Congrats to the Towpath 55+ 6.0 combo team on bringing home Ohio's first ever 3.0ish title!
While we here at D.F.O. focus solely on the high stakes world of 3.0 tennis, we do count 3.0/3.0 stats in our records, and as such, we often look upon the 6.0 players with a nod of respect, especially since we all know that you'd rather have two 3.0 players on your team than one 6.0 player (right?!). With that in mind, and while we can't begin to give the coverage to Towpath's team that their accomplishments surely warrant, we wanted to throw out a super brief shout-out to Captain Ronald's NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM!
Except to Captain Ronald, for he is a 3.5, so this entire section will ignore HIM!
League Season
Captain Ronald led his young* squad to a neck-and-neck Flight title in which the team actually had the same exact record as Paramount Westlake, but thanks to a pressure packed victory versus said Paramount Westlake - on the road! - in the final week of the season, Towpath was able to eek out all the tie-breakers to not only enjoy the Flight title but also punch their ticket to the 55+ playoffs!
Playoffs
Due to the Akron team's dominance, the rest of Ohio simply stepped aside (or didn't have teams eligible) and thus Towpath represented the Buckeye State in the Midwest playoffs against the entire Midwest.
Which turned out to just be ... Michigan. Taking place in Indiana.
Huh.
But rivalry week was back! Michigan put up a fantastic effort, but the 6.0 dream team of Stephen and Craig led off the day doing what they do best - win! In #2 and #3 doubles, one of the most storied players of the past few seasons, John, led a come-from-behind three set SUPER TIE BREAK win to seal the deal while AT THE EXACT SAME TIME the energizer bunny that is Clay helped do the same on his court! WOW!
O-H-I-O!
Playoffs
Competing against 12 of the best 55+ 6.0 teams in the entire nation, Towpath headed to Orlando, Florida (which is in now way nicer than Oklahoma City, ahem). Needing to finish in the top four to make the finals, Towpath got off to a fast start versus Intermountain, winning 3-0 as a team as James and Clay made quick work of their Pacific Time Zone'd competition while Mark and Brian came off the bench to seal it at #3!
The afternoon match was a bit tougher, no doubt due to the oppressive Orlando heat combined with the talent of their opponents combined with the marathon-like efforts of playing two matches in one day! But Stephen and Craig came out firing, taking #1 doubles yet again while doubles stalwart John helped lead compatriot Troy to a SUPER TIE-BREAK win! Meanwhile, James and the young kid Clay won an all important third set SUPER TIE-BREAK as well, which would no doubt play big when it came to determining team tie-breaks as the event went on.
After a day of rest, the squad returned to the courts, this time against MidAtlantic, and while the crew enjoyed their third straight victory of the event, they suffered their first individual loss, showing how heated the competition - and the climate! - were becoming. But thanks to the never-lose-attitude of Stephen and Craig and 3.0 veterans John and Curt, Towpath needed one more team win to seal their trip to the finals!
The problem was that the team's numero uno court #1 aces, Stephen and John, were no doubt spent after three grueling matches in but two days, so the pair needed a well-earned rest. Most teams would struggle to fill these star studded shoes (which is a terrible tennis shoe idea, by the way), but Captain Ronald knew he could call on former 3.0 William (now a near professional 3.5er) to help lead the way at #1 doubles, and lead he did, helping teammate Brian to a #1 doubles win! In #3 doubles, Clay's battery finally ran a bit low as he and Mark fell, meaning that the fate of Towpath - AND ALL OF OHIO?! - would come down to the strings of ... John and Troy! But things looked bleak initially as the Akron pair were blown out in the first. However, if anyone knows Towpath and knows John and knows Akron and knows LeBron, they know that none of those people, places, or things ever quit! With great resolve, John and Troy stormed back, and in a dramatic three-set SUPER TIE-BREAK, the pair not only won their match, but helped send Towpath to the National Finals as the #2 seed!
Playoffs
As the second seed, Towpath faced off versus third seeded Middle States who had gone 3-1 thus far. Stephen and Craig, rested and ready, got back to doing what they'd been doing all season long - winning! - and won #1 doubles in straight sets to get their team on the board. But John and Troy, no doubt mentally and emotionally (and perhaps physically) exhausted from their finals clinching performance the day before, ran out of tennis gas after an early lead to fall in a third set SUPER TIE-BREAKER. Meaning, it would be down to the youngest* kid on the team, Clay and his partner James, to keep Towpath's dream season alive. Unfortunately, Clay and James won nary a game in losing the first set of their #3 doubles match, and things once again started to look a bit bleak for the most favorite set of athletes to ever come out of Akron (EVER). But in a dramatic turn of events, not only did Clay find a fifth - and perhaps sixth - gear to win the second set in a tie-break, but he and Troy once again did the same in the third set, winning the SUPER TIE-BREAK in a dramatic never-before-seen way (which is true, because we weren't there to actually see it)!
In the finals, Towpath faced off versus fourth seeded SoCal, who had shocked the tournament attendees with their defeat of first seeded Southern! Captain Ronald, looking to put out his strongest and most consistent lineup, did just that, and if Stephen and Craig, undefeated on the season, were showing any nerves, they were just nerves of TENNIS STEEL! Which they would need, for after losing a tough first set in tie-break, they rallied back to take the second set in tennis overtime, 7-5. In the all-dramatic third and deciding set, Stephen and Craig relied on the only thing they knew - winning - and did just that - won! Ending their season undefeated as a pair, the duo gave Towpath an important early lead in this all-important team match! A court over, John and Troy, experienced almost the opposite, taking a big lead early before falling big late, leading to yet another third set SUPER TIE-BREAK! But at this point the pair pulled from their experience the day before when they helped get their team this far and in the third set SUPER TIE-BREAK, looked over to court three where Clay and James were at match point, and at the exact same time [Editor's Note: We are 100% certain this is exactly what happened even though we weren't there and didn't even know this event was taking place until almost a month later], the four clinched the championship for not just Towpath, and not just Ohio, but all of the Midwest as well!
And with that, Towpath had become the first ever Ohio based 3.0 tennis club to take home the ultimate in rec league tennis glory - a National Championship! Congratulations gentleman on bringing glory to our Ohio tennis dojo!
Comments