BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – The 2022 Singles Tournament field might have been the strongest in history, consisting of eight of the top-10 players in the Power Rankings, as well as promising rookie Pete (ranked #11 with a 13.9 KPM), perennial top-5 ranked Galz, who somehow slipped to #13 in this year’s Power Rankings (so far), Coach Mike, who is always dangerous, and Scott Garavalia, who has a history of championship appearances in major LEG tournaments.
Given the depth and balance in the field, we chose to seed the tournament based on a random draw rather than using the Power Rankings. No matter the seeding approach, there were going to be some ridiculous first round matches, and the random draw only confirmed that.
FIRST ROUND NAIL BITERS
Of the four first round matches, three of them were decided by five points or fewer.
#8 Galz vs. #9 JV – This match was about as even as you’d expect, with the score tied 9 – 9 after six rounds. JV used back-to-back 7-point rounds, which netted him seven points and upped his lead to 16 – 9. After each player exchanged a few points, JV had a commanding 19 – 11 lead. But Galz never relents, and while his aggressive style of play makes him prone to surrendering big rounds, it also creates his own big scoring opportunities. In the 13th round Galz drained two cornholes with his first two bags, and landed his third bag hole-high, but well right and out of play. Still, he had a commanding 7 – 2 advantage and was primed to get back in the game. JV’s final toss started wide right and stayed there. The bag barely clipped the back edge of the board, His errant bag barely clipped the back edge of the board before caroming off, contacting Galz’s wide-right bag in the process, causing Galz’s bag to kick straight left and into the hole. Such a bad beat turned a comfortable late lead for JV into a white knuckle affair with Galz holding a 9 – 2 lead in the round, JV out of bags, and a final bag cornhole for Galz to win the game. Take a wild guess what happened next…Galz puffed his cigar, then clenched his jaw as he focused his final throw. In the hole for a 12 – 2 round and a 21 – 19 win! JV was understandably upset, squandering an excellent opportunity to advance in the Winners’ Bracket. Could this be the moment to ignite Galz, who has two runner-up finishes and a third place finish in prior Singles Tournaments?
#5 Dibble vs. #12 Barker – Barker was the biggest loser in the blind seeding draw, earning the worst seed (#12) and drawing Dibble as his first round opponent. None of that matter because Barker was lights out, throwing an 8.43 points per round and two 4-baggers while ripping through Dibble, 21 – 0, in just seven rounds. That victory caught the attention of all 11 other players, while also growing Barker’s irrational confidence.
#6 Pete vs. #11 Erik – If there was ever the perfect match to demonstrate first-time tournament jitters, this was it. Pete, a rookie who just joined LEG one month ago, is a skilled player with a promising future. But nerves are no joke, and winning a match in any LEG tournament is not easy. Pete looked fantastic while jumping out to a 16 – 4 lead, averaging 5.8 points per round and frustrating the hell out of Erik. But nerves are no joke, and winning a match in any LEG tournament is not easy, which Pete found out the hard way. His 16 – 4 lead evaporated in four rounds – Pete never scored again, and Erik averaged 7 points per round during “winning time,” stringing together 17 straight points to win, 21 – 16. That’s a vet who is used to the pressure and demands of closing a tournament match versus a first-timer.
#7 Dan vs. #10 Brent – These two exchanged one point here, two points there for much of the first half of this match. After 10 grueling rounds, Dan had 13 – 10 lead. Then this match turned chaotic with big scoring rounds. Brent manufactured a 7 – 0 scoring burst in two rounds to take a 17 – 13 lead, followed by Dan hitting a 4-bagger in the 13th round, which netted him seven huge points and a 20 – 17 lead. Brent immediately tied the game at 20 – 20 with a 10 – 7 advantage in the 14th round, followed by a 6 – 6 wash in the 15th round. Brent put tons of pressure on Dan in the 16th round by making cornholes on his first three throws. Dan hung tough, scoring 7 points after three throws. Brent’s fourth throw was a perfect blocker that covered Dan’s bag, making for a harder push shot. Down 10 – 7 in the round, Dan’s final bag had to be in the hole to keep the game alive. Since there was no way to push his own bag in without taking Brent’s blocker, Dan opted for an airmail and missed long. Brent hung on for the 21 – 20 win, in a highly entertaining match.
