After 11 weeks of play, D1 has been split into a Top 6 and a Bottom 6 for the final 5 weeks of competition to Crown and League Champion and define which two teams will be playing D2 next season.
Way-1 took on P-Cricket, who has lost 4 of their last five matches down a couple of men looking to hold onto their first place spot and looking to keep its 7 win streak going. After two matches, P-Cricket was up 1 set as the team of Redpath and Hyde took all three sets from Scotty Safford and Oberly, with Oberly suffering his first loss of the season after winning his first 9 to start the season. On Court 3, Jim (Captain Versatile) Ryan teamed up with Keith Studnick to gut out a tough 2 out of 3 setter from Jeff Rexford and Andy Addis. On Court 4, Captain Tom showed up looking to revenge his loss the last time he stepped on Court 4, this time with Paul Ridder and took the first two sets only dropping a single game and also winning the third. A dog fight ensued on Court 2, in which Beers and Sopko split sets with John Sabia and Ted Manges in which they split two exciting sets.
The mathmeticians at WCC went into action and determined that Beers and Sopko only needed to win a single game to claim victory. P-Cricket secured their point as John and Ted went on to win the third set but not before Sopko and Beers won three games. Captain Tom interviewed after the match, “I like this squads chances, we have not had the same line up twice this entire season and we have achieved great success to date. We are looking for the extended competition for the final five weeks to see just how good this squad can be.”
Wallingford suffers a huge upset this week to Overbook and drops two more points behind WCC in the standings. This weeks line up shuffle for Wallingford had Furman and McGrath tae all three sets from T-Burt and John Adams which made Captain Derek to seem like a genious if only temporarily. That would be the last match that Wallingford would win as Overbrook took courts 2, 3, and 4. Steve Hall and Andrew Tomson defeated Jeff Shrager and Jack Stanton in straight sets. After dropping a firs set tie breaker, John Phelan and Eric Niesen took the next two over Jay Peichel and Ray Johnston. On Court 4 Eric Fay and RIch White sealed the deal with a victroy over Andy Lewis and Doug Lewis.
Martins-1 defeated Martins-2 in a tie breaker of Sets and earning them their 6th consecutive win. Captain Scott Falatek now has and 11-0 record on court 1 as he teamed up with Gregg Frigerio to defeat Captain Dan and Aiden Busch. Mr. Pickleball Wheeler and Greg Donches were up 4-2 in the first when Carter Devol and Jerry Beirne retired. No one would have predicted the impact that having a National Pickleball Champion on its squad would have on the season, but MD-1 seems almost unstoppable. With its victory, MD-1 is only a point behind the second place Wallingford squad.
Vic Mead traveled up to Aronimink this week and on Court 2, HG and Jake Miller were able to sqeak out a third set 7-5 victory over Gerry Farley and Pete Pijawka for their only win for the evening. Aronimink earned its Top 6 card for the second time in three years, and certainly shown glimpses of last years undefeated season. No one is counting them out for the final five weeks to be a contender for the crown.
In a battle for the last spot in the Top 6, if I told you that the Nowlan’s were going to lose to Eger and Lyon but P-Country would still win the match, would you believe me? The last time that the Nowlans lost their court and P-Country won the match was over 2 years ago in January 2010. But that is exactly what happened. On Court 2, Andrew Hocker and J.D. Cassidy won a crucial third set to win their court over Chip Morrow and Chas Burkhart. Our records do not go back far enough to determine the last time that Chip and Chas teamed up and lost on Court #2 but we suspect that it was sometime in the early 70’s.
Mr. President, Brian Crochiere who jumped ship to play for Merion did all he could do for his new squad and he teamed up with the Belgium Pascal Collard and took the first two sets off of Norm and Tomas Gonzalez before dropping the third set. On Court 4, Peter Hill and Gardner Walling won all three sets over Dan Gallagher and Johnathon Moyer to secure the victory and the Top Six spot for P-Country and no Mr. Crochiere you cannot play for P-Country for the second half of the season, against the few rules that we have.
Greenville joins the Top Six for the second year in a row with a commanding 12 set sweep over Kennett. Simon and Todd Marvin teamed back up on court 1 and only dropped 5 games to Andrew Pogonyi and Brian Zansitis. Captain Simon, excited of his teams play of late feels that “this team can match up with anyone in this league.” Stay tuned for further discussion on this match later in the weekend.
TOP SIX
Waynesborough 21 Points
Wallingford 17 points
Martins-1 16 points
Aronimink 15 points
P-Country 14 points
Greenville 14 points
Bottom Six
Merion 12 Points
Overbook 11 points
Martins-2 11 points
P-Cricket 9 points
Kennett 8 points
Vic Mead 4 points
Please Congratulate these Nine Win Wonders
Scott Falatek – 11 Wins
Greg Donches 10 Wins
Paul Ridder 10 Wins
Brian Aguilar 9 Wins
Steve Hall 9 Wins
Hank Oberly 9 Wins
