It's been decided by popular vote of the players that the Ultimate Frisbee league tournament will be Thursday, Aug. 9 at Atkinson Park, Ketchum.
Semi-finals played to 13 begin at 5:15 p.m. and finals played to 15 at 7:15 p.m. Afterward, the league party plus presentation of the Spirit Award and the coveted Summer League Cup will be held at Diamond Mike's house.
It's been a good season and there has been a good turnout of fans and spectators.
Despite wet fields and a late start, the final regular-season games Thursday had the biggest fan turnout yet—and the first ever wave in the bleachers of the park's upper field.
Grumpy's fought hard in a re-match against KB's. Each team was more experienced than the first match-up and had multiple subs on the sidelines.
"Ultimate!" was loudly proclaimed from the end zone to begin the game. Grumpy's (1-4) took a quick lead over KB's (3-2) with three unanswered goals. With the Kate Randall Fan Club cheering in the background, KB's muscled back to tie the score at 7-7.
Trent Stumph, one of the pioneering members of Ketchum Ultimate, scored the first Callahan of his illustrious 20-year Ultimate career to give KB's its first lead.
The battle continued after half, with back-to-back goals. Joel Mallet of Grumpy's hucked the frisbee deep down the field to Wes Southward and finally to Graham Unger for a 15-15 tie. With darkness encroaching and the game capped at 17, each team buckled down.
This time it was KB's. They capitalized on a dropped pull and went up 16-15.
On the next possession, Grumpy's turned it over at mid-field. Wowing the crowd, Sunny Poppler threw an upside-down pass to Sage Pressman, who toed the line while corralling the disc for the victory at 17-15.
Notable highlights included stellar defense by John King and yet another layout block by John "Chaka" Shenk, the 1001th for his career.
On Field Two, dropped passes and layout catches in the end zone characterized much of the match-up between Board Bin and Wrap City.
Wrap City (3-2) capitalized early on Board Bin's (3-2) uncharacteristic dropped passes and took the lead at 4-1. Board Bin stormed back, pulling to within 5-4 on a sizzling backhand from Dave Marsala into the corner of the end zone.
Using a mixture of zone and man defense, Wrap City kept Board Bin off balance and took the half at 8-4.
Bin's momentum mimicked this weekend's stormy weather. They scored three of four goals after the half—regaining their characteristic energy and composure sparked by Lucy Chubb's mid-field layout to catch a pass from Dart (Lonnie Lindquist). It made it 14-10.
Even this new momentum was no match for the quick and skilled hands of Hunter Storey. Not only did he score the majority of Wrap City's points but he ended the game with a dive in the end zone, catching a backhand by Todd Dunham. Final score, 15-10, Wrap City.
Other highlights included Board Bin's Jim Slanetz's quick cuts to the end zone and Jordan Dale's contested foul in the end zone.
Although Ultimate Summer League is coming to an end, pick-up games will still be held Tuesdays and Thursdays on the upper fields at Atkinson Park. New players are always welcome, call Scott Runkel at 721-1737 for more information.
