Haymaker went into this weekend pumped for inarguably the most contentious matchup this Club Sectionals would see. In a field of 9 opponents, only two would get to move on to Regionals. Haymaker had been working and training since early May to prepare for this weekend and the potential of glory in Milwaukee. Last year, despite fielding a good team of athletic guys, they failed to meet the few positions of a competitive Section and were offered to attend Regionals as an afterthought, turning it down due to its placement in Nowhere, Oklahoma.

The path toward Sectionals had been paved by numerous highly successful tournaments and Haymaker entered Sectionals with a .500 record overall, with an over .750 winning percentage in the Region. Overcoming teams such as Paul Bunyan’s Revenge, Jawbone and Grand Trunk were particularly proud moments during the season.

But one team always seemed just out of reach. Hailing for Indiana University and captained by an ex-Machine and one ex-Haymaker, Skeetpocalypse had bested the the Makers of Hay at both Motown (13-12) and Cooler Classic (15-13).

Coming into Sectionals, Skeet stood between Haymaker and the last bid for Regionals (as most ran under the assumption Machine would handily take the No.1 spot). 

Day 1:

Haymaker vs. Shagon

Haymaker’s first game was against Wheaton College’s team, Covenant, under the name Shagon, sans numerous of their players who played either with club teams or Wheaton’s mixed team. The game was easy won, with Haymaker letting only one score against them. A good way to warm up for the day. 13-1, Haymaker.

Haymaker vs. Notre Dame

Haymaker’s second game was against the third seed and the team to beat in pool play, Notre Dame. A good athletic college team playing their home field, they were missing some of their best players to club teams as well including Kurtz of Abusement Park (click on link above to see a photo of Kurtz skying Lush). Notre Dame and Haymaker traded the first few points before a two breaks by Haymaker. When after trading a few more points, Haymaker ran the last six points in a row to finish out the game. 13-5, Haymaker.

Haymaker vs. Ball State

Ball State was ranked last in the pool and despite some size and a few talented players, the team as a whole was less athletic than many in their field with a minimal skill set. A lot of swill and some spectacularly messy plays gave Ball State a few points, but possession and motion were unfamiliar to them this year, as they lost to Haymaker after only a few sporadic scores. 13-3, Haymaker.

Haymaker vs. Machine

Machine came into this tournament confident they would win handedly. Some of their best players (Vijay, Finn had more pressing engagements, while others, Ferrari, Bjorn, were taking time off to rest injuries). Sadly, a crux in Machine’s offensive line, Tim Halt, was also out for the season for knee surgery (and those of us who fear such an injury every time we step onto a field, feel for him and wish him well.)

Machine came out strong and after playing Ball State and their sloppy play, Haymaker came out throwing turns and the game was quickly 4-0 in Machine’s favor. 5th point of the game, Walden connected with Doug for Haymaker’s first point of the game, and Machine quickly responded, 5-1. 

Haymaker called a timeout and came out playing clean and crisp, moving the disc quickly and swinging smoothly. Four points later, Haymaker had forced turns and played smart O, tying the game at 5’s. Machine calls a timeout.

Haymaker is feeling much more relaxed against a traditionally intimidating team and smiles and jokes, preparing to meet Machine on the field again. Listening to Akira talk to the Machine line seperating ourselves and Machine’s 7 on the field, we got to listen to how the current level of play was not acceptable (not negating in his talk our own level of play (thanks Akira)). It was amusing to recall a story of Tim Halt in Mudbowl, when a Chicago team, largely Machine, was losing to a collection of the best players from every other team for the finals. At half time, as legend goes, he gives a two sentence speech. Walking up to the huddle, he says “Team…. these guys are playing the game of their lives. And we are going to go out there and take it away from them.” Then walked away back to the line. I couldn’t help but thinking that this was Haymaker’s moment, their game against Machine, to prove we are more than simply Machine’s leftovers.

Machine came out hard and scored the next three points, taking half, proving that timeouts, done right, can change momentum and give a team a chance to change their flow mid-stream. Haymaker called a timeout and coming out of it, traded points with Machine causing the game to be capped and not allowing Machine to reach the full point total of 13 for the game. 

Having lost, Haymaker was still proud of their performance that day, receiving congratulations from Machine’s coaches (as well as some constructive advice). Skeet had spent the game watching both teams, and having seen Machine twice at tournaments, had yet to put up more than 4 points against them. Haymaker left the field, feeling confident for their next day’s 9:30 meeting with their rival in the semifinals. 12-8, Machine.

