Edwin A. Keach blog

2011 Tourney Recap

Youth ruled the day at the 7th Annual Keach Tourney. Both World Series teams and 3 of the final 4 consisted entirely of players 21 and under. Providing the backdrop for the youth movement, the wiffleball gods once again blessed us with perfect weather. It seemed unanimous that this year’s t-shirts were the all time favorites. And as it seems to every year, the competition stepped up a notch.

There was an all-Easton World Series as Whitey’s Bulger held off Wolfie for the title. Congratulations to new champs Matt Southworth and Vinny Gomes. They became the first team from Edwin’s hometown to win a championship since the Mega Powers in 2008. Wolfie became this year’s fan favorites and had an incredible run to the finals. 17 year old Jim Sullivan and 18 year olds Andrew Hetzel and Jared Bloom will be heard from again soon.

Shout out to Sheriff’s Daughter, who made a serious run at defending their title before bowing out to Wolfie in the semifinals. Finally, congrats to Dave Morin for setting a new record with 18 bombs in the home run derby.

Tournament Highlights and Awards

Breakout superstar award- Vinny Gomes (Whitey’s Bulger). The tournament field wasn’t ready for his heater. Writers across the country were struggling to describe the pure dominance of Gomes during Whitey’s Bulger’s playoff run. Based on media descriptions he was throwing hitters a combination of missiles, BB’s, rockets, darts, heat, flames, gas, lasers, kawasaki ninjas, bullets, and moonbeams. Gomes surrendered 4 runs all day and walked away with Rookie of the Year and Tournament MVP honors. Throw in the award for funniest team name, and it wasn’t a bad day at the ballpark.

Upset of the tournament #1 – Jews +1 over Doom. This incredibly entertaining division put on a show for the lucky fans in attendance. Doom has won more than 120 wiffleball tournaments (as they pointed out in their team description) and rolled into town with enormous hype. In 2009, they went undefeated en route to the title. Jews +1 (William Frigon, Matthew Bruha, and Cameron Silva) immediately made sure that wouldn’t happen again. Their victory sent shockwaves through Militia Park and set the stage for…

Upset of the tournament #2 – Sitting Ducks over Doom. The Ducks entered their final game of pool play with 2 possible outcomes. They could either: (A) lose to Doom and immediately be eliminated, or (B) win the game and in the process eliminate Doom from playoff contention. The game was a classic slugfest and tight throughout. In the end the Ducks showed Rocky Balboa heart and sent Doom home early. Mighty Ducks is more like it.

Up and Comers award – Atomic Fireballs. These 16 year olds went 3-0 in a very tough pool. If they hadn’t run into the Whitey’s Bulger buzzsaw in Round 2 of the playoffs, who knows how far they could have gone. They have shown steady improvement each year and should be a tournament factor for a long time.

Regular season MVP award – Tim Golden. During pool play Tim once again showed off his ability to play alone. Despite a constant bombardment of good-natured abuse from his softball teammates, he went undefeated and seized the #1 overall seed. All this without a teammate in sight. He lost his first playoff game to Nuff Said, but one can only play with themselves for so long before running into problems.

Steady Creeping award – Lumberjacks. Mike Meade and company keep inching closer to that elusive title, and seemingly go further each year. They made it to the final 4 this year on the back of Cy Young contender Derek Russell.

Sheriff’s Daughter – (4-1). After breezing to the 2010 title the defending champs are favorites to repeat. But no team has ever won back-to-back titles and the bullseye is now squarely on their back. As recent history has shown with the 2007 Patriots and last year’s Miami Heat, the pressure can be suffocating. Only time will tell if SD has the mental toughness to get the job done.

Snap Crackle & Pop – (6-1). Gomes, Marsh, & Marsh (a.k.a. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, & Andre Reed) are now officially the Buffalo Bills of wiffleball after losing their 3rd consecutive World Series last year. They are still young and hungrier than ever for a ring. Sooner or later, they’ve got to break through and win one, right? right?

St. Marie and the Jiggler – (9-1). Like the Jonas Brothers or the Winklevoss twins, this family duo is ready to unleash a terrifying display of masculinity on the unsuspecting world.

Sons of Pitches – (10-1). Led by last year’s home run derby champion Kyle Sweezey, this young team has started to earn a rep around Militia Park. Sweezey became the youngest derby winner of all time and did it with a swagger. The buzz is building and these new kids on the big-boy block have yet to hit their prime. Will this be the year they emerge as a force to be reckoned with?

Touched by an Uncle- (15-1). Mike Glynn and Chris Jones are solid players, but the reason an Uncle would touch this team begins and ends with John Spencer. An overexcited source close to the team had the following quotes about Spencer: “he can hit anyone” ; “he is easily the best fielder in the entire tourney” ; and “when the boogeyman goes to bed at night he checks his closet for John Spencer.” With that kind of singular talent on the squad, we are left to wonder why these underachievers have yet to make a serious run at a title.

