The OKWiffle Forum is now back up and running. Check it out here.

The Official 2010 Rules are now up on the site. All changes are denoted in the text.

The time is NOW to sign up for league play in 2010!

Download and mail in your entry form here.

The Oklahoma WiffleBall League is going to radically change how we play the game of WiffleBall in Oklahoma. Instead of playing a bunch of tournaments for limited prizes, Wifflers in Oklahoma will now be able to take part in league play for the first time in this region with cash and points on the line in each game!

The goal for each team: to reach the League Championship playoffs in August!

The goal was to combine the openness of tournament play with the continuity of league play. The league will take place over four weeks in June - August. The dates are tenatively scheduled for June 26, July 10, July 24, and August 7 with the playoffs being on August 21.Teams will play four games each week for a possible total of 16 games. The league standings will be kept in the same manner hockey and/or soccer standings are kept, where teams are awarded points for their performance.

Teams will be awarded points based upon their performance and achievements, making every game and every inning count! Here is the proposed breakdown of how to earn points in 2010, so it is subject to change up until opening day:

1 point for every 5 base runners.
1 point for every 10 strikeouts.
3 points for every 7 runs you score.
3 points for each game played.
5 points for a tie and sudden death loss.
5 points for a shutout in regulation (win or loss).
7 points for a tie and sudden death win.
10 points for each regulation win.

Also, in addition to earning potential points every inning you step on the field, you will also be playing for money! Each game you play will have cash prizes on the line!

We will initiate a cut system for the playoffs where the exact number of teams will be determined by the amount of teams who play in the league. At the very least, 4 teams will be invited to play in the tournament where there will be serious cash prizes on the line!

Pricing for the league is $70 per week. However, we will be offering all four weeks at $200, which is a significant savings on the total cost! The pricing on the playoffs will be announced at a later date. Our goal will be to pay back 100% of this year's entry fees throughout the season!

We will have a new site design, information on pre-season Wiffle and much more coming in the very near future, so stay tuned!

With us starting league play, we are looking at changing several rules going into 2010. Please note that all of the changes are not final and subject to revision, we will have a final version of the 2010 rules by the end of February!

1.Wider Fields/New Equipment - The fields are currently 30 degrees wide at home plate and will be widened to 70 degrees, almost 2x wider. Also, there will be an 8 x 8 backstop behind home plate.

2.Expanded Rosters - Rosters will be expanded to 6 players to compensate for the expanded roster needs of league play.

3.Games 4 Innings - All games will be made 4 innings officially.

4.Strike Zone - The top six inches of the strike zones will be taken off and the new zones will be 24 x 30.

5.Pitching Distance - To encourage more offense, we will be moving the mound back one foot to 46 feet.

6.One Strike Looking Rule - To reward hitters who work the count, but to also keep teams from taking every pitch the one strike looking rule will only be in effect the first 3 pitches of any at bat.

7.Ground ball putouts - Fielders will have to field the ball and throw it to the backstop for one out and they have to hit the strike zone for a double play.

8.Wild Pitches - Wild pitches will be called if a pitch misses the backstop. All runners on base will advance one base.

9.Pitching Inning Limits - For league play only: The exact number is TBD, but a pitcher will only be allowed to pitch half of his teams innings. So if a team is playing 4 games, a pitcher will be able to pitch 8 innings total.

10.Stat Tracking - It will now be mandatory for the home team to keep score of the game and turn it in to the league so stats can be properly tracked.

We have a ton of teams expressing interest in playing in the Oklahoma WiffleBall State Championship, but we have only had two teams for sure comitt to the tournament. If you are planning on playing, be sure to get your entry in soon! If you are entering more than one team, be sure to ask about the discount available!