WINNERS’ BRACKET SECOND ROUND
#1 Scott G. vs. #8 Galz – In past tournaments, this was Galz’s prime moment to make a Cinderalla run. Galz rode the moment from his incredible 12-point round to overcome JV in the first round, by beginning this match on a 10 – 5 run. Scott quickly shook off the rust from sitting a little longer, going on a 13 – 2 run to take an 18 – 12 lead. Galz closed the gap to 18 – 17 with five big points in the 11th round. However, Scott muddied the board in the 12th round and Galz’s aggressive airmail attempts missed every time. Scott won the round, 6 – 2, and the game 21 – 17.
#4 KP vs. #12 Barker – Barker was salivating at this opportunity. He talks so much shit to KP, and if you asked Barker who he enjoys beating the most, his answer is almost assuredly KP. He was confident after taking Dibble behind the woodshed, 21 – 0. Barker stayed red hot, negating every big scoring round KP had. These two had rounds of:
- 9 – 8 (advantage to KP)
- 9 – 8 (Barker)
- 12 – 10 (KP)
- 8 – 8
- 10 – 8 (KP)
- 10 – 10
- 10 – 6 (Barker)
Barker was steady and patient, knowing KP’s frustration would lead to taking riskier shots. He was right. In the seven rounds highlighted above, KP averaged 9 points per round. Yet, he only managed to score five points from those rounds. Those would be the only five points he scored in the match, as Barker broke the dam with a 10 – 4 round to take an 11 – 5 lead, then tacked on four more points with a 9 – 5 advantage in the 10th round to make it 15 – 5. His 10 – 6 scoring advantage in the 12th round made it 19 – 5, and he wrapped it up with two points in the 13th round, 21 – 5 was the final score. KP didn’t play that bad, averaging 6.62 points per round. But Barker scored cornholes on 54% of the bags he threw in this match and averaged 7.85 points per round, which was too much for KP to overcome. Another blowout win for Barker, as he advanced to the winners’ bracket quarterfinals to face Scott.
#3 Nick vs. #11 Erik – If there was a Game of the Night, this would be a finalist. Erik pounced early, taking a 10 – 4 lead. Nick inched back into the game with an 8 – 5 advantage in the fifth round, making it 10 – 7. From this point forward, we witnessed a different Erik. He’s been a strong player for years, which includes two runner-up finishes in the 2020 and 2021 Preseason Kick-Off Tournaments, respectively, and being voted to the All-Tournament Team in both of those tournaments. The dividends from those tournament experiences paid off in this match against LEG’s most decorated player. Usually Nick would take control of the game at this point, overwhelming his opponent. But Erik responded with three consecutive scoring rounds of +1, +2, and +3, reasserting his lead at 16 – 7. Nick rallied right back, scoring seven straight points to close the gap to 16 – 14. Erik answered with rounds of 7 – 6 (+1 point) and 10 – 7 (+3 points), making it 20 – 14. Ask Pete, closing a match is hard work, let alone doing it against the best player in the league. Nick scored three points in each of the 15th and 16th rounds to tie the game at 20 – 20. The audience thought **this** was the moment where Erik crumbled. He had a 20 – 14 lead, then surrendered six consecutive points in two rounds while only scoring four total points himself. Surely, he couldn’t recover. In the 16th round, Nick threw a phenomenal first bag block in the middle of the board, about one foot short of the hole. Erik’s first throw was an absurd cut shot that tap danced around Nick’s blocker and into the hole. Nick tried the same cut shot, hoping to leave his blocker in place as an obstacle for Erik. He missed off the back of the board. Erik threw another cut shot, this one landing softer and dancing more nimbly around the block before finding the hole. Nick tried a hard push with his third throw and missed off the back again. Erik went for a third straight cut, but this one didn’t cut enough and slid off the back of the board. He was disgusted, knowing a third cornhole would’ve likely secured victory, and now Nick still had life. Erik was up 6 – 1 after three throws. Nick had no choice but to throw a hard push, hoping to collect his blocker and tie the round at 6 – 6, then pray Erik missed the board on his final shot. Nick’s push was off target, sending his final bag off the back of the board and leaving his blocker untouched. Erik secured the win! His final bag didn’t matter, but he threw the cut shot anyway…probably just to prove the one he missed with his third throw was an anomaly. He hit the final cut shot, this one more beautiful than the previous two. A 9 – 1 round for Erik and a 21 – 20 upset victory to send him into the winners’ bracket quarterfinals.
