Fall 2011 Tournament Preview: Foul Balls

WAKA Kickball started out on the Peninsula in the Spring of 2007 as just a small group of four teams. Each season since then, the league has continued to grow and grow. Now we have a division full of 16 teams. The biggest to date. This Saturday, all 16 teams will compete for the prestigious Wentworth Trophy. There can only be one.

Alright, let's give this a shot. I'm going to go team by team and give a look at their outlook for Saturday's big championship tournament.

#16 Foul Balls
Record: 0-11
Runs Scored: 15 (1.36 pg)
Runs Against: 77 (7 rapg)

There is something not right with these
dudes...

As mentioned above, this will be the 10th season of WAKA Kickball on the Peninsula. During these 10 seasons, only 5 franchises have won the championship. Amazingly, Foul Balls is one of those teams. Back in the Spring of 2009, the Foulies were a force to be reckoned with. But fast forward to 2011, and the team has fallen on hard times. How hard you ask? Currently, they are on a 21 game losing streak that dates back to last April. Their main problem is that they don't score many runs (1.36 per game, 16th in the league) and they give up a lot of runs (7 rapg, 14th overall). In short, they've been on the receiving end of a lot of beatdowns during this stretch.

But it's not to say that the team has been completely horrible. They've had some bright spots during this season. On October 26th, the Foulies played a double header against two top tier teams and kept the results very respectable, losing 3-0 to Bridges and 6-3 to Lick It. They'll get another shot at the Burning Bridges, as they meet up in the first round on Saturday.

Nardi in action.

For the Foulies, their biggest strength lies with the women (if they can get four of them to show up). Jen Nardi is a solid kicker and a very serviceable pitcher. She doesn't throw a lot of heat, but she delivers consistent strikes with enough movement and bounce to keep opposing kickers just a little off balance. Former TailGator Crystal Tanner has also been an excellent addition to the team. She's been a solid contributor in the outfield, using veteran experience and aggressive base running to make plays. Her performance in week 3 kept the Foulies in contention for the win. Another Lady Foulie to watch out for is Linzie Mechling. She's a deceptively skilled line drive kicker who will make opposing defenses pay if they cheat in.

Foul Balls are generally a kick away team that tends to grip it and rip it. With big boots like Dennis Gholson, John Max, and Nathaniel "Jorts" Johnson in the lineup, they can be dangerous. If they can find some holes in the outfield and string together some rallies, they'll have a chance (provided they avoid the back breaking errors that often plague their defense).

When reached for comment about the upcoming tournament, Jorts had this to say:

"While the details behind the Foul Balls pre-game preparations remain shrouded in mystery, at the Commissioner's request we will shine a dim light into this seedy world of deception and misery. Friday evening the men of Foul Balls will be scouting out local public houses which begin serving alcohol at 11:30 am on Saturday morning. Next, Jorts will be setting the over/under on innings played in our first round game at 4 and begin taking bets at 12:00 am Saturday morning. The women of Foul Territory will be busy counting and recounting themselves in the 24 hours prior to kickoff to ensure that four of them will be at War Memorial for the 11:00 a.m. first pitch. At game time, we will do whatever the hell it is that earned us a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Burning Bridges and, if that fails, we will employ the highly secretive "Wentworth Defense". As for the ultimate outcome of the tournament, our epic first round upset will open the door for the second fourth seeded JFK to claim their first ever Wentworth Trophy. Until that time, we still have one more than they do." 

 Can't wait to see what the "Wentworth Defense" is...