Twin Cities Handball League Playoffs

2009 Twin Cities League Championships
March 14, 2009, St. Anthony Athletic Club, Minneapolis, MN

A new format to the playoffs was a result of opportunity and necessity – The Monday League did not attract enough teams to have a playoff so less courts were needed to host the event and the traditional venues could not make the desired dates available. The St. Anthony AC offered their three courts as an alternate. After some debate it was decided to hold the Tuesday Night League playoffs with each set of matches running adjacent to each other. The championship, third place and consolation #3 singles matches started first followed by the #2 singles and then the #3 singles. It was hoped by the TC League board that there would be a split on the singles matches so that the winner would be determined by the last match of the day – the doubles. The board got its wish and the doubles match in each division determined the champions.

The White Bear Boys prevailed for the 5^th time in six years to take the top honors. It was close all the way - a couple of points in any match could have swayed the result. The Midway YMCA, bottom dwellers in total points for the season, pulled off the third place win. The SAAC Squad could not snatch consolation victory this year and looked out-mannedagainst the Skyway YMCA in all but the #1 singles where JJ Korman stayed with every shot Andy Hoisington could muster and “easily” won in two games over some two hours!

The SAAC ‘s lounge and hospitality were enjoyed by all and kept a hearty group until the keg was drained hours after the last match.

Click to see photos from this year's TC League finals.

Tuesday Night Championship: White Bear Boys defeated the River Rats 24-9

Tuesday Night Third Place: Midway YMCA defeated Lifetime Fitness 24-9

Tuesday Night Consolation: Skyway YMCA defeated SAAC Squad 24-9

Tuesday Night League (19^th Annual Playoff)

Championship: White Bear Boys (WBB) defeated River Rats (RR) 24-9

#3 Singles (5 pts.): Matt Dobbins (WBB) defeated Curt Schlenner (RR) 21-14, 21-19
#2 Singles (7 pts.): Jeff Ryan (WBB) defeated John Nakasone (RR) 21-2, 21-17
#1 Singles (9 pts.): Pete Crouser (RR) defeated Mike Gustafson (WBB) 21-20, 21-3
Doubles (12 pts ): Steve Johnson/Tim Labey (WBB) defeated Ryan Maloney/Mike Kloos (RR) 6-21, 21-16, 11-3

Third place: Midway YMCA (Midway) defeated Lifetime Fitness (LF) 24-9

#3 Singles (5 pts.): Mike McQuillan (Midway) defeated Brent Rickenbach (LF) 21-9, 16-21, 11-9
#2 Singles (7 pts.): Phil Kleineschay (Midway) defeated Rob Schultz (LF) 21-18, 21-20
#1 Singles (9 pts.): Joe Hagen (LF) defeated Tim Kappes (Midway) 21-2, 21-4
Doubles (12 pts.): Ray Miller/Rich Ryan (Midway) defeated Ryan Maloney/Mike Kloos (RR) 21-9, 21-11

Consolation: Skyway YMCA (Sky) defeated SAAC Squad 24-9 (SAAC)

#3 Singles (5 pts.): Mike Black (Sky) defeated Mike Leiter (SAAC) 21-10, 21-18
#2 Singles (7 pts.): Jim Grota (Sky) defeated Steve Tamminga (SAAC) 21-11, 21-8
#1 Singles (9 pts.): JJ Korman (SAAC) defeated Andy Hoisington (Sky) 21-12, 21-5
Doubles (12 pts.): Bill Hickey/Jim May (Sky) defeated Brian Mahaffy/Clancy Mylan (SAAC) 21-13, 21-10

Monday Night League (15^th Annual Playoff)

Not sufficient participation to have a playoff