Clouse Roars Back

Greg Clouse took his second MCA 9WS title with a 4-1 record on Saturday. Photo by Gwyneth BowenBELTON, MO -- When the MCA Nine-Wicket Series launched in May of 2013 with the Stilwell Open, Greg Clouse was there. He took that first title with an 18-16 win over Dylan Goodwin in the final. Since then Clouse made many appearances in MCA 9WS finals, but had to settle for runner-up status each time.

GALLERY 1 | GALLERY 2 | OFFICIAL SCORESHEET

This past Saturday, that drought ended at the 2016 Missouri Open at Eagles's Landing Golf Course in Belton, Missouri as Clouse took down Greg Adams 19-15 in a hard-fought final. To get there, Clouse had to take on Matt Griffith who had been on the winning side of many of those finals matches. Clouse won that one 27-22.

The appearance of Adams in the final was notable as he made his last appearance during the 2014 Kansas Challenge finals in a 21-20 loss to Goodwin. Overall, the group of Pro players that have made it to the finals is still very select as it only includes Greg Clouse, Dylan Goodwin, Paul Miller, Matt Baird, Greg Adams, Matt Griffith, Jason Johnson and Matt Smith.

The win also extended Clouse's lead in the overall Goodwin World Media Pro Points Race as he now has 339 points while Griffith trails with 318. Both players have a realistic shot at breaking Griffith's season record of 474 points. If either suffers a setback at the upcoming KC Open, then Greg Adams could figure into the mix as well with his 251 points.

GWM Pro Division Final Order
01. Greg Clouse (4-1)
02. Greg Adams (4-1)
03. Matt Griffith (3-1)
04. Dylan Goodwin (2-2)
05. Ron Millican (1-2)
06. Deborah Millican (1-2)
07. Bill Berg (0-3)
08. Keith Berg (0-3) 

JACKSON EXTENDS GOLD LEAD

In Gold Division play, Steve Jackson went through the block 3-0, then scored two wickets with the last ball to get a 19-18 win over Nathan Oberg in the final to claim the Missouri Open title. It was their second close battle of the day as Jackson took the block game as well 21-20.

Steve Jackson. Photo by Gwyneth Bowen. Click to Zoom.And that performance, Jackson roared out to 227 Golf points on the season, breaking Deborah Millican's mark of 208 set last year. In fact, with two events left Jackson put his mark all over the Gold record book as he's set records for wins (9) and games in a season (11). 

In the overall Gold Points race, Jodi Adams is chasing Jackson's 227 points with 186 points. Oberg follows in third with 186 points. Oberg notably has the highest wicket average for the group at 24.57 per game.

Gold Final Order

01. Steve Jackson (4-0)
02. Nathan Oberg (2-2)
03. Jodi Adams (1-3)
04. Ellie Kemp 0-3) 

Gabe Airrington. Photo by Gwyneth Bowen. Click to Zoom.AIRRINGTON: 9-0

For much of the match, the Silver Division final seemed like it could go either way, and eventual winner Gabe Airrington seemed to know it. He stayed confident and loose though, and was able to pull away in last turns after Josh Reed faulted by roqueting his partner ball, on which the striker ball was dead, on a line rush along the south boundary.

Airrington's victory continued his Silver Division unbeaten streak dating to the Cleveland Open and aided his quest to rack up the most wickets in the points race. Airrington and some of the other sharp-shooting members of the affectionately dubbed "Millican Academy of Croquet" have earned a reputation for quick play and high-scoring games. One fellow Silver Division player in the other game on a double-banked court waited out some court interference and joked to the Millican descendants, "Just hurry up and peg out already!"

In at least one game, the divots on the court hurt a player's momentum. Although filled with sand prior to game time, a divot next to the stanchion at wicket three pulled back one of Renee Potter's balls turn after turn after turn. Potter asked opponent Wanda Jackson to clap when she finally cleared the wicket. Jackson cheered.

Brevin Millican. Photo by Gwyneth Bowen. Click to Zoom.In a rematch of their final block play game, Jackson and Justin Marciniak faced off in the quarterfinal round. Down by one, Marciniak set up his red and yellow balls at their wickets prior to last turns and used his timeouts to manage the clock. He tied the game with red, his first last ball, and took a one-wicket lead with his yellow. Jackson's blue ball was three-ball dead and unable to score.

At the Missouri Open, the Silver Division continued its growth trend. Carryover deadness is now fully ingrained into the division, and the infusion of talent mentored by MCA mainstays Ron and Deborah Millican raised the level of play. The division expanded to 12 competitors, including Reed and Ryan Millican, playing in their first MCA event, Jackson, participating in her first MCA event of 2016, and other players who have previously played in Bronze Division events.

With the number of entries and the shortage of Bronze players, the Bronze division became a four-player consolation bracket for players not making the Silver playoff. In the Bronze final, Brevin Millican held off Cade Millican with a 21-6 win.

Silver Final Order:
01. Gabe Airrington (5-0)
02. Josh Reed (4-1)
03. Darin Watson (3-1)
04. Justin Marciniak (2-2)
05. Wanda Jackson (2-1) 
06. Bryce Millican (1-2)
07. Di Berg (1-2)
08. Ryan Millican (1-2)
09. Shari Cullinan (0-2)
10. Brevin Millican (0-2)
11. Cade Millican (0-2)
12. Renee Potter (0-2)

Bronze Final Order:

01. Brevin Millican (2-0)
02. Cade Millican (1-1)
03. Shari Cullinan (0-1)
04. Renee Potter (0-1) 

THE CREW

As always it takes a big crew to coordinate these events. We appreciate the efforts of Eagles' Landing Golf Course crew for mowing, sanding and to Jay Kennedy for making the venue available. Thank you to Bill Berg for bringing the boards, wickets and stakes and to Ron and Deborah Millican for bringing two deadness boards.

Thank you to Gwyneth Bowen for managing registration and entry fees and also doing photography for the event. And thank you to Bill Berg, Ryan Millican, Bryce Millican, Justin Marciniak and Darin Watson for court and tent set up assistance as well as Matt Griffith for helping keep the water cooler filled up.

And finally, thanks to Justin Marciniak for providing the above notes on the Silver-Bronze Division.