As the bags fly.......By Johnny Seymour
This Blog will provide my perspective and coverage of the sports that I have experienced.
Friday, September 27, 2024
TCL Signature Series Shreveport - Elite Doubles
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
14th Court Session, Docket 001001 Case 323245
"All Rise, the 177th Court with the Honorable Judge W.I. Zard is now in session". "Y'all may be seated. Good morning, we are here today to argue the case of The Narrative of Young Players vs Older Players and who has any type of advantage based on age, employment status, family responsibilities and such". "I will allow opening statements for both stating their position, then providing evidence, hopefully accurate evidence, followed by closing statements. In conclusion, you, the jury can decide for yourselves if either may have any type of advantage based on the evidence provided. Keep in mind that this case is not to cause any division between the parties instead it may be to help each delegation understand the position of the other."
Sorry y'all, I am far from a judge and certainly have no idea how courts operate. I thought it would make for a fun start to a discussion that is indeed something that has been talked about in certain cornhole circles. Some believe that it may be difficult for older players who have 8-5 jobs, families and responsibilities to compete with the teenage or early 20-year-olds due to them not having jobs, children or much responsibility outside of throwing bags. I will be using information that I have gathered through conversations as well as my own experiences and observations. I promise we won't have any low-speed chases, bloody gloves and certainly no predetermined verdicts! This is all for fun and hopefully a read you all will enjoy.
"Attorney for the Youth, you may make your opening statements." "Ahem, thank you your Honor, Folks let's try and paint a picture of a typical day for someone who may be in school, or perhaps not employed. We all know the stress that can be involved for these kids as they maneuver thru a day full of sitting in classrooms listening to some blue haired teacher discussing proper pronunciations and comma placements. Learning fragments and the difference between and a neutron and a proton, maybe they are confused as to why they can't get A x B to equal C. Figuring out if they want to eat in the cafeteria or scamper over to Chick Fil A for lunch, all the while pondering a clever way to get Susie Clinkstone's attention. Some may spend the last hour or so of the day in a practice session for a sport they may play before heading home to do homework or work on projects. Others may have chores they must complete each day before anything else is attempted. Then, if they wish, can spend time throwing bags for a bit before they go play in a local switch or event nearby. When they get home some may get online and play video games until they fall asleep, making the getting up early part of their day more challenging. Those that are out of school with no job can get up when they want and do whatever they want. Some throw bags, for hours it seems until they have darn near mastered the craft. Pretty nice gig if you can get it! Kids these days may seem like they have no worries at all but that may not always be the case. Peer pressure can be tough to deal with and kids can be brutal towards each other. Going to school and having to face mental challenges and sometimes bullies isn't pleasant and sometimes the effects can be hidden. As much as it seems that kids may have an advantage because they have no job or responsibilities, they too can have tough days and feel the pressure of dealing with things unknown to most. Let's not even mention physical appearances, bad hair days or not having the shirt you wanted to wear because it wasn't clean. All in all, kids have it pretty good however they still have things going on in their lives that may wear on them and having the ability to throw bags for hours each day isn't all it's cracked up to be...or is it. Thank you, your Honor".
"Adult attorney you may step forward". "Thank you, sir. Folks I will explain to you something similar to what an adult may have on their plate each day and in most cases, you will see a comparison to what you may encounter on a daily basis. Adults with jobs, kids, mortgages and other bills, have a large number of things they may deal with. Let's start with getting up in the morning. Not only do they have themselves to get ready for work, but they sometimes may also have to get little Timmy dressed, fed and off to daycare or school before they even think of a sip of coffee, or brain food as some may call it. They must navigate safely through rush hour avoiding school zones and other adults who are driving as if they're late for work. They may have to venture out on Highway 80 near Forney...need I say more. Once they arrive to work, they are met with 642 emails on their computer, all requesting something that needed to be done yesterday. They get through the morning escaping various meetings, or not, and skedaddle their way to lunch with a couple of co-workers who can't decide where they want to eat. Back to work and finally they are done with work, for the moment, and they hurry home just in time to pick up Timmy from ball practice. Dinner, oh man, what are we going to eat, Timmy is starving! Throw in a frozen pizza while on the phone with the roof guy who says he will be there in 15 minutes to look at you roof that was damaged in the recent hailstorm. You avoided the other 8 calls as they appeared to be spam, or an in law wanting something...who knows! After dinner you help Timmy with homework...I don't remember having to write book reports like this...wowser! Why am I doing it while Timmy is twisting his phone sideways looking at tik toks? If you play cornhole, or try, maybe you have a league night or just want to spend an hour or so practicing, this is your chance. You go outside and set up boards and start throwing only to have Timmy run outside saying he forgot a science project that was due the next day...ugh, the absolute worst! On top of these type of days, you may have to spend an hour or so shopping for groceries, getting online to pay bills. Doing various other things around the house like cleaning, mowing, repairing things that may need to be repaired, sewn or bandaged! I realize there are many parents or older folks who may appear to have things way more organized than this but certainly you get what I'm putting down...right? The older more mature cornhole player has experienced things in life that may have helped them prepare better, help them handle situations better thus giving them some sort of advantage. Unless you are one of the lucky ones who have it all together, you know the challenges we are facing each day. Thank you, your honor".
