DCKO Peninsula Update/Recap

This past weekend, several VA Peninsula players made the trip up to Fairfax, VA to compete in the 2011 kickball365 DC Open. Among the 25 teams competing were JFK, The Emperors Club, and ViDF (comprised primarily of VD players). Let's take a quick look at how they fared.

Just For Kicks - Due to some last minute cancellations, the roster for DC looked very little like the JFK team we see every Wednesday night in Hampton. In addition to Bryan Freed, the only regular JFK members were Wes McClain, Mike Buckman, and Nikki LeBlanc. The rest of the team was comprised of available Peninsula players such as Foul Balls' Mimi Gill and VD's Candy Bagwell, and rookie kickballers who have played soccer before... As a result, the team did not find a lot of success on the field. The went 1-3 on the day (the one win coming against a team that forfeited) and suffered two double digit losses to national powerhouses, Panik Attack (the Virginia Beach team which features JFK star JC Cashwell) ond OSC (DC). However, the team played well in thier final game against Connecticut's Nailed At The Plate (guest starring the Jagernauts' Kim Merritt and former VS 1B Matt "The Experience" Barcus). They held a lead late in the game, before falling short... JFK's Nikki LeBlanc did get some love on the kickball365.com message boards as one of the best female players in the tourney. She covered a lot of ground in the outfield and made some highlight worth plays (at the expense of her ankle, which she twisted).

The Emperors Club - The VIPs came into the tourney with high hopes after playing 4 close games against some of the best national teams in Virginia Beach in May. However, despite having fancy new uniforms, The Emperors Club would not have much more success. The VIPs lost a close game to Norfolk's Back in Black, and were not competitive in losses to the New York Shower Hammers or Blood, Sweat, and Beers (DC). Still there was a little flash of light, when they took on the very athletic BLTN All-Stars in the third game of the day. After being down 3-1 for most of the game, The Emperors Club rallied in the 4th to tie the game up, and held the Maryland squad scoreless to secure the non-loss... During the tournament, P Brent Wentworth (3rd person alert!) strained a calf muscle and OF John L. suffered a small fractured bone in his foot that caused both players to leave the game.

Win, lose, or draw, it didn't really matter. The Emperors Club was definitely
the best dressed team at the DCKO.

It was a big weekend for Jimmy Wilcox. His pitching
lead ViDF to the elimination round and his movie,
"Deathly Hollows Pt. 2" made $168 million dollars at
box office.

Victory in Da Feet - Although this team hails from Norfolk, as mentioned in the DCKO preview last week, this team has a very Peninsula flair to it. ViDF had the most success out of any team with Peninsula roots, as Dave Dixon's team went 1-2-1 on the morning. They played Harrisonburg, PA's Chuckle United to a draw and handily defeated DC's Menace to Sobriety, 7-2. Their two pool play losses were against the two teams would go on to meet in the Finals of the tournament, iB (DC) and the Meatballs (Ft. Lauderdale)... The 1-2-1 record would be just enough to get ViDF into the single elimination round of 16. In the first round, ViDF played a very good game, but fell just short against DC's OSC by a score of 3-2... In the 8-1 loss to the Meatballs, the only run came on a solo home run by Anthony Williams. Williams would later sit out the single elimination game against OSC with a very strained calf muscle. All in all, it was a good showing from the team, and something that they will look to build upon in future tournaments.

The tournament was won by Ft. Lauderdale's Meatballs in a 1-0 game against Washington, DC's iB. For more results and videos, please go to http://www.kickball365.com/ and check them out. Without a doubt, it was a fun event for all involved.

The final four teams.