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Last night I was a part of one of those games that you're still talking about
in the morning and into the next night to anyone who will listen. It
was one of the best games I've ever been involved in. Picture this setting;
Team League, Soft Tip Open, game number 12, playing
for point 13. This game, #12 is the deciding factor of the night's outcome.
Only I wasn't playing in the game. I was the
team's Captain but didn't throw a single dart in that game #12.
Darts is a competitive sport. It's a sport you can play for hours with
anyone, anywhere; and that's what we did. Last night we were at
our home bar Hotshots in North County St. Louis (12154 St Charles Rock Rd, Bridgeton, MO 63044). My team's
name is 3 Guys, 2 Girls what's the Count?. We played ADA League Manager
Matt Blattel who is also the captain for his team, M3K2 + T. Even though
our team name suggest that we have 3 Guys & 2
Girls we actually have 6 members but last night only 4 showed up for league
play. Unfortunately for us, all 6 of Matt's players showed.
Our roster consisted of myself, ADA's office staff member Ashley Stallmann and members Justin Revelle & JC Hurst. This is Ashley's and Justin's first time in an open league. Half of Matt's team was also new to open league. His team consisted of Matt, Kim Forsythe, Marty Baker, Mike Averill & Kim Howell (husband and wife) and
Tim Masnica. Tim is a returning ADA member of 10 years.
Matt and I have been playing darts together for 9 years now and I'm
confident to say that we know
each other pretty well so I had a good feeling of where he was going to
position his players on the score sheet. Since only 4 of my players showed
last night and 2 of them were new to open league I was having difficulty
with my player lineup order. And with Matt's half of the score sheet being covered, I did the best I could to match his predicted strategy. In the end I decided that Justin and myself
would have to play twice to make up for the 2 missing players on my team.
The night went back and forth, M3K2 + T winning the first two matches and
then we would win the next 2. Luckily, Justin and I won both of
our two 501 games (open in/double out, split bull). Even though our
ladies did not win their 501 games we were still able to receive the bonus.
The bonus point brought the game to a 6 - 6 tie going into the 12th game.
This is where the story really begins of our unbelievable night:
Game 12 for our doubles team was Ashley and Justin vs. husband & wife combo
Mike and Kim from Matt's team. Remember, both teams for this game #12 are
brand new to the Open format and from their Marks Per Round (MPR) listed
below you could tell it was a close match up. Mike
and Kim won the cork and were ready to begin. Mike started the first round
closing their 20's and Ashley came firing back closing her17's. Both teams were battling from each opponents turn. Matt and I had one table between us as we werecoaching each member on what to throw or point on at each member's turn. The two of us were battling back and forth. Wit for wit. Dart knowledge for dart knowledge. Encouragement for encouragement for our
4 "rookies". All of the effort was based on our teammates ability. My team still had 18's open and Matt's team was taking full advantage of this. They were gaining points each round. Meanwhile, Ashley and Justin were climbing back
up in points by shooting for nothing but the opponent's open 15's.
Each round was ended by an enthusiastic roaring cheer or by a faint groan dedicated to our teammates as they missed the potential "big shot". The points kept going back and forth.
Now, rounds later in order to stay alive, my team was aiming for nothing but bulls while our opponents were still focusing their efforts on those 18s to keep gaining more points against us. They were only dong this until we got back on the "bull patrol" the following round. We were still down on points when Kim took her first attempt at a bull and misses! Before her next dart, Matt tells Kim to shoot for 18's and with her remaining two darts she hits one triple 18 which puts us way out of reach. Now it's Justin's turn and I tell him, no pressure but we really need some magic to happen..and he did it! Justin hits one double bull, a single bull, then closes out the
18's!! There were excellent darts but we are still down in points.
By round 20, everything was closed out except for team M3K2 + T's bulls
eyes. My team had them closed and Matt's team had none and still needed
three to finish the game. With all the noise that we were making in our
area, apparently some of the bar was now watching our match! I didn't notice right away but now they were cheering right along with us, sitting at
the edge of their barstools and getting involved in the game. At this
moment, with so much involvement and excitement of the match and now with
the added bar spectators engaged in the game, it didn't matter to me if our
team won or lost because this night now became a win for the sport of darts
in general.
Still, there has to be a winner and if you are sitting on the edge of your chair like I am as I reenact this story you want to know how it all ends. Back to the match...It's Mike's turn and he steps up to the toe line and hits a bull with one dart and the other two miss. They know that they have to get two more to
close them out before we get 3 to win on the point lead. It's Ashley's turn and she comes up and hits one & it adds 25 more points to our score. We are
getting closer! Next is Kim, right behind Ashley and she hit a bull! Now
Matt's team only needs one more bull to win because they are ahead on points.
It's all up to Justin. He's was pacing back and forth while Kim was
throwing and just before he gets to the line, he turns to me knowing that he
needs to get 2 bulls but it's been hit or miss for him all night, and says with confidence, "I
got this".
His first dart goes wide, about 15 - 20 holes into the inner single of the
10 section. His second dart, without hesitation hits the single
bull. He only needs one more to go! Now, from what I can remember, there
was about a 3 second pause and everyone in the entire bar was quiet. I don't even
believe there was music on at that point. Then Justin raises his arm..a
release of the dart...and.....Justin hits the bull! He shot another single bull and the game was over! We all went nuts! Everyone in the bar watching
the match started cheering, giving high fives and handshakes all around. When the disbelief feeling ended that the match was over, both teams
got together, shook hands, gave hugs, congratulated and praised each
other before leaving for the night.
"This is one of the best dart matches I have been in a long time", says Tim
Masnica of M3K2 + T. And he was right. I congratulated
Matt on a well thought match. We stayed to play a couple of pickup games,
toasted a Budweiser or two and then headed out as the night was over. This
night showed a victory for our team, Matt’s team and the sport of darts.
End Results:
3 Guys 2 Girls What’s the Count – 7
M3K2 + T – 6
Achievements of the night:
Tim Masnica – Hat Trick
MPR for Game 12
Ashley 1.1
Justin 1.8
Mike 1.8
Kim 1.0
24 Rounds
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