Maui Croquet Club News in 2007

CROQUET NEWS: United States Croquet Association Eights Won by Ben Rothman

Place	Rank	Player, State
1st	#1	Ben Rothman, CA
2nd	#2	Danny Huneycutt, NC
3rd	#7	Doug Grimsley, VA
4th	#6	Rich Lamm, CO
5th	#5	Brian Cumming, ON
5th	#11	Jerry Stark, CA
7th	#8	Jim Bast, TX
7th	#14	Paul Billings, CO
1st		Rick Wilhoit, KY
2nd		Stuart Lawrence, NY
3rd		Bob Kroeger, MA
		Johnny Osborn, FL
		Brit Ruby, TX
6th		Charlie Gillmarten, VA
		Peter Just, FL
		Johnny Mitchell, TX
1st	#32	Paul Emmett, MI
2nd	#36	Leo Nikora, HI
2nd	#46	George Cochran, LA
4th	#34	Rich Curtis , NY
5th	#40	Louis Nel, ON
5th	#42	Steve Scalpone, OR
7th	#53	Dave Theiste, MI
WD	=28	Jim Houser, NY
1st		John Essick, NC
2nd		Mike Gibbons, NY
3rd		Tony Reaves, NC
4th		David McCoy, FL
4th		Ken Shipley, ON
6th		Jane Beharriell, ON
6th		Rob Coleman, CA
8th		Stephanie Paduano, VA

25-28 October 2007
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
by Leo Nikora

The United States Croquet Association selected the top thirty two players in North America, and divided them into four sets of eight based on their strength of play. Advanced Association Rules were followed in four double round-robins. The first, second, and third eights were played to the peg, while the fourth eight played two-hour games. Winners were decided by games won, with no tiebreaking (although total net points are also shown below).

Ben Rothman of Orinda, California, won the First Eight. Rick Wilhoit of Kentucky won the Second Eight. Paul Emmett of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, won the Third Eight. Jon Essick of North Carolina won the Fourth Eight.

The tournament director was Jerry Stark.

In Croquet World Online, Bob Alman wrote about the results in the First Eight:

"At the top of the win column the results mirror the current standings in the world rankings — with Ben Rothman (#11) leading in the First Eight, followed by Danny Hunneycutt (#15). And if the other players had fewer wins, it doesn't necessarily mean they lost ground in the rankings; that is entirely dependent on the ranking of who they beat and who defeated them.

"A word about the results: They're all based on win/loss, the same as in most team events, with no tie-breakers according to gross or net points. (At one time, Starks tells me, the Brits in their version of the Eights — and I believe they invented the format — reserved time after the regular play for extra games to resolve the ties.)"

Also in Croquet World Online, Bob Alman quoted George Cochran as saying:

"My only comment about the Third Eight results is that the top three finishers played all 14 games to completion and finished with identical records of 11-3. It is only the purging of games played with Jim Houser that resulted in the listed order of finish. I think this observation should be posted."

24 October 2009
by Bob Alman in Croquet World Online

HANGING AROUND THE SELECTION EIGHTS

It's fun. Great people. Great weather, mixing sun and clouds and light winds most days. Wonderful courts. If you want to see who's playing, look at the list at the end of this posting.

Dropping by the four courtside gazebos, it's easy to determine who wants to talk and who doesn't — some stay fully concentrated on the game even when the opponent is running, running, running. Others welcome a conversational break.

But not Jerry Stark, the most experienced veteran of US international teams on hand this week. He's running the tournament, and playing in it — which is always a challenge, to do both well. I managed to catch him for a minute on the veradah while he was apparently straightening his mallet head. He told me he doesn't have the results on computer yet (this was yesterday afternoon late) and doesn't know when he will be able to send me results. (I'll remind him again this Saturday midday when I drop by.) I asked him if there was any news, and he said, "Not unless you think it's news that I'm only two out of seven." It's not huge news, but I'll take it if that's all I can get.

