Wiffle Atlanta Payoffs!, Round 1 Recaps

#4 Swamp Donkeys vs. #5 Wiffle House

A Hotlanta summer finally found its way to the WATL as the post season got under way at Medlock Park with the burgeoning rivalry between the Swamp Donkeys and the Wifflehouse. Both teams were at full strength and a Wiffle Atlanta classic ensued.

Game 1: Wifflehouse front man Brian Donegan took the hill against Donkey ace Josh Shul. Both pitchers threw strikes but Josh was the better pitcher on the day. Wifflehouse get the first run of the day off a first inning leadoff walk and score again in the 2nd. Donks battle back in the bottom of the 5th with 5 runs. In the top of the 6th Donkey Right/Center fielder Blaine Milam laid out for one that he couldn’t haul in and the House score two, tying the game 5-5. Chad Alexander led off the bottom of the 6th with a double and a Ben Warner single moved him to third. Then Josh Suhl stroked a one out single, knocking in Chad and helping out his own cause to take the win. Donkeys take game one, 6-5.

Game 2: Periennial All-Star Grant Yarbourough faced off against ROY candidate Ryan Halverson. Donks get off to good start, plating 1 in the first and 1 in the second. Wifflehouse mount a comeback scoring one in the 4th and 2 in the 5th, but Grant pitched a gem, striking out 12,  and Donkey bats were alive in this one. Donks win 5-4.

The Swamp Donkeys will go on to face the number one seeded team, NBC, in round 2.

#2 TPC vs. #6 Pirosotopes

A cooler full of beer, cheering sections, warm air and good pitching took the front stage for this classic Wiffle Atlanta match-up. The only two teams remaining from 2007 (the Pirosotopes are still, technically, the Pirates, who are the only remaining team from the league's first year; TPC existed before as the Home Run Army) entertained the sell-out crowd, easily earning them back their well-earned money that they spent for the tickets for the series.

Game 1: Johnny Smith and Jordan Kadrie, the teams' respective aces, faced off in Game 1. The match, itself a pitcher's duel, started as Chris and Kevin Smith teamed up on back-to-back doubles to give the 7th-year team an early one-run lead. Over the next three innings, both Chris and Kevin hit solo round-trippers to extend their lead to three runs, the biggest that they would see in the game. In the 5th inning, however, Dylan Kelly provided a big two-run home run that found some space between the trees over the right field fence to shrink the TPC lead and bring the Pirosotopes to within striking distance of their old foes. However, Johnny Smith was able to quiet the bats for the rest of the game. TPC took game 1, 3-2, in a pitcher's duel that could, really, have swung either way.

Game 2: Daniel Foster and the TPC teamed up to keep the 'Topes bats at bay all game while chipping slowly away at the remainder of their opponent's season. Scoring almost every inning, TPC's power was checked well by Patrick McNeil, but ended up overmatching him and the defense behind him. TPC walked away with game 2, 7-0.

TPC will go on to face #3 Rough Riders in round 2.