September 11, 2024
What is it about hitting a plastic sphere over an eight-foot wall about 70 feet away that makes you want to flex your muscles?
Welcome to the thrill of Wiffleball.
For the past 11 years (minus the lost year of 2020 due to COVID), the Amy For Africa mission has staged the AFA Wiffleball tournament at Unity Baptist Church in Ashland. Teams come from three states to get a crack at our Green Monster modeled after Fenway Park or bounce one off the Warehouse (church office of Unity Baptist) field that is modeled after Camden Yard.
Let’s face it, creativity means a lot these days.
Twenty-four teams (we have had as many as 40 teams) come in with a guarantee of playing two three-inning games with some unique rules including no baserunning. More on that later. The four-man teams pay a $40 entry fee.
Thirty-five games were played over six hours on Saturday and an estimated 170 home runs went flying out of the two fields combined and that’s not counting the Home Run Derby when at least that many more were hit.
It was a smashing good time, let’s just say, and the mission was able to raise more than $2,000 for the ministry that is building Christian schools and thriving in Uganda.
The tournament started in 2013 and has grown in popularity. It has become a must-do summer event. You know why? The focus is on fun. The atmosphere is electric and Christian music is playing over the loudspeakers non-stop the entire time. We have umpires for the games, but arguments are few and none ever serious. Teams stick around and fellowship even after they’ve been eliminated (you must win every game to be crowned champion) and many onlookers come over with their lawn chairs and take in games.
It was a family affair. Fathers and sons and fathers and daughters were part of some teams. Brothers played together and against each other. Couples played with their kids. You name it, this tournament had it.
Hitting a home run in your sixties is like chugging 32 ounces from the Fountain of Youth.
In our rules, you pitch to your own team. If a ball hit is fielded cleanly, the batter is out. If not, or if the ball stops rolling before a defender gets to it, it’s a single or double, depending on where it stops. Anything off the fence – groundball or fly ball – is a triple and anything over the fence is a home run. That’s why there is no need for baserunning (fielding is different, of course).
There’s a six-run limit per inning and teams are allowed to purchase “Mission Balls” (heavier Wiffleballs) in one inning for $5.
The winning team gets a championship trophy and the Home Run Derby winner receives a silver metallic painted bat. Derby entries are $10 apiece and 25 participated.
Don’t get the idea it’s not competitive though. Players dive over fences to try and keep those plastic balls in play. Some of their attempts are dangerous and probably SportsCenter worthy including one in the championship game where the defender draped himself over a chain-link fence to try and snatch away a home run.
It all adds up to an incredible fundraiser that over 11 years has brought in nearly $30,000 to the Amy For Africa ministry, an organization operated by Kentucky Baptists Chris and Amy Compston.
It is also a witness to the community that it’s not only good to be a Christian, but it can be a lot of fun, too!
___
This story was first published by Kentucky Today.
