2022 Winter Championship Recap

Elite Championship

This group was unbelievable, the most talent we’ve ever had at one of our tournaments, a super evenly matched field. In the first round we had a big upset when the 14th seeded Off the Back took down the number 3 seeded and top team from Barrel House Z, Me So Corny 2-1. In the second round the hits kept on coming, we had Stellwagen on Stellwagen violence with the 10 seeded Holy-O’s off the second seeded Wrong Hole in two games. The top seeded Backyard Legends entered the tournament undefeated on the season, but quickly dropped the first game in their matchup vs a tough Slippery Hole team, but Freddy and Charlie shook off the rust from their first round bye and took the next two games to advance to the quarterfinals. In one of the quarter finals we had the 1 seeded Backyard Legends playing the 4 seeded father son team(and Matt) of C4C, although young Joe and Dan put up a good fight, in the end Charlie and Freddy were too much for them and advanced to the semi-finals 2-0. In the other Quarter final we had the 10 seeded Holy-O’s vs the 14 seeded Off the back in another Stellwagen on Stellwagen matchup. Pete, Phil, and Kevin of Off the back outlasted the Holy-O’s in a couple marathon games to win the series and advance to the semifinals vs the Backyard Legends. Meanwhile down in the losers bracket after an early loss to Off the Back, father son duo, Larry and Mike of High Flying (6) were taking care of business beating Off in Church (12), Wrong Hole (2), C4C (4), and Hitmen (5) on their way to the consolation semifinal where they awaited the loser of the winners bracket semifinal. Pete Phil and Kevin tried their hardest and gave the boys from Backyard Legends a bit of a sweat but in the end Freddy and Charlie advanced to the finals 2-0. Our match-up was set for our consolation semifinal between two Stellwagen titans Off the Back and High Flying, Larry and Mike had revenge on their mind after losing to Off the Back in the way back in the second round of the tournament and they would not be denied, beating Off the Back in the do or die game to make it back to the finals. The war between the father son duo of High Flying and Backyard Legends was one i’ll be telling my kids about for years to come, both games were tight neither side putting up many crooked numbers, but at the end Freddy and Charlie of Backyard Legends prevailed and took home the $3,500 grand prize. 

1st – Backyard Legends (Norwood)

2nd – High Flying (Stellwagen)

3rd – Off the Back (Stellwagen)

4th – Hitmen (Norwood)

5th – C4C (Stellwagen)

5th – Holy-O’s (Stellwagen)

Competitive Championship

This division had it all, with 48 teams there were battles, upsets, and revenge. The upsets started early, second round was a death trap for some top 10 teams, the 40th seeded Flying Nut Bags took out the 8 seeded Lake Erie Bag boys, the second seeded ½ Squ fell to the 31st seeded McCourt Wedge, the 10 seeded Bradford St Bags fell to the 23rd seede Belagio, the 3 seeded Corndogs went down to the 30th seeded Grim. The third round was just as bad if you had a single digit in front of your team, We saw the 1 seeded Dirty Money Bags go down the 17 We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Hole, then the 7, Ring of Fire fell to 23rd seeded Bellagio, next in probably the biggest upset of the day 43rd seede father son team Freidbaggers took down the 6 seeded T-Baggers. After 4 straight rounds of winning we finally had our quarterfinals set, and Castle Island was well represented with 3 out of the 4 teams, We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Hole (17) v Ooops Wrong Hole (4) and Bellagio (23) v The Grims (30). Ooops Wrong hole and Bellagio both took care of business winning their quarter final matchups 2-0 to meet in the semifinal with a spot in the finals on the line, the two teams battled and but at the end Bellagio bested Ooops Wrong Hole 2-1. Meanwhile in the losers bracket Ring of Fire was on a heater after an early tournament loss, winning 5 straight single elimination games to make it to the consolation semifinals where they met Ooops Wrong Hole for a shot at the finals. But the 7th seeded Ring of Fire’s miracle run came to an end at the hands of Ooops Wrong Hole, and the wrong holers found themselves in the finals in a rematch with Bellagio looking for revenge. Another war ensued in front of the eyes of about 100 people, we watched entertained with a back and forth match and when the dust settled and all was said and done the home team, Ooops Wrong Hole took down the title 2-1. 

1st – Ooops Wrong Hole (BHZ)

2nd – Bellagio (Norwood)

3rd – Ring of Fire (Stellwagen)

4th – Nothing but Hole (Stellwagen)

5th – Grims (Southie) 

5th – We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Hole (Norwood)

Social Championship

The biggest tournament with some of the best people, this is by far my favorite tournament. The social ended up having the most teams in it, 50 and it is the least predictable of all three tournaments. Every win and loss could be called an upset but I’ll highlight the ones I thought were significant. In the second round the Corndogs(33) of Norwood rolled the one seeded Absent Fathers, the 26th seeded H-Town Baggers took out the Baguettes (7) Notorious B.A.G. (10), and Gandy Dancers (2) on their way to a quarter final matchup with the 27th seeded 867-309 who took down the the Ronan Club (6), Two Bags One Hole (11), and You’re Making Me Corny (14) on their way to the quarterfinals. On the other side of the bracket the Corndogs couldn’t be stopped ripping through Absent Fathers(1), 4 Bags 1 Hole(16), before being stopped by Bag It and Tag It(8), who made their way to the quarters. Their opponent, a Tom-less Corneilus Fudge(20) took care of We Are the Great Cornholios(13), The Newell Post(4), and Alright Alright Alright(12) before getting to their matchup with Bag it and Tag It. The semifinal matchup was controlled by H-Town who went on to win 2-0 to secure their spot in the finals. Both Bag It and Tag it and H-Town Baggers swept their opponents in the quarters before meeting in the semifinal with a chance to go to the finals. Meanwhile in the losers bracket after losing their first match of the night, I Thought this was AA(22) was mad as hell and ripped off 7 straight wins to avoid elimination before eventually falling to Bag It and Tag It in the consolation semifinals. The win for Bag it and Tag it set up a rematch of the semifinals vs The H-Town Baggers, as the 11pm hour approached the teams battles, but in the end the result of the semifinal was the same as the finals 2-0 H-Town Bagger.

1st – H-Town Bagger (BHZ)

2nd – Bag It and Tag It (BHZ)

3rd – I thought this was AA (Stellwagen)

4th – 867-5309 (Stellwagen)

5th – Cornelius Fudge (Stellwagen)

5th – DeeBees (Stellwagen)