot late. Licht was the winning pitcher and struck out 3 over the 4 inning win. Davey included a triple, two doubles, and five singles with his three homers to complete the cycle. Licht added two doubles and three singles but missed a triple for the cycle. The two went back to back with home runs with two outs in the second.
Pool Play Game 2 vs. Freaky Franchise
Hot start for the Waves was enough to pick up a win in game two of the OCWA ODT. The Waves didn’t record an out in the bottom of the first, as Rob Licht homered twice and the run limit was reached. A pitching change bought Ryan Bush in to face the Waves in the second. The Waves manufactured two across in the second, but couldn’t get any in the third.
Jake Davey pitched for the Waves and rolled through two innings before hitting a speed bump in the third. Four home runs by Franchise got them to the run limit, narrowing the margin to 8-6 after two and a half innings. In the fourth the Waves turned a double play with one out and man on second to escape the threat and get the win.
Davey struck out one and allowed seven runs in the win on the rubber. Licht had 5 hits in 7 at bats, all but one of those hits were extra base hits.
Pool Play Game 1 vs. Crazed Loons
The opening game of the 2019 season went as planned for the Waves, as they came out on top. After a manufactured run in the top of the first by WILL, the Waves really got it going in the second and the third.
In the second, Davey launched the first home run of the season, a grand slam to right field, and Licht got his first as well, a three run shot to right, reaching the run limit. Two more home runs by Licht in the third gave the Waves a 13-3 lead after two and a half innings.
Davey got the opening game nod from the rubber. He went all five innings. A three run home run got the Loons on the board in the bottom of the second. Four more runs came across in the bottom of the third, making the score 13-7. In the last inning, Davey made a diving catch robbing Sacheli of a double off the house. Then when Sacheli came back around for the second time in the inning Davey struck him out looking to get the first win of the season.
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