The morning of the Mountain View Singles had an air of
excitement. As the pitchers trickled in, the warm greetings and “long
time no see” grew in pitch. A procession of cars filled the parking lot
and fields all around the courts. By 9:30 there was barely a parking
space to be found. Pitchers commented “Wow, what a turnout, all these
people for a horseshoe tournament”. If that had been the case, we
wouldn’t have finished the tournament for another week at least. Come
to find out, the local baseball league was having its opening day at
the same time!
We were happy to welcome back Preston Will from Grottoes and Billy
Breeden from Christiansburg. Both have pitched before, and are just
returning to a game they love. Preston’s work keeps him in a swing
shift constantly, and Billy’s been absorbed in baseball with his son
Chris. Both are getting re-acquainted with the game, and Billy’s son
Chris even brought along a friend – Jacob Wallace had never pitched
horseshoes before, but wanted to try it. After warming up a bit, he got
the hang of things, and decided to join in the event.
By 10:45 the 32 pitchers where all getting anxious to pitch. The
meeting was called and Pat Snelgrove extended a warm welcome to
everyone. She announced the up coming events and also the immediate
plans of the Stuarts Draft Club. “By our next event we should have our
lights installed. The club still has to raise approximately $3000 to
pay for the project, and many of the local businesses have come forward
in support.” She also accepted a generous donation by Johnny Monarchy.
The club appreciates it.
With the meeting adjourned, the pitchers took to the courts. The chill
from the morning lasted until about noontime, when cloudy skies with
interment sun took over for the rest of the day. Five classes had been
set. Three of the classes finished with undefeated champions, A
& D were forced into playoffs.
In B class it didn’t take long for Billy Breeden to work the rust out
of his arm. Qualifying in, he was seeded 8th. His first game was his
lowest percentage game of the day. From there, a steady increase of
ringers emerged. Billy said it felt good but he did not feel like his
old self. “I’ll be back in the 60’s soon”. Billy finished with a 56.91%
for the day outpacing the A class pitchers, pitching the highest
average for the day. With this as his only stat on record, most likely
he’ll be placed in the A Class bracket for the rest of the year.
Mark Bunch and Jimmy Hartman faced each other in the 7th round in C
Class. Mark, seeded #2, was undefeated at that point, had to win over
Jimmy, who was #1 seed. Jimmy had already lost one game. If he could
take Mark, it would force a playoff! Mark kept pace ringer for ringer
and edged out Jimmy. When the final score was called, Mark had thrown
one more ringer than Jim, but took the game on points. Both men
finished above their starting averages. Mark with 40.34% and Jimmy with
39.93%
Junior pitchers dominated the 7 man field in E Class. Three junior boys
and one junior girl gave the adults in the class a tough time. For all
of the junior boys this was their first tournament. Dustin Snelgrove
started out slowly pitching 6% in his first game but it was the points
in the game that gave him the win. He steadily improved with each game.
The fourth round Dustin pitched 9 ringers, 18%. He went on undefeated
finishing the day with an overall average of 10%.
With four pitchers in A Class, they pitched each other twice. Jackie
Whetzel beat Paul Arnold the first time they met. The second time the
met, Paul beat Jackie and with no other losses for either of them, a
playoff .was forced. The rubber match set, Paul had his eyes set on
winning. A duel of ringers started the match, but Paul’s focus
dominated the game. Jackie could not answer the pile of metal at the
stake that Paul was laying down. 38 shoes was all that was needed for
Paul to emerge the victor. 42 to 15 was the final score and with it,
Paul’s best game of the day at 65.79%. 25 ringers out of 38
shoes.
Keeping score for the first flight, the D Class pitchers had sat
through the chill and patiently waited for their chance to pitch in the
2nd flight. By the time it was their turn to pitch the sun finally came
out full, warming them up. At the end of 5 rounds, John Ham and Jeremi
Skillman were tied 4-1. John had beaten Jeremi in their first encounter
and was determined to do it again. They ended with only one ringer
difference in the game, but it was John’s ability to gather up those
most important points that made the difference. The final score was 32
to 23, John’s favor. Both men finished the day with 23% averages. John
had 23.33% for the day and Jeremi 23.15%
Early spring tournaments are always filled with chatter and catching
up. We all really enjoyed the day, and will see you on the courts real
soon.
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