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 6/30/11 The Chapel Hill Bombers defeat UPS 12-2 in 5 innings to win their 6th World Series Title and 3rd in a row. Videos from this years tournament can be seen off to the right and a team recap for each team will be coming soon 6/11/11 Series Teams -The lack of stories lately through the CHSN is due to the signing up of multiple teams. CHSN has been putting forward most of its time to researching the 2011 teams and gathering useful information for you the fans. To check out what teams are in and what kind of scoop we came up with on them, please navigate to the 21011 WWS Teams Page. There you will find a full scouting report of each of the teams signed up for the wiffleball world series. Also be sure to check out the multiple sets of team power rankings off to the right. Power rankings are determined by multiple factors including player rankings, player performance in years past, player tenure, knowledge of the game, team chemistry, and CHSN tournament simulations. Also look for this years Wiffleball World Series Bracket to be released within a few days. 5/29/11 Hammond Disrespects Storied Franchise -With the Bombers officially signed up and others beginning to submit rosters, big words came out from the mediocre veteran Dan Hammond. When questioned about his potential roster Hammond said "We look fantastic on paper and should receive a very high seed in this years tournament." Hammond went on to add, "The Bombers really aren't the most impressive squad." When asked about these comments Bomber captain Sean Oglesby said, "Let them talk. Let them all talk. Were two time defending champions and we will let our play do the talking for us." Here is a CHSN Bio Blast on Dan Hammond. "Hammond burst onto the scene in 2000 and had one of the worst rookie years imaginable. D-Ham has progressed over the years and won a gold glove back in 05. He is notorious for entering teams into the tournament that go two and out, until 2010. Hammond created the Pittsburgh Rangers and had a fairly decent run. The Rangers finished in 5th place and were outscored by their opponents 29-28. Hammond won the worst pitcher of the tournament award." The Rangers who are expected to have a name change in the coming weeks are lead by Hammond and their "fantastic roster" on paper consists of 2009 Cy Young Award winner Cody Gaertner, Ken Stanosolovich, and Alex Greenblatt. The 5th spot has yet to be filled. Although all teams have not officially rostered, tournament officials have a very good idea of what players will be on what teams and how many teams will be competing in the 2011 World Series. Officials expect 16-18 teams and most have Hammond's Rangers going in between seeds as high as 3 and as low as 8. When CHSN used this information to perform a tournament simulation the Rangers finished in 4th place. A very solid finish for a Dan Hammond squad, but that kind of finish is not to be what D-Ham expects this year. He expects to take care of the Bombers with relative ease thanks to his ace Gaertner. Gaertner, a former Bomber himself arguably has the nastiest stuff in the league and is seemingly un-hittable against right handed batters. This fact is what helped the Rangers do so well in our CHSN simulation. What hurt their finish was the fact that they do not have a solid #2 on the bump behind Gaertner. Both Hammond and Stanosolovich have pitching attributes but both got rocked in tournament play a year ago. Another thing that will hurt Hammonds ball club will be a lack of offense. They will take care of mediocre teams handily but when facing good pitching the only one in their lineup who has proven he can hit it is Gaertner. Stanosolovich has power but extermly poor contact, Hammond is supossed to be a contact man but currently is second in Spring ball strikeouts behind Kevin Mills, and G-Blatt has been out of the league for two years so all of us are wondering if he can pick up where he left off with Cock n Bulls in 09. The big question is though can the pitching of Gaertner carry this team to a title? Here at CHSN we think not. His pitching may be enough to get the Rangers to the title, but then there they will most likely meet The Chapel Hill Bombers. The Bombers are loaded with left handed batters who Gaertner admittedly struggles against. These are no normal left handed sticks either, were talking about MVP Sean Oglesby, Breakout player of the year Eric Harbison, greatest lead off hitter of all time Ryan Oglesby, and single day home run champ Matt Robertson. The only right hander in the bomber lineup is silver slugger Brandon Jackson and he has the most career HR of any active player off of Gaertner. So although the new look Rangers do look good on paper we here at CHSN will have to disagree with Hammond. The 5 time champion Bombers still seem to look better. If we are treated to a Chapel Hill vs Pittsburgh championship