The WILL Waves traveled to Morenci, Michigan for the third straight year to compete in the National Wiffle League Association (NWLA) National Tournament. Coming off a National Championship in 2018, the Waves finished in 5th place this year out of the 18 team field.
WILL opened up play on Saturday (July 13) by winning both of their pool play games, 12-0 over Brew City Wiffle (BCW) and 10-2 over Wild and Wonderful Wiffle (WWW). The Waves were then placed into a 16 team double elimination bracket. WILL earned the number 1 seed with their superb run differential of +20.
Saturday night each team played their first two bracket games. WILL started bracket play with a 23-8 mercy rule win over the Hillsdale Wiffleball League Hooligans, out of Hillsdale, Michigan, who won a play in game to get the 16 seed. In the night cap, the Waves lost a tough battle against the eventual champions, AWAA out of New York, 5-2.
The Waves went to the loser's bracket and faced a long road ahead of them. They began by playing against WWW, again, at 8 am. WILL cruised to a 10-0 win in 4 innings to move on. Next up came HRL, out of Minnesota. In a pitcher's duel the Waves stayed alive with a walk off single by Mike Graziani to win 1-0. WILL ran out of gas in the third game of the day and lost to Ridley Park, out of Ridley Park, Pa, to be eliminated in 5th place.
WILL was an offensive juggernaut at the tournament. As a team the Waves led the entire tournament in average (.290), slugging percentage (.588), on base percentage (.510), runs scored (58), doubles (8), RBI's (57), and were tied for first in total bases (77) and home runs (9).
Individually, the Waves had some standout players as well. Pitching wise, Austin Berger was tied for a tournament best 3 wins, while he went 3-0 from the rubber threw 14 innings, struck out 35, had an ERA of 0.86 and a WHIP of 0.71. Offensively, Jake Davey hit a team best average of .409. He led the tournament in runs scored (14), RBI's (21), and was tied for the lead in doubles (3) along with Mike Graziani. Davey led the team in home runs with 3, which was tied for second best at the tournament. Rob Licht hit .355 on the weekend and tied Davey for the team best and 3rd in the tournament with 11 hits. Mike Graziani also was tied for in second in the tournament in runs scored (13) with Jordan Castelli, and RBI's (12).
The Waves want to thank all of their supporters and sponsors for making this trip possible. Also, the NWLA Tournament Host Committee for putting on another exceptional event. Follow the Waves for the latest information on Twitter @wiffislife.