Dearest apologies for our radio silence the last few weeks, it has been a hectic time in the personal lives of the front office. Below is the playoff preview, followed by scorelines for the last several series and recaps where we have them.
The Playoff Picture
PRESTON SAHABU, Seattle Wiffle
Top Three
-
RBI Steaks (14-2)
-
Bilabial Stops (13-3)
-
West Coast Washout (11-5)
-
The RBI Steaks took care of business on the back end of their schedule and cruised by the Bilabial Stops into first place. They will face off with the wild card winner, which will be a great matchup either way.
Meanwhile the Stops and West Coast Washout will do battle on the other side of the bracket. The two squads split the regular season doubleheader, so the outcome of that one is completely in question.
Wild Card
4. 100% Real Juice (11-5)
5. Mighty Knucks (8-8)
100% Real Juice had already clinched a playoff spot heading into the final week, but they swept the Mighty Knucks to close the season. Moving straight from that to a one game playoff is going to be tough sledding for the Knucks, but they certainly have the offense to make it a game.
NIT
-
Sheryl Crows (7-9)
-
Hang and Bang (5-11)
-
Chicken ‘n’ Wiffles (2-14)
-
ISO Pale (1-15)
-
Despite a valiant late season run, the Sheryl Crows could not scratch a win against the Bilabial Stops in the final week and were eliminated from playoff contention. With their rapid improvement over this summer, they should be the favorites in the new Seattle Wiffleball NIT, a consolation tournament with one game playoffs. The Crows will take on ISO Pale in the opening round, while Hang and Bang will square off against Chicken ‘n’ Wiffles.
RBI Steaks claim top seed
August 4, 2019
RBI Steaks 23 || Chicken ‘n’ Wiffles 9
RBI Steaks 11 || Chicken ‘n’ Wiffles 2
Crows clipped by Stops, eliminated from playoffs
July 28, 2019
Bilabial Stops 9 || Sheryl Crows 8
Bilabial Stops 27 || Sheryl Crows 0
Steaks keep chugging against Pale
July 28, 2019
RBI Steaks 21 || ISO Pale 5
RBI Steaks 16 || ISO Pale 2
Juice ground Knucks in Wild Card preview
July 28, 2019
100% Real Juice 10 || Mighty Knucks 9
100% Real Juice 12 || Mighty Knucks 2
July 21, 2019
Crows and Washout split a duel and a slugfest
JEREMY SALVO, West Coast Washout
Just another day at the office. Ho hum. Dan is good.
West Coast Washout 4 || Sheryl Crows 2
In a few short weeks, the Crows have not only proven they belong in the playoff picture, but also that they are improving rapidly. They faced perhaps their biggest challenge yet on Sunday as Grant Bronsdon faced off against Dan Rish in game one.
It became apparent in the first few innings that runs would be at a premium. The Washout scored in the first on a Jason Matt bases loaded walk, but left the bases loaded as Bronsdon worked out of a tough jam. The Crows hit two singles of their own in the bottom of the inning, but Rish was able to work around trouble as well, eventually striking out the side.
Grant Bronsdon would help his own cause in the second by tripling home the curiously named Colin Bronsdon in the second to tie the game. In the third, Kevin Tsuchida would give WCW a 2-1 lead on a fielder’s choice.
From there, both pitchers settled in - Bronsdon featuring a churve that convinced many West Coast hitters expand the strike zone. Rish featured the kitchen the sink and induced some silly-looking swings from the Crows. The Washout would squeeze out two more runs including a Julian Morales single and a Dan Rish home run to eek out a close one. The Crows threatened in the 6th, but Rish slammed the door, striking out a total of 15 while walking just 1 in a complete game victory.
Sheryl Crows 18 || West Coast Washout 12 Zach Gottschalk's grand slam put the Crows ahead for good and kept their playoff hopes alive.
Sometimes teams are forced to go without their best pitchers and hope for the best with a spot starter. Sometimes they craft a plan to weather a barrage of hits with clever defense and patient hitting. Sometimes their opponents sense an opportunity swoop down to snatch victory.