Gaertner will limit the Bombers to minimal runs but the Ranger lack of offense will be what holds them from knocking off the champions. If the Rangers to receive a high pre tournament rank it will take alot of wins for a chance to meet up with the Bombers. Some teams who will have something to say that the Rangers will have to go through are the Kekambas, a powerful UPS squad, and a competitive rival team captained by Anthony Wolosik which will be submitting its roster later this week. We will keep you updated on the Pittsburgh Rangers official roster and when it is submitted The Chapel Hill Sports Network will be the first to bring it to you. 5/27/11 The Champs are Back! The 2 time defending and 5 time champion Chapel Hill Bombers submitted their official 2011 World Series roster late yesterday. Oglesby stuck with his same squad as last year minus Mark Jackson and adding Matt Robertson. The Bombers are lead by captain Sean Oglesby and here is a CHSN Bio Blast on the All Star: "Oglesby will be competing in his 7th Wiffleball World Series. He entered the league in 2005 with the PA Palooka and took over in 2006 as the Chapel Hill Bomber captain. Oglesby is the most decorated player in wiffleball history with 4 titles, 2 MVP awards, 1 gold glove, 1 silver slugger, and he is a 6 time All Star. " Oglesby is currently leading the spring league in home runs and he will be surrounded by a very powerful supporting cast as well. Ryan Oglesby will start on the hill, he is the 2010 Cy Young Award winner and a 2 time MVP as well. Roges is considered by many as the best leadoff man in the game. Joining the brothers will be veteran Bomber Brandon Jackson. Jackson was the 2010 Silver Slugger Award winner and a 3 time Gold Glove winner. Bebo is said to be the best center fielder to ever grace the ground of Historic Chapel Hill Field or Espe Park. Eric Harbison should be the number 2 on the hill and anchor the middle of the order. This is Harbos 2nd year with the Bomb Squad and he won breakout player of the year in 2010. Harbo plays an excellent SS and has a powerful stick to protect Sean Oglesby in the order. Finally we have newcomer Matt Robertson, after being out of the league 5 years Sean Oglesby decided to offer him a deal. Robertson has a good bat although its fallen off some since his prime and he has excellent speed and fielding attributes. The Bombers work harder than any other club out there so look for them to cruise through the first few rounds of the tourney as they have in recent years. Competition is stiff here in 2011 so although Chapel Hill is undoubtedly the favorite, many clubs will have a legitimate shot to knock them off. With that being said it will still clearly be an upset if the Bombers are not in the title game and crowned champions for a third straight year. 5/26/11 Jackson Responds to Bomber Decision "I'd like to thank the Bomber organization for a thrilling year last tournament that ended in a Championship. Being let go from the team hurt, but I see the logic and respect the team still has for me. I have found a team and with the talent and veterans we have I feel like we can give the Bombers a shot at the title. Thanks again for the fun last year and see you in the championship." -Mark Jackson. Jackson has been picked up by veteran captain Mike Cammarata who has put quality squads together such as The North Park Golden Bears in 09, which Jackson was a part of, and the 3rd place Monstars in 2010. Whomever Rata decides to complete his roster with will be key, but look for this team combined with its veteran leadership and determination from Jackson to make a run at the Bombers for the title. 5/25/11 Offense Lacking Thus Far in Spring Ball -With another game played here in spring ball there has been a reoccurring trend, lack of offense. Some big name players took the field Tuesday afternoon including both Oglesby brothers, Basara, Wentz, D.Hammond, D.Lynch, Haas, and Besser. A nine inning game was played wit Roges and Basara taking the hill for one squad and Wentz, Oglesby, and Haas taking it for the other. Basara went six letting up no runs while Roges closed the door pitching the final four letting up none as well. Wentz went two in his spring debut letting up one run but had nasty stuff. Oglesby had good stuff as well. Never thought of as much of a pitcher the Bomber captain went two letting up no runs and striking out two. Haas closed the door pitching the final six letting up only one run but is was unearned. Now the real question is, is this the story of great pitching or sub par hitting? Besser and Oglesby lead the league this spring with 1HR a piece. Besser recorded a 1-5 day while Oglesby went 2-6 with two base hits. Dan Hammond , the hottest hitter of the spring went cold and couldnt sniff a hit and Lynch and Haas managed two hits a piece. Roges had the most hits on the day with 4, but all singles, and Basara managed three hits having the only extra base hit of the day, a double. In 08 it was all about pitching as The Boss Squad blanked opponents with the knuckleball of Wentz. In 09 the trend continued as Gaertner and Zelik dueled three times throughout the tournament each keeping the other team below 5 runs, but in 2010 the trend changed. The Chapel Hill Bombers ten runned every opponent they faced and won the championship game by over 15 runs. So perhaps in 2011 we will be going back to the year of the pitcher. Dan Wentz thinks pitching will be key once again and when asked the same question Ryan Oglesby believes as well that we are in store for some low scoring affairs. Stay tuned to CHSN for all the updates on the top hurlers in the league. 