[TFDA] PITS over Cretin Potato in WL Finals -- full tourney account

Christian Schwoerke schwoerkec at yahoo.com
Tue Feb 27 14:12:54 EST 2007


Battling rain and cold through three rounds of play Sunday, February 25, People in the South
(PITS), led by Greenville’s Ben Dieter, defeated The Cretin Potato, 11-6, to take possession of
the 2006-7 Loretta Cup.

Twenty-nine hours earlier, when Saturday broke with the promise of sun and 60-degree temperatures,
four pools of five teams prepared to play at their various sites, Pools A and B at the SAS complex
in Cary, Pool C in northern Durham at River Forest Park, and Pool D in the heart of the Triangle
at Lowes Grove Middle School.

The pools had been composed by intermixing the upper and lower division teams, which had finished
the 13-week regular season (composed of intra- and inter-division play) with the following
standings:

Upper Division         Lower Division
1. Goodrich 8.5-3      A. Hack’s Bobcats 8-5
2. Screwdriver 8.5-3   B. The Cretin Potato 7-4
3. Zuul 8.5-3          C. Turf Burn 7.5-5
4. Rediculous 7.5-4    D. Poore 7-4.5 
5. Blew Stihl 7-5      E. Grimace 6.5-5.5
6. Purple Reign 6.5-6  F. PITS 6-6
7. Spin City 5.5-7     G. Nathan Jr. 5-7
8. Lupo 5-7            H. Manbearpig 4-7
9. Sacre Bleu 5-7.5    I. [adult swim] 3-8.5
10.The Others 1-10.5   J. Scooby Blue 2-10

The pools looked like this:

Pool A          Pool B             Pool C           Pool D
1. Goodrich     A. Hack's Bobcats  2. Screwdriver   B. The Cretin Potato
D. Poore        4. Rediculous      C. Turf Burn     3. Zuul
5. Blew Stihl   E. Grimace         6. Purple Reign  F. PITS
H. Manbearpig   8. Lupo            G. Nathan Jr.    7. Spin City
9. Sacre Bleu   I. [adult swim]    10. The Others   J. Scooby Blue

With all the games first to 13 on Saturday, and with all teams having to play four games, it was a
long day, full of incredible upsets and at least one strategic tank that paid off in full.

Pool A
The top four teams in this pool had their various odds makers favoring advancement to Sunday, and
Blew Stihl and Manbearpig worked hard to topple the top two seeds.  However, Blew Stihl and
Manbearpig ended up in a 3-way tie for second with the Poore team, all with 2-2 records.  Point
differential amongst the three gave Poore the margin necessary to gain the #2 finish.  Meanwhile,
without chance of advancement, but certainly for pride, Sacre Bleu pulled off a great upset,
forcing Goodrich to a 12-12 double-game point on the way to earning their single Saturday victory,
13-12.

Pool B
Hack’s Bobcats looked vulnerable coming into the tourney, since they had lost every one of their
crossover games after racking up a 8-1 division record.  Add to this the loss of their #1 seed due
to illness (though admittedly, he was replaced with a strong league player hailing from DC’s club
team Truck Stop), and it looked like Rediculous and low-lying Lupo might make a run at the #1
spot.  These prospects were dimmed in the very first round as Lupo did not come out strong in its
first game, losing to [adult swim] 7-11, and Rediculous lost to Grimace 10-12.  Against the
Bobcats, Grimace’s captain chose midway through the first half--when they could score only a
single point--to open up the rotation and play without regard to the score, in the process saving
themselves for an assault on the #2 spot.  Grimace went down to the Bobcats 1-13, the most
ignominious loss of the tournament, but the strategy worked, and Grimace was able to win its
subsequent games to earn the #2 spot behind the undefeated Bobcats.