#2 Coach Mike vs. #10 Brent – Coach was a big winner by randomly drawing the #2 seed, improving him 10 seed spots compared to if we had used the Power Rankings. The downside was he earned a date with Brent in the second round, and Brent was throwing fire. He averaged 7 points per round and 50% of his throws went in the hole. Coach hung tough, averaging just under 5 points per round, which is higher than his season average. But Brent was too much, and pulled away for a 21 – 8 victory to advance against Erik in the winners’ bracket quarterfinals.
WINNERS’ BRACKET QUARTERFINALS AND SEMIFINALS
Given all the close matches we had up to this point, you’d expect similar grinds in the quarterfinals. Right? Wrong. They were snooze fests. Barker dominated Scott, 21 – 7, just as he did his previous two opponents. Scott didn’t throw bad, averaging 5.4 points per round; Barker was just better at 7 points per round.
In the other match, Erik couldn’t bottle the magic potion he used to beat Nick, as he limped through the match against Brent before losing 21 – 8. Erik had opportunities, but just couldn’t make cornholes – only 19% of his throws were cornholes in this game, which is not anywhere near good enough to beat Brent.
Two blowouts set-up a winners’ bracket semifinal match between Brent and Barker. If you’re looking for intensity, this was the place to find it. I’m not sure if nerves finally caught up with Barker, but he came back to earth a bit in the game. He started this match with rounds of 5, 2, 2, and 3 (these are total points, not net points scored), which is why he found himself in a 14 – 1 hole. A few rounds later Brent had victory in his grasp with a 19 – 5 lead. Barker earned six points after a 10 – 4 advantage, giving him some hope at 19 – 11. But Brent tacked on a point in the very next round, making it 20 – 11.
Barker showed his toughness when he hit a 4-bagger, allowing him to score seven points and close the deficit to 20 – 18. In the very next round he tied the match at 20 – 20. Brent was on tilt, searching for answers against a surging Barker.
For as well-played and intense as this match was, the ending was a disappointment. The score was tied, 20 – 20, and Barker laid the perfect first bag blocker to start round 13. That blocker became a disaster for both players, as only one out of the next seven combined bags scored points. Barker suddenly became unusually inaccurate, missing long and off the back of the board, while Brent looked like Tin Cup repeatedly throwing cut shots that didn’t cut. He did stumble into a cornhole on one of his four throws, leading to a 3 – 1 round, which was good enough for the 21 – 20 victory.
THE GAUNTLET OF 11 LOSERS
With Brent being the only player with an unblemished record, that leaves the remaining 11 players navigating the treacherous waters of the losers’ and double losers’ brackets in hopes of emerging with an opportunity to win a championship.
If you’re reading this, I appreciate you. This has been a long recap, but the game-by-game overview from the winners’ bracket felt necessary. We will take this in a different direct now, which is hopefully just as enjoyable.
The margin for error is so slim once you’ve fallen to the losers’ brackets, and the pressure ratchets up several levels. Coach Mike and Pete were unfortunate victims, unable to snag any wins before bowing out of the tournament at 0 – 3. Pete almost ignited a run, but once again could not clinch a match when he had the late lead. Pete’s elimination match against Galz mirrored the first round games each of these respective players played earlier in the day. Pete possessed a comfortable 20 – 10 lead over Galz, similar to his 16 – 4 lead over Erik in the first round. Galz’s daunting deficit against Pete felt eerily familiar to his 19 – 11 deficit against JV earlier in the day.