One reason it's not news is that this event is organized in all-play-all blocks of eight. The entire tournament consists of two round-robins, with all players competing in two games against all the other players in their block. It's designed as peer-level competition, with no "ringers" in any of the blocks of four. So it's not all that surprising when someone in the top tier gets knocked off a little more than he thinks he ought. It'll all come out in the wash. And in the index, grade, and ranking.

There's lot of talk around the lawns about grades and indexes and rank. Your world ranking is based on both a longer-term record and recent form — so there's a "smoothing" effect, preventing wild fluctuations in the rankings dependent on things like a spectacular run of good luck (or good form) or on the other hand, a bunch of lost games that "shouldn't" have happened.

Doug Grimsley commented that he could lose a bunch of games and still gain in the rankings — depending on who he lost to. (When you lose to higher-ranked players, you're not penalized much — only when you lose to lower-ranked players.) So if he lost to Ben Rothman — currently king of the American rankings, at #11, having been a finalist in the May World Championships, it wouldn't matter that much. He could also lose to Danny Hunnicut for the same reason.

Danny has wasted no time improving his ranking since he officially retired from his working life in March. He gave me the impression that croquet is the closest thing he has now to a profession. (Maybe he'll bring back his Croquet Fever self-funded croquet circuit next year.) Danny is #15 in the World Rankings currently. (And by the way, has there ever been a time before this when the US had six players in the top 50 — ranging from Rothman at #11 to fast-rising Jim Bast in his "comeback" now at #50? Somebody tell me if I'm wrong, and I'm certainly willing to be wrong, because I'm not going to do the research.)

Only the top two groups of eight have any chance of playing on an International Team anytime soon, and the Selection Eights will potentially help the Selection Committee determine that marginal places and the alternates for future teams, ranging in importance from the Carter Challenge (US v Ireland) to the Solomon Trophy (US v England) to the big one: the MacRobertson Shield, limited to "the big four" — England, New Zealand, Australia, and the US — next to be held in England in August of 2010.

Fourteen games in four days can be an arduous undertaking if you're not accustomed to the intensity of playing a schedule like that — with little time off between games. So it's great practice for actual team events, which are organized similarly, with pre-set order of play in a "one-dimensional" format — no qualifying rounds, no elimination playoffs, no "final," just as in actual international team events. (Although the team events are usually played in best-of-three match form, not single games as in the Selection Eights.)

The bottom of the four tiers of play (they're all listed below) could be the most arduous of all, because the players in those groups are less likely to have all-round breaks. In the top three tiers, there is no time limit; but in the bottom tier, game-times are limited to two and a half hours. I count that up to be 35 hours of play, potentially, in four days. And that's not counting the double-banking delays and ref time outs. That's a lot of croquet — which mirrors the conditions of International Team play. People say age isn't a factor in the play of our sport, but actually, it is. A 72-year-old can beat the world champion on any given day, but is unlikely to survive the grueling pace of a major championship knockout ladder — much less the constant intense play of a major international team event.

First Eight	Rothman	Huneycutt	Cumming	Lamm	Grimsley	Bast	Stark	Billings
Ben Rothman CA [#1]	1st 10	26tp-0 26tp-9	26tp-2	26tp-10 26-15	26qp-10	26-15	26-12 26qp-0	26tp-0
Danny Huneycutt NC [#2]		2nd 9	26tp-1 26tp-0	26tp-0 26-20	26-10 26tp-8	26-18		26-7 26tp-20
Brian Cumming ON [#5]	26-12		5th 6	26-12	26-24		26tp-9	26-1 26-21
Rich Lamm CO [#6]			26-9	4th 7	26-10	26-23 26-9	26tpo-15 26tp-9	26-3
Doug Grimsley VA [#7]	26tp-0		26-22	26-9	3rd 8	26-22	26-25 26tp-19	26tp-0 26-3
Jim Bast TX [#8]	26tp-9	26-16	26-0 26tp-0		26tp-12	7th 5
Jerry Stark CA [#11]		26-21 26tp-9	26tp-0			26-21 26tp-9	5th 6	26tp-0
Paul Billings CO [#14]	26-9			26-2		26tp-0 26-12	26-9	7th 5

