This Week's Featured Matchup? Weeeee.... Have It!!!
Picklebacks vs The Samurai Slammers
We are winding down the season and headed for the playoff stretch. Here are two teams at a crucial point. One looking to enhance its playoff position in the Backs and one trying to find a way to make it in the Slammers. Both teams have had different fortunes with the Backs starting slowly before finding a nice rhythm lately and the Slammers getting out of the gates quickly before slowing down a bit.
Regardless, both teams are loaded with local talent and this one should be a good old-fashioned slugfest!! Time will tell how this matchup will shake out.
Santa Chet is Coming to Town!
(AP Triadelphia, WV)
All over the world in 7 days St. Nicholas will visit children spreading Christmas joy to all. Luckily, Santa loves pickleball too!! He has enlisted one of his most trusted “helpers” to spread some of the Joy through the Pickle community here in the Ohio Valley. Nate “Chet” Peluchette has planned a fantastic Christmas party for all members of the OVPC. How much does it cost you ask? The same as the air you breath, I tell you! Absolutely nothing!
Chet has organized the event to say thanks from the Club to all of us. He not only organized a Pickle session for all with Christmas music playing in the background but will also be serving food and drinks to all in attendance. And if that is not enough to entice you, there will be gifts galore! Some lucky club members will be leaving with a gift from the club. Come join us for what is sure to be a great time with friends.
The event will be held at Total Athlete at 9:00 AM on Saturday, December 23rd.
All that is required of us to register for the event on CourtReserve. That’s it….. And show up of course!! See you all there. Christmas attire is encouraged!!
League Notes: It is important for all members to get in the habit of using Court Reserve (web browser or app) to reserve court times and register for Club Sessions. Don’t forget to check in upon arrival for your session at our brand-new, user-friendly Kiosk!
OVPC 2023 FallBall Standings |
||||
| Team | Points | Record | % Sets Won | % Points Won |
| The Kitchen Crew | 49 | 4-1 | 75.0 | 59.8 |
| Air Jordan | 41 | 3-2 | 59.3 | 50.1 |
| The Picklebacks | 40 | 4-1 | 71.4 | 57.7 |
| Big Al's Aces | 29 | 2-3 | 46.7 | 45.0 |
| En Fuego | 22 | 2-3 | 39.3 | 47.7 |
| Nathan's Hot Dogs | 20 | 2-3 | 37.0 | 45.2 |
| Samurai Slammers | 20 | 2-3 | 34.6 | 49.4 |
| GooterGates | 19 | 1-4 | 34.6 | 45.2 |
Week 5 Results
GooterGates 9
Samurai Slammers 3
Picklebacks 12
Nathan’s HotDogs 0
Air Jordan 3
The Kitchen Crew 9
En Fuego 8
Big Al’s Aces 4
Club Sessions
Lunch Sweat
Mon-Fri 12-2PM
Hump Day Early Bird
Wednesday 6-8AM
DUPR Sessions
Tuesday 4-7PM
Friday 3-6PM
Monday 12/11 – And the Gates chalk up their first W of the season. Line 1 could not have been any closer as both sets were won by the Gates #1 pair 15-14. In Line 2 action the Slammers closed the gap in straights as well. Captain Nick reached deep into his bag of strategy in the DreamBreaker and it paid off for the Gates as they held off the Slammers 30-22 for a 9-3 Victory.
Thursday 12/14 – The PickleBacks continue their march up the standings by taking the Hotdogs out back to the woodshed. The 12-0 drubbing was actually a lot closer than it appears. At Line 1, the Dogs took the first game only to surrender the second and third. Line two action saw the Backs in control from the start. In the Breaker, The Dogs were able to keep it close in the beginning but two bad lines in the middle were too much to overcome in the end. The Dogs now find themselves in a struggle to make the top four.
Saturday 12/16 – This one just did not live up to the hype. In the absence of Super Sorge, the Kitchen Crew combo of Lawson and Davison was just too much for Air Jordan. They easily rolled through line one action and were again dominant in the Breaker. Air Jordan was able to salvage three points and cling to the 2-seed for the playoffs by adjusting the line-up for Line 2 where Hedrick and Huffman (H2 Ohhhhh) squeaked out a three-set thriller over Willy V. and the Dragon!!!