Entered Teams:

1. Junkyard Dogs - Fast Pitch
2. Oklahoma Dynasty - Medium Pitch
3. The Sluggers - Fast Pitch
4. Ragin Cajuns - Fast Pitch
5. Shockers - Fast Pitch*
6. Homeless Romans - Fast Pitch*
7. One Hit Wonders - Fast Pitch*
8. Ryan's Team - Fast Pitch*
9. Bayou Blasters - Medium Pitch*

*Verbals

This is from Alan Ledet on our forum: Congratulations go out to the Homeless Romans for winning the 2009 Cajun Classic! It was a very competitive tournament and it came down to extra innings to complete the deal. Hope everyone had a good time and will back for the 2010 Cajun Classic! Thank all of you!

Full report and results will be available soon!

The Ragin Cajuns dominated their way to their second straight tournament championship. The Cajuns had some issues with the bats, but their arms did more than enough to seal the tournament victory. Not only did the Cajuns not give up any runs, they did not even surrendur a hit.

The Shockers advanced to their first championship game but came up short after posting an otherwise unblemished record. The Homeless Romans once again captured third place after downing the One Hit Wonders 8-1.

Pool Play
Shockers 4 Tidal Wave 0
Homeless Romans 10 Tea Baggers 3
Ragin Cajuns 4 One Hit Wonders 0
Shockers 6 One Hit Wonders 4
Tidal Wave 10 Tea Baggers 2
Ragin Cajuns 1 Homless Romans 0
Shockers 2 Homeless Romans 1
Ragin Cajuns 4 Tea Baggers 0
One Hit WOnders 11 Tidal Wave 4

Bracket Play
One Hit Wonders 7 Tidal Wave 2
Homeless Romans 5 Tea Baggers 4
Ragin Cajuns 10 One Hit Wonders 0
Shockers 7 Homeless Romans 0

Third Place
Homeless Romans 8 One Hit Wonders 1

Championship
Ragin Cajuns 2 Shockers 0

Junkyard Dogs pitcher and OKWiffle All-Star Chris Sanner will miss the remainder of the 2009 season with a Torn Labrum. Sanner is expected to try to conservatively treat the injury, but if conservative treatment fails, he will have to have surgery. Recovery time is expected to be 6-12 months, depending on the severity of the injury.

On that same note, the Junkyard Dogs have dropped out of the tournament this weekend, but we have 7 teams who are planning on attending.

1. Ragin Cajuns
2. Tea Baggers
3. Homeless Romans
4. Tidal Wave
5. Shockers
6. One Hit Wonders
7. The Sharks

Currently, we have six teams entered for the Midsummer Classic this Saturday. There is still plenty of time to get your entry in! If you have a group of our guys or more, don't forget we offer discounts to any second or third teams you enter! A second or third team will be merely $5 more per team on top of the original $30 entry fee! Here are the entered teams for June 20th:

1. Junkyard Dogs
2. Ragin Cajuns
3. Tea Baggers
4. Homeless Romans
5. Tidal Wave
6. Shockers

So far we have received no entries for the tournament on June 6. Remember that the entry deadline is June 18th! We know for sure that the Ragin Cajuns won't be able to attend this tournament, so a new champion is for going to be crowned!

We are coming up on the second tournament of the season quicker than you think! Be sure to head to the tournaments page to get all the details on the second tournament of the year! Also, we are playing Wiffle every Friday for the rest of the summer starting at 6:30. If you are interested, be sure to contact us to get directions!

Pool Play Results
Ragin Cajuns 11 Tidal Wave 1
JYD 1 Shockers 0
Stone Cobras 9 Homeless Romans 6
Ragin Cajuns 7 Stone Cobras 0
Homeless Romans 11 Shockers 0
JYD 4 Tidal Wave 1
JYD 6 Homeless Romans 1
Ragin Cajuns 5 Shockers 0
Tidal Wave 0 Stone Cobras 7

Bracket Play Results
First Rd
Homeless Romans 3 Tidal Wave 2
Stone Cobras 1 Shockers 0

Semifinals
Ragin Cajuns 1 Homeless Romans 0
Junkyard Dogs 1 Stone Cobras 0

Fifth Place
Shockers d. Tidal Wave (forfeit)

