Defending champions Jack Shack look to become only the second franchise in EWL history to repeat as champions, as they face Cheap Goats, making their first appearance in the best-of-seven Wiffle Series championship, which begins Tuesday.
Despite the COVID pandemic, a full twenty-game regular season was completed, as well as the best-of-five first round series, and now, only two teams remain.
Jack Shack, the 2019 EWL Champions, finished the regular season 10-10 and earned the #2 seed via tiebreaker. They lost 2019 Wiffle Series Co-MVP Adam R to injury early in the season, and the other 2019 Wiffle Series Co-MVP, Josh D, opted out of the 2020 season. Despite missing two proven veterans and stars, Jack Shack persevered, and with the help of free agent Blaine, they swept Guacamol-yay in the first round of the playoffs. The Jack Shack franchise is now 10-0 in their playoff history, and they have swept all three series that they have been a part of. New captain, Dustin, finished the season swinging a ferocious bat, which carried over to the postseason, as he was named Wiffler of the Week for week 1 of the playoffs. Turbo took a leap from 2020 and became one of the EWL’s elite hitters in 2020, and Brian continued to be a force at the plate and on the mound, setting career highs on both sides of the plate. Doc, an EWL rookie, contributed timely hits in Jack Shack victories, and free-agent signing Blaine was consistently productive with bursts of monster power. Despite being the lower seed, the defending champions will likely be favored heading into the series.
Cheap Goats are making their first appearance in the Wiffle Series after several years of disappointing first round exits. They made the biggest improvement of any team from 2019 to 2020, finishing 13-7 and clinching the #1 seed in the playoffs. Team captain and 2019 Wiffler of the Year Joey produced the best numbers of his ten-year career, setting multiple career highs, and was among the league leaders in every major category throughout the year. Cheap Goats only addition, Brett, won the 2020 EWL batting title, had arguably the best rookie season in the history of the EWL, and is a favorite for multiple 2020 Wiffle Awards. Christian made dramatic offensive improvements in 2020, becoming a key contributor to the Cheap Goats powerful lineup, particularly in the first round of the playoffs, and he also had a strong season on the mound. Ten year EWL veteran Dinger continued to deliver clutch hits and was a workhouse on the mound. Jordan steadily improved at the plate over the course of the season and had started to hit his stride offensively, but suffered a season-ending injury in game four of Cheap Goats’ first round series. The loss of Jordan likely makes #1 seed Cheap Goats the underdog in the series, but a tightly contested series is anticipated.
Cheap Goats won the season series between the teams 4-2, including winning their last three matchups.
The best-of-seven series is scheduled to begin Tuesday, September 29th.
Leave a Reply