This Saturday, eight teams make their way to Cedar Park, Texas to compete in the 20201 Texas fast pitch championship. Not only will this tournament decide another of the 8 linked tournament bids for the 20201 United Wiffle®Ball National Championship, its United Wiffle®Ball implications extend well beyond that. Half of the teams in the eight team field have already locked themselves in for United Wiffle®Ball this October.

EVENT / AREA HISTORY

*TC35, winners of the 2006 Fast Plastic Texas (Cedar Park) region.*

Although this is the first fast pitch Cedar Park tournament in many years to be branded as a state championship, there have been standalone fast pitch tournaments in Cedar Park in recent years. Texas’ longest tenured team, TC35, won both the 2019 and 2020 Cedar Park fast pitch events. Wiffle®Ball in Cedar Park goes all the way back to the end of the 20th century and was home to the Fast Plastic South Texas region throughout the first decade of the 2000’s.

Texas – and in all but two years, Cedar Park – hosted the national championship tournament every single year of the Fast Plastic national championship era(s) (2003-2009, 2017-2019), but collectively Texas teams have not had much success at national events. A Texas team has never reached the final four at a fast pitch national championship tournament, let alone won one.

While that may not change in 2021, things are trending in the right direction down in the Lonestar State. Texas has seen an influx of leagues in recent years, there is a central presence in Cedar Park where the state medium pitch championship recently drew 21 teams, and there has been an incremental but nonetheless noticeable uptick in young talent. Perhaps the most telling piece of evidence that Texas is on the upswing, is that the state already has three full teams registered for this October’s United Wiffle®Ball National Championship. That is an extra-impressive feat considering that the state fast pitch championship has yet to have been played.

THE FORMAT

The eight-team tournament will follow a familiar format of a 3-game pool play round leading into a 6-team elimination round. Teams will be split into two groups of four and play each team in their group one time. The top 3 teams in each group advance to the final 6 elimination round, with each pool winner receiving a “bye” through to the semi-finals. The pool winners will have a 5-game path to the state title while the other four will have to play six games to win it all.

THE FIELD

8 teams are scheduled to compete in the one-day tournament: 35 Whiskey Ducks (TX), Anarchy (LA), Burt’s Bats (TX), Can’t Touch This (TX), Mix It Up (TX), Moxie (TX), Punishment (TX), The Runs (TX).

Among them are the three teams that will be representing Texas in Pennsylvania this October — Southeast Wiffle® Open champs, 35 Whiskey Ducks; the youngsters from Round Rock, Can’t Touch This; and 2021 Texas State [medium pitch] champions, Punishment. In addition, a fourth already-committed United Wiffle® participant — Louisiana’s Anarchy — will compete. Except for the 35 Ducks (who have already earned and accepted a bid via their SEW Open victory) those teams will be vying for a chance to start the national championship tournament in a higher odd starting position.

In addition, the Texas fast pitch championship features several other regulars of the Cedar Park and greater-Texas Wiffle®Ball circuits, all of whom are hungry to add a state title to their resumes. The result should be a competitive tournament, with a championship that is essentially up for grabs.

Although there may not be a clear “team to beat” in this field, the 35 Whiskey Ducks should qualify as the pre-tournament favorites based off recent track record. As a mashup of the Whiskey Ducks and TC35, the combined squad holds claim to the prior two annual Cedar Park fast pitch championships (via TC35 in 2019 and 2020) and the 2021 Southeast Wiffle® Open title. Additionally, the trio of Chase Oliver, Eric Attwood, and Jason Vasquez finished second at the June fast pitch tournament in Cedar Park. The team is on a roll, thanks in no small part to what Oliver has done on the carpet. A Wiffle®Ball lifer with almost two decades of experience, Chase has played some of his best ball recently. If he’s on his game and if his team can give him a game off early, he will not be easy to beat. The SEW champs would love to add a second significant fast pitch tournament title to their 2021 resume and are well-positioned to do just that.

*Punishment, 2021 Texas State (medium pitch) champions.*

If there is a team in the field who can equal or exceed 35 Whiskey in the momentum department, it is Punishment. Hot off a Texas state championship in medium pitch two weeks ago, these guys will be going for a clean sweep on Saturday. Braden Sullins led his team on the mound back in mid-July, tossing a rare medium pitch shutout against TC35 in the finals. What makes that achievement even more impressive — while also suggesting that he shouldn’t be impacted by the switch to fast pitch — is that Cedar Park medium pitch rules allow for bigger barrel bats. That means Sullins shut out a veteran team with fast pitch experience who were swinging big barrel bats while he was restricted to a 55 MPH pitch speed. The only variable that will change in that equation on Saturday is the pitch speed, providing much optimism that Sullins will be just as effective this weekend as was two weekends ago.

