Clouse Racks 'Em Up in Stilwell

Pro Division FinalistsStilwell, KS -- Greg Clouse rolled through the Stilwell Open with relative ease in the early going. Clouse took 32-9 and 32-8 wins in block play to take the number one overall seed in the Pro Division Playoff. In the semi-finals, he knocked out Paul Miller 29-12. In the championship game he survived a late attack by Dylan Goodwin to claim the Stilwell Open title with an 18-16 win. Goodwin as the three seed, had advanced with a tight 18-16 win over two-seed Ron Millican on his side of the bracket. Clouse, Goodwin and Millican were all 2-0 in block play.

PHOTO GALLERY | OFFICIAL SCORESHEET

The final between Goodwin and Clouse came down to last turns. Goodwin was first ball with red and cleared 11PW to pull within two wickets of Clouse. He failed to gain a foward rush on black and then made a key mistake in trying to roll black toward 13PW while taking red toward blue near 14PW. He ended up wired and tried to jump the 15PW for the roquet on blue but missed by a foot.

The easier solution would have been to leave black and go set yellow (dead on red) in front of its wicket (six). Yellow could have then wired black from blue.

In the Gold Division, playoff Debbie Millican started as the number one seed after coming up on the short end of the gross points tiebreaker among the 1-1 block players. Debbie beat newcomer Bill Berg 14-12 in the semi-finals for a berth in the championship game. As the three seed, Jason Johnson caught fire in the semi-final and took a 32-12 win over Carl Distefano who is also brand new to the sport. In the final, Johnson took the win over Debbie with a 23-12.

First and second place in both divisions received white baseball caps with the host Kansas City Croquet Club logo.

Standings in the MCA Nine-Wicket Points Series are being tabulated and will be posted when they are available.

FINAL ORDER

Gold Division FinalistsPro Division
1. Greg Clouse
2. Dylan Goodwin
3. Ron Millican
4. Paul Miller
5. Robert Fournier

Gold Division
1. Jason Johnson
2. Debbie Millican
3. Carl Distefano
4. Bill Berg

BLOCK GAME RESULTS

A Block
Greg Clouse 32-9 over Debbie Millican
Debbie Millican 23-14 over Jason Johnson
Greg Clouse 32-8 over Jason Johnson

B Block
Dylan Goodwin 23-7 over Bill Berg
Robert Fournier 20-7 over Bill Berg
Dylan Goodwin 18-13 over Robert Fournier

C Block
Paul Miller 26-19 over Carl Distefano
Ron Millican 23-14 over Carl Distefano
Ron Millican 20-16 over Paul Miller

PRO DIVISION PLAYOFFS

Wildcard
#4 Paul Miller 23-21 over Robert Fournier

Semi-finals
#1 Greg Clouse 29-12 over #4 Paul Miller
#3 Dylan Goodwin 18-16 over #2 Ron Millican

Finals
#1 Greg Clouse 18-16 over #3 Dylan Goodwin

GOLD DIVISION PLAYOFFS

Semi-finals
#1 Debbie Millican 14-12 over #4 Bill Berg
#3 Jason Johnson 32-12 over #2 Carl Distefano

Finals
#2 Jason Johnson 23-13 over #1 Debbie Millican

Stilwell Open Game Times

We've got a great turnout considering the holiday weekend with nine players committed. We've got a few new players in the mix as well so this turnout bodes well for the Lee's Summit event as well.

For Saturday, you should be at the courts by 8:30 a.m. and they should be set for practice on right around 8:00 a.m.

Nine is a bit of a tough number for tournaments especially considering this group doesn't fit neatly into Pro and Gold divisions. I've set it as three blocks of three and the top five performers will go to the Pro Division playoff while the bottom four will go to the Gold Division playoff. All players are guaranteed three games. The block tie-breaker is head-to-head, gross wickets, net wickets, lag for the stake. Times and blocks listed below.

Lunch is provided and is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Camping chairs are a good idea and if you have a pop-up tent those are always good to have. I will have one set up.

Prizes awarded for 1st and 2nd place in each playoff.

Event details: http://croquet.ning.com/events/2013-stilwell-open

A BLOCK

Greg Clouse

Jason Johnson
Debbie Millican

B BLOCK
Dylan Goodwin
Robert Fournier
Bill Berg

C BLOCK
Paul Miller
Ron Millican
Carl Distefano

Round 1 - 9:00 a.m

CT1 - G Clouse vs D Millican

CT2 - D Goodwin vs B Berg

CT3 - P Miller vs C Distefano

Round 2 - 10:15 a.m.

CT2 - J Johnson vs D Millican

CT3 - R Fournier vs B Berg

CT1 - R Millican vs C Distefano

Round 3 - 12:30 p.m.

CT3 - G Clouse vs J Johnson
CT1 - D Goodwin vs R Fournier
CT2 - P Miller vs R Millican

MCA Name Change: Midwest Croquet Association

LEAWOOD, KS -- The MCA held it's Annual General Meeting February 9 in Leawood, KS and announced several new changes and initiatives. The most significant change is a new name -- the Midwest Croquet Association (changed from Missouri Croquet Association). The change is intended to better represent the organization's activities on both sides of the border and allow for expansion. New president Dylan Goodwin will work with the MCA Board to get a new logo approved that reflects the new direction of the association.

The big ticket item though was the announcement of a season-long nine-wicket points race for singles play. Details will be announced later, but the concept is that players will accumulate points at events hosted throughout the region. Top points players will then qualify for the MCA Nine-Wicket Championship event in September.

Most of the dates and venues are still to be determined, but Ron Millican announced May 4 as the official date for the Lee's Summit edition of the series (more details to come). The event will kick off the nine-wicket MCA season and Millican plans to have both partner ball flights and a cut-throat (six ball) flight as well. The MCA hopes to have at least one event per month over the summer with Warrensburg, MO and Overland Park, KS being likely hosts. August is being left open as many MCA players would like the opportunity to play in the 40th edition of the Kansas City Invitational in Parkville, MO.

The MCA also announced a $5.00 bump in membership fees for both singles and couples/families. Single memberships are now $20.00 and couples/family memberships are now set at $30.00.

Former MCA president Matt Smith asked to leave the MCA Board and Ron Millican has taken his place on the five member board. The board consists of Dylan Goodwin (President), Jodi Adams (Treasurer), Debbie Breeden (Secretary), Greg Clouse and Ron Millican.

UCM Tournament

Sixteen players played at the University of Central Missouri field on a warm April 9.  The format was high-low doubles and partners changed every game.  Evan Taylor and Annie Frisbie, members of the UCM croquet club, played their first tournament and really enjoyed the event and both played well.

Greg Clouse and Jodi Adams played great as partners and ended up winning the tournament.  Greg won in the championship flight and Jodi won in first flight.

I would like to thank eveyone for the support and look forward to hosting more tournaments in Warrensburg.

Matt Smith