5/24/10 Jackson Cut By Bombers -After much deliberation the Chapel Hill Bomber organization came to the conclusion of cutting wiffleball veteran Mark Jackson. This was the first managerial decision not made by the captain Sean Oglesby but rather by Roges. The wiffleball community knew someone had to go when Matt Robertson was signed by the club earlier last week but the question was who. Now that the question of who has been answered the question of why seems to be on everyones mind. Although the Bombers had the most productive lineup in wiffleball history last season there was still room for improvement according to Sean Oglesby. In a recent interview following the decision Oglesby had this to say to the Chapel Hill Sports Network, " After the experience i had in 09 of rostering six, i did not want to do that again. The Bomber organization believes it has the best of the best playing for it and those players on our roster all deserve full playing time. All players on my roster are on the hot seat each and every season. They know when brought into this organization that we demand the very best and if they are not the very best they will go. Although my team performed almost flawlessly in 2010 i did not hesitate to pick up Robertson because of his tremendous talent, so someone had to go. Mark is an excellent talent and will improve whichever team he moves to tremendously, i will not be surprised if he carries a ball club to meet the Bombers in a crucial late tournament game. I told Roges you brought on Harbison and Jackson last season so you must decide which will go." Roges was unavailable for an interview but CHSN has discovered quite a few reasons on why Jackson was the one to go. Out of the 5 Bombers Jackson compiled the worst batting average, most strikeouts, most errors, and tied for the least amount of homeruns. Although that may sound bad, all of his numbers were well above league averages so if you were to put Jackson on any other team he would be their main offensive weapon. Jackson was a defensive liability in right field and along with having the most Bomber errors he has awful speed and could just not cover enough ground. That should be expected from Jackson and his offensive power was supposed to make up for it but he failed to be a offensive juggernaut like the Bombers had hoped. So although his numbers were below average by Bomber standards that is not the only contributing factor to this decision. Jackson went under the knife in the off season after injuring his finger, missed his baseball season, and cannot practice wiffleball until the first of June. With the clear sight of Harbisons awful spring in the front of their minds, officials at Chapel Hill want Jackson to be able to practice at 100% for a good month and a half but that is just not possible. All of the previous facts plus this on top of it was just too much and it was clear he is the one who needed to go. But why pick up Robertson and force the release of Jackson? When comparing the two we find just how easy of a call this was for the Bomber organization. Robertson has much more speed, a much better fielding percentage, better contact, and a fact that surprises most, more power. Robertson has a very small frame but a compact swing that produces tremendous force giving Robertson one of the best power strokes in the league. Jackson has a better arm than Robertson and more experience recently but thats all he has going for him in this fight. Jackson is an above average player in this league and will help whichever team he lands on, and he should be more focused than ever on wanting to knock off his former team and win the title. With the release of Jackson fresh in our minds it arose the question of if this happened will the Bombers cut Harbison if his pre season struggles continue? When asked this question Bomber captain Sean Oglesby had this to say, " I love the way Harbo plays ball, he was 2010 breakout player of the year and played a decent SS while filling in nicely as our number 2 on the hill, and he performed tremendously hitting in the 3 spot of our order. Everyone has occasional slow starts including myself and being out of baseball for a year i can understand why the transition back this year is tough, hes not in as good of shape as he has been previous years. I would love to keep Harb if he can produce the way he did for us last year but as i have said before, everyone on my squad is on the hot seat. We have many many options and players dying to become a Bomber, and if Harbisons rust does not wear off soon we may have to part ways. It was hard enough letting Jackson go and i and the rest of my team is hoping it does not come to that with Harbo." The Chapel Hill Sports Network will be following the quest for the Bombers 5th man very closely and we will be the first to report it to you when the news breaks. 