place last year) ready to do all they could to take the top spot. From our very
own Virginia, the "Richmond Sharp Shoeters", were intent on bringing the
Championship back home to VA, but little did they know that the Winchester club
sent their own team to challenge all of the above- the "Half ‘n Half team". This
set up for a very interesting set of games.
We welcomed back not only the PA pitchers, but the MD players as well. John
Monarchy and Linda Lepper signed up with some Stuarts Draft club members to
create the all new "Mary Stuart Slammers" (half Maryland MD, half Stuart Draft
SD). We also welcomed back the "Dublin Dominators" and a whole bunch of new
pitchers to this "team" format, and had a great time over all. The Stuarts Draft
Club had two full teams AND overflow to fill-in for some others needing players.
This was wonderful!!
We had 9 teams sign up this year, which is a great turn out. And the Stuarts
Draft Horseshoe Club is already looking forward to next year. Last year, we
learned that the playoff rounds rules had to be adapted to "disallow" multiple
2Win/2Loss rounds. This year, we didn’t need to use our adapted rules, because
the "Yankee Doodles" were clear winners of the event with 26.5 wins/5.5loss.
The initial seed/line up had the (1) Richmond Sharp Shoeters – seeded #1 for
3 years in a row , (2) Yankee Doodles, (3) Half ‘n Half
The FINAL outcome was (1) Yankee Doodles, (2) Richmond Sharp Shoeters, (3)
Half ‘n Half
But it wasn’t easy getting to the top. With a 20 shoe limit, close games all
day set the pace. Toward the end of the day, notable are: In game 7, "Junior’s
Yard Dogs" Herman McCarthy was up against "3 Yanks and a Reb" Denny Garmen. On
shoe 18, they were tied 9-9. Herman threw down, no score, Denny threw down, got
4 points. End of game.
Also in game 7, "Half ‘n Half" Amber McCarthy vs Larry Buffenmeyer from
"Yankee Doodles". At shoe 12, Amber was in the lead 10-4. Then she got stuck as
all of us do occasionally, Buffy crept up and by shoe18, the score was 11-Buffy,
10-Amber. On shoe 20 she got 1 point which tied the game!!
Going into the final round, "Yankee Doodles", "Richmond Sharp Shoeters" and
"Half ‘n Half" were all in a position to take the top spot, depending on their
team Win/Loss for the last 4 games of the final round. As round robins go, the
Yankee Doodles versed the Richmond Sharp
Shoeters, on the last game. YD won 3 out of 4... Half ‘n Half needed all wins
on the last round to force a playoff, but didn’t get there. They only won 3 out
of the 4 games.
The day was really steamy and hot. Although we took a break for lunch after
round 4, we were all relieved when the expected thunderstorms rolled in around
2pm, breaking the heat. As we all cooled off after the event, the PA pitchers
told us "we’ll be back to defend our title next year". And the Stuarts Draft
club will be glad to have them back. What an enjoyable day. The team format
makes for a really interesting competitive competition, with team captains using
strategy to set up the opponents for each game. The Richmond Club is already
strategizing on it’s come-back next year, and we’re looking forward to it!
Pat, Stuarts Draft
