Week 13 of League 27 – Winter 2022:

With (4) weeks of competition remaining, Walter takes a 8 point lead over Kelley. This looks like it will be a battle to the end, especially since this coming week, Alvin and Tony will be playing against Walter and George. I am going to put this coming weeks match, as the match of the night and maybe of the season. This should be one of the tougher matches with four very accomplished shooters on the same table!!

Table 1: George Sharbo & Scott Kroll vs  Ray Ressler & Kathy Wnuk:

Well, I am going to put this match as the ‘match of the night’ with some very nice pool playing by both teams. George was hot in the first game with some very precision shooting. Scott had the opening break for the team and had a dry break. After the opponents failed to make a ball, George went to work in the 8 Ball Set. He proceeded to run his entire group of balls along with the 8 ball for an 8-ball run. It wasn’t a break and run, but it it was a well played rack by George. I think that by the looks of  it, you could almost sense that this set/match was going to go back and forth. After a few shots by both team in game 2, Ray got into the running groove. He put in the final six balls in his group and made it a 7 -ball run to close out game 2. Ray continued to stay hot and for the second straight game, he ran 6 balls in his group and the 8 ball to help he and Kathy take two games in a row. Scott and George continued to shoot well and put game 4 in the win box on the scoresheet. Kathy put together a nice finish in game 5 and that put them a game ahead again. George and Scott would finish off the set taking game 6 and the set ended in a tie. Scott and George got off to a very good start in the 9 Ball Set, nailing back to back wins in game 1 and 2. Both players made some outstanding shots and good safety play to keep Kathy and Ray a bit on the cool side in their shooting. Ray broke the ice in game 3, nailing a 3-9 combo to get them on the scoresheet. They put together some nice shots in game 4 and put another win on the sheet. That was all they would get in the set as George and Scott continued to shoot well and closed out the final two game to take a 2 game lead in the match with a 4-2 win the the set. Kathy and Ray got a jump in 10 Ball Set as they opened the set with the first win. Some nice safety play by Kathy and a few runs by both of them put them in control of the game. Scott and George continued to give Ray and Kathy chances in the set and they made good with some nice shooting. They pounded in the 10 ball in game 2 and then Ray nailed a 4-10 combination to put he and Kathy up in the match by a point. Scott got hot in the set and between he and George they put together a three-game run. They notched win after win and just like that, they emerged from the set with a 3-3 tie and  finished  2 points ahead of Kathy and Ray to win the match. It was a very competitive match by all the players throughout the match. Good shooting by all.

George Sharbo & Scott Kroll  (10)  – Ray Ressler & Kathy Wnuk (8).   

Table 2: Walter Wnuk & Keith Nickel vs Janet Nihls(absent) & Jacob Ressler:

With Janet out of town for vacation, Jacob had had to shoot alone in week  13, and did a very good job of it against some tough competition. Keith and Walter opened the 8 Ball Set nailing back-to-back wins as Walter continues to shoot very well. After a couple of misses by his opponents, Jacob went to work an put together some nice runs and safeties to slow down Keith and Walter. He posted his own mini-run with wins in games 3 and 4 and squared up the set. Too many chances given to the opponents by Jake allowed them to get back into the winning groove. They finished of the set with some very nice shooting and ball runs to close out the set with another back-t0-back performance. This gave then a 4-2 set win. After winning game 1 in the 9 Ball Set, Keith and Walter seemed to stall a bit and Jacob seemed to gain the momentum. With some nice shot making Jake pulled together wins in games 2 & 3 to draw within a point in the match. It was a short momentum change as Walter and Keith notched game 4. Then on the break in game 5 with a ball dropping, Walter proceeded to run the balance of the balls for a 9 ball-break and run. It was all over as Keith and Walter finished off the set, nailing the 9 ball in game 6 to take the second set with another 4-2 advantage. Jake stayed positive and came out in the 10 Ball Set with some very nice shot making to capture the first game in the set. Keith got a chance at a combination shot in game 2, finding the 7 ball line up enough to drop in the 10. That gave he and Walter game 2 and they continued to take advantage of the missed opportunities from Jake and put game 3 in the win box on the scoresheet. Jake rebounded with good shots and nice safety play to put back to back wins together in 4 & 5 to give him a one game edge in the set. The set would end in a tie as Walter and Keith finished off the final game of the set. Keith and Walter take the match by a 4 point advantage. It was a good match and Jake played well kept pace most of the match with his opponents. Keith continues to show improvement and Walter  continues to play very well. There are three weeks remaining before our final position round and Walter increased his lead over 2nd place by 8 points. Good match and shooting by all.