5/23/11 Cy Young Award Winners Duel in Spring Ball Matchup -The second game of spring ball was played Sunday afternoon 5/22 at Espe Park. Participating in the affair were the teams of Sean Oglesby, Ryan Oglesby, Mike Foglio, Matt Robertson, and Andrew Sinagra VS. Cody Gaertner, Dan Hammond, Dave Dunton, Anton Constantino, Brandon Besser, and Alex Lapiana. Spectators were in for a treat as 2009 Cy Young Award Winner Cody Gaertner took on 2010 Cy Young Award Winner Ryan Oglesby. Most expected a low scoring pitchers duel but loads of offense took place early and after one Gaertners team leaded 4-0. Roges suffered two earned runs in the inning which included the two run homerun by Brandon Besser. Roges team bounced back though and after 2 lead 5-4. Gaertner suffered three earned runs in the inning including two RBI doubles by 2010 MVP Sean Oglesby. The game then turned into the pitchers duel as most expected. Gaertner went 7 only letting up the 5 and 3 of them being earned. Dunton went on to pitch one inning letting up 1 run which was a HR to Sean Oglesby, and Dan Hammond finished off the game by throwing a scoreless 9th. On the other side of the ball Roges went on to throw all 9 only letting up the 4 in the first and the two being earned. Both Roges and Gaertner had decent stuff but not nearly their best as we are still a month from tourney time, but they impressed scouts for it being this early in the season. On the offensive side of the ball 2010 MVP Sean Oglesby had an all star day. Oglesby went 8 for 8 compiling 5 doubles and a home run. Roges had a great day offensivley as well going 7 for 9 compiling two doubles and finding holes in the defense with ease.Constantino showed terrific power although not compiling many hits, and Folio had a great season debut with multiple base knocks as he looks to be a key table setter for the Kekambas. Dan Hammond continued his tremendous spring offensively by stroking a few base hits and Dave Dunton showed a knack for pounding sharp line drives to the left side. Matt Robertson made his long awaited debut as well. Robertson stepped in the batters box for the first time in 5 years and started out with a K. He went on to hit two doubles and multiple base hits and showed great signs for Bomber fans. Finally on defensive notes Andrew Sinagra made multiple web gems and played as sound of a shortstop as one could imagine. The Chapel Hill Sports Network will continue to bring you game summaries updating you on the performance of all your favorite stars as Spring Ball Continues. 5/23/11 Questions Looming around Powerhouse Players and Franchises - As we are now one month from opening day of the 2011 Chapel Hill Wiffleball World Series and there are officially 6 teams registered. We are expecting 16 or more but there are many questions looming. The biggest questions surround the powerhouse franchises of the league, and there is none bigger than the 5 time, and 2 time defending champion Chapel Hill Bombers. The Bombers have always been first to register for their own tournament but this year things seem to be holding them back. Some point to this hesitence to register as just being a publicity stunt but others which incluse most wiffleball experts believe there are to be drastic lineup changes and those changes have not been set yet. Here is what we know so far, 2 time MVP and Hall of famer Sean Oglesby will captain the squad and his roster will consist of 2010 Cy young Ryan Oglesby and 2010 Silver Slugger and Comeback Player of the Year Brandon Jackson. The Chapel Hill Sports Network also reported last week that Oglesby has signed Matt Robertson to a deal that has brought him out of retirement and that he will be the teams fourth. The fifth player seems to be what is holding the Bombers back. There are many canidates for the spot and those leading ones include Eric Harbison, Mark Jackson, Lucas Hook, and Jeff Dassner. Only time will tell who the franchise selects for its final roster spot. Other franchises who have yet to sign up include The Magic Walri who have a 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place finish to their record. They have been so close to a title and captain Nick Basara says they will be back in 2011 with as strong a