First Place after Six Weeks of Spring Session

Actually we were in first after five weeks, but there were three teams tied for that honor. We played one of the teams this week, the second time we have faced them this APA Spring session. This team came in first during the recently concluded Fall session, a solid 10 points or more above the second place team.

We met the second week of this session and managed to take 3 of 5 matches and I was hoping, though not expecting (since we where visiting their location and shooting on their tables), to match that score and go one point up in the standings. Well, they had an off night and our team was clicking. We took 5 of the 5 matches to go five points up in the standings! (This was our second 5-0 week this session, after an easy match against a new team last week.)

So, if the third first place team took all five of their matches against whoever they were playing there would be a two-way tie for first. After the match I dropped by the Brass Rail to drop off the score sheet and weekly dues. Low and behold, the other team was playing there against one of the better teams in the league. The other first place team dropped 4 of 5, so we are currently alone in first place. Of course, next week we just happen to play against the team that took four matches against a strong team, so we'll see what happens. It is only six weeks into a seventeen week schedule, but it feels real good to be in first.

I managed to catch the last match at the Brass Rail. The match had two S/L 6s in a race to five wins for the match. Ryan, captain of the other team that was tied for first before the evening began, took a 3-2 lead and broke for the sixth game. The 8-ball went in on the break, unfortunately the cue ball ended up halfway across the venue. Match was now 3-3 with Peter breaking. Peter broke and ran the table, match 4-3 Peter. Ryan won the next game, so it came down to the last possible game, which Peter took to take the point. All in all a great match.

On a personal level, during my match against an S/L 3 who normally wins quite often, I played fairly lousy pool. We had already won four matches, so there was some pressure to win for the sweep. Sue managed a good run to get to the 8-ball, but unfortunately (for her) scratched on her shot. I managed to take the next two games on my own merit to win the match, but it was hardly my best shooting.

I have (jinx) managed to win my first four matches this session against a 5, 6, 2 and 3 in that order. After winning against the 6 I had a suspicion that my S/L might go up, but when I looked at the roster the next match my S/L dropped to a 3! Wow, it was a blow to my ego, but having a 3 on the roster actually makes it easier to match up players and keep the S/L total for the match to 23 or less.

Hope you have a great week shooting pool or enjoying your favorite activity.