Day 2:

Haymaker vs. Skeetpocalypse – Semifinals

Sunday Morning came with Haymaker at the fields an hour early to prepare to meet Skeet in the semifinal game. The game started with Haymaker receiving and one turn and fast smart play and Skeet was quickly up a break. Trading a few points, Wiggles had two huge layout Ds on up-the-line cuts to Gravy near the Skeet endzone, Haymaker D earned two big breaks in a row to make the game 5-3. Skeet responded and Haymaker responded with another two, taking half at 7-4. 

Skeet came out of half ready to play hard, they quickly put two points on the board, bring the game within one. After another Haymaker score, Skeet put another two on the board and the game was tied up, 8-8. 

Trading points, the game reached 12-12, universe point, familiar territory for the two rivals. Skeet was pulling to Haymaker for the game. Twice, Haymaker, rushing, turned the disc, giving Skeet an opportunity to take the game. After an ill advised and hasty huck with their first possession that didn’t connect, Skeet’s second opportunity was better planned with them moving all the way down field with the disc swinging and bringing themselves within 10 yards for the endzone, a breakside throw went off the hands of their tall guy on the front side of the endzone and the disc sailed out of bounds. Haymaker had one more opportunity. 

Timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the handlers moved it quickly and crisply down the open side of the field, swinging for space. On the second swing back to the breakside, Walden took another IO break opportunity down the line to pass to Rich and bring Haymaker within 10 feet of the endzone. On a 7 stall, a cut across the field was judged perfectly by Rich and a shaped hanging IO forehand break sat in the corner of the endzone for a streaking Other for the set, game and match. Haymaker had defeated their rivals and was going to the finals. 12-11, Haymaker.

Haymaker vs. Machine – Finals

“Now, I know that we’ve all been talking about how to treat this game. If we beat Machine, we are done for the day and first seed going into Regionals. We could, however, roll over and conserve our energy for our rematch with Skeet. Because if we don’t win this game, we will be facing them again for the 2nd seed, and they only have two easy teams to walk through before meeting us.

We, however, will not be rolling over. We came to play ultimate and we will come out against Machine and play our game. We will not run ourselves into the ground, we will play a smart game and take the long shots, connect and stretch their D so we can get the easy opens under. We are going to play our game and show them we came to play Ultimate.” – Tim Wallace (paraphrased)

Our game against Machine started much better than the first. We received the pulls and two throws later, Rich was hucking deep to Zimmerman in the end zone. Haymaker 1-0. Machine responded almost as quickly and on the next pull, three throws resulted in a deep throw from Other to Zimmerman. Haymaker 2-1. Machine responds, Haymaker responds, this time Rich to Doug, 3-2. Machine ties it up and begins poaching our deep cuts, and puts up another three points before we adapt. Machine 6-3. On the next point, Josh puts long to Charlie, captain of U of I, who beats out Stupca, coach of U of I and Charlie, for the score. 6-4 in Machine’s favor.  Machine took the next two points and took half 8-4.

Coming out of half, Machine and Haymaker only had 1 turn each in the next six points and went point for point to 11-7. Haymaker managed one more point, before Machine put it away. Once again, 12-8, and it was obviously not a fluke, matching Haymaker’s previous score. Tired, but proud, Haymaker was ready to once again face their arch rival, Skeet for the Game to Go. 12-8, Machine.

Haymaker vs. Skeetpocalypse – Game to Go

Haymaker came out playing the way they had played against Machine, but Skeet was much better prepared for a quick look-huck game. After a D on the first point, Ryland connected with Wiggles deep in the endzone for the first point, but Skeet responded with another two. After Haymaker scored another, Skeet put up another two. 4-2 Skeet. We continued to play aggressively, but throw turns, getting outrun by a team who played a much easier way to the Game to Go. Each time we scored one, they scored two. 8-4. Coming out of half, points were traded all the way to the end. Ending, disappointingly, at 13-8 in Skeet’s favor. When it came to the last game, Haymaker played their heart out, but they could not keep up with the speed of Skeet any longer. Haymaker’s Regional bid was defeated, with only the faint hope of a wild card bid to Regionals. 13-8, Skeetpocalypse.

All that aside, it was a great year for a great team with a great bunch of guys. And I could not say thank you enough.