2022 Week 8 Recap

2022 Weekly Recaps

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Last week we talked about the two new rookies, and their “welcome to the league moments”. What a difference one week makes – both players looked more comfortable on the boards, allowing their talent to shine.

Pete made a huge move in the Power Rankings, jumping from #16 last week to #11 this week. He threw a 14.9 KPM with 4.7 points per round, 1.04 cornholes per round and 66% accuracy. He was also impressive in his head-to-head match-ups this week, winning every single head-to-head match-up in all seven games he played, and obviously winning the aggregate head-to-head as well.

  • Beat Turley head-to-head, 38 – 34 (one game)
  • Beat Dan head-to-head, 113 – 105 (three games)
  • Beat JV head-to-head, 17 – 11 (one game)
  • Beat Bob head-to-head, 68 – 44 (two games)

Pete finished with a 3 – 4 record, but clearly did his part in all seven of those games. Pete has phenomenal mechanics, with one of the flattest bags in the league and a deadly airmail. As he gains more experience, Pete could easily become a perennial top five player in the league.

The other dynamic rookie, Dan, may have stayed at #8 in the Power Rankings, but his KPM jumped from 14.7 last week to 16.0 this week (he’s at 15.5 overall on the season). The rest of his numbers increased nicely week-over-week, as well:

  • Points Per Round – 5.1 this week vs. 4.8 last week
  • Cornholes Per Round – 1.07 this week vs. 0.84 last week
  • Accuracy – 75% this week vs. 79% last week

Dan’s accuracy dropped a bit, but that’s a small sacrifice for seeing the bag go in the hole more often and to score more points every round.

It’s going to be difficult for either of these two to overcome the Rookie of the Year advantage Brent has, simply because of his Preseason Kick-Off Tournament championship and 18.5 KPM so far this season. However, both of these guys are capable of winning the Postseason Tournament and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them make noise in the Singles Tournament. If either guy has impressive runs in the final two tournaments of the year, it’s possible they leap to the front of the Rookie of the Year race.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

This may sound like a broken record week after week, but choosing this week’s Game of the Night was almost impossible. Of the 14 games played this week, nine were decided by six points or less and seven were decided by three points or less. Read that again – seven of 14 games were played to a score of 21 – 18 or closer. That’s unbelievable! For that reason, this week’s Game of the Night is a nod to all the close games – we’ll briefly recap and highlight all seven games decided by three points or less. Let’s dive in!