Just like earlier, Galz stormed back to steal a victory against long odds, beating Pete, 21 – 20. The sting of those two blown leads will hurt Pete for a while, but will also provide a strong foundation of experiences to build upon.
Galz throttled JV in the next match, 21 – 3, before being eliminated by Erik, 21 – 11. Galz finished the tournament with a respectable 3 – 3 record and T – 7 place.
JV rebounded from a disheartening loss to Galz in the winners’ bracket by beating Coach Mike, 21 – 11. His reward was a date with Nick, which is akin to playing Alabama in football the week following a loss. In other words, not the position you want to be in. Nick cruised by JV, 21 – 4, sending JV to the double losers’ bracket where, as already mentioned, he was eliminated by Galz, 21 – 3. JV finished with a 1 – 3 record, but things could have been much different had he closed his first match against Galz.
Dibble’s performance is a mystery. His 21 – 0 loss to Barker raised eyebrows, but then seemed understandable after Barker subsequently throttled KP and Scott. However, Dibble’s 21 – 0 loss to Nick in the losers’ bracket brings back all the questions. The match lasted only seven rounds, and Dibble scored total points of 4, 6, 3, 0, 1, 5 and 0 – that’s an average of 2.71 points per round. Yikes.
Dibble staved off elimination for one game, beating Coach Mike, 21 – 9. But was eliminated in his next game against KP, 21 – 4. Everyone, himself included, expected more from Dibble. It’s fair to call this tournament a disappointment for him, as he finished with a 1 – 3 record and was outscored 72 – 25 across his four games.
After losing a 21 – 20 heart-breaker in the first round against Brent, Dan went on a nice run in the losers’ bracket. He coasted to victories over Galz (21 – 9), KP (21 – 10) and Erik (21 – 8), putting himself in the thick of the championship hunt. One more victory would secure a spot in the final four. His opponent in this pivotal match??? I’m glad you asked…
Nick seemed to regain some of his championship mojo with the win over JV, but was now faced with a “prove your manhood” type of game against Scott, who fell to this losers’ bracket match after losing to Barker. The Nick vs. Scott match looked like heavyweights who dropped their hands and just took turns attempting to knock each other’s heads off. Scott started the game with a 9 – 0 round and added one more point in the second round to take a 10 – 0 lead. The players took turns nickel and diming each other until it was 13 – 11 in favor of Scott after eight rounds.
In the ninth round, Nick almost landed the knockout blow when he drained a 4-bagger and Scott managed only three points. Nick’s +9 advantage vaulted him to a 20 – 13 lead. Scott stumbled and stammered after taking a heavy shot to the chin. After regrouping in his corner, he rose to his feet and showed Nick the fight he still had within. In the very next round, Scott delivered the knockout blow – a 4-bagger of his own to win the round 12 – 2, which also won the game, 21 – 20. Credit to Scott for delivering a 4-bagger in such a crucial moment. He advanced to play Dan for a spot in the final four.
Scott continued to grind out victories, this time a 21 – 8 win over Dan, which guaranteed a top-4 finish for Scott and advanced him to face Barker in a rematch. Dan played well in this loss, but two rounds were his undoing:
- Round 2 – Dan managed just three points, while Scott knocked in eight points. +5 for Scott
- Round 7 – Dan managed just two points, while Scott knocked in seven points. +5 more for Scott
Those are killer rounds against a quality player like Scott, and Dan couldn’t recover because Scott plays such a smart game without taking high risks. Dan fell to the double losers’ bracket where he’d have to claw back to championship contention with every game also being an elimination match.
With KP beating Dibble and Nick losing to Scott, the double losers’ bracket now pitted KP against Nick, with the loser finishing T – 7 with Galz. KP jumped out to a 15 – 0 lead, which shocked everyone in attendance, including KP. But Nick chipped away, going on a 14 – 0 run to tighten the game at 15 – 14.
