NEW CARLISLE - As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, no April Fools' Day prank could possibly be as outrageous as the news we have consumed on a daily basis thus far in 2020. In light of that, The Wiffle®Ball Championship is taking a different approach on 4-1.
Today, we take a look back at all the teams who rolled through pool play undefeated only to be eliminated in their first Hometown Cup Playoff game. Teams played three or four pool play games from 2006 to 2011 before The Championship adopted a four-game pool play schedule permanently in 2012.
In total, 13 teams have run the table on Saturday before immediately falling victim to the single-elimination format on Sunday.
2009 Northsiders
Pool Play Wins:
Team Rod, 16-8
Pink Ponies, 13-10
Phat Dong, 19-14
Emery’s Army, 23-21
The Story: Allen Ament joined Seth Shail's Northsiders squad for the first time, and the team flipped their 0-4 record from 2008 to a 4-0 first day in 2009. The Northsiders ran through solid competition, defeating a 30-win ORWBL team in Emery's Army to clinch a top seed for Sunday. However, the run to Migley ended before it started, as the Northsiders lost to Chad Hershberger and the OC Outlaws in the Sweet Sixteen. Ament and Shail would team up with the Rieff brothers the following year, and perennial power The Muffs were born.
2012 You Look Like I Need A Drink
Pool Play Wins:
The Zoo, 11-4
Looney Wifflers, 8-7
Team Smith, 14-13
One and a Half Men, 9-8
The Story: The forerunner of Grandmother's Quilt, Cory Kronewitter, Ryan Warmoth, Eric Wodrich, and Dan Zeiger made a splash in their first appearance in New Carlisle. You Look Like I Need A Drink racked up a handful of marquee wins, most notably defeating John Arndt's Looney Wifflers. They also beat The Zoo, featuring a young Jared Monhaut and Bobby Bushman, and One and a Half Men, a Clutch Players split squad. Unfortunately for You Look Like I Need A Drink, the bye they earned to the Sweet Sixteen was not much of a reward. They fell to the Cult West Warriors, 14-11, at The Palace of Bourissa Hills in their first game on Sunday.
2012 The Muffs
Pool Play Wins:
Team America, 7-0
Lou Brock, 8-7
Cult West Warriors, 13-12
Dehydrated Monkeys, 2-0
The Story: Perhaps the most painful 4-1 in the history of The Championship, The Muffs made it through the pool of death unscathed. A three-run sixth inning, capped by a Seth Shail walk-off home run propelled The Muffs to an 8-7 win over the eventual champion Lou Brock. The boys in pink also knocked off Cult West, 13-12, on Saturday. After a Migley run in 2010, and a near miss in the Elite Eight in 2011, The Muffs seemed primed for a long day on Sunday. However, they ran into their third opponent that would advance to the Final Four, falling to the Maple City Magic, 8-3 , in the Sweet Sixteen.
2013 Yhung Dipset
Pool Play Wins:
Cult West Warriors, 9-8
Landsharks, 15-6
Raw Dogs, 3-2
# Swag, 4-2
The Story: Tony Koch assembled a conglomeration of wiffle talent in 2013 known as Yhung Dipset. Along with Koch, the roster featured John Arndt, Drew Luther, Patrick Zwierzynski, and George Stainko. The weekend started with a huge 9-8 victory over Cult West. After running the table on Saturday, Yhung Dipset earned a bye into Sunday's playoffs. The pool play win over the Warriors knocked Cult West down the seeding line, eventually setting up a Sweet Sixteen rematch. Cult West got their revenge in a big way, winning 21-2 en route to their first of four Hometown Cups.
2015 YTS
Pool Play Wins:
Big Dawgs, 12-8
Emery’s Army, 1-0
Beef Barn, 8-7
Multiple Scoregasms, 5-3
The Story: YTS arrived in New Carlisle in 2013 and immediately made their presence known with a run to The Wiffle®Ball Championship Game. The following year, they were back at it again, rolling through pool play and advancing to the Elite Eight. Their third appearance in 2015 started out much of the same with another undefeated Saturday pool play slate, although all of the games were relatively close. Earning a 3-seed, YTS did not have the benefit of a bye with a 32-team playoff field. They fell in the First Round to Pitch Slapped, 11-4. (Pitch Slapped was captained by Mike Wind, and was not the same Schuster-led Final Four team from the year before.)
2016 G.O.M.D.
Pool Play Wins:
Ducks, 3-0
Eagles Gold, 16-10
Late Arrivers III, 5-0
JRTG, 5-1
The Story: The 2016 Championship marked a dramatic shift for Jimmy Tumpane. The veteran wiffler left behind the Goebel/Goebelstein Concrete days and vaulted into title contention with G.O.M.D. Continuing the past two years with the Woo Crew, Tumpane has won four consecutive division titles. The first title coincided with the explosion of The Championship to over 70 teams. G.O.M.D. rolled through pool play, capping their day with a win in front of the home fans at Tent City outside The Palace. A deep Sunday run was not in the cards however, as they fell to the Magic of St. Louis in the Second Round.
