Our 3rd Wednesday of March, presented by Route 1 Vapors. saw Chris Cole’s three-peat bid get all the way to the finals.
Cole teamed with the maven of Miller High Life himself, Bill Walsh, to make a run to the finals, where they met another experienced championship round duo in Wayne McCarthy & Domenic Branden. This was another insane night where chalk melted away, as 6 of the 8 top seeds failed to win a playoff game, and the finals was a 12 seed (Cole & Walsh) vs 11 seed (McCarthy & Branden) affair.
Game 1 opened brightly for McCarthy & Branden, as they raced to a 5-0 lead after four rounds. Two rounds later, however, Cole & Walsh had fought back to take a 6-5 lead. The see-saw kept tipping, though, as the next two rounds saw McCarthy & Branden retake the lead by a score of 8-6. Over the next three rounds they saw it seemingly slip away, as Cole sandwiched a 4 and a 2 around a Walsh deuce to make it 14-8 after eleven rounds. McCarthy, resilient as ever, fired back with a 5 of his own to get back to a point, but Cole with a tough 5-3 deuce widened the lead to 16-13 in his team’s favor. Poised to finish things off, instead McCarthy grabbed 2 and Branden fourbagged his way to a 6 for the smash & grab 21-16 victory to close out Game 1.
Game 2 had about as much drama as a North Korean election, as McCarthy & Branden meted out what was essentially a back-alley beating. McCarthy had two rounds of 6, Branden had a 7 and a 2, and Game 2 was four rounds and out in a 21-0 drubbing to complete the sweep.
The third place game saw the only high seed to make the semifinals, #2 Matt Martin & Kevin Gallagher, take on 9th seeded Brian Johnson & Amanda Spillane, who was in her first money round game. The underdogs looked like they were going to make relatively short work of things, with Johnson sandwiching a pair of 5 point rounds around a single from Gallagher to jump out to a 10-1 lead after three rounds. Martin & Gallagher stormed right back, however, as Gallagher grabbed 6 right back and after six rounds his side led 11-10. Johnson responded with a 3, and Spillane snagged a single to reclaim the lead 14-11. Some back and forth got us to a 15-15 after eleven rounds, setting up a race to 6 to finish things off. Gallagher ensured his team would hit the tape first, posting a 4 the next round and then following a wash with a deuce to close out the 21-15 win and claim the final podium spot.
Dominic Lander lapped the field in PPR, posting a stellar 9.15. Brian Johnson followed with an 8.5, and John Mahoney was 3rd by .01 with an 8.42. Lander also returned to fourbagger form, leading the way with 9.
The airmail went off at $1908, and it was WCCC Recording Secretary and known female repellent Mike Pigatti that got the call to throw for the cash. Although he did slightly hit the pipe with a couple of his efforts, he proved that the pipe is female, as it repelled his attempts to win money. All $1908 rolls over to next week.
We would like to thank our sponsors that make it all happen!
Jasmine’s Famous Roast Beef & Seafood
Rich Electric
We’ll see you next week!