#5 Chris Harley
Harley, The 2013 NWLA Tournament MVP, is back to head the pitching staff once again, he has been almost un hittable at the NWLA tournament so far, Harley a former 2 time TBW MVP and Cy Young winner, had another big year in 2014. Despite missing half the season, he finished runner up for the Cy Young (7-1)and 5th for MVP.
#22 Derek Linderman
Linderman enjoyed another big season in 2014, winning the TBW triple crown and 2nd MVP, breaking many hitting records, including his HR record.. He is looking to rebound at the plate from his 2013 NWLA Tournament struggles; once again he will be a starter for the TBW rotation where he has had past success, going 2-0 in their run in 2014.
#24 Michael Harley
Michael Harley was the main reason that TBW went undefeated in the 2013 Tournament, he went 2-0 in the elimination bracket and pitched a complete game in the championship. Harley missed over half the 2014 TBW season but absolutling crushed the ball when he did play, hitting 22 homers in 82 AB’s. While 2014 wasn’t the former 3 time Cy Young Winners best season, he turned it on in the playoffs going 2-1 with 1.67 ERA and a no hitter to get his team to the finals.
#17 Shane Effertz
Effertz became the 1st TBW without the last name Harley to win the TBW Cy Young award in 2014. Effertz was brilliant on the mound going 8-2 with a with a 1.06 ERA. Effertz also enjoyed a great year at the plate and was the runner up for the TBW MVP in 2014. After playing in the 2012 and 2013 NWLA Tournament, Effertz a key member of the Lightning is not able to join his teammates in 2014.
So the TBW introduces
#13 Bryan Rojas
The Wiffle Ball journey for Bryan Rojas started 20 years ago on the fields of Town and Country in Tampa, Fl. It was there where he met the Harley Brothers. The Harley Brothers and Rojas formed an unstoppable wiffleball team where they soon took over the local Boys and Girls Clubs and became a dynasty in the Tampa Bay Area at a very young age. They were so good that teams would travel from all over to play in their front yards since they lived right next to each other growing up. After numerous titles and with no more accomplishments to achieve, Bryan Rojas retired from Wiffle Ball at the age of 16. It has been compared amongst wiffleball fanatics to Barry Sanders retiring in his prime. He later moved to Germany to live a nice relaxing life. The Harley Brothers worked hard to pull Rojas out of retirement this year since they new the competition would be fierce. Rojas returned to the Wiffle ball arena in 2014 and it was like he never missed a beat. After all those years he was league Rookie of the Year and Playoff MVP, all while locking up the Tampa Bay Wiffle ball league title and securing 1st place for his team in the national rankings. Look out Ohio!
While the big talk this year is expanded rosters, TBW decided to stay at 4 with Effertz missing the tournament, but knowing that this can be challenging, we decided to bring some help coaching, who knows a third base coach sending a runner could be the key to winning, so we looked of course to our fantasy baseball league, knowing Shawn Simons was a 2 time champ, so he must know the game of baseball, and he is the teams travel agent, so he made the most sense. Shawn will be joining the TBW travel squad as a coach in 2014, Shawn has been a huge help at practice so far. Shawn will join the All star teams coaching staff Friday night to get his feet wet in Ohio
Pre Site Story #2
My name is Shawn Simons and for the last two tournaments I have served mostly as TBW's personal travel agents and team adviser, The boys requested that I join this year and add "coach" to my title. Upon arriving I can honestly say it amazes me how these guys made it back home from Ohio let alone finish 2nd and eventually bringing the trophy back to Tampa. Luckily for them they are better at wiffleball then navigating a new city, driving, and or picking a hotel with a working Jacuzzi or Wifi. I have all the confidence these guys can make it back to back titles but it's going to be tough. They gave me 4 weeks to study up on all the leagues, take notes, and watch tape. Similar to winning back to back championships on my fantasy league, I plan to bring my knowledge to the wiffleball field. Once the teams are drawn tonight my work begins. Either way I'm just glad I came along for the ride (even if Dad is driving) and I get to meet some of the other teams and players for this unique tournament. I look forward to the next few days and I wish you all of you the best of luck.
On Site Story 1
Leaving the field looking back, as has been stated we were put in the group of death, the top 3 teams from the 1st 2 tournaments all in the same bracket, had to make many teams very happy. (might as well just put HRL and Griffle ball in while your at it).
The All Star game brought the play of the day by Kevin Higman.
No Tampa didn’t sandbag in the pool play, we just couldn’t hit, might as well have changed our names to fielders choice, All moonshot and big barrel bats will be destroyed upon returning to Tampa, it’s all about the yellow and never holding a scuffed ball again.
After a disappointing Saturday, one that I voted for, 4 games, with time limits and starting at 6am wasn’t ideal in any way for us, no we are not mad we voted as we wanted to play ball, thanks Mississippi, but who cares about them, they won’t amount to much in life with that kind of integrity.