2016 Clutch Players
Pool Play Wins:
West Side Kliq, 12-1
Phat Dong, 9-2
Warsaw Revenge, 9-8
Lynn Street Leprechauns 1, 14-5
The Story: The Clutch Players have been one of the top teams in The Championship since emerging on the New Carlisle scene in 2011 with a trip to Migley. Riding two consecutive final four trips in 2016, Clutch got off to a typical start on Saturday. They dispatched most of their opponents easily, with the only close contest coming against the Warsaw Revenge. On Sunday, after receiving a bye and 3-seed, the Clutch Players fell in the Second Round in a bitter game against The Muffs. It was the first time they failed to advance to the Final Four with their full squad.
2016 Cult West Warriors
Pool Play Wins:
Hadler's Heartwarming Chili, 15-3
e-LEMON-ators, 19-3
The Belmont Transfer, 22-2
Billy Goat 9 and Dine, 27-3
The Story: The most infamous case of 4-1, the Cult West Warriors entered the 2016 Championship as the three-time reigning Champions of Wiffle®Ball. After another easy Saturday, in which they ran their record winning streak up to 29-games, the Warriors squared off against the little known Jelly Sticks out of Portage, Indiana. In the most stunning upset in Championship history, the Jelly Sticks knocked off Cult West to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Warriors would go on to win the 2017 Championship to avenge the shocking loss.
2017 White Lightning
Pool Play Wins:
Cleats & Cleavage, 2-0
Team Carr, 36-0
Dirty Diggers, 26-0
Mighty Ducks, 18-3
The Story: After a heartbreaking extra inning loss to Son of a Pitch at Migley in 2016, the White Lightning retooled their roster for 2017 by adding Kody Webb and Aidan Cotter. The Lightning were a dominant force on Saturday, running up a huge differential and securing the second overall seed in the Hometown Cup Playoffs. However, 2017 was the year all hell broke loose in the Olive Township Regional. The White Lightning were tamed in the Second Round by Matador Smith and the Great Lakes Godfathers, who made a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight.
2017 Blue Ballers
Pool Play Wins:
Big Dawgs, 14-7
Colossus of Clout, 4-2
Wildcards, 7-4
ISWB Short Shorts, 2-1
The Story: The 2017 Blue Ballers weren't a household name in the wiffle world, but they had their share of big pool play victories. The squad captained by Kyle Smith knocked off ORWBL's Wildcards and the ISWB (Now Circle City Wiffleball) Short Shorts on Saturday. However, like so many of these 4-1 teams, their first round bye ended up not being rewarding at all. Thanks to a pool play upset by the Stache Bros, Cult West once again came out of the first round. This time, the Warriors eliminated the Blue Ballers on their way to a fourth Hometown Cup.
2017 Malort! I’ll Have Another
Pool Play Wins:
MC Hammer, 7-0
The Muffs, 4-3
Pitches Ain’t Hit, 20-2
SJEC, 7-6
The Story: Grant Duncan stacked a Hall of Fame lineup in 2017 with John Premetz, Mike Baniak, and Nate Hansen. Frequent teammates in New Carlisle, Duncan and Hansen were 2011 Champions with the Ambassadors of Plastic. Malort! took care of business on Saturday, sweeping through their pool, picking up a signature win over The Muffs. The Sunday draw was not very favorable, as they had to face the Pterodactyls at their old stomping grounds, The Palace of Bourissa Hills. The 6-seed 'Dactyls eliminated the 3-seed Malort! in the Second Round.
2018 Landsharks
Pool Play Wins:
Grandmother’s Quilt, 9-6
West Side Kliq, 16-2
Los Tigres, 6-0
Village Idiots, 24-1
The Story: With Aidan Cotter selling out to play for the Newts, the Mechanics' Colton Boren and Kody Webb joined forces with Austin Traxler and future ORWBL stars Brandon Terry and Walter Griffin III as the Landsharks. The Sharks easily ran the table on Saturday, with their first game proving to be their toughest test, a 9-6 win over Grandmother's Quilt. The Sunday bracket was set up to give Boren and Webb a shot against Cotter in the Sweet Sixteen, but the Landsharks were upset by The Naturals in the Second Round.
2019 Emery’s Army
Pool Play Wins:
E-Lemon-Ators, 16-0
Homerun or Bust, 20-11
One Hit Wonders, 9-6
Swing and MRS, 7-0
The Story: Emery's Army has a well-documented history of great Saturday success followed by a Sunday disappearing act. This past summer, the renegade squad from Rolling Prairie turned in their best pool play performance to date with a signature win against Homerun or Bust. Emery's Army earned a bye for the Hometown Cup Playoffs and were on time ready to play on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, they ran into Seth Shail's comeback tour with Hotel Tango, and fell in the Second Round.