Pool C
The competition in this pool focused mostly around the efforts of Nathan Jr. and Turf Burn to get
the second spot.  While Ben Greene’s Turf Burn wanted to hold its pre-play #2 seed, Nathan Jr.
wanted to advance.  Each won its first round game, though Turf Burn had to fight through
double-game point with Kaci Torres’ Purple Reign.  In the second round, Turf Burn and Nathan Jr.
faced off, while #1 seed Screwdriver commenced its first game of the day.  Nathan Jr. was able to
spread the disc around to its handlers and was able with solid defense to bring down Turf’s long
shots, winning 12-8.  Going into the final round, Turf Burn had a chance to upset Screwdriver (3-0
at this point) to set up a 3-way tie for first place.  The game was kept close, with Turf ahead at
half and through much of the second half.  Screwdriver, however, tied it up at 11s, then went
ahead for the win, 13-11.

Pool D
Crouching tiger is the theme of Pool D, as PITS defied its mediocre regular-season play to hurtle
over the top two seeds, The Cretin Potato and Zuul.  In the midst of this leap, however, Spin City
pulled off a gambler’s nightmare, overcoming odds as no other team was able to do the entire
weekend, beating PITS (13-11).  Zuul and The Cretin Potato were both vying for the #2 spot during
the final round, each with a 2-1 record at that time, both of them having lost to PITS.  The early
going favored the Potato, as it took half and continued to lead at 8-5, but Zuul fought back with
its deep, talented squad and was able to tie the game at 10s, just as the time cap had come on. 
The final point, however, went to the spuds.  In hindsight, it’s clear that Pool D was the
strongest, with both top finishers ending up in the tourney finals on Sunday.  Better pool balance
would surely have had Zuul somewhere in Sunday’s elite eight.

Final pool standings after Saturday’s play, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to
Sunday’s elimination play, looked like this:

Pool A          Pool B              Pool C            Pool D
Goodrich 3-1    Hack’s Bobcats 4-0  Screwdriver 4-0   PITS 3-1
Poore 2-2       Grimace 3-1         Nathan Jr. 3-1    The Cretin Potato 3-1
Manbearpig 2-2  Rediculous 2-2      Turf Burn 2-2     Zuul 2-2
Blew Stihl 2-2  [adult swim] 1-3    Purple Reign 1-3  Scooby Blue 1-3
Sacre Bleu 1-3  Lupo 0-4            The Others 0-4    Spin City 1-3

With rain imminent for Sunday, and with the prospect that such rain would result in an abrupt
cessation to play by the SAS field managers, the elimination rounds were moved to UNC’s turf
fields beside the old Carmichael gym.  Because there were only two such fields, quarters rounds
were divided up, which also served as a secondary reason for shortening all rounds, in order to
shorten the day’s play so as to avoid excessive cold rain and/or lightning.

First quarters rounds featured Screwdriver v. Grimace and PITS v. Poore.  Taylor Pope and Matthias
Mueller’s orange-clad Screwdriver worked hard against Garrett Dyer’s purple Grimace squad, only
reaching half at 7-4 with just 15 minutes before the cap.  Many of the points during the first
half (and through the game) were marred by multiple turnovers, most of them unforced, as each team
tried to launch full-field shots that ended up missing their targets or careening off unresponsive
hands.  Grimace’s Phil Pruditch had the unenviable task of covering Screwdriver’s Taylor Pope, but
he did so successfully in that completions were hard fought and long shots were denied or made
difficult.  In the end, however, as time ran out, Grimace won the last point, but lost the game
6-9.  In the PITS v. Poore game, turnovers were again the theme, but it was only one team
suffering them: Becki Cleveland and Nick Poore’s white-clad squad.  PITS used its core of handlers
to move the disc expertly down the field time and again, finishing out the game even before the
time cap, 13-6.

Second quarters rounds were Goodrich v. The Cretin Potato and Hack’s Bobcats v. Nathan Jr.  Nathan
Jr. came into Sunday with two men down, as one had broken his hand the day before, and his
companion simply did not show.  Thus undermanned, Jason Bivin and Anne Burrough’s Nathan Jr. squad
had a rough time against the deep, talented Bobcat squad, led by Lindsey Hack and Robby Minshall. 
Nathan Jr.’s Tim Brooks brought some needed firepower to the Nathan Jr. line, with good support
from his wife Thuy and fellow handlers Dave Cesa and police cadet Mick Styers.  The Bobcats,
however, were able to play solid D through the entire game, and Nathan Jr. succumbed, 6-13.  The
Goodrich v. Potato game was a barnburner, with each team vying for possession of the disc with
strong, aggressive play that sent the disc long time and again.  Big men Augie Kreivenas for the
Potatoes and Ray Parrish for the Goodrich squad were challenging one another for possession, and
when losing that, trying to deny the other any sort of deep throw.  While Potato took the half
with a couple of points to spare, and then went up by three points, Goodrich was able to mount a
comeback just as the time cap came on, bringing the score to 10s, next score wins.  Potato
received the pull, and without a turnover was able to send the disc deep once more for a score and
the win.

