Avengers Win Inaugural Claycord Bocce Cup

#1022 Jun 6, 2017

2017 Claycord Cup Finalists: Avengers and Let's Roll

On June 3 the best teams from the Clayton and Concord bocce leagues squared off in the Inaugural Claycord Bocce Cup at the Ipsen Family Bocce Park in Clayton Four teams from each league competed in a modified Swiss format tournament where each team played four games to earn victory points (based on winning the game and point differential). After four rounds the top four teams moved on to the single elimination playoff round.

At the conclusion of the four Swiss rounds, Concord teams held the Nos. 1 and 4 spots and Clayton teams held the Nos. 2 and 3 spots, which guaranteed a Clayton v. Concord final.

2017 Claycord Cup Swiss Rankings

In the final game (played to 12 points) the Avengers (a perennial Clayton powerhouse), led by assistant Capo Mike Berndt, faced off against Let's Roll, led by Capo Ron Wessels. What followed was a tense game of excellent shot making with dozens of spectators cheering them on. The Avengers' Mike Berndt and Steve Jayko put the pressure on Let's Roll teammates Greg Chan and Ron Wessels (the commish and vice commish of the Concord Bocce League). Ron Wessel's final shot went just wide of the Avengers' in ball and the cup was secured.

2017 Claycord Cup Playoffs

Clayton will hold the perpetual Claycord Bocce Cup for the next year, when the 2nd annual tournament will be held at Baldwin Park in Concord. The Avengers team members will each receive a nice windbreaker.

Many thanks to the all the teams who participated in the event. The camaraderie and sportsmanship were exemplary and a credit to the game and both leagues. A special thanks to Concord commish Greg Chan for his assistance in putting the event together with us. We also want to thank Steve Conger, capo of Vinnie's Bar & Grill, for leading everyone - a capella - in the national anthem.

The tournament was also the first use of our tournament live-scoring system. On each court scorekeepers entered frame by frame scores on their smartphones, and results were relayed to our server. The server displayed real-time match scores and team rankings on two television scoreboards. After each Swiss round, the server calculated the pairings for the next round, which, in the Swiss system, is no simple task.

The modified Swiss format tournament scoring allows teams to lose a game or two but still be in contention for the single elimination playoff if they win big enough. As an example both finalists lost one of the four Swiss format games (with the Avengers being shut out in their loss) yet both teams made the final four and squared off in the finals. This very competitive format is quickly establishing itself as the best format for our tournaments.