With ace Max Melendez out, the Washout were forced to dig deep for pitching in game two. Jeremy Salvo took the hill for his first appearance of the year, matching up against the 3-0 Matthew Roberson.
The Crows showed a great mix of patience and aggressiveness in the first, putting up two runs on two walks and two hits. The back and forth series would continue in the bottom of the inning as WCW took a 3-2 lead on a Salvo leadoff home run and singles by Dan Rish and Andrew Winter, who both somehow scored on a Jason Ciummo fielder’s choice.
The Crows put up another five in the 2nd inning, including a Zach Gottschalk RBI single and a Roberson single that scored two. WCW once again returned fire with home runs from Winter and Julian Morales in the second, but once again left runners on and couldn’t blow it open.
The third inning proved to be the turning point. With WCW up 10-9, Eric Sanford hit a scorching two run double to the gap to regain the lead for the Sheryl Crows. Roberson shut down the Washout in the bottom of the inning, stranding two and retiring the side minutes before the time limit was reached.
With Salvo up over 100 pitches and laboring, the Crows pulled away with seven runs in the fourth and final inning, capped off by a Zach Gottschalk grand slam. Roberson once again proved resilient, retiring the side despite home runs from Rish and Morales. All in all, the Crows once again showed a lot of heart and great defense in earning a well deserved split and maintaining playoff relevance heading into their last double header of the regular season.
Steaks sweep Knucks in glorious return
RBI Steaks 16 || Mighty Knucks 11
RBI Steaks 12 || Mighty Knucks 1
The Playoff Picture
Leading Contenders
1. West Coast Washout (10-4)
vs Sheryl Crows
Bilabial Stops (9-3)
@ Hang and Bang
@ Sheryl Crows
RBI Steaks (8-2)
@ Mighty Knucks
@ ISO Pale
vs Chicken ‘n’ Wiffles
These three teams are in good position to make the playoffs with no more tough games against each other, but there is still time for nasty plot twists to change up the seeding. West Coast Washout is sitting pretty after sweeping the Juice, but they could tumble with a hiccup against the Crows. The Bilabial Stops and RBI Steaks have more games to play and either could take the first seed, but both could just as easily fall into the wild card with poor performances. Vegas is leaning toward the Steaks taking the regular season crown given their pedigree and remaining schedule, but it’s really anyone’s game.
Wild Card
100% Real Juice (9-5)
vs Mighty Knucks
Mighty Knucks (8-4)
vs RBI Steaks
@ 100% Real Juice
Sheryl Crows (6-6)
@ West Coast Washout
vs Bilabial Stops
The recent run of poor form from 100% Real Juice has made their playoff path more difficult -- their season finale against the Mighty Knucks could very well be a wild card game preview. Although the Mighty Knucks seem to have a firm grip on the second wild card, they are about to be seriously tested by two historic powers and could slip. Meanwhile the Sheryl Crows have a puncher’s chance to overcome the Knucks or force a play-in, but they also have tough draws against two leading contenders.
Eliminated from Contention
Hang and Bang (5-9)
vs Bilabial Stops
Chicken ‘n’ Wiffles (2-12)
@ RBI Steaks
ISO Pale (1-13)
vs RBI Steaks
After Sunday’s games, Hang and Bang was hanging on by a thread after suffering a rain soaked sweep by the Mighty Knucks and a tough split with ISO Pale. Unfortunately the Knucks punched in another two wins in their midweek matchup against ISO Pale, eliminating the Bangers from the playoffs. Though they have been ravaged by injury this season, they are a talented team with the tools to make a run next year.
On the other hand, Chicken ‘n’ Wiffles and ISO Pale have had a rough go of it this season. Both teams have brought leading contenders to the wire, with the Stops just walking off the Chickens and the Washout squeaking by the Pale, but that’s cold comfort in the cellar. Both teams can still spoil the proceedings by upsetting the RBI Steaks in their finales.
