THE LAST WIFFLE: 18 Innings to Close

In case you didn't already know, I like the wiffle quite a bit. There should be no question of the dedication of the LowBall faithful after yesterday's game. In near freezing temperatures, in intermittent drizzle, a host of the old school wifflers showed up and fought through a game of epic proportions. In true LowBall fashion, the teams were randomly drawn at the start of the game, pitting the Loggers (Trot, Ox, The Surgeon, Unit, Wingman, Sharp) against the Lagers (Hot Rod, Lonichiro, J-Mac).

Temperatures at Gapbridge were at just about bone shattering levels. Wiffle balls were cracking in practice and hands were constantly numb. Only the truly brave or insane play in conditions like this, while I would like to say I am mostly the former, I believe most would conclude the latter.

The front nine played out with the Loggers leading 15 to 11. Ox was on fire, knocking 3 balls out of the park and standing strong on the mound. The pitching was on point with a total of eleven one and dones being recorded in the first half of the game. Honestly, it was so cold I don't remember much else, other than me getting thumped for 5 runs.

After a short recess, the back nine continued at Hunter S. Thompson in sunny Bristol. The Loggers quickly added to their lead with 3 runs in the tenth while Wingman only allowed 1. As is often the case in LowBall, things shifted quickly in the eleven with the lagers putting 7 on the board powered by strong doubles from Rod and Ich.

The teams continued to battle and arrived in the 16th with the Lagers trailing the Loggers by one run. J-Mac put three K's on the rack and the Lagers came to bat in the bottom facing the freshly rebuilt arsenal of the Unit. Despite a strong showing earlier in the game, the Lagers now had Unit's number and rallied 5 runs on to the board behind strong drives from all three players. Now down by 4, the Loggers brought a fierce offensive onslaught against LonIchiro on the backs of opposite field dings from Sharp and Unit.

Leading by a mere 1 run, the Lagers looked to pad their lead in the bottom of the inning but faced a focused Unit. After holding strong, the Loggers came into the 18th down by one and down to their last three outs. Hot Rod was on the mound, having recorded 13 K's on the day, but giving up 10 runs. Ox drove a shot to the left field corner that LonIchiro was able to run under and snag for the first out. Unit got walked and the winning run arrived at the plate in newcomer Sharp. Sharp made contact sending a ground ball to right, Beck dove off the mound, snagging the grounder, flipping it to Lon on the mound, who quickly converted it into a game ending double play. A fitting way to end a great communal battle, with the only play in wiffle that actually involves two players. The Lagers retained rights to the trophy 29-28, but everyone won.

Three pillars to the trophy, three players in the field, a truly team game.

Trot had the play of the game, self described as the moon. I would like to clarify this as being the eclipse as the humor factor eclipsed the quality of what was certainly the best defensive play of the game if not the year. Hat's off, there is no shame in a great play, none.




Until next season...