Second Eight	Wilhoite	Lawrence	Kroeger	Osborn	Ruby	Gillmarten	Just	Mitchell
Rick Wilhoite KY	1st 12	26tp-7 26tp-0	26-1 26tp-0	26-0 26tp-3	26-18 26-15	26tp-0	26-8	26-14 26-12
Stuart Lawrence NY		2nd 8	26-14	26-14 26-14	26tp-0	26-11	26-12 26-0	26-21
Bob Kroeger MA		26-12	3rd 7	26-16	26-2	26-0	26-17 26-11	26-6
John Osborn FL			26-5	3rd 7	26-17	26-8 26-0	26-20 26-13	26-1
Britt Ruby TX		26-20	26-5	26-22	3rd 7	26-15	26-1	26-23 26-23
Charlie Gillmarten	26-21	26-1	26-24		26-1	6th 5	26-11
Peter Just FL	26-11				26-23	26-2	6th 5	26-23 26-23
Johnny Mitchell TX		26-17	26-24	26-9		26-19 26-15		6th 5

Third Eight	Houser	Emmett	Curtis	Nikora	Nel	Scalpone	Cochran	Theiste
Jim Houser CT [=28]	7th 2	(26-2)			26-17 (26-0)			26-17
Paul Emmett ON [#32]	26-1	1st 11	26-14 26-2	26-25	26-17 26-11	26-22 26-15	26-2	26-21 26-8
Rich Curtis NY [#34]	26-19 (26-25)		4th 6	26tp-11 26-6	26-20	26-2		26-21
Leo Nikora HI [#36]	26-17 (26-25)	26-21		2nd 10	26-5 26-1	26-24 26-20	26-21 26-24	26-12 26-11
Louis Nel ON [#40]			26-13		5th 4	26-11		26-13 26-6
Steve Scalpone OR [#42]	26-4 (withdrew)		26-21		26-12	5th 4		26-18
George Cochran LA [#46]	26-3 (26-10)	26-9	26-8 26-2		26-13 26-18	26-0 26-8	2nd 10	26-10 26-1
Dave Theiste MI [#53]	(withdrew)		26-4			26-24		7th 2

Fourth Eight	Essick	Gibbons	Reaves	McCoy	Shipley	Beharriell	Coleman	Paduano
Jon Essick NC	1st 11	23-14	26-17 26-12	26-13	26-5 23-19	26-4 26-8	26-6	26-3 26-4
Mike Gibbons NY	17-16	2nd 10	26-22	18-13	26-4 18-8	22-11	24-16 26-16	26-7 26-6
Tony Reaves NC		22-18	3rd 9		26-12 26-4	26-18 26-3	26-8 26-13	26-8 26-11
David McCoy FL	20-19	18-12	22-7 13-11	4th 7		19-3		15-7 11-6
Ken Shipley ON				18-15 16-11	4th 7	14-10	12-6 21-9	21-4 17-10
Jane Beharriell ON		22-16		16-8	18-14	6th 6	26-2	20-2 17-11
Rob Coleman CA	20-16			19-12 15-10		18-17	6th 6	13-8 26-6
Stephanie Paduano VA								8th 0

28 October 2009
by Bob Alman in Croquet World Online

THE SCOOP ON QUADRULES FROM BEN ROTHMAN

There were lots of triples in the Eights, as shown in the results below, but Ben Rothman got two quadruples as well — which turned out to be the first of his stellar career. I asked him three questions about the quads, and Ben answered them as follows.

(1) WHY AND HOW did these quads come about?

"These qps come about after a mistake. I have heard that Reg [Bamford] used to only run to 3-back to avoid tpos, but I have never seen anyone do that. One of my quads came from a stuffed hoop, the other from a missed roquet. One went smoothly, the other was a trial.