I hope you all got a laugh with the previous paragraphs as I did my best to give you some idea what each may go through on a daily basis. Now I would like to give you some evidence I have gathered just for this story. I went and looked at the results for the Signature events for this year and jotted down the finishers for each. What I found was clear and it really isn't close. If you look at who won Singles and Doubles in the Open Division, there is one person over the age of 30 who has won either event. Johnny Govea won Doubles with Logan Chamberlain in Shreveport at Signature Series 1. Now there have been several who placed in the Top 10 including Brandon Gregor who played with Klaydon Powell and finished 3rd in Shreveport. That same event Fletcher Jonson finished tied for 7th in Singles while tied for 17th were Brandon Gregor, Scott Beck, Ernest Hererra and Donnie Greer. Signature Series 2 in Irving had Johnny Govea and Logan finishing in 2nd, Fletcher and Ernest Monarca coming in 4th. Mason Terry tied for 5th with his partner Caleb Franklin while Jake Whatley and Brandon Marinez tied for 9th. Signature 3 in Mesquite had Govea and Josh Heilman in 5th, Kyle Francis and Fletcher tied for 7th, Brandon Gregor and Cowboy Kevin Meza tied for 9th. Kyle also finished tied for 9th in Open Singles. In Elite Singles Jake Whatley finished tied for 5th and Hererra tied for 9th. Lubbock Signature Series had Grant Upchurch and Oscar Mariena finishing tied for 7th and in Elite Singles Blake Holly came in tied for 13th. Waco had Derek and Bryson Goode coming in 3rd, Matthew Morris and Josh Murdock tied for 9th and Jake Whatley and Dillon Randle also tied for 9th. All of these finishes are respectable with something definite being displayed. Signature 1 Singles went Hayden Morris, Kobey Alley and Logan Chamberlain. Irving had Sammy Soto, Justin Burton, and Grant with Doubles being won by Kale Harrell and Chase Lester over Logan and Johnny. Sig 3 in Mesquite it was Justin Burton, Alex Ibarra and Caleb Franklin. Doubles were led by Burton and Payton Lopez, Cannon Hatcher and John Miller(over 30) and Grant with Brendon Bennett. Lubbock Sig Sammy, Burton, and Tye Thompson won Elite Singles and in Doubles it was Sammy and Kale over Tye and Tanner. Waco had Levi Haddock, Kale Harrell and Chase Lester in Elite Singles and in Doubles Cannon and Tanner Gibson beat Tye and Blaine Frerichs.
Only one Champion over the age of 25. Every event was won by someone under the age of 25 and except for a couple of cases, it really wasn't close. Sure, the older player can compete and finish near the top, but they just can't quite get to win. Many older players do very well and on any given day can beat any player regardless of age but these facts that I just listed show us that the younger players are either simply better, or somehow some way, have a distinct advantage. What that advantage may be, who knows. Do they have more time to practice? Do they have more stamina? Have they simply perfected more shots?
In closing, these are the facts, young players have dominated the podiums this year and as valiant as they're efforts have been, the older players just haven't been able to crack the code. I wrote this to share different points of view and your comments are welcome. This is pretty much opinion related with some facts to provide some backing. I myself have played sports for over 50 years and once, believe it or not, was a young, hungry and feisty competitor. I played many sports in my day having more success than not and I have been able to compete with the best in cornhole but not against the younger players. My best years were in 2019 and 2020 and that is about the time the younger players began their climb to the top. Don't fret, this old guy recently found a few ounces of gas in his tank and may be making a little stab at competing again soon!
Hope y'all enjoyed this story and look forward to more soon including some player spotlights that I will be putting together soon!
Take it easy and throw em straight!
