After graduating from Baldwin in 2019, Austin Bechtold and some fellow grads started playing wiffle ball in his backyard to keep in touch with each other. Then the next summer, they decided to make it official, forming the Baldwin Wiffleball League.

Now in its seventh season, Baldwin Wiffleball has raised thousands of dollars for charity and has participated in national tournaments that feature replicas of famous ballparks like Fenway Park and the “Field of Dreams” ballpark. Just as importantly, the local league has been a way to maintain friendships over the years.

“Where we started on day one is a lot different from where we are now,” Bechtold said. “In the early process of it, it was just finding enough bats and balls.”

Now, a company called Stee-rike 3 partners with the league and provides them with balls to use in their games. But to start a wiffle ball league, you need players first and foremost.

“It really started off with just asking our friends and friends of friends,” Bechtold said. “We had about 25 to 28 people the first year.”

The league now has 50 people playing on six different teams. And they’re not just from Baldwin. Players also come from Keystone Oaks, North Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Thomas Jefferson, as well as other suburbs.

In fact, the first league championship was won by a team of guys from Thomas Jefferson.

The first year “was 90% Baldwin grads, but a couple of guys who I grew up with were from TJ,” Bechtold said. “It was kind of ironic (that they won). There were about five TJ guys who all came together and played on the same team.”

League games are played on weekends at Leland Park.

They’ve had a couple of women participate over the years, including Baldwin grad and former Highlanders softball player Addie Tagg, who played from 2021 to 2025. Some league members played four years of baseball in high school, while others had no earlier baseball experience.

“I actually never even played T-ball. I just ran cross country, track, and played soccer – not a single out of baseball,” Baldwin grad John Ziegler said. 

Pitcher Jake Monroe, on the other hand, played four years of baseball in high school and now coaches high school baseball for Peters Township.

“There’s a lot of difference from baseball,” Monroe said. “The balls do not move as fast, but the mound is closer, so it makes a big difference.” 

The league’s six teams are named the FireBirds, Black Bears, Chicken Feeders, Bandits, Thunder, and Camels. Bechtold plays for and serves as captain for the FireBirds, as well as commissioner of the league.

Bryce Chapla, who played baseball for four years while at Baldwin, is the team captain of the Bandits. He has won the league’s Cy Young Award for pitching.

He pointed out one big advantage of playing wiffleball for these graduates.

“Because we play wiffleball, there are a lot fewer injuries, especially as we get older,” Chapla said. 

The season always culminates with playoffs, with the last two teams standing facing each other in a best-of-three series that takes place over the course of a day. Aaron Exler, team captain of the Black Bears, said the league features great competition. “I think my favorite memory was winning the championship. It took us three years to get to that point and it was super rewarding,” Exler said. 

In 2023, the league sent its best players to play in the National Wiffle League Association’s tournament, where wiffle ball teams from across the country come to play against each other.

“There’s basically a whole wiffle ball network throughout the country, ” Bechtold said. “We play in the NWLA Tournament, which is considered the national tournament of wiffle ball, and people are traveling from Michigan, Ohio, New York, and Virginia. Some are even traveling from Florida to play in these tournaments.”

The Baldwin league also takes part in a tournament called SLAMT1D, which takes place in Essex, Vt., and is played at Little Fenway complex, which features replicas of various legendary ballparks. 

The tournament raises money for people with Type 1 diabetes. The 18 wiffleball teams across the country who raise the most money have the chance to attend. Baldwin Wiffleball League has raised thousands of dollars for the event over the years, including $4,200 last year alone. 

“We fundraise through selling Super Bowl squares, March Madness brackets, and raffle tickets for a $1,000 cash raffle that people can purchase tickets for,” Bechtold said.

Little Fenway, where SLAMT1D takes place, was a great experience, Bechtold said. Each field is a reduced-scale replica featuring iconic features of each field. Little Fenway, for example, has a mini replica of the “Green Monster” outfield wall.

“We’ve played at Little Fenway, Little Yankee Stadium, Little Wrigley Field, and Field of Dreams, with actual corn transferred to the field to replicate the movie,” Bechtold said. “It was a big change because at Leland Park we don’t have fences or built-in walls, but use cones to line the outfield.”

Bechtold is proud of how far the league has come. One day, he hopes to expand even further by inviting current Baldwin students to join.

For now, though, the league continues to provide benefits for its players, including giving “myself and others a purpose where we can still play sports after high school and college and absolutely love it,” Bechtold said.

But above all else, the Baldwin Wiffleball League remains a great way for everyone to stay connected and build new friendships.

“Everyone comes out every week and it is a very nice way to stay in touch,” Chapla said. “You always know where everyone is going to be.”

Bechtold agreed.

“The league has allowed me to become even closer with my best friends, stay in touch with people I otherwise probably wouldn’t, and meet new people from Baldwin and the surrounding area,” he said. “It has given me some of my best friends and strengthened relationships.”

This story was originally published on Purbalite on May 21, 2026.