"The first qp of my career came against Doug Grimsley as a result of me stuffing 2-back. You may say, "this is exactly a quintuple!" but Doug rushed me through 2-back as a means for making hoop one. He went on to stuff hoop 3. I sent a ball to hoop 2, left a ball near hoop 3, and rushed partner from 3 all the way to hoop 1. The rush wasn't the best, but it was only a yard north and 3 yards east of hoop 1. I took off and made the hoop with a nice rush to 3-back (a nice bit of luck that I foresaw before the take off). I took peelee to about 4 yards south of 3-back straight on. This is the fun part. I peeled the ball through by about 30 feet, it went through with minimal resistance from the so-called "super hoops" and I ended up one yard east of my pioneer ball at hoop 2. That one stupendous death roll turned a play I had never completed in game into a standard tp attempt, which went swimmingly.

"Against Jerry the next day, I missed a return roquet after 2-back. Jerry under rolled position at hoop one and missed a 12 yard shot. I hit the 12 yard shot that he missed with a slightly hampered backswing and after getting the break going, I sent partner as the pioneer at hoop 4. This allowed for the 3-back peel after hoop 4 (which I jawsed). I almost got the remaining triple on track, but I couldn't peel it after hoop 6 (too much angle); at this point I thought it would be a good time to stop the peeling attempt, but I was tempted to try the late triple for reasons I describe below. I managed to get a decent chance at the straight double (peeling penultimate while I was for penultimate) but I jawsed the peel. I could try a conventional jump and hope to hit the ball that was near the peg, but I decided to keep the risks going. I did a drag jump peel, followed by a 6 yard roquet and a soft rover peel. I executed a conventional jump of the rover hoop, cannoned my partner away from the hoop from 15 feet and finished the quad. It was the scrappiest double peel that I have actually finished."

(2) WAS PLAYING TO ACHIEVE THE QUDS CORRECT from a risk-versus-gain perspective, or were you doing it
as "practice" or for some other reason?

"Against Doug, it was cold hard reason. There was a little risk in the first peel, but not much. The rest was a relatively easy triple, which has been a safe bet in my repertoire for the last year or so. Against Jerry, I wanted to attempt a delayed quad, partly for practice, partly out of respect for his ability to hit and triple in his own right (the best defense is a good offense), and I felt less stress because I had one (albeit much easier) quadruple under my belt in the 8s."

(3) IS A QUADRUPLE MOSTLY A FALL-BACK CORRECTION out of a failed sextuple?

"It is possible that the qp is a result of a failed sxp, but it would have to have failed pretty early to still have enough time to control a quad. I imagine after failing a sxp, for whatever reason, one may be more apt to run to the peg and set a leave rather than risk another peeling turn, as that would usually be quite late.

"That being said, I have seen Robert [Fulford] try a late triple the turn after he failed a sextuple. Oddly enough, he failed the tp as well, and was defeated by James LeMoignan (2008 British Open, first round).

"The quad is essential in damage control and in learning to complete a sextuple; and it helps as practice for late triples. I'm glad to have completed them, but they were my penance for having failed to complete the previous break."

Paul Billings Narrative

DAY ONE

Game 1 against Brian Cumming (who goes first with green and brown)

1) Standard opening to east boundary

2) Duffer tice 8.5 yds

3) Miss partner

4) Hit, 5 yard approach to hoop 1, dribble hoop from 2 yds with white.
Hampered after and miss 3 yd.

5) Hit 7 yd, separate opo (me), but no rush to 1 <heavy rain starts>
roll to 1 from East Boundary (EB), makes 1.5 yd hoop. 3BB to 3, picks up
4th ball and has DSL with white at 2

6) Lift white, shoot at peg ball, hit the peg and stop 4” from partner

7) Delayed TP in progress, takeoff to partner @ 4b after 2b, but miss
4 yd. roquet.

8) Hit 20 yd (near 2b to between 6/1b), over roll going to ball at 4b
and miss 5 yd (same shot Brian missed)

9) Break, fails penult peel going to 2b (7 yd pioneer), approached
from 3 yds, 45 deg to 1.5 yds and makes hoop. Peels penult going to 3b,
straight rover peel, finish

26-1 DP Cumming.

