Wiffle Brief - Semis and Championship - June 24, 2025

Hot Hot Hot - Games 25, 26, 27 - Semi Finals and Championship

The final night of the season took place back at the storied “Little Free Library Field” behind Mother's Brewery—just as the West Central Neighborhood Potluck Picnic was getting underway on the adjoining grounds.  And like any great finale, it came with high stakes, bruised balls, battered egos and at least one outfielder dodging stray picnickers in deep right. 

Game 25 – Semifinal: Motion to Strike v. DOJ Turkeys

Top of the First - Bryan Wade stepped to the plate and opened the game with a surprisingly chill HOME RUN.

Bottom of the First - Pitching for Motion to Strike, Dylan Dunbar kept things quiet. No runs, and no major injuries.

Top of the Second - Captain Danielle Reid popped one to center, only to be denied by a slick Randy Eggert snag. Wade followed with a solid drive, but Casey Clark said “nope.” Still no runs.

Top of the Third- Jessica Johns and Lauren Haskins ripped a couple of line drives—both swallowed up by Christine Schlegl, who coolly fielded them while navigating around a picnicker with a crockpot.

Bottom of the Third - Cameron Beaver fired things up with a double. Reid attempted a slide but earned only dust and admiration. Clark followed with a double and RBI, putting the Turkeys on the board. Motion to Strike 1, Turkeys 1

Top of the Fourth - Laura Vales led with a triple. Reid doubled her home. Wade said “I can do that too” and drove in another. Two runs scored. Motion to Strike 3, Turkeys 1

Bottom of the Fourth - Clark continued his bid for MVTurkey with another RBI. Motion to Strike 3, Turkeys 2

Top of the Fifth - Lauren Haskins delivered a line drive to left—snagged by Clark. Dunbar followed with a beauty to right—caught by Eggert. Down to the wire.

Bottom of the Fifth - Hopes for a walk-off by the Turkeys were stuffed. Motion to Strike plucked victory from the DOJ team and closed out their season, feathered and finished.

Final Score: Motion to Strike 3, Turkeys 2

Batting Order

Motion to Strike
Danielle Reid, Bryan Wade, Abby Craigmyle, Jessica Johns, Lauren Haskins, Dylan Dunbar, Laura Vales

DOJ Turkeys

Hannah Lucas, Stephanie Wan, Christine Schlegl, Cameron Beaver, Casey Clark, Randy Eggert

Game 26 – Semifinal: McGlovens v. Let Freedom Swing

Top of the First - Jason Johnson on the mound. Nothing doing.

Bottom of the First - Joseph Reid pitching. Scoreless.

Top of the Second - Bryan Delleville on the mound.  Stray pitch hits the Commissioner of Wiffle Ball’s gear.  Second stray pitch hits the Commissioner.  Charges not filed as of press date.

Still no runs.

Bottom second and only five minutes into this incredibly fast game. Scott Pierson walks. Cole Robert cracks a big hit, subtly caught by Grant Walters. Delleville doubles. Still no runs

Top of the third - Reid pops one… snagged by Pierson

Bottom of third - Roberts hits again – looks like it might go over and…. Caught.  By Walters. Delleville joins the “caught by Walters” club. Johnson squeaks one under the sawhorse. Still.  No runs.

Top of the Fourth - Taylor White swaps bats and immediately triples. Walters follows up with a hit that sends Pierson sliding for the catch like he’s at confession. Any prayers for a score in this game remain unanswered. Still no runs.

Bottom fourth - Expectations waning, crowd listless and melting in the heat – Roberts with a wake up call – HOME RUN. Let Freedom Swing 1, McGlovens 0

Top of the Fifth - Reid hits a triple, Walters bats him in. White delivers a towering shot deep into the tree - everyone thinks it’s gone—until Roberts plucks it from oblivion.  Tied Game, 1-1

Bottom of the Fifth - Two outs, no one on. Roberts up. And just like that—HOMER #2. Let Freedom Swing walks off with the win and into the finals.

Final Score: Let Freedom Swing 2, McGlovens 1

Let Freedom Swing

Scott Pierson, Cole Roberts, Bryan Delleville, Jason Johnson

McGlovens

Joseph Reid, Grant Walters, Taylor White, James Jeffries

Game 27 - Championship

Let Freedom Swing v. Motion to Strike

Crushed balls, crushed dreams, and one very fortuitous awning.

As the sun dipped behind the Little Free Library Field and the scent of charred hot dogs drifted in from the Westside Neighborhood Potluck Picnic, two teams stood on the brink of wiffle immortality. One would leave as champions. The other... with a little trauma and a lot of grass stains.

Top of the First - Motion to Strike came out composed and ready. Dylan Dunbar took the mound and delivered a quick, clean inning—three up, three down. Calm. Efficient. All business.

Bottom of the First - Captain Danielle Reid led off with a pop fly straight into the sure hands of Freedom’s Captain Cole Roberts. Bryan Wade followed with a sharp hit—snagged by Scott Pierson, who barely broke a sweat. Abby Craigmyle kept hope alive with a single, but that was all Motion could manage. Still scoreless.

And then…

What happened next may go down as the most dramatic half-inning in SMBA Wiffle Ball history.

Jason Johnson kicked off the top of the second with a clean single.

Then came the chaos.

Lefty Scott Pierson with a swing so fierce the bat slipped through his grasp and launched skyward.  The crowd gasped then watched in stunned silence as the plastic rocket sailed seventy-five feet over the heads of the spectators and directly toward the unsuspecting Westside Neighborhood Potluck Picnic. 

HEADS UP!!!!!!!!!

And… relief.

The bat landed, miraculously, on the awning above the picnic pad.  No potato salad was harmed.  One spectator murmured, “I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.”

Pierson didn’t score, but he lit a fuse and Let Freedom Swing was officially on fire.

Roberts stepped up and delivered a two-run homer, which, in any other game, would’ve been the headline.

Cue the rally:

• Bryan Delleville: single
• Johnson: double + RBI
• Pierson: hit-by-pitch that echoed
• Roberts: also plunked
• Delleville: single + RBI
• Johnson: single + RBI
• Roberts: base-clearing triple + 3 RBI

By the time the adrenaline wore off eight runs had scored, and Let Freedom Swing had essentially carved their names into the trophy.

Aftermath

The remaining innings were a mix of valiant defense and mercifully quiet bats. The scoreboard didn’t budge.

Final Score: Let Freedom Swing 8, Motion to Strike 0

Congratulations to the 2025 SMBA Wiffle Ball Champions Let Freedom Swing:
Scott Pierson, Cole Roberts, Bryan Delleville, Jason Johnson

And thats a wrap!

The 2025 SMBA Wiffle Ball season kicked off in mid-May with 155 hopeful lawyers, judges and summer associates donning team shirts and swinging plastic bats with surprising sincerity.  The league’s third year will be remembered fondly as the perfect mix of comedy and competition.  The 2025 season delivered everything we could’ve hoped for: dramatic comebacks, unexpected heroes, one airborne bat, and at least a dozen players who learned the hard way that wiffle sliding is a choice. Over seven weeks, sixteen teams battled it out through 27 games, proving that lawyers can hit bombs, catch pop flies and make new friends, more or less at the same time.  Huge thanks to our team captains and all the players who brought their best for a wildly entertaining season.

Until next year—keep your eye on the ball, your foot on the base, and your bat out of the potato salad.