Braden is said to carry plus movement on his pitches (as you might expect given his medium pitch performance) and often sits right up against the 55 MPH speed limit with some level of velocity still in the tank. The latter fact suggests Sullins might get a bump from having the pitch speed restrictions lifted, not that he necessarily needs it. The key for Punishment is how well their offense adjusts to facing some of the harder throwers the tournament has to offer. The team is full of athletes and baseball players, with captain Jackson Richardson standing out as their top hitter. If they can handle some higher velocity, Punishment is well-situated for a Texas sweep.

*The Runs, winners of the June 2021 Cedar Park fast pitch tournament.*

The other team entering the tournament with some recent success to build from are The Runs – winners of the June 2021 Cedar Park fast pitch tournament. Led by pitcher Drew Dobbins, The Runs took down the 35 Whiskey Ducks last month to finish off the tournament. At least one Texas player believes Dobbins is currently the best pitcher in the state. That assertion is based heavily on his June tournament performance. Dobbins doesn’t have an extensive track record of success in unrestricted pitch speed environments, which raises the question of whether he can repeat what he did in June this weekend. If he does, The Runs will be a tough opponent.

The brothers Austria (Mark and Matthew) lead Can’t Touch This in their bid to win the Texas fast pitch title. The pair have live arms and limited fast pitch tournament experience. They should be able to hang pitching wise with the question being — as it often is — how well they will hit. It sounds cliched and it is, but if this young team can do the little things on offense — not chase pitches if a pitcher isn’t commanding, take advantage of as many scoring opportunities as possible — they have the rest of the tools necessary to make a run.

Burt’s Bats have gone outside of Texas for reinforcements for this tournament, bringing in Nevada-by-the-way-of-Massachusetts resident Tom Gannon for the weekend. Gannon’s willingness to think outside the box when pitching and his vast repertoire of pitches could be an advantage against a field that may not be used to facing all that Gannon can throw at them. Tom has also on occasion been known to get a bit too cute on the rubber, to the point that sometimes his results sometimes belie his stuff. Burt’s Bats probably need Gannon to be on the top of his game if they hope to go on a run.

The only full non-Texas team participating this weekend is Louisiana’s Anarchy. Anarchy finished in third place at last year’s Southeast Wiffle® Open and have their eyes set higher in what is currently the only pre-October tournament on their 2021 itinerary. A late roster addition gives Anarchy three pitchers for this weekend between Ryker Holloway, Riley Viator, and Matt Richard. Holloway has the best pure stuff of the three, but Viator might be their best all-around pitcher. What he lacks in velocity he more than makes up for in pitch selection. Richard — the late add to the roster — is a bit of a wild card from a pitching perspective. He has improved the last couple of years and was one of the better pitchers in Sycamore Park Wiffle® in the league’s first two 2021 tournaments. Team captain Ben Schaefer seems to prefer to ride a hot hand, although he did mix and match pitches quite a bit in last year’s SEW Open. If he opts for the later strategy in Texas, Richard could throw a game or two. Otherwise, opponents can expect a healthy dose of Holloway and Viator on Saturday.

*Anarchy’s Ben Schafer at the 2020 United Wiffle®Ball Championship.*

Where Anarchy might have a significant edge is in the hitting department. Schaefer and Holloway have proven themselves as capable hitters both in and out of SPW over the last couple of years, while Viator and Richard are competent hitters as well. There players are unlikely to see much in Cedar Park that they have not seen in their home league or in other tournaments. Their offense is more than capable of scoring consistently, which could be a difference maker against this field.

Rounding out the field are a pair of teams with limited Wiffle®Ball experience but who are not without upside. Mix It Up will be making their fast pitch tournament debut on Saturday. A group of 20-something athletes with baseball experience, they will attempt to make a seamless transition to fast pitch tournament Wiffle®Ball. Similarly, Moxie lacks fast pitch tournament experience but has competed in restricted pitch speed environments and displayed potential upside. Being an unknown entity sometimes has its advantage in tournament Wiffle®Ball. These two teams hope they can catch the rest of the field by surprise this weekend.

UP NEXT

The race to October heats up in August!

A week after the Texas state tournament, the Mid Atlantic season concludes with the two MAW linked tournament bids becoming official shortly thereafter. At the end of the month is MLW’s Wiffle in the Mitten tournament, which will decide two additional bids for October.