2022 POST SEASON TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE
The 2022 Mid Atlantic Wiffle® tournament season includes both a “regular season” slate of seven open entry tournaments and a “post-season” calendar consisting of a Wild Card Tournament and the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament. While the seven regular season events are open to any team, participation in the post-season tournaments is determined by participation and performance in the regular season events.
In 2022, six teams will compete in the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament on September 17th. Those six teams will earn their way in through: winning one of three designated regular season tournaments (3 teams), on cumulative points earned through regular season tournaments (2 teams), and through winning the Wild Card Tournament (1 team).
Point System
MAW follows a simple point system which is then used to compile cumulative season-to-date standings. Teams are awarded points on an individual tournament basis based on the number of teams competing in the event and (more importantly) how well the team performed in the tournament. See the 2021 Point Standings for a more detailed explanation of the point system and point standings.
The point standings factor into the 2022 post-season tournaments in two significant ways.
First, at the end of the seven-tournament season, the top TWO point-earners who did NOT win one of the three “automatic qualifier” bids to the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament will receive a bid to the Championship Tournament. If one team wins two of the automatic qualifying tournaments, the next three highest teams in the point standings at the end of the seven-tournament regular season will receive bids. This is to reward teams who may not win a tournament – or at least one of the three automatic qualifiers – but end the season as one of the highest ranked teams in the point standings.
Second, the regular season point standings are used to seed the tournament brackets for both the Wild Card Tournament and the Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament. If a team locks in a Mid Atlantic Championship position via one of the three auto qualifiers, they may not want to rest on their laurels quite yet as their position in the point standings will ultimately determine whether they receive a bye to the semi-finals at the Mid Atlantic Championship or if they will have to win three series to emerge as MAW champs. Similarly, the point standings will be used to seed the Wild Card Tournament.
All of this potentially leads to a final regular season tournament – Wiffs & Waves 2022 in Ocean City, MD – that could have MAJOR implications for the post-season, not only in terms of seeding but which teams get in and which are heading to the Wild Card tournament.
Win and In
There are THREE opportunities this spring & summer for teams to qualify for the Mid Atlantic Championship by winning a regular season tournament.
The winners of the Opening Day (04.23 – York, PA), Steel City Showdown (07.02 – Pittsburgh, PA), and 2022 Wiffle® Bash (07.30 – Staten Island, NY) tournaments will lock in a spot in the 2022 Mid Atlantic Championship.
This is an opportunity for full time teams to get that monkey off their back early or mid-season and focus their efforts the rest of the way on improving their post-season positioning and staying healthy. For teams to the west and north of the Mid Atlantic are, the Pittsburgh and Staten Island tournaments, respectively, provide an opportunity for teams to qualify for the big MAW Championship Tournament, while only traveling to play once during the summer. For regulars on the outside-looking-in point wise, the Staten Island tournament will be a late chance to play your way into the Championship Tournament while avoiding the Wild Card.
The winners of these three tournaments are seeded in the Championship Tournament based on their cumulative regular season point totals.
Wild Card Tournament
After the five bids have been handed out to auto qualifiers and top point earners, the final opportunity to reach the 6-team Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament is by winning the Wild Card Tournament two weeks prior.
The Wild Card Tournament is open to the top 8 teams in the point standings that competed in TWO or more MAW tournaments during the regular season and have not previously qualified for the Championship Tournament. If fewer than 8 teams are eligible and/or accept, those teams will compete at the Wild Card tournament for the final spot. The exact structure of the Wild Card tournament is dependent on the number of teams that enter. Depending on the exact number of teams, one-game byes might be given to certain teams and seeding will be based on the Point Standings. Otherwise, all teams in the Wild Card tournament will be on equal footing as they battle it out for the one final Championship spot!
The Wild Card Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, September 3rd at Shi Wiffle®Ball Park in York, PA! For the first time, a full week separates the Wild Card Tournament and Championship Tournament, meaning the Wild Card team will be at slightly less of a disadvantage as in years’ past.
Championship Tournament
The 2022 Mid Atlantic Championship Tournament – scheduled for September 17th at Shi Wiffle®Ball Park – will return to the series format used from 2017-2019 and used partially in 2021. The series format eliminates one team’s entire season coming down to one (perhaps unlucky) defeat and increases the odds that the very best team is left standing as the Mid Atlantic Champion.
Additionally, this year’s 6-team format places a renewed emphasize on cumulative regular tournament performance. The top two point-earners at the end of the 7-tournament regular season will receive a bye through to the semi-final round.
All three rounds will consist of Best 2 out of 3 series.