KP was clearly rattled. In a match taking place simultaneously, JV had flipped a bag behind his back out of frustration and it landed on the board, displacing bags that were near the hole from tosses in the middle of a round KP and Nick were playing. JV could have tried that 100 more times and not repeated it. Yet, he “successfully” executed that unintentional shot in the midst of KP’s focus already fading into the abyss. The players repositioned the bags as best they could, and Nick went on to earn one point in the round, tying the game at 15 – 15. Somehow KP found his groove again and closed the game with a 6 – 0 run to eliminate Nick, 21 – 15.
Next up was another elimination match, this time between KP and Erik. This match wasn’t close, as Erik couldn’t find his rhythm. KP won, 21 – 10, eliminating Erik, who finished in sixth place with a 3 – 3 record. That’s a solid run for Erik, however, it’s also a bit disappointing considering he started 2 – 0 with wins over Pete and Nick.
KP’s win earned him a rematch with Dan, who fell to the double losers’ bracket after losing to Scott. At this point, KP was picking up steam and locking in his focus. He avenged the earlier loss to Dan with a
21 – 11 victory in this elimination match.
Dan finished with an excellent tournament, particularly given it was the first of his career. He landed in fifth place and had a 3 – 3 record.
Meanwhile, KP guaranteed himself a spot in the final four with Brent, Barker and Scott after winning his fourth consecutive elimination match.
FINAL FOUR
The final four was set, with Brent holding the enviable position of no losses, while Barker and Scott faced off in the losers’ bracket since each player had one loss on their resume. KP sat in the double losers’ bracket awaiting results from the games above him while hanging on to his tournament life, unable to afford any more losses given he already had two.
The rematch between Barker and Scott was much more competitive than the 21 – 7 drubbing earlier in the winners’ bracket. Both players started a little slow, which might’ve been from sitting on the sidelines too long while the double losers’ bracket unfolded. By the fourth round, both guys found their stroke and things heated up. Through 10 rounds the score was tied 10 – 10, an indicator that we were in for a marathon. Barker created separation with a 5-point round, taking a 15 – 10 lead, but Scott chipped away over the next few rounds and cut the deficit to 15 – 13.
Barker upped his lead to 16 – 13 after winning the 14th round, 7 – 6. Scott had a great scoring opportunity in the 15th round, but didn’t hit a push shot hard enough and had to settle for an 8 – 8 wash. In the 16th round, the flood gates opened – Barker posted an 8-point round, but even his two “missed” bags were around the hole, making it almost impossible for Scott to create a scoring advantage. Scott had to attempt shots with higher degrees of difficulty and couldn’t execute them, which caused him to lose the round, 8 – 3, and ultimately the game 21 – 13.
From round 4 – round 15, Scott averaged 7 points per round. He had rounds with 8, 10, 6, 6, and 8 points where he either did not score at all (the round washed) or he gave up points. Barker puts so much pressure on his opponent – he’s so consistent, rarely misses the board and most bags are always near the hole and in play, if not in the hole. He doesn’t make many mistakes, which means he rarely gives up big scoring rounds, even when his opponent throws an 8, 10 or 12. All the sudden, his opponent will get impatient or have one bad round, then he pounces on that opportunity. It’s exactly how he closed Scott out in this game.
Barker advanced to avenge his only loss, facing Brent. Meanwhile, Scott dropped to the double losers’ bracket against KP in an elimination match.
Brent jumped on Barker right away, hitting him with a 10 – 3 round to take an early 7 – 1 lead after Barker started the game with an 8 – 7 round to take a 1 – 0 advantage. Barker washed the third round, 10 – 10 to negate a potential big scoring round for Brent. After that, the route was on. Barker ripped off 20 straight points over four rounds: 9 – 5 (+4), 12 – 5 (+7), 8 – 2 (+6), and 6 – 2 (+4) and cake-walked to victory, 21 – 7.
This was a huge win for Barker, handing Brent his first loss, and resulted in immediately running it back with the winner advancing to the championship match and the loser falling to the double losers’ bracket to play the winner of Scott vs. KP.
With a berth to the championship on the line, Barker continued to ride the momentum from his blowout win. He began the game on an 8 – 0 run, extending his scoring streak to 28 – 0 when including the prior game.