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Shreveport September 2023 Signature Series
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Ryder Cup 2023
The Ryder Cup. TCL's unique event often described as "An event like none other" is upon us. For those who haven't experienced it, it is one of the most exciting yet stressful events most will ever play in. So much going on with Singles, Doubles and Team 8 all providing points for each team and the outcome of each event having so much on the line. It almost seems like every single bag is important and every game matters more than usual.
Eight players on a team all vying for wins acquiring points for their team. Sounds easy right? The comaraderie and support for each other is at its highest peak for this event as you will see players cheering on their teammates with loud outbursts as players make or sometimes miss shots. The pressure of trying to get wins for your team can sometimes wear on players, some handling it better than others. The Team 8 event seems to be the most pressure filled as each player only throws one bag per round and with every player from both teams watching, that can be overwhelming. You don't want to be the player who throws the bag 26 feet 11 inches!
Ryder Cup typically brings in a large number of players and has always been held in the middle of the TCL season however this year the TCL Season is starting off with it. I've seen it grow from just a few hundred players to well over 1500 players. Having been able to win it a couple of times this event has provided me with some very special memories. In my days of playing various sports, the championship teams I played on seem to be the ones that are cherished the most. I think back to the games played and the plays or shots that help provide the contributions to help those teams win. My first Ryder Cup win was one that may have put me on the map with TCL as I got lucky and hit a critical airmail for a win. The reason I'm writing this is to tell what I did just before the Ryder Cup the following year.
I had given the same speech a few weeks prior to the Ryder Cup during a four man tourney in Tyler and even though we kinda laughed, I think it may have been effective. Along with my teammates Heath Mills, Kyle Verner and Shane Flesher, we gathered up outside the Tyler Indoor Soccer Center before the games began and I rattled off a speech that I'd like to say was the reason we won that event. In reality it may have been that Kyle, Shane and Heath were beasts back in the day and we just had a good day! A few weeks later at the Ryder Cup playing for East Texas and Captain Brad Jones, for some reason I felt the need to give the speech before the games started. In retrospect the speech may not have helped us much but for a few moments our team was fired up. We would've ran through a wall! It didn't take long for that fire to become a flicker as we were beat up pretty good on the boards, but the speech...man it was a good one! I'm going to share it for you and you all can take it however you want. You can enjoy the short read, you can allow it to fuel your energy to help you and your team do your best this weekend. Or you can simply let it take you back and reminisce and think back on recollections from good times you may have experienced. Enjoy!
For giggles, try to picture some short old gray headed guy with a fierce intense scowl staring at you with a piercing glare and a sprited conviction...growling these words....
Great moments are born from Great opportunities. And thats what we have here today folks. Thats what we've earned here today.... One game.... If we played most of these people ten times, they might win 9. But not this game...not today.... Today we hang with them. Today we throw with them and we shut them down because we can!! Today WE are the greatest cornhole players in the state of Texas. You all were born to be cornhole players, every one of you and you were meant to be here today! This is YOUR time. Their time is DONE, its over! I'm sick and tired of hearing about how great every other team is. Screw 'em. This is OUR time, now go out there and TAKE it!!
Saturday, July 22, 2023
Learning how to compete
As far back as I can remember, and yes that is a ways back, I always enjoyed a challenge. Not sure why, maybe just to have something on the line or maybe trying to see if I could have some success at something. From a very young age I remember playing checkers with my mom and I never was able to beat her. I don't think I really understood strategy at that point but I quickly learned. Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning and she beat me a bunch so I either I was going to get pretty smart or I would find something else to play! Finding something else to play didn't require me looking far as the kids in my neighborhood would play pickup games of baseball, basketball or football. I can't remember my age but I was under 8 years old when I remember my dad throwing a wiffle ball to me as I swung a bat that seemed to be the width of a clothes hanger...just kidding. You all have seen those narrow yellow wiffle ball bats that came with a ball and the challenge was to see just how big a curve you could throw. Those balls moved! I was able to hit some here and there and that is my first memory of falling in love with sports. In the second grade during "field days", I won the potato race outrunning several classmates while holding a spoon with a gigantic tater on it. I suppose I had decent balance or coordination or maybe both as I didn't drop my tater like the others allowing me to win fairly easily. In the third grade my family moved across town to where I would meet a guy who would become a lifelong friend. Gregory Lee "Duke" Frazier was the first guy I met at Atkins Elementary and our friendship remains close even today, some 54 years later. Greg lived several blocks from me and often he would either walk or ride his bike by my house and many times we would walk to school together or I would ride on the handle bars of his bicycle. With no helmet. On those cold winter days it didn't take me long to figure out he put me on the handle bars to serve as a wind break for him. Dude was wise beyond his years at a early age! Greg and I would play kickball or basketball at recess and many days he would come to my house after school and we would play baseball or football in my back yard. We didn't care, we both loved competing and a few years later we both would make the 6th grade basketball team. I rarely played mainly because I wasn't very good but also because we had several really good players including Jimmy Blackwell who in the 6th grade was already a really tall kid. Like 6 foot 3 or 4 in the 6th grade and could flat out play. We also had a guy named Keith Grant who would play on our high school state runner up team. We won the city championship and I was awarded my very first trophy! I was so proud even though I can honestly say I didn't do a single thing to help with any of our wins! But I was on the team, we were city champs and I had a trophy! Little things folks, little things!
