SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Three Sodbusters Horseshoe Club members, all Bristol residents, fared well at the two-week World Championship Tournament held in Springfield, Ill., which concluded this past weekend.
Brianna McCormick, competing in her first world tournament, settled for third-place after a playoff snapped a three-way tie for first-place in the Junior Girls Division. McCormick, 14, and two other competitors all finished with 4-1 records in round-robin play. McCormick and the eventual champion had lower overall ringer percentages, and thus competed in the first round of the tie-breaker, and McCormick was edged out on Aug. 1.
The soon-to-be-ninth-grader at Mount Abraham Union High School went into the tournament with an ringer percentage of 30.42, but upped her game in finishing the world tournament with a 4-2 record and a 47.54 ringer percentage.
Sodbuster veterans Brian Simmons and Debra Brown started play on Aug. 3 in qualifying rounds, and both qualified for championship class competitions. There, Simmons lost a tight one-on-one duel with rival Alan Francis of Ohio and had to settle for second place in the Men’s Championship class with an 18-1 record and an 86.16 ringer percentage.
Simmons and Francis dueled for the title in their last game on Aug. 8, a match that Sodbusters’ member Mike Brown called “one of the most exciting games of horseshoes ever.” The contest lasted 140 shoes, with Simmons shooting 89.3 percent, and Francis shooting 90 percent before Francis prevailed, 40-37. Mike Brown said in previous tournaments that Francis had posted one- and two-point wins over Simmons.
Debra Brown, a former New England women’s champion, also had a strong showing, finishing ninth on Aug. 8 in the Ladies Championship Class with an 11-8 record, and a 77.91 ringer percentage. That percentage was the best she had ever thrown in a tournament, according to Mike Brown.
McCormick, Simmons and Debra Brown were all set to compete this past weekend in the Vermont state championship tournament in Bennington, the results of which weren’t available at press time.
Debra Brown takes lead in Sodbusters’ standing
DEBRA BROWN LETS a horseshoe fly at the Case Street Community Club courts Thursday. Brown made a strong showing in the Ladies Championship Class at the World Championships.
Independent photo/John S. McCright
MIDDLEBURY — In the12th week of the season, Debra Brown took the lead from Georgia McCormick in a battle for the top spot in the standings of the Sodbusters Horseshoe Club summer league.
The standings, listed by pitcher, ringer percentage and won-loss record, are:
1. Debra Brown, 69.66%, 30.5, 9.5
2. Georgia McCormick, 37.89%, 29.0, 11.0
3. Melissa Bigelow, 33.94%, 29.0, 11.0
4. Mike Brown, 33.79%, 27.5, 12.5
5. Charlie Kilbourn, 26.74%, 26.5, 13.5
6. Glen Norris, 24.71%, 24.0, 16.0
7. Bev Forgues, 31.72%, 23.5, 16.5
8. Stan Bigelow, 22.41%, 23.5, 16.5
9. Tom Brooks, 6.85%, 21.0, 19.0
10. Heather Selleck, 9.76%, 20.5, 19.5
11. Andre Bergeron, 16.34%, 20.0, 20.0
12. Brianna McCormick, 27.13%, 19.0, 21.0
13. Scott Selleck, 11.14%, 18.0, 22.0
14. Brian Simmons, 74.15%, 17.5, 22.5
15. Destinnie Wilke, 1.93%, 15.0, 25.0
16. Steve Lackard, 15.07%, 13.0, 27.0
17. Ron Williamson, 12.12%, 13.0, 27.0
18. Becky Bishop, 5.38%, 11.5, 28.5
19. Lisa Lackard, 15.07%, 8.0, 32.0
20. Kirk Sabourin, 4.92%, 8.0, 32.0