Game 2 against Danny Hunnycut (Paul goes first w/ black/blue):

1) Supershot (12 yds toward peg, 2 yds west of centerline)

2) Tice (?) peg high between 3 & 4

3) Hit supershot, takeoff and rush opo to 6 yds behind 1. rev.
takeoff, make 1 with black, but short on rush @ the peg ball, long roll to 2
which overrolls, shoot to C2

4) Makes 10 yd shot west of 2 into C2 but fails 1

5) 25 yd shot with K blows off into C1

6) Miss 10 yd into C1

7) Short on approach to 2 (from C2) and retreat

8) Miss into C2

9) Promotion cannon to make 1 with U but fail hoop 2 from slightly
angled 14”

10) Hit 7 yd, 4BB, DSL

11) Miss short lift (19 yd)

12) 4BB, jaws 4b peel after 3, hampered after penult peel after 6 and miss

13) 4 yd hit w/ K, break but miss 1 yd cut rush after 6

14) Hit 8 yd (from 5 to 1b) w/ rover ball, set leave in C2, K at 2b, U
midway between 3&4

15) Shot with U blows off

16) Finish

26-7 Hunneycut

Game 3 against Ben Rothman (who goes first):

1) Max distance on EB

2) 10 yd. tice on WB

3) Miss partner on EB

4) Hit partner, set leave

5) Miss

6) Poor approach, leave at opo at 1 and 2, self on EB wired from ball
at 1

7) Miss

8) no rush to 1; leave again opo at 1 and 2, self on EB wired

9) Shoot just out of C2 with hoop 1 ball

10) Rush to C2, knocking ball into C2 for promotion cannon to 1 and a
break to 9, NSL hilled off self on EB (normal NSL/DSL position) and C4

11) Lift H4 ball and miss into C2

12) Set leave, self next to H2

13) Miss from H1, hitting hoop 2, barely missing opo balls at 2 on
rebound, but staying close.

14) Break, peelee in jaws of 4b after 3, on wire of penult after 6,
outside jaws after 1b, rush peel after 2b; striker dribble and hilled off
after penult to wired & hampered position; miss

15) 2 yd hit in, 4BB, DSL

16) Hit, fail rover but stay in front, almost in jaws

17) Miss 3 ft shot slight angle through hoop at rover ball

18) Run rover, DSL

19) Miss with ball at peg into C4

20) Rush partner from C4 to 3” beside rover, 5 ft pegout

26-9 Billings

Game 4 against Richard Lamm (who goes first):

1) Standard opening

2) Duffer tice (8.5 yd)

3) Hit and set leave at peg and joined on EB

4) Miss into C4

5) Break but fail 5

6) Break to 3, reception curled into jaws due to sunken area around
hoop; jump failed

7) Continue break from 5, DSL

8) Hit ball near 2b at ½ ball @ peg, ½ ball on EB – hit EB ball; poor
rush position two times (lawn slowing down w/ evening dew according to my
opponent?), roll from angled 4 yds to 3 ft at H3, but fail hoop

9) 9 yd. hit in, peelee jaws 4b before 5, rush peel on the way to 1b,
penult peel before 4b, but hampered and shot away to C2

10) 6 ft hit, poor position on rush, roll to 4 ft. from H3, make hoop, but
hampered and fault (arm resting on knee)

11) 8 yd hit in, run rover after rushing from the mess around H3; set
leave at 1 & 3 with opo in C2, but takeoff to partner is short, about 6 yds
away

12) Miss H1 ball into C1

13) Hit 6 yd, takeoff to C1, rush from H1 to 4B, overroll penult and
retreat near H4 and outside of C4

14) Miss 17 yd at partner on WB

15) Nick the 6 yd shot from C4, rush opo to 1 yd in front of penult,
finish

26-3 Lamm

DAY TWO

Better luck today, with two wins and one should-a-won. C’est la vie. Current record is 3-5 (shared with at least one other), best record is 5-3 (not sure how many), but most are 4-4.

