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Deep River Horseshoe Has Intense Week Two Matches

Four teams swept their opponents in Week Two of the Deep River Horseshoe League. Those teams included Todd Nuhn’s Yankees, Frank Rausch’s White Sox, Bob Cifaldi’s Mets, and Skip Robinson’s Pirates. The Royals, Yankees, and Reds all topped 300 points in team scoring. John Sciacca had a record night and dominated the stats.

In Yankees vs. Dodgers, Todd Nuhn’s Yanks went 12-0 in their head-to-head matches against Butch Carotenuto’s Dodgers. Frank Jolly, a full-time player this year, was the second leading scorer for “B” division with a 112/29/5 series.

Todd matched Frank’s scoring with a 112/29/3 series and John Durinick, subbing for Keith Toohey, had another week with an 84/15/2 series to help contribute to the total team stat line of 308/73/10. The Dodgers were unable to match their scoring from last week. With the sweep, the Yankees took over sole possession of first place.

Frank Rausch’s White Sox was the second team to go 12-0 in their head-to-head matches, as they swept Mark Goodale’s Marlins. Sox’ Vinny Jonynas had a 100/19/1 series and was the third leading “B” division scorer. Frank almost equaled his score with a 99/19/0 series.

For the second week in a row, Bob Beckwith was the leading score for “C” players with an 83/12/1 series. Mark, who has had trouble with his flip, decided to go to the turn shoe. He started slow, but was pleased with his results after – mastering the turn takes lots of practice.

Mets vs. Angels was a battle of 30 footers. Mets’ Damin Roberts was alone on the cement platforms. With Angels’ Brian Walsh on vacation, Rudy Urban subbed in as the Angels looked to keep the title of “oldest team.”

In head-to-head, Bob Cifaldi bested Tony 3-1, Damin bested Gerry Hines 3-1 and Howie Fisher got the best of Rudy 3-1. When asked if Damin was going to match his scores of last week, he said “I’m returning to normal.” However, Howie has been abnormal the last two weeks. His 81/18/2 series was the second leading “C” score, which included a season-high 30 game. The Mets are currently top four in team scoring and moved into a tie for third place.

Expectations for a shootout between Royals’ John Sciacca and Rockies’ Mike Didomizio was doused, as John put out personal best numbers for the night with a 164/47/9 series and two games of 45/14/3 and 45/13/3. John Hutra also recorded a season-high series of 122/30/4 – the top “B” player along with Kyle Wilson. The final team stat line for the Royals was 326/79/14. The only bright spot for the Rockies was that Jim Weselcousch and Warren Bellows teamed up to win the Rockies’ only game of the match. The Royals ultimately prevailed 5-1 and are tied for third place.

The Cardinals and Tigers both entered the night tied for first place, and the night ended with the Cards alone in second place. Tigers’ Sheryl Serviss went 2-2 against Cards’ Kris Toohey. In Game 1, Kris tossed three doubles to put the game out of reach.

The Cards won game 2 by one, thanks to handicap. Game 4 was similar to game one in that Kris’s four doubles gave the Cards an easy win. Games 5 and 6 finished with identical scratch scores (Tigers 33 – Cards 31), but game 5 ended in a tie thanks to the handicap. The Tigers took game 6 by four points. Each game only had two points of handicap (Tigers four games and Cards two games). The Cards won the match 4.5-1.5.

In Pirates vs. Red Sox, half the players were substitutes. Skip Robinson’s Pirates had Dal Brooks sub for Deb Scully, and Bill Beckwith’s Red Sox had Harvey Strausser sub for Frank Durinick and Tanner Steeves (first timer) sub for Rachel Roberts. Bill said the physical therapy following his knee replacement has been helping, as his game is slowly returning to his standards.

Skip and Bill split in their head-to-head matches. Pirates’ Brady Miller and Harvey tied in their head-to head scores, and it wasn’t until the third game when Brady had a season-high 37/9 clean game to help the Pirates sweep. The Pirates currently lead the league with the fewest open boxes (42).

Cubs’ Cody Layton and Reds’ Pudge Goodrich battled each other for the first two games. Cody recorded a 69/17/2, Pudge recorded a 79/20/5, and they played each other even for the last two games (Cody 51/10/1, Pudge 52/7/0). However, Pudge’s 131 series was the third highest for “A” division players.

Pudge started game 1 with three doubles and five in the first six boxes to quickly put the game out of reach. His 44-point game and five doubles in a game are season highs. The Reds also won the other A/C match.

The Cubs took both A/B matches as Cody and Ted Dubay combined for easy wins. Ted Dubay and Reds’ Scott Allen matched each other for scores — Ted with a 94/20/2 and Scott with a 95/21/2. Reds’ Dave Atkinson has been consistently scoring in the mid-70s, and as a team they hit 301 points in a 4-2 victory.

Joe Heery’s Rangers were looking to rebound from last week’s 1-5 start, however, Mike Zanelli Jr.’s Braves had other ideas. In game 1, the Braves went up by 10 after six boxes and the Rangers were not able to recover. They made a run in game 2 but ultimately came up short, losing by four points. Finally, Ed Turner and Andy Turshen won game 3 and set the tone for the rest of the match.

In game 4, while Heery got off to a slow start, Andy got hot, tossing a double and three ringers in six boxes. Andy’s 22 game was a personal best. Despite nine 1s, the Rangers got their third win in a row in game 5.

In game 6, even after the stakes were painted, they were barely visible. After eight boxes, the Rangers were down six points. In the ninth, Ted tossed a six and in the 10th, Andy tossed a six to take the lead by three, and the team ultimately hung on to win the game by four and the match 4-2. Andy Turshen had a personal best series (62/13/2) and edged Andy Konefal (61/11/1).

The Orioles faced the Giants in an intense matchup. Dave Aldrich filled in for Orioles’ Dennis Allen for the first two games. Mike Zanelli Sr.’s 144/35/4 series was the second highest score for “A” division players.

Five of the six games were decided by three points or less. Game 1 went to the Orioles, thanks to the 10-point handicap. The Giants overcame a 14-point handicap to win game 2 by three and they won game 3 by one. Game 4 had a tie scratch score at 45, but the Orioles won by two. The Giants took game 5 by three points and in game 6, Giants’ Mike Mercier had a personal best 27/7 game. Orioles’ Paul Chrystal’s 78/11 series was the third best score among “C” players for the night. The Giants prevailed and won the match 4-2.

The 50/50 winners for the evening were John Hutra and Tanner Steeves.