Sunday 12/17 – The fourth spot in the playoffs is a coveted position and the battle for that spot is intensifying. Big Al’s had a firm grip on that spot coming into the week, but the grip is slipping. En Fuego rolled into TA and was able to nearly pull off the sweep but Big Al and the Argentinian sensation Gattesco were able to steal 4 points at Line 1 in a 3-setter. At Line 2 it was the En Fuego pair of Seth and Mikey T who were able to escape with the 3-setter setting up the all-important Breaker. The decider was not as thrilling as line play though as En Fuego rolled to a 30-16 victory to take the match 8-4.
Wednesday 12/6 – Captain Carson accommodated the Slammers by switching days and then tried to outsmart Doc Z with the ole flip flop maneuver in Line Play. The teams split Lines 1 and 2 in lopsided affairs and it looked like the Mob Boss was about to dubbed the Brain Boss as Fuego stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the Breaker. But the Slammers quickly restored order and cruised to a relatively easy finish in the last 5 legs as Fuego fizzled into ash. The quartet of Slammers were just too much for Fuego in the end.
Thursday 12/7 – Big Al sat this one out but not before a huge pep talk that must have worked. He had his mix of a tennis pro, an immigrant, and two HS hockey players fired up and they performed well enough to pull off the 9-3 victory. After splitting Line play, the two teams battled back and forth in a thrilling DreamBreaker that saw Big Al’s squeak by in the end. The pups did their job playing like veterans and the tennis troupe was steady enough to get out with a solid W.
Saturday 12/9 – The PickleBacks continued their run up the charts with a win over the leagues lone undefeated team, Air Jordan. With Captain Wilson in attendance for support but sitting this one out, the Backs were able to sweep line play with two straight set wins and a 7-0 lead. All dreams of a sweep over #1 were erased when Ragu went down with a lower leg injury midway through the Breaker (Wilson would give no further details stating he hasn’t spoken with the team physician as of yet). Air Jordan was able to salvage 5 points by holding off the Backs by a score of 30-25.
Shop our online store for merchandise and new paddles @ ovpickleball.com/shop/ or Contact Nathan Peluchette to demo a paddle at ovpickleballclub@gmail.com
Weekly Spotlight
Mike Caruso, Wheeling
For your entertainment this week we were able to corral “The Big Ragu” “Knucks” “Moose” “Meatball” Mike Caruso of McCoy Wealth Consulting for a few minutes.
Thanks for joining us this morning, Mr. Caruso. You’ve been on our most wanted list for weeks now.
Mr. Caruso?? Please choose something else. I thought you were interviewing my father or something.
Absolutely! So much to choose from. Let’s just use them all. Big Ragu, how do you find time to fit Pickleball into your busy schedule?
It can be tough sometimes. I start with Linguini with clam sauce at 5 am, then I have quads in the AM with Americas favorite dentist. I follow that with Grandma Caruso’s secret Rigatoni and meat sauce before I shave my head and shower. Then it’s off to work securing health insurance for the Ohio Valley and beyond. A light midmorning snack of cannolis and pizzelles is followed by more work before a stop at Fig’s or Undo’s for lunch. I usually call it a day after lunch and head home to sit in my robe and slippers for a bit and have a Pizza Protein shake. Dinner at Ma’s with the wife and kids and extended family will bring me to 6 or 7 o’clock. At this time, I start thinking about bed because of my early morning workouts. So, yah, it’s tough to squeeze it in, but I do.
Wow, Knucks, that is quite the schedule. Do you have a favorite movie?
There are only two movies ever made worth watching. The first is “The Godfather”, all three parts in order with no breaks. The second is “Rocky”, minus the third one. That’s embarrassing. You can learn every life lesson you need to succeed in life by sticking to these. My girls are required to watch weekly.
Has your background in sports helped you with Pickleball, Moose?