squad as ever but Basara has not dropped any hints as to who he will roster. Pattens Generals will return and Mike Cammarata will be back with another solid squad sure to conted for a title. Dave Baileys North Hill Fightin Indians will return as they look to improve their finish for a third straight year and little Foglio looks to follow in his brother Mikes footsteps as he will captain the Young Bucs for a second straight year. With Posteraro making the move to the storied Kekambas questions surround the Hicks return for a third straight year and further questions surround the exact number of young gun teams that will enter. Players such as Andrew Sinagra, Chris Helkowski, Cory Fultz, and Mason Smith have all expressed interest in registering teams and we will inform you as soon as they do. Now as far as big name players who do not have a home as of yet and who will not captain a team, we know of quite a few. These players include Matt Ludwig, Max Mellott, Dave Dunton, Dan Lynch, Max Benner, Eric Harbison, and Mark Jackson. One can only wait to see where these big names will fall and The Chapel Hill Sports Network will be the first to inform you the fans when that time comes. 5/17/11 Robertson to make epic return in 2011 Wiffleball World Series -Matt Robertson has been out of wiffleball since the end of the 2005 season. As a member of the PA Palooka in '05 he lead them to a 3rd place finish before being robbed on a call by umpire Dave Dunton. That call gave the Chapel Hill Bombers the win over the PA Palooka and Chapel Hill ten runned Dunton's original Kekambas in the first Wiffleball World Series. After making several claims in recent years to join former Palooka team member Freddy Haas's teams Robertson has officially announced he will make a comeback this year. Robertson, the most sought after free agent in the league the past five years signed a contract yesterday with the only team who had the personnel to get it done, the five time and two time defending champion Chapel Hill Bombers. It has been reported that Oglesby had been trying to sign Robertson for a few years now but no one thought he would be able to get it done. Robertson had this to say about his return, "I really missed being out on the field these past couple years. It has been hard getting over a rough call that put my career on hold. Now I think I am ready to return and I just feel that not playing is a sin. God blessed me with the talents to play so I should use them." The Bombers ten runned every team in the tournament last year so one may ask why captain Sean Oglesby would want to make any changes to his line up. Oglesby states "The league continues to develop every year. Teams get bigger and better and the same holds true for the Bombers. Jackson went under the knife in the off season and were not sure what he can bring to the table anymore, and with Harbison being out of baseball his wiffleball skills have been said to be on the decline. His fate with the team relies on how he performs this pre season." Robertson holds the record for most HR in a day with 12 so adding him to the Bombers adds even more power to an overly powerful lineup. The Bombers have yet to submit an official roster for the Wordl Series and are not expected to for a few weeks. As it stands the Bomber lineup consists of 2010 Cy Young award winner Ryan Oglesby starting on the hill, 2010 MVP Sean Oglesby patrolling LF, 2010 Silver Slugger Brandon Jackson holding down his position of CF, and new acquisition Matt Robertson is expected hold down RF. With Oglesby, Jackson and Robertson patrolling the outfield this is by far the most defensively talented ball club on paper, teams who get hits to fall will have to be extremely lucky or extremely talented. Now this leaves the SS position open for the Bombers, and all signs would point to them resigning 2010 break out player of the year Eric Harbison. Harbo has had a rough spring thus far so pay close attention to his status for this upcoming tournament. If the Bombers decide not to bring back Harbison look for the champs to sign hall of famer Lucas Hook or possibly Jeff Dassner. Either way it is tough competition for Harbo and he looks to have his work cut out for him. Mark Jackson will either be kept to come in and pinch hit off of the bench or play in the DH rule. Bomber co-captain Ryan Oglesby is said to be the one who determines the fate of Jackson. So stay tuned here to the Chapel Hill Sports Network for all your news on the five time champs. We could be in store for a new look Bombers ans we are all interested to see who the new faces of the franchise may be. As for now we know Matt Robertson is one and we will keep you posted on how he performs in pre season ball this year. 5/17/11 Wentz first to submit roster for 2011 -Dan Wentz submitted his unofficial roster for the 2011 Wiffleball World Series yesterday. The former Boss Squad turned Dans Knuckleball