Then losing in the 2nd round in the tournament to HRL and Smallpox who was dealing, we just tipped our caps and had to regroup and make a run at history on Sunday, winning 5 games in a row (sending 5 teams home) to get to back to the championship wasn’t easy and included what is probably the best game in NWLA history vs OCW. We fell short for the back to back titles to our other rival WSEM, (we can now call it rivalry, since they finally beat us!
I knew I liked Two Bat last year, after talking guns with him this year, I know that at least HRL and TBW will survive a zombie outbreak.
Congrats to WSEM for a great run in 2014, a well deserved title.
Congrats to Skibbe for once again finishing in the top 3, to Galloway, Shannon and Potomac guys for their huge upset, and Mequon for a strong run, those kids are great, didn’t even tell them I was a Packer stock holder.
Derek Linderman
Undefeated NWLA All Star Manager
On Site #2
One of the toughest games of the year came Sunday, right when the clouds started to fade and the sun decided to show. The game was against one of our rivals Freaky Franchise (OCW). We've played Freaky Franchise the past two years in the championship game and both teams managed to take home the title. Facing this team in the losers bracket was not on the agenda for this tournament, but neither was hitting under .200 avg. TBW didn't know really what to expect for this game other then we knew it would be a long game. Facing OCW's new addition Roeder, we were unsure what to expect. We were hearing throughout the tournament how well he has been playing, but that also means he's been throwing a lot so the game was in the air. As the first few pitches were thrown we agreed with the other players in the tournament that Roeder had some nasty stuff and he had what alot of pitchers lack, a pitch he could throw for a strike. So we knew walking in runs was not an option, it had to be done with our bats. As the first few innings passed, we made good contact but nothing hard enough to get through the long grass or over the fence. The 7th, 8th, & 9th innings passed by with not much action. Just empty stomachs, farmer tans, and frustration levels. The one thing I remember the most out of this game is the conversation I had with my brother on the mound before the start of the inning. I told him " Michael, I can't do this forever, between the heat, hunger, and pure exhaustion this game has to end soon. We need to hit the damn ball". Following the next 3 outs we started a rally and managed to get two runs in. I was overwhelmed with excitement and my adrenaline kicked back in. I went out to the mound to close it out and I was pumped. FF wasn't finished yet as they managed to get a baserunner up. With two outs, a man on and Ryan Bush coming to the plate I was a bit unsure how to pitch him. I decided to go after him and if he hits it over then I have to give the man credit. Bush did get a solid piece of the ball but with the grass on our side it was a ground out to end the game. 12 innings, and hour and a half later the game finally was over. One of the best wiffleball games I've been apart of. I look forward to more games like this in the future as NWLA teams continue to bring more talent to Columbus.
Chris Harley
Post Site Story
2014 NWLA TOURNAMENT
Another great tournament put on by Chris Galloway. The guy continues to impress as a human being and when it comes to anything that has to do with a wiffleball. Words can’t describe how grateful we are to be allowed to compete in the NWLA Tournament. It’s a privilege to share the field with some of the top leagues in the country. The talent level increases every year and that is why we show up to this tournament. We want to compete against the best and each year has been harder than the previous one. So before we continue we want to thank all of the other teams out there for bringing talent to this tournament, taking it seriously, and not allowing it to be another London tournament. Nothing against London but we enjoy the fast pitch style of wiffleball.
We would be lying if we didn’t say this was the longest/hardest/painfulness tournament we have played in. 12 games (13 if you count the OCW Marathon) was a lot for 2 days, especially with a 30-something Rojas and a 40-something Linderman. The funny part was the Harleys were the only ones with the injuries. So you can best believe Linderman is rubbing that in their faces.
As great as the tournament was, our favorite part was our fans. We had the greatest ones out there. I mean they were there cheering and drinking at EVERY SINGLE GAME (Including 6am on Saturday). They are the reason our coach missed two games in the middle of the day due to intoxication. Shit, one of them even interfered with a homerun from Skibbe in the Semifinal game! They made the weekend for us and because they are a package deal, we will invite Rojas to play next year.
Next, we want to say Congrats to the WSEM Dads. Shore finally figured out a way on how to beat Tampa….Bench Austin and pitch the better Bishoff! All jokes aside, you guys put together a great team with a great 1-2 punch. We look forward to facing you guys next year.
Lastly, while on the Monday morning 6am flight back to the great sunny state of Florida, we decided that our league was due for a change. We wanted to bring back the old school wiffleball fun to our league. So we decided to change up our rules. As of this season we will be moving to a medium pitch league. Galloway opened our eyes when he brought us to DC to watch his league. So we will be switching to the yellow bats, throwing from 35-40 feet, keeping the speed around 30, and using non scuff balls. The field will be the same size as the NWLA Tournament, it will be 3 strikes for a strikeout, 4 balls for a walk, running the bases, and each month we will have a cash prize tournament that will be with the NWLA Rules. We think this will help bring others in and grow our league. Expect to see this league grow in the next couple of years.
Michael Harley
