The Sitch
While the current iteration of Big Wrench was born last season, you can theoretically trace the team's roots to the 2010 BI, where we played as a pickup team and broke seed up into a bracket we had no business being in.
This year the Boston Invite was both a late stage tryout and a first step towards future success for the notorious B.I.G. Seedings sat us comfortably at 6th, the second seed in Pool C along with Quake, Ryanside & Red Circus.
This year the Boston Invite was both a late stage tryout and a first step towards future success for the notorious B.I.G. Seedings sat us comfortably at 6th, the second seed in Pool C along with Quake, Ryanside & Red Circus.
Saturday - Pool Play
In what is becoming an exciting trend for a notoriously sleepy squad we came out guns blazing on Saturday morning with a few breaks on Red Circus. An 8-4 halftime lead was patiently maintained to get the ball rolling with a win. Against Ryanside, a team of Umass dudes, we again started with some breaks, but reverted to our worst tendencies as we sloppily gave the lead away towards the end of the first half. Luckily some strong play from the defensive line kept our heads above water and we ran away with a nice big win. The final pool play game against 1 seed Quake was perhaps our most stable, as we went up early and stayed in control all the way through a 15-8 win. The three victories were worthy of some praise, but still held a lot of unused potential. We finished atop the pool hungry for our strongest performances yet.
Unfortunately a 2-hour break got the best of us, and from the get-go our re-seeding game against Dark or Light was not a pretty one for us. Although the game was meaningless in the scope of our progression through the bracket, we were dealt a massive walloping loss -- by far the low point of the weekend.
Unfortunately a 2-hour break got the best of us, and from the get-go our re-seeding game against Dark or Light was not a pretty one for us. Although the game was meaningless in the scope of our progression through the bracket, we were dealt a massive walloping loss -- by far the low point of the weekend.
Sunday - Bracket
Our quarterfinal matchup pitted us against Connecticut Night's Watch, perhaps the most familiar face among our Northeast opponents. As with many of our games it was a hotly contested and wildly exciting one. The BW d-line did their job early on, breaking twice to start the game. Just as quickly though, Night's Watch capitalized on our mistakes and brought the game back on serve. Both offenses struggled to get separation against strong man defense, and defenses played loud and fast on the turn. Night's Watch took the lead 8-7 into half, and appeared to have taken control before a late run from the Wrench made things interesting. With a couple of late breaks giving us the 14-13 lead we stacked up a d-line and went for broke. After a mis-timed huck gave us the disc we converted a warning track huck into a fast break goal and took the game going away.
The semifinals against Geno's (Philly) was equally exciting. The huck game was all gold for the Big Wrench o-line at the start, and the teams traded confidently for a while. As we got more exhausted the screws began to come loose and Geno's excellent defensive pressure got them a few late-half breaks and an 8-5 lead. We worked to right the ship in the second half, and chipped away little by little thanks to relentless defense from the 5 handlers that remained on our uninjured roster. The breaks came hard and fast for us down the road and we sprung out to a confident 13-11 lead, but as quickly as fortune came it was pissed away by the good ol' execution bug. 3 mistimed deep shots in a row became goals for Philly, and they broke for the win to end our day.
Med Men opted not to hang around and play the 3rd place game, but we had a good little chat with their captains about Chesapeake Open and look forward to seeing them later in the season.
All in all a great day and a 3rd place finish for the Wrench. Stay tuned for the release of our final roster and our tournament schedule in the coming weeks!
The semifinals against Geno's (Philly) was equally exciting. The huck game was all gold for the Big Wrench o-line at the start, and the teams traded confidently for a while. As we got more exhausted the screws began to come loose and Geno's excellent defensive pressure got them a few late-half breaks and an 8-5 lead. We worked to right the ship in the second half, and chipped away little by little thanks to relentless defense from the 5 handlers that remained on our uninjured roster. The breaks came hard and fast for us down the road and we sprung out to a confident 13-11 lead, but as quickly as fortune came it was pissed away by the good ol' execution bug. 3 mistimed deep shots in a row became goals for Philly, and they broke for the win to end our day.
Med Men opted not to hang around and play the 3rd place game, but we had a good little chat with their captains about Chesapeake Open and look forward to seeing them later in the season.
All in all a great day and a 3rd place finish for the Wrench. Stay tuned for the release of our final roster and our tournament schedule in the coming weeks!