In semis play, as the rain (which had begun to fall midway through the second round of quarters
games) began to worsen, both losing teams suffered unforced drops due to wetness or focus.  Each
game initially promised a strong match, but Screwdriver, for instance, lost possession on seven
drops in its first half, and was down at the half 7-3.  There was no answer for Augie’s hucks for
the Potatoes, whether stopping the throw or interfering with the reception, and that game went to
the taters without much contest, 12-6.  Standouts for Screwdriver were Zach Mondary and Motts
Mueller, with Michelle Staben and Tracy Cate doing yeoman’s work on the women’s side.  The PITS v.
Bobcats game had a similar look, as the PITS remained sure-handed under pressure while the
Bobcats’ claws could not hold onto the disc.  Robbie Minshall, Rob Sayre-McCord, Josh Nadel, and
Lindsey Hack all played strong defense, but the offense could not hold its own, and PITS again
methodically worked the disc for one score after another.  Former and current ECU players Mike
Jolley, Ben Dieter, Scott Wofford, Jonathan Dunbar, Eric Martin, and Joey Saba--along with former
Carolina players Sara Stanley, Holly Czuba, and Jen Waldrup--anchored the offense and defense,
working with well-coordinated familiarity from having played together often and long before this
tourney.  The time cap went on, and the Bobcats took the game’s final point, but it was not enough
to overcome the PITS’ strong lead.  PITS over Bobcats 12-6.

By 1pm, when the finals were due to commence, the rain had temporarily ceased, but the expectation
was that it would begin anew, possibly bringing lightning.  The captains agreed to a shortened
game to 11, which, had the 12 remaining spectators known, would have caused an uproar.  Or perhaps
not, as most of the spectators were former players, already wet and beginning to shiver.

The Cretin Potato faced off against PITS in what one hoped would be an intense replay of their
pool play game from Saturday, where PITS had won by a single goal, 13-12.  The first half was hard
fought, with Ben Dieter and Augie matching up, the edge going to Dieter as he caught two goals
without contest, albeit acrobatically.  Standout performances for the Potatoes came from Mark
Britt and Lesley McCormack, bringing down tough passes or making strong layout defensive blocks. 
With a tight rotation on the PITS side, there was again more a methodical movement of the disc,
though several times interrupted by cagey defensive work by the Potatoes.  Half went to PITS, 6-4,
and the now diminishing sideline of spectators (8 in all) was expecting a strong Potato
resurgence.  Early in the second half, however, it was clear that Augie had pulled up short with
some sort of hamstring twinge, and his play thereafter, while occasionally explosive, settled into
what looked like a 75% effort, especially as he more often shared duties with others of the
Potatoes in covering Ben Dieter.  The resurgence never came, and the Potatoes were scattered and
smothered, turned to hash browns, as PITS rolled to an 11-6 victory and possession of the
much-coveted Loretta Cup.
  
Thanks to all the captains for keeping your teams on track this year and introducing the game of
ultimate to your novice players in the best light possible.  Thanks also to everyone for being
flexible as we again dealt with numerous weather-based shifts in time and location to get our
schedule played out.  Thanks, especially, to the elite eight teams for their willingness to appear
at 8:00am on a Sunday to play in miserable conditions!

Also, a special thanks to our Winter League photo chronicler, Samuel Adams, whose pix of the
tourney can be found here:

Saturday: http://www.scadams.com/galleries/disk/WL07/0224/index.html
Sunday: http://www.scadams.com/galleries/disk/WL07/0225/index.html 



 


  



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