Third Place
Homeless Romans 7 Stone Cobras 0

Championship
Ragin Cajuns 2 Junkyard Dogs 0

Here is the schedule for tomorrow's tournament. We have six teams entered. Unfortunately we had four potential new teams which didn't materialize for this tournament but we certainly hope we can get them out for our next tournament in June! The tournament format is as follows:

Format: Teams will be split into two pools based upon their OKWiffle Ranking (seed). The Top seed will be paired with the bottom seed as well as the fourth seed and the two and three seeds will be with the fifth seed. Teams will play three round robin games, two games against teams in their pool and one game outside of their pool. Teams will then play bracket play.

Pool Play Schedule
9am
Ragin Cajuns vs. Tidal Wave
JYD vs. Shockers
Stone Cobras vs. Homeless Romans

10am
Ragin Cajuns vs. Stone Cobras
Homeless Romans vs. Shockers
JYD vs. Tidal Wave

11am
JYD vs. Homeless Romans
Ragin Cajuns vs. Shockers
Ridal Wave vs. Stone Cobras

Bracket Play Schedule
Noon
First Round Games, Pool winners get a bye

1PM
Semifinal Games and fifth place game.

2PM
Championship and Third Place game

It looks like rain is firmly in the forecast for tonight and into tomorrow morning. While many Wiffle leagues across the country do play rain or shine, OKWiffle has and will continue to maintain a policy that we will not play in rainy weather or on soaked fields so we don't damage the parks we play in.

If we play in muddy conditions, the fields we play on will require extensive renovation in order to be playable for local teams again. Therefore, if we get a large amount of rain tonight into tomorrow we will cancel the tournament.

There are two times we will make this decision, at midnight tonight and at 6am tomorrow morning. There will be an e-mail dispersed at both times. In the event of a rainout, all tournament fees will be refunded and the tournament will be rescheduled, most likely for July.

Be sure to check back tomorrow as we will be posting the tournament schedule for the first tournament! If you haven't entered and want to, get in touch with me by the end of the day to set up a way to get your form in before the tournament begins!

The final 2009 rulebook saw some major revisions and simplifications over the intial proposed version. Be sure to read comissioner Chris Sanner's thoughts on the rules changes on our forum!

There will be a couple of additional rules changes to the rules next week in preparation for the new season as we attempt to keep the game as simple as possible to pick up and play. These will be the last scheduled changes until the winter.

We are a couple of weeks until the Grand Slam Championship and we haven't yet really seen a big influx of entrants. However, there are several familiar faces who are set to return.

1. Junkyard Dogs (Paid)
2. Tidal Wave (Paid)
3. Homeless Romans (Paid)
4. Ragin Cajuns (Verbal)
5. Stone Cobras (Verbal)
6. Comets (Verbal)

So what are you waiting for? Get those entries in ASAP! The deadline will be here before you know it!!

We have just released the 2009 pre-season rankings. Check them out to see where your team is ranked!

1. Ragin' Cajuns - Really, who else are you going to put at #1? These guys are the model for consistency and are poised to capture another State Championship if they can stay healthy.
2. Junkyard Dogs - The Junkyard Dogs are part of the 'old-guard' of Oklahoma WiffleBall but have yet to win a State Championship. Could 2009 be their year?
3. Stone Cobras - The Stone Cobras had a good showing in their debut tournament last year. Look for them to really make some noise in 2009.
4. Texas Aces - There is a bit of a rumor floating around (again) that the guys from Wichita Falls might be getting back together. They will still be good, but are they still elite?
5. Jack City - Jack City needs to continue to improve their pitching in order to make a run at a championship, we will see if that happens this year.
6. Homeless Romans - The Homeless Romans made a move all the way up to fourth place in the 2009 State Championshp. Will they make some moves up the standings this year?
7. Comets - Considered the Junkyard Dogs AAA team, the Comets could be out in full force in 2009. If an arm or two can develop, there is enough raw talent to make a move at a tournament championship this year.
8. White Trash Express - Another team from south of the Red River rumored to be making at trip north in 2009. These guys can play with anyone, but they have historically lacked the big arm to win against those teams.
9. Dark Matter - Dark Matter debuted in the 2008 State Championship and showed some flashes of brilliance. If they can be more consistent, the win column may be a bit busier this year.
10. Tidal Wave - TIDAAALL WAAAAVE! The team widely considered the favorite team to play against in the early part of this decade is talking about a one year reunion tour to give it one last shot. We hope this is true and have put Tidal Wave at #10 to encourage them to come back!