Tim Golden – (18-1). Dehydrated. Baking under the hot sun. Leaning on the outfield fence like a boxer after one too many rounds. Styling a sombrero on the field. These are the freshest memories many people have of Golden and are likely the reason for his long-shot odds. What people forget is that he just doesn’t play well with others. As a one man team a few years ago Golden took the tournament by storm. This year he returns to playing with himself and that is never a good thing for anyone else.

Josh Harris/Lamarr Monterio – (1,000,000-1). “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!”

Sleeper Team – Wear Love. Led by stand-out baller Kyle Roach, this team has only recently started to get national media attention. However, scouts say the whole team feeds off Roach’s enthusiasm and energy and are a threat to make serious noise in the 2011 tourney.

Cavalier Division Predicted Winner – Bridge Workers. These softball titans are making the transition to the wiffleball field. They excel at doing yard work against slow pitching, and there is no shortage of that in the Cavalier Division. Even without ace pitcher Peter Fresh, Bobby Christenson’s leadership and a murderer’s row of bats should be enough to take home the hardware.

We’re now heading into our seventh year, and we decided this was the year to announce the initial class for the Keach Tourney Hall of Fame. Below you will find 6 inductees for this honor and we will induct new members every year. And yes we’re putting ourselves in the Hall.

Gregg Scarlata-  It was the inaugural tournament. At 8am everyone was a rookie. By 4pm Scarlata was a grizzled veteran and a champion. He took home the World Series MVP award that year and added a second title two years later.

Ryan Hennessy-  Hennessy first made a name for himself in the inaugural tournament with a memorable hit-off loss in the Home Run Derby finals. A year later he finished the job and took home the tourney championship to boot. Hennessy has survived the  endless taunts that come with being a Yankees fan in a Boston area tournament, and still manages to perform at a high level every year.

Mike Heenan-  Heenan also is the owner of a home run derby title and a tournament championship. He won each of them in different years, illustrating his durability and consistent excellence over the years. Heenan pitched like an all-time great on the path to the 2008 championship.

Ryan Gomes-  Gomes is the all-time leader in World Series appearances with 3. He pitched in the most epic game in tournament history, an extra innings thriller against national powerhouse Doom. Gomes shut Doom down into extra innings before losing on a heartbreaking walk-off.

Ben Kligler – Voted for myself.

Nick Ventresco – Voted for myself.

As voted on by the founding fathers of the Edwin A. Keach Memorial Wiffleball tournament. Vegas odds tomorrow.

Gregg Scarlata = Manny Ramirez.The similarities are endless. Both are two-time world champs. Both are World Series MVPs. Both are right-handed hitters who instill fear in pitchers. “Manny being Manny” gave us hilarious moments like disappearing into the Green Monster during a game, high-fiving a fan in the middle of a play, and randomly diving to cut off a Johnny Damon throw to the infield. Examples of “Gregg being Gregg”? How about taking a red-eye from Vegas and arriving at the tournament 5 minutes before it started on zero sleep. Or suddenly becoming Ray Charles due to contact lens issues. I mean just look at the tattoo on his chest, that’s 100% a Manny move if I’ve ever seen one.

Dan Westerman = Troy Tulowitzki. A few years ago, Double D’s would have been Milton Bradley because of his frequent team switching and behavior problems. But with maturity he has become Tulo, as in one of the most underrated players in the league. Like Tulo, his all around game shows no weaknesses. Kid rakes at the plate, has great hands on defense, and can flat out dominate on the mound. He’s even managed to stay on a team for more than one year. Apparently miracles do happen.

Ryan Gomes = Ken Griffey, Jr. There is no higher compliment than being compared to Junior. For those of us growing up in the 90s, Griffey was it. From the left-handed swing that belongs in an instructional video to the non-stop zeroes he throws up from the mound, Gomes proves worthy of this honor. Like Junior on the 2001 Mariners team that won 116 games, Gomes is surrounded by great teammates in Alex Marsh and Chris Marsh.

Dave Kligler = Curt Schilling. This one comes down to pitching through pain. Schill had his famous bloody sock game to help the Sox win a title. Kligler suffered a swollen and bloody pitching hand that looked like it would need to be amputated after the game. Nevertheless, he continued pitching shutdown ball and was key to his team’s success in that tournament. Like Schilling, Kligler is a consistently excellent player who is most well known for one heroic performance.

Aram Hamalian = Jamie Moyer. Crafty. Veteran Left-hander. Commands an arsenal of slow pitches that move like Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball combined with a drunken sailor during a storm. Can probably be a successful pitcher into his late 40’s. The consummate professional. Easy comparison.

Check back every day this week for new posts including Vegas Odds and more major league comparisons.