No tear gas needed here to get the players moving!

The Nowlans “The Greatest Cage Show on Earth” bounced back from last weeks defeat and won convincingly in straight sets over Waynesborough’s Tim McAvoy and Tom Safford. Unfortunately for P-Country, that was the only sets they would win on a perfect evening for paddle. On Court 2, Vlatko and Bruce Sopko teamed up again to defeat Peter Hill and Andrew Hocker. On Court 3, Hank Oberly and Paul Ridder defeated J.D. Cassidy and Norm. On Court 4, two hand forehand extraordinaire Paul McCabe and Keith Studnick won their three sets over Gardner Walling and Thomas Gonzalez. P-Country stayed deep into the night to win the battle in the hut by a score of 4-1.

Merion defeated Overbrook in a tiebreaker of sets. Overbrook’s John Adams and Tom Burt defeated Chas Burkhart and Greg Eger on court 1. On Court 2, Merion evened the score as Jeff Lyon and Dan Gallagher took all three sets off of Steven Hall and Rich White. On Court 3, Jonathon Moyer and Brian Crocheire lost only 5 games in their victory over Erik Fay and Rich Devine. On Court 4, Tim Kent and Tucker Boynton secured the very important first set before dropping the next two to Eric Neisen and John Phelan.

Martin-1 took courts 1, 2, and 3 from P-Cricket to find their winning ways. Falatek is very slowly making a name for himself and although not garnering the same respect as other court 1 players, is now undefeated after six weeks. Our very own 55+ National Single Pickleball Champion, Dan Wheeler teamed up with Greg Donches to win all three sets over John Rexford and JJ Sabia. Apparently, Pickleball is a very natural transition from Platform Tennis and Dan expects some of his aging brethren on the Pickleball court in a few years.

Aronimink has now run off four wins in a row, this week over Kennett. On Court 1, Andre Sorrentino and Pete Pijawka defeated Andrew Pogonyi and Ken Goddu. Drew and Brendan won all three sets on court 2 for The Mink over John Twombly and Phil Chapman. Neal Bozentka and Cliff McLaughlin won a nail bitter in three sets over John Feltre and Tom O’Nell. Kennett’s sole win came on court 4 where Brian Zansitis and Rafael Tamargo defeated Jeff Jansen and Parker Sherry.

Wallingford’s, Mike Furman and Jeff Shrager proved they were not a One Trick Pony as they took 3 sets off Greenville’s Todd Marvin and Simon Peppiatt. On court 2, Chris Donoho and Ben Zink took the first two sets off of Ken Crowther and Mike McGrath. On Court 3, in an epic battle Wallinford’s fresh recruits Tim Brooke and Jack Stanton took all three sets off of Dana Walker and Mike Fleming. On Court 4 Bob Harrison and Mark Manning took the first 2 sets for Greenville earning them a point over Tom Mashek and Jay Peichel. The third set proved key for Mashek and Peichel as that earned Wallingford the victory.

Martins-2 defeated Vic Mead (no scores were reported at press deadline).

With over half the first season over, there is a log jam in the middle of the pack fighting for a spot for the Top 6, giving them a chance to become the season champion and earn a spot in the year end tournament/ playoff. 7 of the 12 teams have either 7 or 6 points with 5 weeks left in the first half of the season.

Unofficial Standings after six Weeks are as follows:

Wallingford – 12 Points
Waynesborough – 11
Greenville – 9
Aronimink – 9
Merion – 7
Martins2 – 7
P-Country – 6 Points
Martins1 – 6
P-Cricket – 6
Kennett – 6
Overbrook – 4
Vic Mead – 1

Dardis-Shay, one more... and counting
Delaware States made its NRT debut

Keith Studnick