Entry forms for the OKWiffle Grand Slam Championship are now available and online! Check out the tournaments page to grab your entry form or simply download it direct here. Here is the basic info on the tournament:

The first Oklahoma Wiffleball tournament of 2009 will be played on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at Rotary Park in Norman, OK! The tournament will be a two man tournament (1-3 player roster sizes) with two divisions of play. Teams will have to denote whether they wish to play in the major league (pro) or minor league (recreation) divison. The tournament will feature a round robin qualifying round and then a championship round. Be sure to join us in beautiful Norman, OK to kick off the 2009 season!

Just a quick update for everyone passing through, I will be getting entry forms and such together for April 18th! If you have any questions be sure to hit me up via e-mail!

The 2009 rules have been finalized and are now online for you to view! We have tried to simplify the rules while maintaining the core pieces of what makes WiffleBall work. The changed rules are marked clearly so you can see what exactly is new. Be sure to check out the rules page to see what's new!

April 18, 2009
June 20, 2009
August 22, 2009

We hope to see you out there!

AAA Bracket:
First Round
Stone Cobras 5 Dark Matter 2
Bayou Blasters 14 Team Snuffalupagous 4

Semifinals
Stone Cobras 5 Jack City 0
Bayou Blasters 10 Shockers 0 (f)

Finals
Stone Cobras 13 Bayou Blasters 3

Championship Bracket:

First Round
Homeless Romans 8 Shockers 5
Ragin Cajuns 11 Jack City 1

Semifinals
Vipers 10 Homeless Romans 0
Ragin Cajuns 3 Junkyard Dogs 2

3rd Place
Junkyard Dogs 3 Homeless Romans 2

Championship
Vipers 3 Ragin Cajuns 1

Round Robin:

10am
Junkyard Dogs vs. Shockers
Team Snuffalupagous vs. Bayou Bashers
Jack City vs. Stone Cobras
Vipers vs. Homeless Romans

11am
Ragin Cajuns vs. Dark Matter
Junkyard Dogs vs. Jack City
Vipers vs. Team Snuffalupagous
Bayou Blasters vs. Homeless Romans

12pm
Vipers vs. Ragin Cajuns
Dark Matter vs. Stone Cobras
Team Snuffalupagous vs. Shockers
Junkard Dogs vs. Homeless Romans

1pm
Ragin Cajuns vs. Stone Cobras
Dark Matter vs. Bayou Bashers
Jack City vs. Shockers

Championship Round:

AAA Championship
Seeds 7-10 as well as the losers of the first round of the championship bracket will play for the AAA Championship. Rounds will start at 2pm, 3pm and the AAA Championship will be at 4pm.

State Majors Championship
Seeds 1-6 will play in the Major Championshpi Bracket. Seeds 4-5 and 3-6 will play in the first round with the winners going on to face the 1st and 2nd seeds. The losers move to the AAA bracket. The winners of the semis go to the State Championship Game and the losers go to the still important 3rd place game. Rounds will start at 2pm, 3pm and the State Championship and Third Place Game will be at 4pm.

Remember team check-in time is 9:30 am SHARP! We will be going over rules and other matters shortly after that point. See everyone tomorrow!