Before the basketball heroics, or lack thereof, Greg got me involved with our church's little league baseball team. I believe it was the summer after the 4th grade and playing organized baseball for the first time was very new to me. Previously all I knew was throwing with someone and playing in the backyard. This was the real thing with 9 players on both teams and everyone had a specific positions and stuff! Our coach was Mr. Jim Burson...a mountain of a man who during practices would take some swings and hit balls on top of our school. Those hits seemed like bombs and we all were wide eyed as we watched those balls soar. Several years later I drove by that school and saw the practice field and backstop where he would be batting and it really wasn't that far, but it sure seemed like a mile to us back in the day! I vaguely remember the first season but some things about where we played will never go away. The Baptist ball park was the place to be during the early summer as the multiple field complex, if you want to call it that, had a variety of leagues from little league, to middle and high school aged teams as well as men's and women's softball games being played. Anyone who played there will instantly be taken back to the dusty parking lot, the sounds of balls being hit, cheers from supporters and the smell. Oh who could ever forget the aroma of French fries and corndogs from the concession stands. We always looked forward to the after game dash to grab a "suicide" to help quinch our thirst. Good times y'all.
If I remember right, in our second season we had a pretty good team led by our star pitcher Greg and man could he really chunk it! There were others that I remember including Bill Martin, Lee Hooker and Lester Cochran to name a few. I remember several players and teams we played against and this particular season one of the teams we played against was Grace Baptist Church. Their pitcher was a big dude named Jody Blackwell, no relation to aforementioned Jimmy even though they lived down the street from each other. Big Ol' Jody was intimidating as he would have this huge swaying windup along with a nasty looking snarl as if he was about to throw a 96 mile an hour heater right at ya. He mustered all this effort into a scary looking windup leading to a fairly average at best fastball. Very hittable if he threw it down the middle but that is where the intimidation may have originated. If you were on deck and saw one of his pitches go over the umpires head or behind the hitter, you were usually too scared to even think about getting into the batters box, much less swing your bat! In a playoff game we faced Jody and his team and it would be a game I will always remember, almost as if I was there yesterday. A play happened that I call one my favorite plays of my ball playing career mainly because of my age and the impact it may have had on the final score of the game. I was playing first base, probably because I may have been one of the few players Mr. Burson trusted to catch balls either hit or thrown to me. Greg was throwing pretty hard that night and with 1 out and a runner on second base, Stan Paul Davis was batting. I don't know why but usually late in games you protect the lines to help eliminate extra base hits down the lines but I moved to my right a step or two away from the first base line right before Greg threw the pitch. Stan Paul swung and smacked a line drive to my right about head high and I can't explain why but I dove and extended my glove across my body, completely laid out parallel from the ground and snagged the ball for the out! I don't even remember landing but I knew I had the ball in my glove! The instant I hit the ground Bill Martin who was playing second base yelled for me to throw it to him as the runner who was on second, a guy named Howard McGraw, had taken off at the crack of the bat on his way to third and would have easily scored. While on my knees, I threw the ball to Bill who touch the base for the inning ending out. A loud cheer greeted us as we headed to our third base dugout but before I got there the coach for Grace, Johnny Blackwell stopped me. He knelt down to my level and as he put his hand on my shoulder he told me that was one of the finest plays he had ever seen. As he patted me on the bottom and I scampered towards my fellow teammates and was greeted by high fives and smiles as well as one from my mother who was proudly clapping for her son and his team. Man what great memories.
