The Texas Horseshoe Pitchers Association

ABC's 

The 2007 State Singles Championship is in the books now –or at least I think it is.  I have been meaning to do a re-cap for the longest time but I have been so busy at work and at home.  It is amazing how things work out.

The Riverside Club proved to be an outstanding host.  The line up of food they provided was just great.  Congratulations to them.

A few of my crazy predictions came true – I hope I didn’t make too many people upset – it’s all for fun.

I am beginning to think that Ed Arionus is not human.  The man just throws ringer after ringer.  He had another outstanding tournament.  Congrats to him.  The Elder men deserve kudos just for competing and playing what was an unusually warm and humid day – that was tough duty.

How about Summar Parker going undefeated on Friday to win class A.  She had the highest average overall that day and really deserved the win.  And look what Mary Ann Kramr, Dana Milder and Christina Holland did – they pitched well enough in B to move up to the championship class.  They didn’t fare so well in the championship round but they can say they did make it there. 

Cathy Richards brought her recent World Tournament Experience and put it to good use as she went undefeated in the clay.  She overcame 48% first game and threw a 72% (62 shoe) game against Debra Odum in the next to last game that was the difference.  I’ll be honest – I thought Debra was a shoe-in for this title – but it shows you can’t assume anything.  Cathy pitched well and deserved the win.. Debra was averaging in the high 70’s through 4 games but then dropped back well below her average the last 3.  So Summar was the A class winner but finished third in the championship class – interesting.  Only 5 of the class A women qualified for the championship class.

In the Men’s class A some crazy things happened.  First Gene Meyer did not pitch due to his wife’s injury.  Hope she is fully recovered by now.  All of the gentlemen in class A were averaging over 50% coming in.  Only one (Brooks) averaged over 50% for the class.  Bubba and Ricky Wickel were the only 2 pitchers to avoid an “Ugly 30”.  Tommy, Donnie, Chris Paul and Willie all had an ugly 30 (or two in some cases).  This cost Tommy, Chris and Donnie a chance to move up to the championship class.  Willie was able to cover his ugly 30 and even a 20 with two sexy 67’s to squeak into the top class in the number 8 position.  Brooks won the class A with a 6-1 record and the high average of the group of 50.8%.  Donnie Jones came in second with a 5-2 record but too low an average to move up.

In the men’s class B, Duck Engelhardt gave everyone an East Bernard lesson and walked away with the jacket.  Bob McCharen finally threw a decent tournament and finished second with the same average as Duck (49.6) and Jeff Finke threw over 50% (50.4) to move up to the championship group.  Then there was Class C where Wesley Knapek took home the jacket and pitched well enough to move up to the championship class.  So only four of the class A men moved up along with three from B and one from C. Hence the ABC’s.  In the championship class there were a lot of “Ugly 30’s”.  The class A champ lost a game to the class B winner and also to the class C winner (Brooks lost to Duck and Wes to finish 5-2).  Duck lost to Willie and Ricky to finish 5-2.  Wes lost to Duck and Willie  to finish 5-2.  So it came down to the class A winner, the class B winner and the class C winner all tied for the State Championship – simple as A B C.  The playoff  began with Duck playing Brooks with Brooks prevailing, then Brooks defeated Wes to become the 2007 State Champion.

Congratulations to Brooks – He deserved to win – I believe he has been the most consistent pitcher in the men’s upper class all year.  If they ever do a movie about him, they need to get Billy Bob Thornton to play the lead

And what an achievement for Duck and Wes to move up as they did and finish tied and a chance to win it all – ABC in the end.

Congratulations to all the winners and to all who pitched.  Also to the newly elected officers and Debra Odum for being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The newly tried format of having preliminary classes and moving up the top 7 to the championship class has left me with mixed emotions.  I think the regular season should mean something.  But there is also something intriguing about being able to move up if you pitch well.  Wes moved up from class C.  I benefited also by moving up from class B – although I can honestly say I felt like I did not move up – it was more like some guys in class A did not pitch well that day and lost out – is that really fair? I guess it is but I think a good compromise is to seed the top 5 or 6 and move up the next 2 to 3 from the classes below – It still rewards the regular season and still gives others a chance that weekend.  Brooks was able to “defend” his class A win.  Summar was not – I wonder how she feels – she may feel like she won on the day with the best 8.  Debra had an interesting thought – take the top 16 and pitch 2 days.  Also it is my opinion league play should not count toward the determination of the top seeds.  It should be as simple as ABC

Anyway it is all good food for thought.  I encourage all folks to go to the website and join the chats in the Waterin Hole – it makes for good talk – even if some are anonymous.

And thanks to Robert Smith the webmaster – he truly loves the game and pours his heart and soul into this website.

Happy Holidays and a toast to all – “As we slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way”. 

Bob McCharen