CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – Week 11 was the final tune-up prior to the 2022 Singles Tournament, and seven guys took advantage of the opportunity at JV’s house.

All seven players are also scheduled to participate in the Singles Tournament, and each one of the guys seemed to have extra focus on this night, working on tweaking and perfecting throwing mechanics in advance of the Singles Tournament. The heightened attention yielded some of the best group results of the season.

All seven players finished at or above a 15.3 KPM. KP paced the field with a 19.7, but most notable was Galz posting a 17.6 KPM. Galz is a perennial top five player in this league, but the 2022 season has been a bit of a struggle for him. Coming into tonight he ranked #14 in the Power Rankings with a 12.7 KPM, 4.1 points per round (ppr), 61% accuracy and 0.82 cornholes per round, all of which are the lowest of his career, excluding his rookie season in 2018.

Although his strong night didn’t cause a huge jump in the Power Rankings (he moved from 14 to 13), it does create a lot of optimist as he enters the Singles Tournament, where he’s a two-time runner-up. Knowing Galz, that son of a bitch has been sandbagging all season and is waiting in the weeds to pop up Saturday and bite someone.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

This week’s Game of the Night pitted JV and Brent against Erik and Nick. Early on, Erik and Nick were giving their opponents the business, racing out to a 10 – 0 lead. Nick scored six points against Brent during that stretch, while Erik chipped in another four points against JV.

JV quieted the storm in the top of the third inning with four points, but Nick immediately added two more points in the bottom of the inning, making it 12 – 4.

As we’ve seen countless times, no lead should ever be considered comfortable or safe. Nick and Erik’s lead in this game was no different. In the fourth inning, JV scored two points followed by five from Brent and in the blink of an eye their deficit shrunk to 12 – 11.

The duo extended their scoring run to 13 unanswered points when JV pounded Erik in the fifth inning, 7 – 1, giving his squad a 17 – 12 lead.

Nick rebounded nicely in the bottom of the inning by scoring four precious points to keep his team in the game, down just 17 – 16.

In the top of the sixth inning, Erik had an opportunity to win the game. He possessed a 7 – 5 lead after three bags and a cornhole would give him a 10 – 5 lead in the round. Those five points would’ve been enough to earn a victory, pending JV missed his final bag off the board. None of those scenarios mattered, though, because Erik only boarded his final bag. JV did miss, rubbing a little salt in the missed opportunity wound. Still, Erik gave his team a 19 – 17 lead by winning the round, 8 – 5.

The bags flipped to Nick and Brent, both of whom are players who want late game opportunities like this. However, both players looked as though the moment overwhelmed them a bit. They combined for just 10 points in the round, with Brent snagging a 6 – 4 advantage, knotting the game at 19 – 19.

Here we were again, bags in JV’s hands with an opportunity to clinch a win. A similar opportunity presented itself in last week’s Game of the Night, but Erik withstood that challenge and closed the game by getting the best of JV. Both players held firm in this game, playing the round with superb strategy and washing the round at 7 – 7. The missed bag from both JV and Erik was an aggressive cut shot (Erik) and an airmail attempt over two blockers (JV).

Back at the other end, Nick and Brent had a shot at redemption after crapping the bed with the game on the line in the last inning. Brent applied pressure with a first bag cornhole, followed by a front-board miss from Nick. Brent’s second bag was also a cornhole, giving him a 6 – 0 lead in the round. Nick drained a much-needed cornhole on his second bag.

Brent’s third bag was a block, the perfect shot under the circumstances. Nick nestled his third bag behind Brent’s, creating a two bag pile.

Brent attempted to push the pile on his final throw, rather than board it to take an 8 – 4 lead and force Nick to airmail or push the pile just to limit damage and extend the game. He was wide of the target and had too much heat on the bag, missing off the board. Nick still had to be in the hole on his final throw, but now an airmail would wash the round at 7 – 7, or pushing the entire pile would wash the round at 9 – 9. He opted to stay skinny and hard up the middle, something his wife has never seen in her life. He rammed the pile, but not hard enough because all three bags sat on the rim of the hole. The round finished in favor of Brent, 7 – 5, which was good enough for a 21 – 19 comeback victory.

The comeback was the first of the season for both Brent and JV, while also handing Nick his second “choke” of the season and Erik his first of the season.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT

In Game 5, Galz and Erik had a 16 – 13 lead over Brent and JV. The bags were in Erik and JV’s hands, which is becoming a common head-to-head match-up producing late-game heroics.

In recent weeks, Erik is the chink in JV’s closing armor. For the second consecutive week, Erik was unfazed by JV’s closing prowess, taking the fight right to him by draining three cornholes on his way to a 9 – 2 win in the round, giving his team a 21 – 13 victory. JV rarely blows saves, especially in such blowout fashion. But Erik has his number lately, which is blossoming into an entertaining rivalry.

Congratulations to Erik for earning this week’s MSM!

NEWS AND NOTES

• As mentioned earlier, KP finished with a 19.7 KPM. His 83% accuracy helped him score 6.2 points per round and 1.45 cornholes per round. Despite the numbers, he finished with a 0.500 record, 3 – 3.
• Nick ended the night with an 18.8 KPM, 5.9 ppr, 74% accuracy, 1.45 cornholes per round, and 2 – 3 record.
• Brent posted an 18.7 KPM, 5.9 ppr, 80% accuracy, 1.36 cornholes per round, and a stellar 5 – 1 record.
• JV finished with a 15.6 KPM, 4.9 ppr, 64% accuracy, 1.17 cornholes per round, and 3 – 2 record.
• Dan posted a 15.3 KPM, 4.9 ppr, 71% accuracy, 1.02 cornholes per round, and 4 – 3 record.
• Erik’s numbers mirrored Dan’s in many ways – 15.3 KPM, 4.9 ppr, 72% accuracy, 1.02 cornholes per round, and 3 – 6 record.