I am hoping to write more stories like this sharing some of my life's most enjoyable sports moments and I hope you all will find them interesting and amusing. I appreciate you all taking the time to read my blog and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Thanks,
Johnny
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
TCL League Championships - Friday's Events
Open Singles is loaded with exceptional talent here in Texas with several top level players. The past few years Grant Upchurch and Sammy Soto have arguebly been two of the best however each year there are other players vying for a chance to earn the title of State Champion. Grant and Sammy did what they had to do and both made it to the finals with each beating some really strong players. Grant battled his way to the king seat by beating Adrain Jackson, Austin Waskow and Mason Vega. The game against Vega was a good one as Grant outlasted Vega in a back and forth 24 round game that saw Upchurch throwing a 9.63 while Mason treked along at a 9.46 clip. After beating Vega, Grant defeated Nate Gallup and then faced Soto in the winners final. In that game Grant jumped out to a 5-0 lead maintaining said lead until the 15th round as Sammy slid ahead 14-13, however Upchurch went on to score the games final 8 points to get the win. Sammy defeated David Saenz, Zach Faulkner, Luke Anderson and Matt Martinez before losing to Upchurch. Once in the losers bracket Sammy got hot beating Luke Anderson 21-4 throwing a 10.71 ppr. Wowzer! That win put him in the finals and Upchurch just couldn't keep up with the hot throwing Soto. Grant threw well with a 9.72 ppr but Sammy was better at 10.44 in the first game as Sammy won 21-8. After spotting Grant a early 4-0 lead Sammy went on a 21-4 run to force a double dip game to decide the champ! Both players cooled off just a little but 11 straight rounds of throwing 10's Sammy came out on top winning 21-8 to earn a State Title. Luke Anderson finished third, Tye Thompson came in forth with Matt Martinez and Nate Gallup tying for 5th and if I'm correct, I believe this was the best finish for Martinez in a big TCL event. Jobu was playing at a high level all day and made a really nice run.
TCL League Championship - Recap of Thursdays Events.
In Shreveport, LA this past weekend there was a cornhole tournament. A big one. Texas Cornhole League held their League Championship Tournament and everything about this event was big. Being held in the Shreveport Convention Center the facility was plenty big with sets of boards lined up as far as you could see. The crowd even though the overall numbers of entrants may have been down, seemed big, loud and proud, in traditional TCL fashion. There were also big moments and big shots made by many outstanding players throughout the event. Things got ignited Thursday with the Youth Singles event and with a long list of exceptionally talented players the opportunity for some great matches were lined up from the get go! When the dust settled Mason Vega managed to hold off a determined Sammy Soto who had a double dip opportunity by winning the first game of the finals. Vega had earned the King seat by defeating Luke Anderson 21-7. While Mason waited to find out who his opponent would be, several really good players had some outstanding matches. Sammy who lost in the winners bracket to Luke Anderson, defeated Preston Isom in a very exciting game. Isom was down 12-5 before going on a 13 point run to take a 18-12 lead. The next two rounds Soto was able to score back to back 4 spots to retake a 20-18 lead before ending it on the next round to advance. Soto then beat Levi Haddock 21-0, Cayhill Isom 21-7 and Reef Woodson 21-5 to force a rematch with Anderson. In this game Sammy immediately jumped all over Luke taking a early 11-0 lead 2 rounds into the game. Sammy didn't miss another bag making 32 straight to take a 21-0 win putting him in the finals where Vega waited. The first game of the finals was a back and forth 21 round battle that had a few lead changes with Sammy eventually coming out on top forcing a deciding game. The final game was epic and definitely one for the books as these two warriors put on a tremendous exhibition of shot making and consistency. After 2 rounds of washes, Sammy holed all four of his bags for a 12 while Mason just missed a 12 throwing a 10. These two went back and forth trading 12's and 10's for several rounds with neither player being able to get ahead by more than 3 points. In round 15 Soto extended his lead by 5 going ahead 9-4 only to have Mason get 4 the next frame to make it 9-8.Mason got his first lead in round 21 going ahead 13-10. The back and forth scoring continued with both players throwing several 12's and trading lead changes until round 35 where they were tied at 19. Yep I said round 35. Two more rounds went by before Mason was able to get the win outlasting Soto in a draining 37 round battle. At certain points in this game both players were averaging well over a 10 ppr and ended up with Vega shooting a 9.89 and Soto with a 9.76. These guys threw a combined 35 12's making 75% of their shots. It was a awesome display of shot making and shows just how good these two are at putting a bag in the hole. Not many can do what these guys did Thursday. Rounding out the final 5 were Luke Anderson, Reef Woodson and Cayhill Isom. I'd say the future of TCL is in very good hands with all these youngsters coming up in the ranks.
