History 1.0

WAKA 4.0

WAKA went through many changes in the offseason of 2017. With so much change a new look was in order. The "Warp Speed" Uniforms debuted in the Spring on 2018 and really showed the new team attitude. 2018 saw a former group of rivals become crucial new members of the WAKA family. The new players who arrived for this year helped bring a new hunger to each team. Each WAKA team starting in 2018 saw at least one of the new players join up. The new focus was on speed. With the new additions the average age on WAKA dropped by roughly 4 years. With the influx of youth came the ability to push for extra bases and more ground to cover in the field.

WAKA's oldest Sunday had an overhaul of its 2017 roster. After winning the ABL championship in the Spring of 2017, the team decided not to play in the Fall of '17 This led to some of the players finding new homes on other teams for 2018. The roster for 2018 added many fresh faces and the team had a younger feel. But as it go's, what you gain in age/speed you loose with wisdom The team opened the season by getting swept in WKN on what was probably the second coldest day ever for softball (Coldest being the 3 game's vs XO in 2015). After that set of games let everyone know you can't come in and expect to win without having the right attitude, the team started to click. It took a test from LOB to really bring this team together and solidify it as the team to beat. The rest of the Spring the WAKA/Cooper Bar team found its stride. It would face off with one of its biggest Rivals Tiano's in the Championship. After a back and forth in game 1, they found themselves down 7 runs in the bottom of the 7th. In what was one of the best hitting displays of the season the team was able to score 8 runs and walk off on them. After taking their heart game 2 was over before it started. WAKA/Cooper took home the ABL Spring A-Div Championship.

The Fall was the long awaited return of this team to DoubleAA Sundays. The roster again felt the change of a few bodies leaving and being added but the heart stayed right where it was. The Fall saw the roster depth really challenged as there were injuries and work not to mention rain which wasn't so much a problem for this team but made the overall Sunday schedule a bit of a mess. The general thoughts from people around the league wasn't very much of this team considering they didn't feel winning the ABL ship in the Spring was too high of an accomplishment. That sentiment seemed to change as this team made an improbable run in the Fall A-Div playoffs. Having to beat a solid Cinelli Team started the run. The Clifton Reds showed up to the stadium with a head of steam and once again after falling down early in game 1 and having to fight back, this team was faced

The new Co-Ed roster featured four brand new WAKA females. Each of the new ladies brought a different attribute to help contribute to what was looked at as a team reboot. The expectations for this new Co-ed team were to try and win a game in the playoff's. The bar was set reasonably considering the fact it was a new team and most of the players hadn't played together let alone for a WAKA team. The season started strong but with some big injuries saw many of the starters unable to play down the stretch. Heading into the playoff's and with all the injuries the chances of hitting that goal for the season were bleak.

We ended up winning our first round playoff game in somewhat dominating fashion which put the team moral at a season high. Getting our preseason goal accomplished was a good feeling but considering how well everyone had played earlier in the year it felt like the team had yet to reach its max potential. A second round loss to BJ's sent the team to the losers bracket. On a beautiful August night the WAKA Co-Ed team would need to win 3 games in order to take its first Championship. It started the Semi Final game with only 8 players. That turned to 9 in the 4th inning when the remaining roster was finally able to start getting out of work. Winning the semi final game after playing most with 8 players is one of the more impressive wins in the organizations history. The team then started the Championship with 9 players against a very good Blackjack team. Both teams played hard but WAKA was with in 2 runs in every inning. We gained our 10th player late in the game we the team was able to hold off a strong 7th inning from BJ's to take game 1. Game two was also a close game until the very end but with the momentum we had built on the night nothing could stop that squad. The Coed Team would go on to win all 3 games in improbable fashion to take home the first ever WAKA Co-Ed Championship.

The team made a few roster adjustments for the Fall season and again started the season strong. This season didn't see the injuries from the Spring however and they were able to run through the regular season while only losing 2 games. (Of note is the fact this Fall saw the second most rainfall on record for all of NJ) The Fall Co-Ed marched right on through the playoffs and won their second Championship in dominating form.

Results:

SPRING

18' ABL Sundays 19-5 ( ! )

18' DAA Sundays 20-4

18' DAA Co-Ed 13-5 ( ! )

18' DAA Weeknight 13-5 ( ! )

18' Aflight Sports 17-1 ( ! )

FALL

18' DAA Sundays (Cooper) 18-8

18' DAA Sunday (Aftermath) 19-5

18' DAA Co-Ed 11-2 ( ! )

18' DAA Weeknight 12-3 ( ! )