Kelly's League Playoff Semi-Finals, Another Close Call!

This past Monday night we played a close fought semi-final match in the Kelly's American Baseball Darts in-house league. This time we played a team with some new players, and faced a daunting 42 point handicap in each game of the best of five series.

In the first game Dave and I could not find the mark and we each finished several points under our averages. This lead to a dismal 135 point team performance, which was not enough for the win. This was a wake-up call, and everyone picked up their performance for the second game. Both John and I ramped up our game substantially, each finishing 8 points over our average, while Tom and Dave shot decent games as well. We took the second game, leaving the match tied at 1-1.

I felt unstoppable in the third game. I had tight groups on the doubles, and ended up with a nice 47 point game. Everyone was shooting well and we won the game with a comfortable margin to hold a 2 games to 1 advantage. One more win and we would make the finals!

Our opponents were not willing to lay down. Their first two players picked their games up, challenging John and I, who typically lead off for our squad. While we still were focused, we were plagued with a series of unlucky shots that game. For instance, the first dart would be dead-on in the middle of the double, while the next two would deflect off the flight just enough to go outside the wire into the non-scoring area by a hair's breadth. It was enough to tilt the balance in our opponent's favor, and we found ourselves yet again tied at 2-2, playing a final game for the match.

I was struggling to keep focused by that point and noticed that I was having difficulty keeping my groups of darts tight on the target. In what seemed a repeat of last week, we turned in a solid but not spectacular performance, and the our opponents' game dropped off a bit, allowing us the win. I was a few points under average that game, while the rest of the gang shot a bit better. It was enough.

We play the final playoff match at Kelly's on Saturday, starting at 12:30. Darts at lunch time. Wish us good luck!