Sugar River Euchre

Last week was filled with highlights. There were two perfect scores, two near perfect scores, the lowest score of the season thus far and three couples that avoided receiving a skunk postcard by 1-point.
A match that provided several of these highlights was the match between the Trolls and the Cowboys. It started out bad for the Trolls, even before they walked into Walk-On. Captain Scott Hook had to round up five subs to avoid their second forfeit of the year. With so many inexperienced Trolls, the Cowboys were able to quickly out maneuver and encircle the entire pack of Trolls. Don Field and Ferdie Schmitz led the charge by attacking from the front, scoring 118 hits. Harold Schlimgen and Marvin Thompson were more tactical and attacked from the flank, thereby hitting the sweet spot to secure 120 perfect hits. Trolls Erika Forseth and Larry Kluesner avoided a skunk in the second frame when Dean Disch and Dave Wilborn held them to just 1-point. Without a single Troll scoring more than 87 points, the Cowboys completely dominated the match winning by 130 points.
The River Rats did extensive damage to the Pipe Benders’ job site when Honker (Dan Palmer) and Mark Raders recorded the league’s second perfect score of the night. Pipe Benders Mike Picket and Ryan Arneson attempted to repair some of the damage by pumping 110 gallons from the flooded site. But that wasn’t enough, as Pipe Benders Tom Arneson and Berry Gordon were of little help. Apparently working with a bad pump, they could only pump 62 gallons out (this week’s low score). The River Rats get their first win of the half soaking the Pipe Benders by 52 points.
The Pranksters, short their Captain, saw their dreams of achieving top billing fade away when Leo Humphrey and John Baumgartner lassoed 118 points for the Mounties. Their only loss came in the seventh frame when Pranksters Tom Schulenberg and Corey O’Hern held them 2 points short of a perfect score. With the 27-point win, the Mounties move into a two-way tie for third place.
The Express will have a new home base in the future as they continue their journey towards the station of champions. Engineers Shawn Farrell and Charlie Steinhauer shoveled 111 lbs of fuel in an effort to achieve that goal. Lucky, too, as Dale Herfel and John Scheidegger stalled a little towards the end. Fearing a visit by the infamous skunk, Dale and John managed to squeak out 1-point in the seventh frame. Cheese Eaters Jeff Buesser and Ed Wettach had that same fear in the first frame. But they too were able to score a single point to keep the smell of limburger at bay. The Express rolled into the station 40 points ahead of the Cheese Eaters to maintain a perfect record.
In their attempts to catch the Express, all four Kleeman’s Hay Shaker couples scored over 100 points in their 55-point win over the Shufflers. Rick Skindrud and Roger Truttmann, plus Jeff Goebler and Jerry Judd, were able to stack 113 bails for the Hay Shakers.
With four teams still fighting to be top dog of the second half of the season, these next two weeks should be very interesting.
Standings: Starlight Express 7-0; Kleeman’s 6-1; Mounties 5-2; Pranksters 5-2; Cowboys 4-3; Sportsman’s Bar 3-4; Jones Plumbing 2-5; Shufflers 2-5; J&M Bar 1-6; Trolls 0-7.
March 3rd Schedule: J&M Bar @ Sportsman’s Bar (7:00); Jones Plumbing @ Mounties (7:00); Pranksters @ Farrell’s (7:30); Shufflers @ Cowboys (7:00); Kleeman’s @ Walk-On (7:30).