By Derby News Network, Last updated Fri Apr 16 2010 6:41pm

WFTDA Sanctioned | General Interleague | Banked Track | Local Bouts

WFTDA Sanctioned

#25 Carolina 111, Providence 110 -- In a close contest that saw Providence nearly recover from a 102-52 deficit, Carolina hung on to escape by just one point, 111-110. The closed-to-the-public bout was played at Ocean Skate, Providence’s indoor home rink in Narragansett, RI.

After five fairly evenly matched jams, Providence held a small early lead at 13-10, but Carolina surged back and recaptured the lead with a 10 point power jam in the 7th.  Both squads had nearly half their line-up take a crack at jamming and the teams shared lead fairly equally throughout the rest of the half, but Carolina continued to pull ahead, opening their lead to 17 points by the half, 54-37.

The second half opened with major trouble for PRD.  Starting with jammer Rhode Kill in the box and Craisy Dukes pulling her fourth minor, they suffered a 14-0 loss to Holly Wanna Crackya, followed by an 11-3 to CRG’s DVS. Providence seemed to be flailing, but soon regained their footing as Craisy Dukes put up a 12-0 jam.  

The score stood at 77-52 in Carolina’s favor, at which point Carolina landed what looked like it might be the game-winner. A powerjam for Holly Wanna Crackya, along with the lockdown pivoting of Ms. Anthrope the Mordant, led to the biggest jam of the day. CRG’s squad came together impressively, separating the PRD pack and slowing the pace as the Riveters watched Crackya glide by on the inside line for a 25-0 slugfest.  

With the score now at 102-52 Carolina, a repeat of the Eastern Regional match-up seemed in store. But after a trade of 4-0 jams, the Riveters came humming back to life. First came a 10-0 power jam for Dukes, then a 15-0 for Rhode Kill and a flawless 4-0 call for Trophy Knife, stoking some uneasiness on the Carolina bench. CRG went scoreless for six jams as the score narrowed to 106-95 before they finally got back on the board.

The second-to-last jam opened with the score at 111-103 to Carolina.  Rhode Kill pulled out lead jammer status as Bleeding Rainbow held Princess America to the back of the pack. Rhode Kill rounded once for a grand slam, but was called out on her third pass on a hotly contested back-blocking call. While PRD coach Buzzy argued the initiation of contact was a trip on the part of Carolina rather than a back block on the part of Providence, the ref crew stood behind the original call -- and Providence's 7-0 jam was one point too few to tie. The final jam began with only seconds on the clock and Rhode Kill in the box, allowing an unopposed Holly Wanna Crackya to break through to lead for a game-sealing 0-0. -- Rumbledore

#10 Boston 110, Carolina 55 -- Although home Boston ended up doubling Carolina's total in a comfortable final margin, Carolina was solidly in contention for the first 45 minutes of a remarkably low-scoring matchup. The visitors held a short-lived 8-0 lead at the beginning of the bout on back to back 4-0 jams from Holly Wanna Crackya and DVS, and although Boston scored 11 unanswered points in response, the opening sequence was overall extremely tight. In the first 8 jams, each team scored on two jams and was shut out on the remaining six, leaving it just 11-8 with about 12 minutes gone in the bout.

Boston had a run of 9 lead jams calls through the middle of the first half, though, and that allowed them to mostly shut down Carolina's offense and extend their lead to 32-10 about halfway through. Carolina got a big break there, though, using their first powerjam to best effect as Holly Wanna Crackya scampered for 15-4 over Boston's jammer Lil Payne.

Though Carolina had narrowed it to 36-25, Holly's 15 point explosion ended up accounting for more than half of Carolina's points in the period. They only got 4 more before the intermission, where Boston was holding a solid but not overwhelming 51-29 advantage.

Carolina opened the second half strong with 4 lead jam calls in a row and a 10-1 run that got them within 13 points at 52-39, but Boston got things under control before Carolina could complete the rally. With 17 minutes to play, the score stood at 67-43 Boston just before the home team delivered the knockout -- a 18-4 for rookie jammer Killary Clinton over DVS that moved the margin to 85-47.

In a bout where the single-jam totals were almost always 4 points or fewer, there was no coming back from that haymaker. Carolina was only able to put up 8 more points in the remaining time, while Boston got one more big swing from Sugar Hits, who dropped a late-bout 14-0 that lifted Boston into triple digits. Four jams later, Boston had their second WFTDA win of the year. -- Justice Feelgood Marshall

Read the archived text boutcast.
Photo gallery from Art Newburg

#16 Steel City 182, Maine 58 -- In a dominant home opener, Pittsburgh's Steel City defeated Maine, to move to 2 and 0 on the young season. Steel City sprinted out of the gate with big scoring jams by Hurricane Heather (22) and 'Snot Rocket Science (13) that put Maine behind by 37 after only 10 minutes. Grim D. Mise broke through for 10 points near the first quarter mark, which ended 56-20 in favor of Steel City. Rear-pack domination by Steel Hurtin' captain, Athena, combined with an impressive wicked pissah display of jammer-on-jammer defense by 'Snot Rocket Science, had Maine down 98-27 at the half.

The second half unfolded with many loose packs and penalties to both teams. Maine controlled more jams than their hosts but stuck to a game plan, continually calling them off as soon as it appeared Steel City would score at all, possibly costing themselves chances to close the gap which sat at 127-45 at the three-quarter mark. Meanwhile a wall of rear blockers, again led by Athena, successfully isolated individual Mainers, splitting the pack and freeing Hurricane Heather and the Shocker from being impeded by the other Maine blockers en route to 20-point jams and a 182-58 final. 

This was Maine's first WFTDA bout of the year. Steel City is now at 2-0 on the year with a previous win over DC; they'll get their first big test of the year when they travel to Michigan this weekend to take on #13 Detroit. -- Michael Frighten'd

Photo gallery from Jon Pratt