Monkeyball

A number of Worlds veterans – and a nine-year-old rookie — highlighted a tough field at the Unofficial Official Yuengling Open.  Thanks to months of smuggling cases across state lines, plenty of Pennsylvania’s favorite lager was provided to MBallers for this inaugural event.

The tournament was originally scheduled for just outside Spartan Stadium prior to the Spring Green & White Game, but with the open container ordinance in effect on this game day we were forced to find another host for our Monkeyball outing.  Patriarche Park was a great choice, considering all the green space, the huge playground, and the beer permit.  Assuming they take care of their restroom issues, I’m sure MB will be back to Patriarche Park.

The Yuengling karma was on Hagen’s side early on, but he fell to World #1 Andy Frushour in the winner’s bracket final and then again to Andi Osters in the loser’s bracket final.  In the championship Osters topped Frushour in a high-scoring opening game played in a spitting rain, but Frushour dropped some clutch fourth tosses and fought back from a 14-9 second-game deficit to take the title, 16-14.

Twittering was a hot topic of conversation as @andyfrushour and @andiosters fought for the Yuengling #mball title (with @kristamich and @noblessh watching, @jbirdmankowski limping and @msuaajohn licking his wounds).  @playmb also RT-ed a message from breakout performer @geoffkimmerly.  Kimmerly got his first career victory in his opening match over J Mankowski (for the record, J had some major knee surgery 24 hours prior to the tournament), and then followed up with a self-proclaimed “shocker of the century” W over Osters.  Geoff entered the tournament ranked DEAD last in the MB World Rankings (#424), but should sneak into the mid-280s when the next rankings are released.

After the crushing loss to Kimmerly and squeaking by Laura Roberts (Laura was no doubt spent from her marathon match with Megan McCool), Osters found her “range” and reeled off six consecutive wins on her way to the one game winner-take-all final (defeating Roberts, Mankowski, John Hill, Joe Wenzel, Keith Hagen and Frushour).

Joe Wenzel is a name to watch at future MB tournaments.  He’s been overshadowed by the recent MB successes of brother Jim and wife Amanda, but at the Yuengling he rolled through most of the Hill family (Heather and 9-year-old Sean) and finished fourth.

Two guys that are much better than their Yuengling record indicates are Matt Whitfield and Brett Thiel.  Thiel (pronounced TEEL) has a self-diagnosed addiction to Monkeyball (it’s actually quite common), and the lefty Whitfield ran into a red-hot Frushour before succumbing to Thiel.

Thanks to Keith for the beer and the greatest MB tournament prize to date (a dozen Pro V1s).  Let’s make sure we get back to Patriarche soon.

Champion: Andy Frushour
Runner-Up: Andi Osters
# of Players:13

Bracket (PDF)