The Women’s Ball Bashers got the Club Championships Doubles ball rolling with Randy Wohl and Sandi Hill prevailing over the spunky team of Nancy Davis and Marvel Jones. According to Mrs. Jones (with whom I do not have a thing going on), her game wasn’t as “Marvelous” as it was during their league match win yesterday. The only other Women’s Ball Bashers match completed on schedule today was Joy Jones and Mondee Breton’s 6-2, 7-5 win over the always fiesty, former Singles Champion Martha Deleeuw and her partner Linda Gardiner.
One other match in the Women’s Ball Bashers got underway but soon was under water and rescheduled for tomorrow morning (see tennis page of Club website for scheduling details). Newcomers Sadie Forchelli and Sophia Phelps (who is regretting having to give up her tee time tomorrow) had won the first set 6-1 and were up 3-2 before the deluge dropped on them. The winner will face No.1 seeds Judy Wilson and Lili Canfield (Happy Birthday Lili!) next.
The Men Ball Bashers also managed to complete two matches, with one of those matches taking home “Match of the Day” honors. First-time participant Brian "The Hammer" Hammermeister teamed with "The Doctor," Jack Noble, to claim the 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 victory over Chuck Klucka and Len Ciarrocchi, after falling well behind. The Hammer and The Doctor will meet top seeds Bill Wright and Tim Jones next.
Making their debut in the Ball Bashers were Jim Rollero and Frank Kaplan. After cruising to a 6-1 first set, they held on to beat last minute entrants, Bill Otey and Ron Graham, 6-4 in the second. They have their work cut out for them next round as they face the crafty duo of Rich Fox and Tim Baldwin.
An interesting match-up in this division will be Singles Champion Maxwell Thompson and Singles Finalist John Hess, teaming up to face the experienced team of Bill Cole and Bob Pleischl. Both Maxwell and John have improved their games considerably this year, Bill appears to be almost fully recovered from his shoulder injury, and Bob has played more tennis than anyone over the past several months. It ought to be fun!
Still in the Men's Ball Bashers, no match is likely to be any more competitive than the Rich Edelman and Jim King pairing taking on Jake Keltner and Eddie Dance. With Eddie and Rich patrolling the net, Jim bashing groundstrokes and Jake counterpunching, a three-setter would be no surprise here.
The Women’s All Aces had two matches halted by the rain. Carole Shapiro and, yet another newcomer, Jane Heck, led 6-5 in the first set over Diane and Wennie Johannes (our only mother-daughter team) before the stoppage. They are on-serve, however, with Wennie serving to stay in the set. Equally tight was the match between No.2 seeds Sunni Hammermeister and Judy Schafft, who were locked in a fierce skirmish with Carlotta Clark and Bev Adams. The score was 5-5 with Carlotta’s serve on tap.
One other Women’s All Aces match was in progress before suspension of play. The rain may have provided last year’s Ball Bashers Champions who moved up, Monica Robb and Pam Lemon, a much-needed reprieve, as they were trailing Sandi Gebara and Amy Ciarrocchi 2-6, 3-4. However, they were on serve in the second set, so perhaps the stoppage was not welcomed. We shall see tomorrow as Monica and Pam try to push the match into a third set, while Sandi and Amy try to finish strong.
The Court Crashers men and women saw their first action today as well. In a match that was perhaps even closer than it sounds, Jim Masiello and George Olsen edged Charlie Beagan and Rick Jacobs, 6-3, 7-5. Charlie and Rick can feel very good about this loss, because we are certain that Kathy Masiello will have a much nicer evening due to the result. Of course, we suspect Meg might suggest that Rick visit the couch tonight, because she doesn’t want any losing vibes to rub off on her before she plays her first match tomorrow.
In other Men’s Court Crashers action, Peter Malen and Tony Cupaiuolo encountered a stiff first-set challenge from “The Dons,” Don Mattcheck and Don Pitts, before solving the riddle in the second set and finishing off a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Always the gracious in victory and defeat, Tony remarked, “If we could put together Don Mattcheck’s strokes and my legs…” Malen and Cupaiuolo take on No.2 seeds Bill crouch and Ron Jones tomorrow afternoon.
The Women Court Crashers played one match today with Stephanie Freeman and Ann Wright squeaking by Linda Riedl and Jean sanders 6-4, 6-4. Stephanie and Ann were down 0-40 at 4-4 in the second set, with Linda and Jean threatening to push it into a third, before coming back to hold serve, and breaking to wrap up the win. Their match against No.1 seeds Sally “No Mercy” Mellendorf and Sharon Bock ought to be a candidate for "Match of the Day" tomorrow.
Taking to the courts for the first time on the same side of the net will be All Aces Club Champion Chip Graddy and All Aces Finalist and former All Aces Club Champion Geoff Negin. They will trade heavy blows across the net with Greg and Grey Pilant, our only father-son team. There’s a rumor going around that the mother-daughter team of Johannes-Johannes issued a challenge to the Pilant-Pilant duo, but have yet to receive a response.
In any event, the winner of the Graddy/Negin-Pilant/Pilant battle will take on the winner of the match featuring the team of Alan Canfield, Jr. and Arnie Wohl against Pete McElroy and Ed Bonkowski. They say that styles make fights in boxing, and this contest will certainly involve contrasting styles. The attacking game of Pete and Ed versus the counterpunching techniques of Alan and Arnie will be on display tomorrow at noon if the weather holds.
We anticipate some excellent matches tomorrow through the finals on Sunday, so if you are a lover of the game, we look forward to seeing you at Gulf Harbour’s tennis center this weekend. Until next, game, set, match…
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