I was one of those kids who developed quicker than the other kids. Sports have always been something I excelled at. I was shaving in third grade and was the only boy in fourth grade to go to Central’s homecoming. So sports were easy for me. I once had 91 rebounds in the 5th and 6th grade championship basketball game, which we won 18-12. So, I would have to say yes.
Were you surprised to learn how high you went in the draft, Meatball?
Doc Z is the only person to ever call me that still has teeth and it’s only because I know he could fix himself. So, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.
OK, Mike, were you surprised at all by your position in the draft?
Actually, I’d be lying if I said no. I thought I’d go in the first round. You know, out of fear.
Thanks for the time. I see you looking at your watch. Must be time eat?
Remember to spotlight your outdoor walkways!
The GWA Insurnce Athlete Spotlight
In The Dawg House
Brought to you by:
Will Voegelin
At a recent “open play” event at TA Will was seen targeting players on multiple occasions. His overheads were vicious and malicious. Males and females alike were on the wrong end of the “Willy Slam”. We are happy to report that Diana and the Mob Boss were both checked for injuries and released.
Upcoming Events By:
Who rules this King-dom?
(AP Triadelphia, WV)
As you all know, the club is growing, and we are trying to bring more and more events to make it more enjoyable while at the same time improving our skills. One of the key elements to great doubles play is knowing your partner as well as you know yourself. It is important that the pair work as unit rather than two great individual players that have no idea what shot their partner will hit in any given situation (unless you are playing with the Mob Boss, and you can count on hard topspin drive in all situations). Our current open-play format does not lend itself very well to this concept as we are constantly changing partners.
To that end, we are planning on having a “same-partner” doubles event in the near future. Start thinking about who your partner will be if you are interested in this event. Space will be limited so let us know your interest level. We may have to have multiple flighted events if there is enough interest. This will allow us to play several matches in one evening with the same partner while also having something on the line – Kings of the Court!!
When playing in tournaments, it is important to move in unison with your partner like Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson on “Dancing with Stars” (or so I’m told). We need to start taking steps to improve our games and not stagnate. We also need to start getting back to recording scores for DUPR so that we can flight events and have the ability to handicap future events.
We graduated 14 students from our Intro to Pickle series this weekend. It has been very successful in introducing new players to the Club, the facility, and the Sport. We plan on having another. Please share with your friends who want to start. Have them follow us on social or visit the site. Intro series is brought to by:
Got Scores?
Brought to you by:
Monday 12/11 5:00 PM Gootergates def Samurai Slammers 9-3
Line 1: Sparachane/M. Peluchette def Zambito/Polen 15-14, 15-14 (Gates)
Line 2: McNeil/Morgan def Law/Horan 15-10, 15-3 (Slammers)
DB: Gates 5-0, 10-8, 15-10, 20-14, 25-18, 30-22 (Gates)
Thursday 12/14 5:30 PM PickleBacks def Nathan’s Hotdogs 12-0
Line 1: Wilson/McCullough def N. Peluchette/Coughlan 11-15, 15-8, 15-3 (Backs)
Line 2: Andrews/Barton def Campbell/Karnell 15-10, 15-4 (Backs)
DB: Backs 5-4, 10-4, 15-7, 20-11, 25-14, 30-16 (Backs)
Saturday 12/16 9:00 AM The Kitchen Crew def Air Jordan 9-3
Line 1: Davison/Lawson def Mey/Boury 15-0, 15-3 (Crew)
Line 2: Hedrick/Huffman def Voegelin/E. Belancic 12-15, 15-11, 15-12 (Air)
DB: Crew 5-0, 10-0, 15-1, 20-1, 25-4, 30-4 (Crew)
Sunday 12/17 12:00 PM En Fuego def Big Al’s Aces 8-4
Line 1: A. Peluchette/Gattesco def Carson/J. Thomas 15-7, 2-15, 15-10 (Big Al’s)
Line 2: S. Abraham/M. Thomas def C. Abraham/Robinette 15-7, 14-15, 15-10 (Fuego)
DB: Fuego 5-1, 10-2, 15-6, 20-8, 25-13, 30-16 (Fuego)
Please be courteous to all players during open play club sessions. Remember, we may have various skill levels on the court at one time. More competitive balance can be assured by reserving private group court times.