But Brent is too good of a player to go away quietly. He pieced together his own 14 – 3 run to take a 14 – 11 lead. In the back-half of the game, it was all Barker, all the time. Once again, Barker rose to the occasion during winning time. He tied the game at 14 – 14, washed the 12th round, then dropped a 10 – 1 hammer in the 13th round to win the game, 21 – 14.
Barker secured his spot in the championship match. Brent still had a chance at the title, but now couldn’t afford a loss.
Scott threw great against KP, building an early lead and holding onto it late into the game. KP just couldn’t get anything going because Scott was throwing so well, dirtying up the board and making it harder to score cornholes. Scott was on the verge of advancing, holding a 20 – 12 lead (or something close to that…the score got a little hazy). That’s when KP finally broke through, clawing together 1 point here and 2 points there, coming all the way back to beat Scott, 21 – 20.
Scott finished in fourth place and had exceptional tournament, despite being disappointed because he absolutely could have won it all.
KP survived another game and now faced Brent in an elimination match, the winner advancing to the championship. This game was like déjà vu for KP. He fell into an early hole and Brent slowly tossed dirt on him, burying KP one round at a time. Much of this game wasn’t close, and Brent had a late 20 – 10
lead. Somehow, KP did it again – without margin for error, he chipped away, stayed in the game and ultimately hit Brent with a 10 – 5 round to overcome a seemingly insurmountable deficit to win the game, 21 – 20.
After entering the final four undefeated, Brent lost three consecutive games and finished in third place. The tournament, as a whole, was a success for him, even though the ending leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
NUT CUP
Before we get to the championship match, we’re going to shift gears and highlight the Nut Cup.
The inaugural Nut Cup was created on the fly, mid-tournament, and was such a hit that it’s now here to stay. Similar to the Toilet Bowl in doubles tournaments, the Nut Cup was established as a secondary tournament where the first four players eliminated from the main tournament face off in a single elimination format with an opportunity to still win a championship.
JV and Coach Mike faced off in one semifinal, while Pete and Dibble were paired against each other in the other semifinal.
JV and Coach battled in a tight game that was so entertaining that JV stopped halfway through their match and yelled to the other players, “Where the hell is the support for the Nut Cup?!?!” He was right. Just because it’s a secondary tournament, doesn’t mean it’s lesser cornhole with lesser players. In fact, it’s not at all and never will be. The unfortunate reality is there will always be a few good players who qualify for the Nut Cup and/or the Toilet Bowl after going 0 – 3 or 1 – 3 in the main tournament.
JV and Coach were within three or four points throughout the entire match, with Coach holding a late 20 – 19 lead. He had a great chance to secure victory, but his back-handed taint tickler suddenly became erratic, likely because Coach keeps alternating between the taint tickler and trying to throw a flat bag. JV, who is also going through growing pains by changing his throw, played smartly and less aggressive than normal by taking points on the board to force Coach into tougher situations. JV piled up points, holding a 5 – 2 advantage in the round, requiring Coach to score a final bag cornhole to extend the game. He missed long off the board and JV won, 21 – 20.
Galz tried to write himself into the Nut Cup, despite not qualifying. He added his name squaring off against Nick in a faux semifinal match on the Nut Cup bracket. Even after JV and KP scribbled over it, he physically tried to take the court before Dibble and Pete arrived. Was he frustrated about being eliminated and having no additional matches to play? Did he want possession of the Nut Cup to add to his Toilet Bowl resume? You’d think his recurring pink eye and problematic sties in his eye would temper his genitalia-related enthusiasm.
Pete was eager to avenge two disappointing losses with a victory over the #4 ranked player in the Power Rankings, Dibble. He started well, hanging with Dibble early and in the middle stages of the game. Facing a 16 – 15 deficit, Pete had an opportunity to exorcise his late-game demons. His opponent has a checkered history of similar late-game problems. Who would get over the hump? This time it was Dibble. He finished the game on a 5 – 1 run to win, 21 – 16.
