By Rob Katz
Sentinel Correspondent
Greenwich’s annual Wiffle ball tournament is back for another year thanks to the efforts of local sports devotee Adam Franchella.
The rebranded competition, title sponsored by Garden Catering, will be held on behalf of Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich at the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center tomorrow—Saturday, July 22.
Franchella, one of the winners of the 2011 tournament, organized the newly-dubbed Garden Catering Wiffle ball Tournament (previously the Greenwich Wiffle Ball Tournament) filling in for previous organizers, including recently named Greenwich High School head cheerleading coach and former tournament event chair Erin Montague.
“I called [Montague] two months ago and said, ‘Hey Erin, I haven’t heard anything about the tournament this year, is it going on?’ And she said that it wasn’t, that they had decided not to throw it this year,” Franchella said. “The day after, I called the town of Greenwich and looked at the field availability and began planning a tournament in [the previous one’s] absence.”
Hoping to benefit from brand name recognition, Franchella approached annual tournament sponsor Garden Catering, which specializes in chicken nuggets, and opened its first store on Greenwich Avenue, because of its connection with the town.
“Garden Catering is, I think, the most prototypical Greenwich business there is. Everyone in town knows it, everyone in town loves it. They do so much on behalf of charities, especially their involvement with youth.”
Frank Carpenteri, Jr., a close friend of Franchella, said he “didn’t have to think twice” when Franchella asked to use the name of the company, which has sponsored the tournament since it began in 2008.
“I grew up in Greenwich and have so many awesome memories playing at all the public parks and beaches that this town has to offer,” Carpenteri said. “We [at Garden Catering] always try to give back, especially through events that are family- or kid-centric.”
A portion of the proceeds from the event will go toward Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, which offers educational programs to Greenwich children, according to the group’s website.
“It was always a charity that is close to my heart,” Franchella said.
Two pertinent changes to the actual tournament have also been made in order to keep the playing field leveled for the participating community.
The first is the removal of a cash prize, in order to deter teams from outside the community who may only be entering for the prize money.
“One of the key things that would happen every year would be ‘professional’ teams, who literally traveled along the East Coast to win tournaments and cash prizes, would come and dominate the tournament,” Franchella said.
The other change, inspired by this same issue, has been moving the pitch speed from “unlimited” to “medium.”
“Pitchers could throw as fast as they possibly could as long as they could hit the strike zone, and teams that could do that with accuracy got a major advantage. Most other teams couldn’t stand a chance.”
Under “medium” pitch speed rules, both teams in any individual game are required to decide on a mutually agreed medium speed, and the umpire would then regulate it.
“This will even the playing field out and make every team competitive, which unfortunately wasn’t the case in years past,” Franchella said.
Montague, one of the previous organizers, seemed to agree with Franchella on the tournament’s value to the Greenwich community.
“After my first year helping to run the tournament, I was in awe of how our town was coming together,” Montague said. “From the police department to the community members to local agencies, everyone came to the table to see how they could help.”
She also lauded Franchella’s effort as well as the support he has received in continuing the tournament’s annual run.
“For Adam to take this one with only a few months of preparation is admirable,” Montague said. “The fact that our other peers and friends from town jumped on to help goes to show that this event was special for many. It’s a real testament to ‘it takes a village.’”
Team registration is still open for the Competitive and Friendly divisions. However, Franchella noted that due to low registration in the Friendly division, the divisions will likely have to be merged this year.
Online registration and more information on the Garden Catering Wiffleball Tournament is available at gardencateringwiffle.com.