turned Boss Squad again has entered this years series as the United Parcel Service. The service captained by Dan Wentz is rumored to be sporting UPS delivery uniforms for this years tournament. The team is made up of Dan Wentz, Rick Peluso, Jon Wilson, Greg Piehler, Mike Zelik, Matt Steinbeck, Justin Brozick, and Ian Thomas. Wentz is aware that only 5 can play and if rostering 8 he would have to split the winnings 8 ways so that is why he stated cuts may be made before June 23. Wentz is the only player to lead a franchise to a title besides Oglesby and the Chapel Hill Bombers. Wentz is looking to bring a title back so pay close attention to this squad. They will have something to prove after being humiliated last year. Chapel Hill ten runned them twice in last years tournament and Wentz left hanging his head in shame. The United Parcel Service looks to enter the tournament with the number 2,3, or 4 seed, so all signs point to them as being a pre season favorite. We here at CHSN will have our eyes on them and will bring any new news as it develops. 5/17/11 Kekambas are back! -Mike Foglio won his one and only championship ring back in 2008 when he made his wiffleball world series debut with Dan Wentz's Boss Squad. Foglio had a minor roll on the team and was overlooked as being a major contributor. In 2009 with the Wentz ego getting bigger and bigger he renamed his team Dans Knuckleball and failed to name Folio to the team. Foglio then attended the Kekambas tryout at Vestal field where he and Mike Zelik earned spots aliong with Jackson Boyd to the francise captained by Nick Butterini and Brad Comport. The Kekambas entered the tournament as the 3 seed and knocked off the 2nd ranked Chapel Hill Bombers in the third round 1-0. As this happened the 1 seed Dans Knuckleball was eliminated going 1 and 2 finishing in 9th place. Chapel Hill worked its way back through the losers bracket to meet the Kekambas in the championship where they took two games from Foglio and company winning on an extra inning walk off HR by Tanner Wilt. Following the disapointing defeat Kekambas manager Mo Yousef was deported in the off season and contractual obligations were not met causing a scheduling conflict resulting in the Kekambas to miss the 2010 world series. Foglio went on to form Team USA and carried them to a 4th place finish in 2010. The team could have finished bettter if it werent due to Dan Lynch errors late in their final ball game. Sources have reported that the Kekambas will be back here in 2011 but will be captained by Foglio who is making a strong HOF case as of late. Foglio will be supported by former Kekambas Brad Comport, Nick Butterini, and Jackson Boyd. The final member of the squad will be 2010 Hick all star rep Mario Posteraro. Look for Foglio to be their number 1 on the hill and for the Kekambas to enter the tourney as the number 2 or 3 seed. This team has a legit chance and we will continue to follow them this pre season. If the Kekambas have any roster changes The Chapel Hill Sports Network will be the first to report them. 5/16/11 Boom Boom Haas makes thunderous comments -Hall of fame all star turned washed up old vet Freddy "Boom Boom" Haas grabs headlines today as he called in to the Chapel Hill Sports Network requesting the fan base be enlightened with his words. Haas says hes had enough of his Team Reefer being made a mockery of and has officially changed the franchises name to Team Rehab. Haas has put in no official roster as of yet but insists that his team will be the champions this year. "We will win the 2011 Chapel Hill Wiffleball World Series, I guarantee it. Chapel Hill Bombers don't have shit on us, and Boss Squad, you know they goin down." With this being said Haas then began to give CHSN some information to back up his claim. He states that he has been practicing fielding in the off season and is a strong candidate for the Gold Glove award. Along with improving his defense Haas claims to be benching 225, "easy". With this being said Freddy insists he will "Boom Boom" at least 10 home runs this tournament. Now this is coming from a player who has not homered since 2008 but did hit his fair share back in his hay day. Haas goes on to talk smack on fellow hall of famer and former great Tanner Wilt. He says whatever team Wilt is on they should be scared beacuse hes soft and im comin for him. Finally and most importantly the former captain of Team Reefer and current captain of Team Rehab has stated that he has not smoked weed in over 3 months. This completely contradicts his closing interview of 2010 where he states, " Smoke weed everyday. Peace, love, Reefer <3" If this bold statement by Haas is true then the wiffleball world could be in store for quite a treat. Before battling substance abuse problems Haas put up some of the best numbers in the league and and won multiple gold gloves back at historic Chapel Hill Field. It will be very interesting to see if Haas and this new and improved Team Rehab show up to any pre season workouts at Espe Park but Haas sounded very legit about all of this. He spoke with honesty and determination in his voice. The Chapel Hill Sports Network will keep you updated as this story develops throughout the pre season, but be sure to come out and see Haas and Team Rehab back up these claims June 23-26 at the 2011 Chapel Hill Wiffleball World Series. 