In the money!

Due to the withdrawal from the league of the player who was supposed to be my last opponent of the season, I was left in an interesting position.  Because of the incredible comeback in my last match, I had 5 match points in the second half of the season with one match to go.  Winning a match gives you a point.  Winning by more than 10 balls gives you another 1/2 point.  Playing above your average (number of balls sunk per inning) gives you ANOTHER 1/2 point.  So, each match there is a potential for 2 points.  

The way the playoffs work, the top three players from the first half play against the top three players from the second half for the six money spots.  The two first place finishers compete for 1st-2nd, the two second place finishers compete for 3rd-4th, and the two third place finishers get 5th/6th (both 5th and 6th get the same money, so there is no playoff).  In our division, the two first-place finishers will play off for 1st-2nd, but the same player took 2nd in both halves, so he gets third place.  The same player took 3rd in both halves, too, so that player gets 4th place.  As a result, if I were to take 4th place in the second half, I would get 5th/6th money.

To do this, I needed to beat Jim, who beat me at the end of March.  He was the 'replacement player' designated by the league manager to take the place of the player who had dropped out.  Unlike last time, when Jim spotted me 20 balls, this time the difference was only 11.  I needed to get to 64, while Jim needed 75.

He took an early lead in the match, and had a pretty consistent 5-10 ball lead as we went into the homestretch.  Coming into the last rack, he needed 11 balls to win while I needed 6.  After we each sunk a couple of shots, I ran off 12 balls in a row to win the game!  The final score (you keep shooting at the end until you miss) was a 73-66 win!  I just missed winning by 10 (If he had scored 65 or lower I would have gotten that half-point), but the 1 1/2 points that I DID get were enough to put me into the 5th/6th spot.  PLUS, I got an extra prize for being the "Most Improved" player in the division! 

Not bad, for such a rough start.  I won four out of my five matches in the second half, for 6.5 points, and as a result my outlay for about 20-25 hours of pool (for the ten matches in the league) was about $1/hour after the prize money is factored in. :-)