  • Game 2 – Turley and Nick vs. JV and KP
    • Score: Turley and Nick win 21 – 20
    • Recap: Turley and Nick found themselves down 8 – 0 and 20 – 15, yet battled back to take this one. Nick weathered storms of 10 – 7 and 12 – 9 in the sixth and seventh innings against KP, which made the score 20 – 15 in favor of JV and KP. In the eighth inning, Turley tied it at 20 – 20 with an 8 – 3 round over JV, then Nick scored the final point in the bottom half of the inning to secure victory.
    • Stats: Turley scored 41 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 5.13 points per round, while JV scored 38 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 4.8 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Nick scored 46 points and 12 cornholes, averaging 5.8 points per round, while KP scored 47 points and 13 cornholes, averaging 5.9 points per round.
  • Game 3 – Dan and JV vs. Pete and Bob
    • Score: Dan and JV win 21 – 20
    • Recap: This game was TIGHT every round through the middle stages of the game, with Pete and Bob ahead 11 – 10 after five innings. In the sixth inning, Bob blew the lid off the game with an 8 – 1 round over JV, making the score 18 – 10. Pete added another point in the top of the seventh inning, making it 19 – 10. JV then ignited a rally with four points in the bottom of the seventh, 19 – 14. The teams traded points in the eighth, making it 20 – 15, and just like the previous game, you didn’t want to be the team with a 20 – 15 lead. Dan closed it to 20 – 19 with an 8 – 4 round, and Mr. Closer (JV) did his thing, outscoring Bob 4 – 2 to clinch the game, 21 – 20.
    • Stats: Dan scored 34 points and 4 cornholes, averaging 3.8 points per round, while Pete scored 35 points and 7 cornholes, averaging 3.9 points per round. At the other end of the boards, JV scored 44 points and 10 cornholes, averaging 4.9 points per round, while Bob scored 42 points and 10 cornholes, averaging 4.7 points per round.
  • Game 6 – Pete and Turley vs. Dan and Nick
    • Score: Dan and Nick win 21 – 18
    • Recap: This game was absurd. Pete and Turley raced to a 13 – 0 lead after just two innings, but Dan and Nick hung tough mentally and pieced together a 14 – 2 run over the next four innings, making the score 15 – 14 in favor of Pete and Turley. Across the next three innings, the teams exchanged points in a nip-and-tuck battle. The score was 18 – 17 in favor of Pete and Turley. In the 10th inning, Pete and Dan played to a 10 – 10 wash, neither player willing to give an inch down. Nick threw fire in his half of the 10th inning, draining three cornholes and building immense pressure on Turley. Turley managed just five points, including missing his final bag off the board to lose the round, 9 – 5, and the game, 21 – 18. For those scoring at home, losing that 13 – 0 early lead represents a choke for Pete and Turley, and a comeback for Dan and Nick.
    • Stats: Pete scored 54 points and 11 cornholes, averaging 5.4 points per round, while Dan scored 49 points and 11 cornholes, averaging 4.9 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Turley scored 52 points and 12 cornholes, averaging 5.2 points per round, while Nick scored 60 points and 14 cornholes, averaging 6.0 points per round.
  • Game 8 – KP and Turley vs. Bob and Pete
    • Score: KP and Turley win 21 – 20
    • Recap: This game was tied at 6 – 6, then 11 – 11, then 18 – 18. Bob scored two points on KP to inch closer to victory, 20 – 18. Turley made it 20 – 19, but couldn’t quite find the hole enough to win the game. In the top of the eight, KP blocked the board with his first two bags, making life difficult for Bob. KP’s third bag pushed through blockers and into the hole, giving him a 5 – 2 lead through three bags. Bob scored his final bag on the board to cut the round deficit to 5 – 3, but that allowed KP to simply board his final bag for the win. He did, giving his team a 21 – 20 victory.
    • Stats: KP scored 34 points and 6 cornholes, averaging 4.3 points per round, while Bob scored 28 points and 3 cornholes, averaging 3.5 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Turley scored 34 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 4.9 points per round, while Pete scored 38 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 5.4 points per round.
  • Game 10 – KP and Nick vs. Dan and Turley
    • Score: KP and Nick win 21 – 18
    • Recap: Dan and Turley had an 18 – 10 lead, then survived a 12-point round from Nick (Turley scored 10 to limit the damage to two points) and an 8-point round from KP (Dan scored 7 to limit the damage to one point). With the score 18 – 13, Nick closed the deficit to 18 – 15 before handing the bags to KP, who closed the game with a 10-point round. KP sank three cornholes on his way to a 10 – 4 win, giving he and Nick a 21 – 18 win.
    • Stats: KP scored 36 points and 10 cornholes, averaging 7.2 points per round, while Dan scored 32 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 6.4 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Nick scored 30 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 6.0 points per round, while Turley scored 31 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 6.2 points per round.
  • Game 12 – KP and Turley vs. Dan and Bob
    • Score: KP and Turley win 21 – 18
    • Recap: The two head-to-head match-ups were quite interesting, with Dan absolutely working KP at one end and Turley destroying Bob at the other end. Dan and Bob held a late 17 – 12 lead before KP and Turley produced an 8 – 0 burst in one inning to take a 20 – 17 lead. Dan won the next round against KP, 7 – 6, keeping his team in the game (20 – 18). But similar to Game 8, Bob struggled in a clutch moment with the game on the line, scoring zero bags while Turley scored three points to win the game, 21 – 18.
    • Stats: KP scored 47 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 4.7 points per round, while Dan scored 56 points and 15 cornholes, averaging 5.6 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Turley scored 50 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 5.0 points per round, while Bob scored 36 points and 7 cornholes, averaging 3.6 points per round.
  • Game 13 – Turley and Nick vs. Dan and KP
    • Score: Turley and Nick win 21 – 18
    • Recap: Turley and Nick almost choked this game away. They were up 14 – 0 through three and a half innings, then KP provided the spark his team needed with an enormous four-bagger against Nick to win the round 12 – 1. Suddenly, the game was 14 – 11. Nick responded nicely with rounds of 10 – 7 in the next two innings to put his team on 20 points. Dan held off Turley during that stretch by scoring four of his own points. The game was 20 – 15. Dan and KP cut it to 20 – 18 with three total points in the seventh inning, but couldn’t overcome the early hole they found themselves in. Nick held off KP in the eighth inning, scoring three points to win the game (he won the round 6 – 3 after KP tried to muddy the board and then failed to push any bags in on his final throw).
    • Stats: Turley scored 43 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 6.14 points per round, while Dan scored 39 points and 7 cornholes, averaging 5.6 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Nick scored 51 points and 13 cornholes, averaging 6.4 points per round, while KP scored 50 points and 14 cornholes, averaging 6.3 points per round.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT (“MSM”)

Week 8 featured so many candidates for the Mushroom Stamp Moment, but let’s continue to go rogue this week…normally the winning of the MSM hit a huge shot or round to clinch a game or ignite a game-changing run. This week’s MSM is different – flashback to the Game 6 summary above when the game was on the line, pressure was intense, Pete and Dan both threw a phenomenal round that ended in a 10 – 10. That round from both players earns this week’s MSM.

The honorable mention MSM goes to Bob. In Game 12 Bob hit one of the sickest shots you’ll see, defying physics when his bag rode the left rail (i.e., side of the board) and suddenly shifted hard right around two of Turley’s blockers, finding the bottom of the hole. It was such a hard right turn that Dan and KP looked at each other in amazement, wondering how the bag performed that way. Bob did win that round, 7 – 5, giving his team a 17 – 12 lead. But they went on to lose that game, which is partially why he isn’t rewarded with the MSM.

NEWS AND NOTES

  • Nick was off the charts this week, registering a 20.4 KPM with 6.3 points per round, 1.6 cornholes per round and 79% accuracy. Those numbers helped him to a 6 – 2 record, including a comeback. Somehow Nick was #5 in the Power Rankings coming into the week, which I’m pretty sure is the lowest ranking he’s ever had. He jumped to #3 after this week’s performance.
  • KP ended the night at 17.8 KPM, averaging 5.6 points per round and 1.34 cornholes per round with 73% accuracy. He ended the night with a 7 – 2 record and remains at #2 in the Power Rankings.
  • Turley stays at #6 in the Power Rankings despite a 16.3 KPM. He finished the night with a 5 – 5 record and averaged 5.2 points per round, 1.10 cornholes per round and 75% accuracy.
  • JV only played three games before retiring for the night. He finished 1 – 2 with a 13.9 KPM and averaged 4.4 points per round, 0.95 cornholes per round and 63% accuracy.
  • Bob dropped from #14 to #16 in the Power Rankings, partially because of Pete’s surge and partially because Bob only produced a 12.1 KPM. His 1 – 7 record was abysmal, but if there is a silver lining in all of this, it’s that he had several opportunities to clinch close games. Despite coming up empty all night, those experiences could pay off in the future. Bob averaged 3.9 points per round, 0.76 cornholes per round and 59% accuracy.