Walter Wnuk & Keith Nickel (11) –  Jacob Ressler (7). 

Table 3:  Eddie McKinley & Alvin Kelley vs Tracey Krol(absent) & Todd Cook :

Todd has been playing decent lately and would be tested in week 13 as he had to go it alone against two very good shooters. Tracey was on vacation and could not be there to help him out. Todd started out with some nice runs in the first two games of the 8 Ball Set. Todd kept the opponents a bit on the cool side with some very nice safety play along with his own shot making abilities. It was all Kelley and Eddie in game 3 as they played well and even with Todd getting two shots were able to slow him down. Todd took game 4, and maintained a 2 point lead in the set. That was all he would get thought as Eddie and Kelley seemed to get back on track. The kept Todd from getting into the same rhythm he had went he started the set. They took games 5 and 6  with some very nice shooting to tie up the set. Kelley continues his mastery of the pool game and opened the 9 Ball Set with a break and run in game 1 of the set. He put together great shooting and very nice position play accomplish this feat. Even after not getting a shot in game 1, Todd rebounded and put together a nice run to finish off game 2. Eddie and Kelley continued to feed off each others game and with nice shooting they ran off the next three games. When Todd missed, they didn’t and had built up a 4-1 lead in the set. Todd nailed down game 6 to only trail by 2 points in the match heading into the 10 Ball Set. Todd seemed to get into a nice shooting rhythm in this set. He pounded in ball after ball and cleaned up with wins in the first three games of this set. This game Todd a four game run in the match. Kelley and Eddie got a chance in game 4 and drained the 10 ball for a win. Kelley made a 3-10 combo in game 5 to cut the lead to 1 game in the set. Even as game three was shortened by the combo by Kelley, game 6 was even quicker. Todd got a chance after the opponents broke and left him a chance to make his own combo shot. He nailed a 1-10 to end the set and took a 4-2 set win. This match finished all square at 9 points each. It was a fine display of shooting and position play by all three shooters in the match. Good job by all.

Eddie McKinley & Kelley (9) – Todd Cook (9).

Table 4: Linda Kujat & Parpart vs  & Matt Ressler & John Killett: This match look a bit bleak for Linda and Eddie at the start of the match as they were matched up against two good shooters. Not taking anything away from Tony and Linda, as Tony is a good shooter playing with Linda, a novice shooter, who continues to improve each week. And she did her part to help the team in week 13. Matt and John got a quick jump in the 8 Ball Set as they nailed win after win. With both players shooting well and leaving some tough starting shots for their opponents, they built up a 3 game lead in the set. Tony seemed to put a spark of life into the team as he followed the breaker in game 4, and made all 7 of his group of balls and the 8 ball to put his team on the scoresheet. It looked like the momentum had changed from that point on in the set as Linda and he put together some nice shooting and kept the opponents off enough to take the next two games as well. This set ended in a 3-3 tie. Tony and Linda continued to play well and made it four straight wins posting the first game in the 9 Ball Set. Matt stopped that run quickly as he nailed a 8-9 combo to help he and John win game 2. Tony continued to shoot well and with Linda’s help, they put wins on the sheet for games 3 & 4. John and Matt took game 5 but watched Linda nail a 2-9 combination in game 6 to finish off the set. This gave Linda and Tony a 4-2 win and a 2 point advantage in the match. The 10 Ball Set looked like it would get Matt and John back into the match. Matt nailed a 6-10 combo in game one and continued to shoot well. After the break in game 2, and a few misses here and there, Matt proceeded to run the table and give he and John a 2 game lead in the set. Tony and Linda fought back in game 3 and put the win in the box on the scoresheet. Then, Linda stepped up to the table and was given a chance to break the rack. She missed it entirely, but the opponents allowed her to rebreak. She did and I am sure the opponents went into shock as she proceeded to make the 10 ball on the break for a win to tie up the set. Tony, her partner told her to break again in game 5, and just like game 4, she dropped in the 10 ball on the break for two game winning breaks in a row. That assured them of the match win, even if they didn’t win the final game of the set. But, with everything going their way, they did take game 6 and finished with a 4 point match win. It was a very valiant effort by Matt and John . Very nice shooting by Linda and Tony in a very good match.

Linda Kujat & Tony Parpart  (11) – Matt Ressler & John Killett (7)