Nut Cup bragging rights would come down to JV vs. Dibble. After two competitive semifinal matches, the audience expected a great championship match. Dibble was determined to prevent that, blowing out JV with a 16 – 7 lead. Once he upped his lead to 16 – 7, Dibble started making the Aaron Rodgers “Discount Double-Check” motion, signaling a belt around his waist.
JV caught it out of the corner of his eye and the disrespect fired him up, especially when Dibble didn’t have the humility to realize he was nowhere near the championship belt. When JV is fueled and focused, he’s a dangerous player. That was on full display when he ripped off a 14 – 0 run to claim the Nut Cup with a 21 – 16 victory.
Thanks to Dibble, an otherwise sleepy Nut Cup championship match turned into a riveting match worthy of the main stage.
Congratulations to JV, the first-time winner and 2022 Nut Cup champion!
THE SHOWDOWN FOR THE BELT
The mental toughness and grind KP demonstrated while winning six straight elimination matches was impressive. Could he pull one more rabbit out of the hat, upsetting Barker to win his third consecutive Singles Championship?
This match was worthy of a championship in every facet. It lasted for more than 20 rounds, elapsed close to 30 minutes, and almost couldn’t get tighter on the scoreboard. Barker held an early 6 – 5 lead, before both players scrapped and clawed for points that yielded scores of 11 – 11 and 14 – 13 (advantage Barker).
Barker was up 17 – 14, but that had become comfortable territory for KP because of his jaunt through the double losers’ bracket. KP started the round with a perfectly placed blocker short of the hole and in
Barker’s lane, followed by Barker finally missing a bag off the board. KP tried to take full hole control with another block with his second throw, but the bag kicked left at the last moment and sat on the left side of the hole. Barker executed a perfect second throw by laying a block in front of the hole in KP’s lane, which is exactly where KP wanted his previous bag.
KP’s third throw was another perfectly executed bag, this time pushing into the two blockers and moving all three bags to the edge of the hole. This three-bag pile up also started to collect KP’s bag on the left side of the hole, bringing it back into play.
Barker’s third throw was an attempt to block behind the pile, making any push attempt for KP more difficult. He missed short and right of the pile, maintaining a lane for KP to push everything in. Final bag in hand, KP stepped out to the left, creating a better angle to push the pile. He fired a low heater that hit the pile almost perfectly! And…everything clogged. One of KP’s bags fell into the hole, but everything else – three more of KP’s bags and one of Barker’s bags – bunched around the hole. Barker was content to board his final bag and concede a 6 – 3 round to KP, tying the score at 17 – 17. But had the bags not clogged and instead fell, KP could have hit a 12 – 5 round to win the game 21 – 17 (although Barker could have slide his final bag into the hole for a 12 – 7 round and extended the game).
One round later, KP fogged out for a split second and side-railed his first throw off the board. An unusual and expensive miss. Barker capitalized by putting his next two bags in the hole. KP’s magic ran out. This round for Barker was too much to overcome. KP had to throw a back-side airmail without taking one of Barker’s bag in on his final throw just to have a chance, but missed long. It was over. Barker closed up with a 4-bagger on his final toss, a fitting ending to a fitting champion! Barker wins a thriller, 21 – 17 to claim the crown of 2022 Singles Champion!
Earlier in the year, KP and Barker hung out together on a cool, soggy Thursday night leading up to the 2022 Preseason Kick-Off Tournament. That night Barker told KP he was circling the calendar for the 2022 Singles Tournament, taking aim at winning the title. Barker has three prior championships, all in doubles, but still felt like he needed to validate what we all know – that he’s one of the top two or three players in this league.
Validation achieved, Barker. You’re the 2022 Singles Champion! Congratulations!
For those of you who want to watch the championship match, use this link. Recording started a few rounds into the game, with Barker up 6 – 5.
Postscript: Many of the players have reminded me of an important fact that needs to be highlighted, and interpreted however you choose – Galz gave breathalyzers to several players immediately after the championship match finished because Barker seemed a little too sober in the eyes of many. Indeed he was – he blew 0.036, which equates to one or two beers. KP registered at 0.105. Make of that what you will.