PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2023

W oosh.

That’s the sound made when swinging the high tech bat used in a new

Mike Jirik, Shannon Jirik and Tazio Grivetti and their new game of WooshBall

game called WooshBall. The game’s inventors say that it can be played anywhere – outdoors and indoors, in areas large and small — with different balls and rules that can be changed by the players to suit their version of the game. It’s a perfect co-ed game. And it’s a game that can be played by people of all ages. ‘WHY NOT MAKE A BAT THAT USES STRINGS AS THE BARREL?’ — Mike Jirik, VP of operations Test runs have been positive, with players enjoying the fast-paced action. Shannon Jirik of Hinsdale is president of the WooshBall team. Mike Jirik of Normal, her father, is vice president of operations. Tazio Grivetti of Peoria is vice president of development. Mike Jirik is a Caterpillar Inc. retiree and Grivetti still works there. They met on the job. Shannon Jirik is the manager of a bakery. WooshBall is all about the bat. Mike Jirik got the idea for the bat when he was playing tennis while on vacation. On a baseball diamond next to the court, a young family was playing baseball with the kids using a tennis racket and having a blast. “Why not make a bat that uses strings as the barrel?” Mike Jirik asked himself. He passed along the idea to Grivetti, who came up with several designs and 3D printed prototypes. More than a dozen iterations were tested. A HIGH-TECH SPIN ON A LOW-TECH GAME The string tension in the bat can be adjusted. A WooshBat app can be used to “tune” the bat to the desired tension. New strings might be needed eventually, but the WooshBat folks say

COVER STORY

A GAME FOR THE AGES (ALL OF THEM) WooshBall’s high-tech bat and unique rules ‘flip the script’ on baseball

BY STEVE STEIN PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

42 MAY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE