The 2022 Wiff is Life League season came to an end on Monday night with the Sea Turtles claiming the Championship Series in a 2-game sweep of Prestige World Wide. The top-seeded Sea Turtles finished off a perfect playoffs with 5 straight wins to get the league title.
GAME 1
Prestige World Wide (4) - Sea Turtles (7) F/6
The opening game of the Championship Series started off all Prestige. Will Taczak led off both the first and second innings with solo home runs, while holding the Turtles scoreless to gain an early 2-0 lead. After a 2-up, 2-down third inning for Steven Keelon from the rubber for the Turtles, Gino Joseph belted a one-out two-run home run deep over the right-center field fence to tie things at 2. PWW got right back ahead with a Kolton Smittle solo homer, but the home run battle continued as Joseph blasted his second home run of the game to put the score back tied after four complete innings. The fifth was more of the same, Carter McGowen joined in on the home run action for PWW, but there was Joseph again in the bottom half for the third time in the game, this time with the Sea Turtles down to their final out. Prestige got a lead-off runner on but nothing came of it in the top of the sixth. Rob Licht drew a walk and then Prestige intentionally walked Joseph which set up a first and second situation for Jordan Castelli. He stepped in and ended the game on a line-drive blast over the left field fence to win the ever important game one in walk-off fashion.
GAME 2
Sea Turtles (9) - Prestige World Wide (4)
The Sea Turtles rode the momentum from the walk off into game two and never looked back. This time the visiting team, Jordan Castelli homered in the lead-off at bat for the Sea Turtles. The flood gates opened in the top of the second. The Sea Turtles hit for the cycle as a team in their first four at-bats of the second inning, highlighted by a lead-off triple by Rob Licht and a two-run homer from Castelli. The Turtles sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs in the inning to go up 6-0. Tyson Mead went deep in the second, but a three-spot in the third extended the Turtles lead to 9-1. Will Taczak connected on two homers in the fourth and fifth, but too little too late as the Sea Turtles cruised their way to become the 2022 champions. Steven Keelon struck out four across a varying arsenal of eephus, sliders, behind the backs, and more pitches in his complete game effort.
Notes
Castelli's game-one walk-off home run was the third walk-off ever in a WILL championship game, joining Rob Licht (2017 game two home run) and Jake Davey (2014 home run) in that regard.
Game one was the second extra inning championship game in WILL history, along with 2017's Championship Series game two.
Prestige was the first all-rookie team to be in the championship ever. Every PWW run in the Championship Series came via a home run, including six solo homers.
Lynn from Bridge Insurance Group, proud sponsor of the WILL, threw out the first pitch of the Championship Series for the second consecutive year. Watch here.
Photos from the Championship Series can be viewed here.
Championship tracker:
Castelli (3), Keelon (1), Licht (1), Joseph (1), Bursic (1), Clark (1)