5/15/11 Basara Disrespected in Player Rankings -When 2011 player rankings were released HOF player Nick Basara was ranked 27th, a rather low ranking for a player of his stature. Basara had substance abuse problems and did not play up to his potential in last years tournament. However he played as good of wiffleball as any Bomber when playing as a call up for the Monstars. The panel did not originally take his Monstars play into consideration when making the rankings, just his Reefer play. After numerous complaints the panel got the call right and moved Basara up to 14. When playing to full potential NB is a top 10 player by all accounts but the panel had to compromise and they agreed on 14. 5/13/11 Pre-Tournament Rumors -No teams have yet to register for the '11 series but some rumors have arose. Those not stated in this article can be read in the column to the right. Here is what we know so far though, the defending champion Chapel Hill Bombers will be back and stronger then ever. Some find that hard to believe but it is the truth. The squad ten runned every team last year and sources say they have already started spring workouts. In an off season interview team captain Sean Oglesby had this to say, "Im looking forward to the series this year. Im pretty sure we'll have a strong club. The keys to our success will be if Roges stays healthy and if Bebo hits. I feel pretty confident in my abilities to contribute as i have for years and Harb has turned into one of the much clutch players in the game. Fat ass went under the knife this off season and we hope he makes a full recovery. If not we are looking into adding a sixth man to our bench just in case." In other news Anthony Bianco will be back with a strong group of Playmakers. They made a run last year but struggled in the final day of the tournament due to lack of experience. Foglio will be back along with Anton Constantino, and Constantino the reigning rookie of the year is said to be bringing back 2009 All Star Jamey Pirring. The wiffleball world eagerly awaits Pirrings return and also the rumor of the Kekamba's return. Those of you recall the Kekambas are the only team to have beaten the Bombers in recent memory. The Kekambas won a 2-1 contest in the third round of the '09 series but then fell in two games in the finals to the Bombers as Tanner Wilts extra inning HR brought the title back to Chapel Hill for a 4th time. Speaking of Wilt HOF Dan Hammonds 4th place Pittsburgh Rangers have stirred up the tournament pot in the off season. Hammond is reportedly bringing in former Bombers Wilt and Gaertner to try and make a serious run at the title this year. With this news in hand expectations are already high for Hammonds club as they are even pre season favorites in some polls. We will be sure to bring you more pre season news as it becomes available and for that make sure you stay tuned to the Chapel Hill Sports Network. 5/13/11 2011 Chapel Hill Wiffleball World Series Press Release -Chapel Hill Wiffleball commishiner Sean Oglesby announced yesterday that the tournament will be held over the course of four days this year, June 23-26. No teams have yet to officially sign up and we will keep you posted as they begin to. As for now we will give you a rough outlook of the tournament and what you should watch for. The Chapel Hill Bombers are looking for the three peat this year and we will be watching them closely throughout the pre season. Bomber captain and 2010 MVP Sean Oglesby will be back along with his younger brother and Eric Harbison. Questions remain surrounding the final two spots on the squad. One would imagine Brandon Jackson will return but there is speculation surrounding the return of Mark Jackson. Sources say the Bombers are looking into other options such as Matt Robertson, Jeff Dassner, and Dave Dunton. Time will tell who Oglesby puts as his fifth man and we look forward to following that story. In other news Dan Wentz will be back with his Boss Squad, but who that squad consists of is yet to be told. Bianco will be back with a competitive team along with Foglios band of red white and blue brothers. The biggest question lies with the Kekambas. The only team to have beaten the Bombers within the past two years was made up of bruisers such as Boyd, Comport, and Butterini. It will be very interesting to see if they make an epic return here in 2011 and when word is in The Chapel Hill Sports Network will be the first to break the news to you. |
