Longtime Staten Islander Lou Gannone and three of his friends were sitting around talking about the good old days of their youth when the conversation soon turned to Wiffle Ball, something they played almost daily in the spring and summer months.
“We were saying how much we missed it and it brought back great memories of our youth,” said Gannone. “We talked some more and then tossed around the idea of starting a Wiffle Ball league.”
Low and behold, Gannone, along with his buddies Frank Persico, Jessie Zaffutto and AJ Crisci, saw their dream become reality two months ago when the RoundTown Wiffle Ball League was born.
The loop currently has 10 teams and operates each Sunday out of Bernstein Intermediate School (IS 7) in Huguenot, not far from where Gannone, 54, and Co. grew up.
The league’s 70 players range in age from 13 to 70 and is open to males and females. Gannone says the majority of the players are in their 30s with some in their 20s, 40s, 50s and upwards. There’s even a 70-year-old player in the league.
Teams in the field consist of four to seven players. Some squads even have coaches who don’t play but just coach.
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In fact, Gannone’s 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, is the lone girl in the loop and actually holds her own.
“She’s ripping the cover off the ball,” said Gannone of his daughter. “She has more home runs than me. Of course, the guys slow their pitching down for her, and anyone 14-and-under gets four strikes instead of three.”
Taylor Gannone, 13, is the lone female in the league. Scenes from the RoundTown Wiffle Ball League games at IS 7 in Prince’s Bay Sunday afternoon. July 9, 2023. (Angela Barca for the Staten Island Advance) – Roundtown Wiffle Ball League at IS 7 July 9 2023 Angela Barca
Although only a couple of months old, the RoundTown Wiffle Ball League is gaining popularity as more and more folks want to play.
“We had to turn people away this summer,” said…
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