1. Junkyard Dogs
2. Jack City
3. Snuffalupagous
4. Stone Cobras
5. Bayou Blasters
6. Shockers
7. Homeless Romans
8. Vipers
9. Dark Matter
10. Ragin Cajuns

1. Junkyard Dogs
2. Jack City
3. Snuffalupagous
4. Stone Cobras
5. Bayou Blasters
6. Shockers
7. Homeless Romans
8. Vipers
9. Dark Matter

Wiffleball proper started when I was twelve years of age. Luckily for me, my father (and mother) had three more partners pop out the bag which, in turn, gave me two playmates : my brothers (the third was my sister [she doesn’t count!]) Since my brothers are only five and six years apart, I’ve had an amazing opportunity to practice and play the game with them for years. It was Wiffleball in my grandma’s back yard that instilled the glory of the game in me. Even as a little boy and while dominating in baseball, I looked as Wiffleball as not only a better sport than its contemporary, but a harder one as well. Countless hours I’ve spent in a many of back yards adjusting to each as if it were a big league park and hoping people around the neighborhood actually cared (they didn’t.) My favorite thing about Wiffleball has to be its flexibility to be played anywhere with anyone.

Stories grow like legends from the yellow-bat game. I remember my brother Shane hitting his first home run at age seven, rounding the bases, stepping on home plate, and uttering a famous Michael Keating line: “Nice f*ckin model.” He grabbed himself the way Beatlejuice did as my grandma walked out and screamed, “Shane, you’re in trouble!!” His reply was, “Oh sh*t!” It’s been eleven years since that day and exponentially the stories have grown (albeit less vulgar.)

As the older brother I encouraged my brothers to play to the point of exhaustion. I’m sure they hated me. I used to tape the games to watch the highlights afterwards; instead I would hear myself on camera yelling the most awful things at my brothers. I knew then I had a competitive flaw. However, time goes by and wounds heal, but Wiffleball has never left my family. Recently, Wiffleball has had a major revival; my father plays regularly with my brothers and me, creating a team within a family.

Going into the 2008 Oklahoma Wiffleball championship I think my strongest talent is my coaching ability. The ability to make adjustments at both the plate and the mound are things that I believe will translate into a successful stint at Rotary Park. Where my talent is coaching, my teammate’s is just plain talent! God gives everyone a skill and my teammate’s is everything Baseball and/or Wiffleball. Enough said. With these things in mind, I reiterate that we expect to win, and if not at least win, to compete to the very last out with the future champions of Oklahoma Wiffleball.

Ryan: Like many other players, I have been playing wiffleball unofficially in front yards, parks, etc since I was young and involved in little league baseball.

OKWiffle: What is your favorite thing about the sport of WiffleBall?

Ryan: I used to be involved in baseball as a pitcher, and ever since then I have been interested in pitcher vs. batter duals. Wiffleball is the ultimate game of 1 on 1 match ups. If one side can figure the other side out, it can lead to dominating performances. As a pitcher, it is always interesting to find and exploit the weaknesses of opposing batters by using specialized pitches and combinations. When batting, theres nothing like grooving the opposing pitchers best stuff out of the yard.

OKWiffle: What is the biggest strength of your talents?

Ryan: I am very good at paying attention to detail. I am good at finding the area of my opponents' weakness and capitalizing on it.

OKWiffle: Who should guys be looking for on your team come state championship time?

Ryan: We have a great team of excited and motivated players...I would not single out any specific player on our team as 'the guy' to look for. Our whole team has great talent in various categories.

OKWiffle: How do you expect your team to do in the state championship?

Ryan: We will perform to the best of our abilities, and when you do that you always have a sense that great things will happen. I expect the best, and am excited to see what the other teams will have to offer.

Right now, sources close to the team indicate that captain Chris Sanner met with his younger cousin earlier today to discuss the possibility of such a move. Chris has long been on record as saying he thinks a closer would work in Wiffleball if given the right opportunity.

