Continuing an annual tradition of wiffle ball
By: Mike Briggs – Special Writer
For many, July and August are sun-filled months where families and friends come together to enjoy past traditions of summer cookouts and trips to the shore.
However, for West Windsor-Plainsboro High South graduate Chris Palmieri and group of his close friends, there is one tradition that triumphs them all – wiffle ball.
For the past seven summers, Palmieri and 15 other residents and former students of WW-P come back home to participate in their own annual Wiffle Ball World Series at Rolling Rock Field in West Windsor. Coming home could be an understatement for some of the game’s players, as the event draws in former West Windsor residents from Japan, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Boston for two days of competitive play.
"The Wiffle Ball World Series mostly began as some backyard fun between some of our high school and middle school friends," said Palmieri. "But even after everyone left for college and started jobs, no matter where we were, we came back for the WBWS."
Being that this was the seventh year of the tournament, Palmieri has enjoyed seeing the tournament blossom into an event that brings family, friends and residents together to see a few games of high-level games hosted by Nick Cream Sr. and Nick Cream Jr.
"Everyone’s gotten pretty good over the years, some of the guys even enter some pro tournaments throughout the year," Palmieri said. "We have some good pitchers, guys who can throw the ball 70 mph from over 40 feet away with a lot of movement on it. There have been some no-hitters and a lot of games that went without many hits, the pitching has been impressive."
Though wiffle ball may be a sport you can jump in and play from the start and have a good feel for the game, Palmieri, who says he has been playing wiffle ball since 2003, believes that some aspects of the sport can be more than what catches the eye. "The ball is much harder to hit in wiffle ball than it is in a sport like baseball," said Palmieri. "I’ve played a little more wiffle ball than baseball, but I can tell you that the bat is just so much smaller and while anyone can step in and play, it’s harder to step in and be a successful hitter when the ball moves as much as it does."
The Wiffle Ball series has not changed much in seven years, excluding the addition of one new player, as the event has stayed true to its roots of backyard fun between a group of high school friends and family.
This year, the team "If that board had hair" beat out a few other teams with similarly peculiar nicknames for the championship, as Chris Singh won his fifth championship in seven years.