Game 1 against Jerry Stark (going first):

1) Standard opening

2) Hawaiian Tice (west boundary, 7 yds – extremely short and embarrassing if missed; a real mind trip to play on your opponent)

3) Miss 7 yd tice to near level with H2 on WB – HAWAIIAN!!

4) Hit tice, roll to 1, make 4 ft, 45 deg. hoop w/ Y; roll to 2 from WB into jaws; short on hoop app to 3, shoot at EB ball but miss.

5) 4BB from 4 yd reverse takeoff to 1; NSL with Y at 4 (dunno why).

6) Hit short lift, continue from 3; DSL after dealing w/ 3b pioneer on SB

7) Miss long lift into C4

8) Break but poor rushes prevent peel attempts; defensive OSL with self separated by 12 yds on EB.

9) Shoots ball near center at partner on WB and misses

10) Hit 12 yd with a cut to 4b; finish

26-9 Billings

Game 2 against Jim Bast (going second):

1) Supershot midway between 5 & peg, 2 yds west of centerline

2) Just outside C2

3) Miss into C2

4) Miss double left of partner

5) Open canon; 4BB to 9; OSL

6) Miss long lift w/ center ball

7) Break, peel 4b after 3 (from 4 yds), penult after 6 (from 6 yds!), rover after 3b (3 yds); finish

26-0 TP Billings

Game 3 against Doug Grimsley (going first)

1) Standard opening

2) Duffer tice (9.5 yd)

3) Hit, leave w/ ball at peg and EB join

4) Miss to 1 ft W of C4

5) 3BB; 1 ft approach to 1 from 5 yd; DSL

6) Hit short lift; poor rush position; cut to WB, short on roll approach, retreat to WB

7) Miss from H2 at partner near H4 into C4

8) Hit 6 yd from WB, fail hoop after angled hoop approach

9) Hit 5 yd, 4BB, roll 4b peelee to 2 yd pos from mid-NB after 2; finish

26-0 TP Grimsley

Game 4 against Brian Cumming (going second):

1) Standard opening

2) Duffer tice (10.5 yd)

3) Hit, leave near peg and max distance on EB

4) Miss into C4

5) 3BB to 4, 4BB, DSL

6) Miss double target on EB from near 2

7) Break, but miss peelee after 3 by shooting softly from 4 ft

8) Hit 3 yd, jaws me after 3 (TPO), rush peel after 4, hit H3 on roll to 5 and miss 17 yd

9) Hit 4 yd; continue break from 4, pioneer for 5 on mid-SB; approach to 6 squirts wide and fail hoop

10) Hit 1 yd, continue break from 5 (no peels); DSL

11) Hit short lift, fail 1b from 3 ft, slight angle

12) Miss 7 yd

13) Roll to and fail 1b from 6 ft

14) Join on WB

15) Stuck on the wire of 1b, shoot to EB 3 yds from partner

16) Miss

17) Break w/ penult ball to peg, set leave (no lift)

18) Miss EB balls from 1b

19) Rush behind 2b, poor position for rush to 1b, fail hoop (third time!) from 5 ft.

20) Hit 2 ft, break, but overroll 3 from NB; take position

21) Miss from near 1 to near C3

22) Continue break, peel 4b before 6 (on himself), peg out 2 balls; Billings for 1b, Cumming for penult

23) Lift and shoot for position at 1B

24) Position 3 yd off NB

25) Hit 9 yd, roll to 1b is short, take position

26) Position on mid-NB

27) Jaws 1B

28) Lag for position, but stops on left upright of penult

29) Run 1b (finally!) to 3 yds from 2b; retreat and threaten 2 yd behind penult

30) Retreat near C2

31) Position at 2b

32) Position at penult

33) Run 2b; miss shot at penult ball

34) Run penult and take angled position at rover

35) Mis at rover to SB

36) Run rover by 8 inches, take wired position 2 yds from peg

37) Hammer shot attempt (to jump rover from 10.5 yds) fails miserably

38) Pegout

26-21 Cumming

DAY THREE

Good day today, 50-50 showing. One mistake in the first game (6 yd miss) because my head was just “not in the game” – never got another good chance.

