Perry Horseshoe Pitchers stage Gibbs Memorial

Thirty-six horseshoe pitchers turned out for the Mary Ann Gibbs Memorial Tournament on June 29 at Rozar Park.

The Championship Class saw Perry’s Chuck Poole not lose a game on his way to the tournament champion title. His top game was against Billy Barnes, where he edged out his challenger by one point. That enabled Poole to avoid a playoff with Perry’s Larry Myers, who’s only loss of the day was to Poole.

Poole had 99 ringers out of 200 shoes while Myers hit 123. Perry’s Dan Sanders placed third with 114 ringers.

Class A had a wild finish. Perry’s Aubrey Walker needed a win in his last game against fellow Perry pitcher Robbie Bloodworth to avoid a four-way tie for first, but Bloodworth pitched 55 percent – his best of the day. So there was a four-way playoff that also involved Frank Billingsly, Marshall Little and Suzanne Miller. Billingsly, from Alabama, claimed first place over Walker, who was 5-3 overall with 96 ringers out of 240 shoes.

Class B featured a split game that played a determining factor in the end. Dane Clark of Warner Robins used it to his advantage, for two tied games gave him just one full loss against four wins. He had a big win against Andrea DeFoe where the score was tied 25 all with two shoes to pitch. Both had a ringer, but Clark’s other throw was closer.

The Class champion, Clark had 80 ringers in 200 shoes. Jim Henderson of Perry was third.

In Class C, Lee Howington and Ronnie Miller were 3-1 with one game to play against each other. Miller had an early lead, but it was only by one point late. A string of ringers held off Howington, Miller winning with 52 ringers out of 200 shoes.

Perry’s D.J. Mullis won an exciting D Class after a tight contest with Doug DeFoe. It was DeFoe up by five halfway though before, with 28 shoes pitched, Mullis was ahead by two. Momentum would swing back to DeFore, five points ahead in 32 pitches. Mullis came up with three ringers in the last eight tosses giving him the win.

Mullis had to make another comeback from three points down, but two straight ringers closed out a win against Jack Patterson.

A perfect 5-0, Mullis had 58 total ringers out of 200 shoes. Brendon Lausch of Perry was second at 3-2 and 54 ringers.

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