"For years now WiffleBall has been played nationwide with one expectation," Chris Sanner said last season at an event at Junk Field. "Pitchers have been expected to play out the entire game unless they got into trouble. Very few if any teams use a closer. I'd like to be one of the first to use one."

The idea of a closer in WiffleBall has not been widely accepted yet due to pitchers being able to pitch multiple games over the course of a day. Many cite their strategy as just keeping the hot hand in and not messing with the possibility of giving up a run, but not Sanner.

"I think that if you have two good pitchers, it would be unwise to not use both in a game," Chris Sanner said when asked about a closer in WiffleBall earlier this year. "Ideally, you'd want the best pitcher to pitch the majority of the innings and then have the guy who has less stuff to close things out. But he must be able to throw strikes."

If the move is made, the Junkyard Dogs would likely pitch either Chris Sanner or John Darter for the majority of the game before bringing in the younger sanner, Blakely, for the save. As the team that could very well be considered the favorite to take home the championship crown, all eyes will be on the Junkyard Dogs to see what they do with the situation.

Oklahoma City WiffleBall League: Right now the preliminary plans set this league as being a 4-6 franchise league with all games being played in Norman at Rotary Park next season. We aren't sure of a lot of details at this moment, but right now it looks rather good that we will have a league come next spring. If you are potentially interested in investing in owning a franchise, you should e-mail Chris Sanner right now. The key to getting the league to work will be good franchise ownership.

State Championship Will Return: The State Championship Tournament will return next August so we can continue to crown a State Champion.

While this post is rather vague as to what to expect for next year, you can bet we will have several bits of into about the league coming out at the State Championship. Right now, the vision is to have the full details for the upcoming season available by October so we can get owners for the league and then start passing out flyers for players to join. Be sure to stay tuned to OKWiffle.com as we release more details.

The Basics

OkWiffle is a scuffed ball league, which basically means you can scuff your WiffleBalls using sandpaper, concrete, etc. for a better grip. We do not allowing "knifing" of the ball or any other modifications which effect the overall roundness of the ball. Therefore, it is to your benefit to scuff the balls at least a little bit. I personally used to nearly overscuff my balls, but now I just barely scuff it to give it just the right grip. Also, remember to warm up properly. As with any other kind of pitching, failure to warm up properly can result in injury if you are not careful.

The Riser

First off, you hold the ball with the holes facing towards the ground. The grip consists of you holding the ball at the equator. The delivery for this pitch is a side arm delivery where you want to flick your wrist with an upwards movement. There are many different variations of the riser but it will be really hard to move to any of them without first mastering the basic riser pitch. At least 90% of all good Wiffle Ball pitchers (if not 100%) can throw some form of a riser.

The Drop Ball

The drop ball is a pitch which, when used in tandem with the riser, is a deadly strike out pitch. You hold the ball exactly opposite of the riser and you want to throw the ball with a downward movement in your wrist. I personally throw the ball with a 3/4 grip on the ball and I throw the ball from a big higher motion than side-arm, but there are many different ways to throw the drop. The main theme is to give the ball a downward push with your wrist and to aim it high so it can drop through the zone.

Final Tips

THROW STRIKES! If you have to sacrifice speed for accuracy, do it. Some guys get out to tournaments and see guys throwing balls incredibly fast and think they have to do that to be competitive as well. That is not the case! If you can throw strikes with good movement, you are going to be able to compete with even the best. So do not think you have to throw as fast as the best to be able to compete. I have seen slower pitchers beat faster pitchers several times over the years, so it isn't even a rare occurance.

What: Oklahoma Wiffle Ball State Championship
Where: Norman, Oklahoma (Rotary Park on Boyd Street)
When: Saturday August 23, first pitch at 10am
Entry Fee: $30
Prizes: As long as we get 8 teams, we will have cash and trophy prizes. The Top Prize could be as much as $250!
Teams: 1-3 Players
Rules: Click Here.
Entry Form: Click Here. (Microsoft Word Format)
For More Information: Click Here