Game 1 against Jerry Stark (going second):

1) Standard opening

2) Corner 2

3) Hit partner on EB, roll C2 ball to DSL position near H2 and join w/ partner on EB

4) Miss into C4

5) Poor approach, fail 1

6) Easy hit in, 3BB, fail 4 when trying to run hard to boundary

7) Miss 6 yd at C4 ball

8) Run 3, canon in C4, break to 4b with NSL

9) Miss short lift

10) Break, peels after 3, 6, jaws before 3b, finish

26-0 TP Stark

Game 2 against Ben Rothman (going second):

1) Supershot

2) Dribble hits, cross wire at peg

3) Dribble from BB, shot stays on line but stops 8” short

4) Hit double, break to 4b, DSL

5) Miss peg ball from C1 into C3

6) Break, convert to on-time triple by rolling from C3 to H2, peels after 3, jaws after 6, st. rover, finish

26-0 TP Rothman

Game 3 against Rich Lamm (going second):

1) Max-distance on EB

2) Duffer tice (10 yd)

3) Hit partner, 3bb, fail 3b from 1 ft

4) Miss 9 yd. from AB

5) Run 3b, leave at 1 & 2 and C4

6) Miss 22 yd from near H1

7) Break but could not get position for peels; OSL

8) Hit partner near WB with center ball, break, fail 3

9) 3 yd hit in, finish from 4b

26-2 Billings

Game 4 against Jim Bast (choose colors and went second)

1) Supershot

2) West boundary, peg high

3) Miss WB

4) Hit center ball, fail 1

5) Break to 4b, DSL with peg ball showing

6) Hit long lift (?), break to 4b, DSL

7) Miss short lift

8) No position at 1, retreat behind 2

9) Hit 22 yd from near 1 to EB, fail rover

10) 2 yd hit in w/ 4b ball; leave at 2 & rover and C3

11) Miss from 2 into C3

12) Break, fail 4

13) Break w/ 4b ball, straight rover peel from 2 ft., finish

26-12 Billings

DAY FOUR

Coulda-shoulda today, but trouble with back ball distance control prohibited good rushing.

Game 1 against Danny Hunnycut (going first):

1) Standard opening

2) WB tice, (9.5 yd)

3) Hit tice, defensive DSL (no peg ball)

4) Miss 18 yd at EB balls

5) Miss 4 yd comeback after 1

6) Break to 4b, DSL

7) Miss long lift

8) Break, peel before 4b, fail penult (peelee on one wire, striker overrolls stopping on other wire), retreat mid WB

9) Hit 1 yd with ball for 1, break to 4b, 2-3-4 leave (ball in H2, ball between H3 and H4, joined on WB near H2)

10) Lift H2 ball, miss from AB into C2

11) Poor rush position to get to H2, leave at 1-3/join in C2

12) Miss 18 yd by 1/64” (perhaps less)

13) Finish (I forget the peels)

26-22 TP Hunnycut

Game 2 against Doug Grimsley (going second):

1) Supershot

2) EB (standard opening position)

3) Hit 16 yd EB ball, fail 2 from angled position

4) 3 yd hit in, break, DSL

5) Miss short lift

6) Break, peel before 1b, fail 1b

7) 2 ft hit in, fail 1 in jaws

8) Miss into C1

9) Run 1, leave at 1-3/join in C2

10) Miss long shot from H3 at H1

11) Make 2, rush into 5 on the way to 3, leave 3-4/join near C1

12) Hit 18 yd from 4 w/ fwd ball, run penult & rover, leave at 2-3

13) Miss from 2 at ball near 3

14) Break after rushing to 1b from 3, finish

26-3 Grimsley