Old Dominion Summer Classic - May 30, 2009The Virginia
Horseshoe Pitchers say "THANK YOU!! " to the 2009 Old Dominion Sponsors.
Their names were on the trophies and announced at the start up meeting. We did
something new on the round robin cards. On the backs of the cards was a message
from the VaHPA President, a list of all the sponsors and a tournament schedule.
Throughout the day you could see folks reading the message, and again, we thank
all our sponsors for their support - they help keep the State Singles entry fees
as low as possible and all of us appreciate that!
2009 SPONSOR LIST:
Dennis Gallahan Painting, contact: Dennis Gallahan 540-273-2874
King
Custom Awards, contact: Melonie Skillman 540-337-2254
Chesapeake Horseshoe Club
c/o Scott Fencil
Winchester Horseshoe Club
c/o Victor Riggleman
Portsmouth Horseshoe Club c/o Sherwood Brown
Sleepy Hole Horseshoe Club c/o Donnie Snowden
Richmond Horseshoe Club
c/o Carl Otto
Stuarts Draft HS Club c/o Pat Snelgrove
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Showing up this
morning, it was a great sight to find tents and tables already set up, pencils
and clipboards ready to go!! Thank you Sherwood Brown and the Portsmouth
Horseshoe Club for hosting this year!! The Sleepy Hole Club President, Donnie
Snowden was already setting up his cook tent, for grilled sausages and hotdogs
later on. There were at least 18 pitchers on the courts warming up, and it was
only 8 AM !!
Carl Otto was sitting at one of the tables, signing people in, thank goodness
for his preparedness, as there were numerous early comers. And Kevin & I were a
half hour behind the eight ball, all because of me. I forgot to pack my
sneakers, and had to stop by Walmart to pick up a pair. Fortunate for us, there
is one close by, and our little shopping trip only added 15 minutes to our
arrival at the courts.
We shouldn’t have worried. Carl & Sherwood – VaHPA 2nd & 3rd VP’s- had
things under control. When we arrived, it was a seamless transition from
paperwork to the computer.
We ended up with 35 pitchers, quite a good turnout for the event. I
volunteered to sit out so the classes would come out even. 5 in A Class, 6 in
all others. Two flights were held, with A, B, C and E in the morning. D & F
classes in the afternoon.
In A Class, Carl Otto, Richmond, had a great day. Seeded last starting
the class, he ended the day with an overall percentage of 60.63% - a full 9.47%
over his entering average! Way to go Carl !! He came in 1st place with 4-0.
Jerry Colyer came in 2nd, not far behind in percentage (58.86%), with 2-2 for
the day. Renee Cowan also with 2-2 came in 3rd with a 51.88% overall. Horace
Phillips ended 4th for the day, but also with a 2-2 record. Jerry lost to Carl
and Renee. Renee lost to Carl and Horace. Horace lost to Carl and Jerry. What a
tight group it was! Good competition is what makes this game fun!!
B Class 1st place winner Matthew Taylor, from Richmond, took all of his games
by storm (5-0), finishing at least 11 points over each of his opponents. His
final stat for the day was 40.63%. The 2nd place winner, Charles Williams from
Newport News, finished 10.32 over his entering percentage! And ended the day
with a 46.35%, 4-1 record – the game against Matthew was his only loss for the
day. The 3rd place winner, Russell Charity also from Richmond, finished with
3-2, losing only his last two games – and those were against Matthew and
Charles! Good pitching all!
Cyril Coleman, Richmond, started out seeded in the middle of the pack in C
Class, but set his sights, focused and then let his opponents trail in the dust.
He finished all of his games 12+ points ahead. Alright Cyril!! You’ll be in B
Class next time we see you on the courts!! Great pitching! Cyril ended the day
6.76% over his entering stat, 5-0, with 38.78% overall. As the final stats
rolled up, all places from 2nd through 4th were decided by percentage. All the
players ended the day with a 3-2 record. Alvin Bowers took 2nd, Jim Walls 3rd.
The E Class lineup was shaken from bottom to top. Bottom seeds going in, Hugh
Cline (6) and Dewain Hammond (5) placed in the awards lineup at the end of the
day. Hugh in 3rd, Dewain in 1st, and buddy Mickey Gillespie in 2nd. David Cowan
Sr, seeded top going in, ended the day in 4th place. However, all of the top
four in this class finished over their entering percentage, and David
Cowan had the biggest improvement from enter-to-finish with 4.22%. Just goes to
show you it’s your win/loss record at the end of the day that counts for awards.
Great pitching all!
In F Class, Thomas Banks, Providence Forge, took all of his games 5-0, ending
the day in 1st place - 7% over his entering percentage with 23%. Thomas is
usually so low keyed, you have to really yank his crank to get him excited, but
he was so tickled at winning 1st place, we actually got a photo of him holding
up his trophy smiling from ear to ear! In the class, 2nd and 3rd place (3-2)
were decided by percentage, with Merven Pfeiffer in 2nd and Kevin Snelgrove in
3rd. Merven was seeded second going into the class, and his only losses for the
day were dished out by Thomas and Kevin. Merven ended with 21%, Kevin with
12.5%. When we issued awards, Kevin, the camp photographer, had to take his own
picture receiving the award – see beard shot in photo album – because my hands
were full of trophies, and Carl was at the desk! What a guy….!
The surprise of the day, at the end of the second flight, was when D Class
ended up in a four way tie for first place.. Tom Bunting, Scott Fencil, Jim
Allen and David Crockett were all facing off with 3 wins, 2 losses each. Carl,
TD, set the playoff high/low,middle/middle, with the winners of those games
playing each other. The playoff was Scott Fencil, Chesapeake, against David
Crocket, Portsmouth and Tom Bunting, Chesapeake, against William Ponton,
Smithfield. Allen and Ponton got knocked out in the first round, leaving Fencil
and Bunting, both from Chesapeake playing against each other. It was a
no-hold-back match. Scott started slow, Tom started hot. The score was 8-3 at
shoe 10 with Tom ahead. Then Scott got on it, held Tom there and tied the score
by 20 shoes at 9-9. (Remind you, these are 40 shoe games….) by shoe 30, Scott
was ahead 18-13. From there, Tom crept within 3 points of Scotts lead, but never
quite made it above. Scott never let go of the lead. He finished the game 4
points ahead at 23-19. What a finale to the day!!
Congrats to all the pitchers that attended, and our continuing thanks to all
of our sponsors and both the Sleepy Hole Club and the Portsmouth Club for their
support and hosting the VaHPA for this event. Donnie – your grilled sausages
with peppers&onions area hit with BOTH the breakfast group and lunch group. Keep
up the good work!
Pat