When I think of an athlete being the class of the field I remember Secretariat and the dominate fashion he won the Triple Crown back in 1973. Others that come to mind are Tiger Woods, Serena Williams and Wayne Gretzky. In cornhole here of late we've seen Grant Upchurch and Sammy Soto doing a number on folks the past few years. In the Seniors Division a guy stepped up and put on a show and simply put, was dominate. Scott Beck, the former Police Officer from Marshall, TX went 6-0 defeating Chris Hobbs 21-12 to win his first Seniors State Championship. For the tournament Scott was red hot throwing at a 9.61 clip per round throughout the event and had but 1 close game. That was a 21-20 win against Donnie Greer in which Beck battled from behind most of the game. Taking his first lead in round 14 at 17-16 only to give it right back the next round as Greer made the score 20-17. Scott got 4 points over the next 3 rounds to advance to the winners bracket finals against Keith Ledwig. Beck won that game 21-12 putting him in the king seat while Ledwig had to face Chris Hobbs. Hobbs was on a little bit of a roll after falling to Ledwig in the winners bracket beating Talley Oneal and Donnie Greer to get to Ledwig. Chris was on fire shooting a 9.43 and smashed Ledwig 21-2 in just 7 rounds putting him in the finals against Beck. The first 9 rounds it was all Hobbs as he held what seemed like a comfortable 12-0 lead however over the next 5 rounds Beck was able to tie the score at 12. The onslaught continued for Scott as he went on to score the games last 21 points beating Hobbs 21-12 earning Beck the title. Rounding out the top 5 were Ledwig in third, Greer finished fourth and Jim Abdella came in fifth.
Another event that was played Thursday was the Women's Singles and let me tell ya, there was some very good players in this field. Denise McEvoy defeated Caitlyn Allshouse to get the win but her road to victory included some tough competition. Her first game was against current TCL Women's Player of the Year Tracie Beeson who is also Denise's Women's Doubles Partner. In a hard fought 18 round game McEvoy came out on top advancing to the next round to face Haley Davidson. Denise was crazy good that game shooting a 10.27 over 11 rounds shutting Haley down 21-5. Denise didn't let up the next game as she shot a 10 ppr beating Autumn Walker 21-0 putting her in the winners bracket final against Christina Espinosa. In a close tense game Espinosa started out with a 8-1 lead after 5 rounds however after 9 rounds her lead was only 10-9 as McEvoy battled back to close the gap. Christina held the lead until round 17 when Denise was able to grab her first lead at 20-17 and went on to secure the comeback victory the next round winning 21-17. In the finals McEvoy faced Caitlyn Allshouse who had a double dip in mind. Caitlyn won the first game 21-14 forcing a do or die game to determine the champ. In a back and forth 20 round game Denise was able to score the games final 7 points over 3 rounds to complete her mission and give her a hard earned Women's Singles Title. Espinosa and Delaney Pilliod finished 3rd and 4th while Haley Davidson and LeeAnna Saxon tied for 5th.
Women's Doubles was also played Thursday with April Black and Heather Mullins going unbeaten to get the win. To get to the finals Black and Mullins defeated Loralei Barrientes and Celeste Alday 2 games to none in the first round. In the 2nd round April and Heather defeated Kayleigh Logan and Ashley Hawpe in 2 games to advance to round 3. There they beat Misty Goode and Sabra Howell advancing to the winners final against Taylor Rose and Delaney Pilliod. Black and Mullins were able to get the win putting them into the finals where they would meet up against Tracie Beeson and Denise McEvoy. The first game all four ladies were filling it up all shooting right at or better than 9 ppr for the game which ended with Black and Mullins winning a nail biter 21-20. Beeson and McEvoy lost their second round game and had to win several loser bracket games to stay alive but couldn't pull off the double dip as April and Heather won 2 games to earn them the Women's Doubles Title. This game was played in front a pretty good crowd that was nestled in and around the championship courts and created an awesome atmosphere. Rounding out the top 5 were Taylor Rose and Delaney Pilliod in third, Haley Davidson and Christina Espinosa in fourth and tied for fifth were Misty Goode and Sabra Howell along with Stacey Paup and LeeAnna Saxon. TCL always puts on a great event and with all these fireworks being shot off on Thursday, I expected Friday and Saturday's events to continue the trend. They didn't disappoint!