Pahrump pitchers sweep Group B at Oasis Fall Open

Three pitchers from Pahrump swept the top spots in the Group B to highlight the Oasis Fall Open horseshoes tournament Saturday at Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort.

Lathan Dilger and James Hatch each went 3-1 for the tournament, with Mike Nicosia and Joe Kalache each finishing 2-2 in Group B. Hatch led Dilger on points 160-152 to win the title, while Dilger led on ringers 62-57.

“They had him at the wrong handicap,” Dilger said of Hatch, who played with a 9 handicap while Dilger did not have one. “From now on we’re going to playoffs to alleviate this problem.”

Dan Dunn of Las Vegas and Bob Swain of Bullhead City, Arizona, each went 4-1 in Group A. Swain, who went into the tournament with a ringer percentage of 62.81%, hit on 109 to 71 for Dunn, but Dunn finished with a 277-238 edge in points and won the championship patch and $40. Steve Lopez of Kingman, Arizona finished third by tiebreaker after he and Dennis Andersen of Pahrump each went 3-2.

Over in Group C, Sheri Dilger of Mount Charleston was the only undefeated pitcher in the tournament, sweeping four games to take the crown. A 27-13 win over runner-up Steve Dilger of Las Vegas locked up the win. Tim McBrayer of Las Vegas finished 2-2 to take third in Group C.

Group C was the only division without a tie, as each pitcher defeated the pitchers who would finish lower in the standings. The other divisions had ties for first and third. Second place in each division paid $25, while $15 went to the third-place finishers.

The Nevada State Horseshoe Pitchers Association schedule continues this weekend with the Beatty Boo Halloween tournament Saturday. Beatty’s horseshoes pits are at Knight Avenue and Amargosa Street, just behind the Death Valley Inn and RV Park.

A doubles tournament was held Oct. 11 with 21 players at the Joe Friel Sports Complex in Tonopah. Pitchers were divided into divisions, with trophies provided by Paul at the A-Bar-L Western Store and Terri at Tonopah Trading Company.

Carol Lanfair and Mark Kaczmarek split $80 by winning the Gold Division of the tournament, with Alison Breeden and Nicosia splitting $50 for second and Dunn and Kalache sharing $30 for third place. In the Cardinal Division, Scott and Lela Hardy finished first, Don Brown and Bill Hummel were second and Mike Dedeic and Brent Dawson placed third. Prize money was the same in both divisions.

The players had participated in the state championships the day before at the same site.

“I’d like to thank the sponsors for their support and the town of Tonopah for letting us hold such an important tournament here and state will be back at Tonopah next year,” said Lathan Dilger, president of the Nevada State Horseshoes Pitchers Association.