Gameplay begins at the 2019 NWLA Tournament. After a night of fun and welcome festivities, the competition sets in. WILL opens up their quest for back to back cups with pool play games versus Brew City Wiffle (BCW) and Wild and Wonderful Wiffle (WWW). The Brew City game is set for 10:30 am on Field 3 at Wakefield Park and the Wild and Wonderful contest is scheduled for 11:45 am. After pool play the Waves will be seeded into a double elimination bracket and will play two games of that type.
The Teams: WILL won the 2018 NWLA National Tournament with a record of 5-2-1. All 5 of their wins came in double elimination last year. The Waves competed in 1 tournament thus far in 2019, when they traveled to Rochester, New York for the OCWA Opening Day Tournament. The team consisted of Rob Licht and Jacob Davey, they won the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record. BCW is out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They call themselves the Keg Crushers. Brew City went 1-5 on the weekend in 2018, their win however did come against and eliminated Ridley Park Wiffle Ball League, who finished in the top 6 in 2017. The WWW Mothmen reign from West Virginia. In years past they went as Huntington Wiffle League, but have rebranded this year. WWW went 4-3 last year and finished 8th.
The Hitters: Nate Morris led the Waves in average (.364) and home runs (4) in 2018. Jordan Castelli carried a .359 average with 3 home runs at the 2018 tournament. Jacob Davey (.326) and Mike Graziani (.310) each eclipsed the .300 mark in average last year as well. The Keg Crushers, of BCW, were led by Chris Neumann in average (.125) and home runs (1). Meanwhile, the WWW Mothmen were led by Tyler Roush in average (.483) and Wyatt Zuspan led the team in home runs at 3.
The Pitchers: In pool play, expect to see a variety of arms from all the teams. Austin Berger was the team leader in ERA for WILL at 3.81. Berger twice, Castelli, Keelon and Graziani all recorded wins in the 2018 tournament from the rubber. Graziani also picked up one of the only 2 saves. Nick Neumann took down Ridley Park last year and led his BCW team with a 3.00 ERA. Bryce Clark went 2-0 in 2 games pitched for the Mothmen last year, while having a team low ERA of 4.00.
History: WILL never took on BCW and defeated the Mothmen in their lone matchup, which was last years 13-9 win. The Waves have a career record of 6-6-1 at the National Tournament. BCW has an all-time record of 1-10 at nationals, while WWW holds a 9-11 record.
Social Media: The Waves can be followed all tournament and season long on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @wiffislife.
Coverage: Visit the WILL’s Twitter @wiffislife for links to live streams and live stats for each game. Also, @NWLATournament on Twitter will be actively giving updates throughout the day.