Richards wins World Championship
Posted: 08-05-2007

Jason Richards used accuracy, efficiency and a timely piece of luck en route to defeating his best friend and roofball inventor Adam Willis 49-47 in the championship game of the 1999 Roofball World Championships.

Willis needed a ping and catch to make up a six-point deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning, but only got the ping. After glancing off the left side of the pole, the ball bounced wide left, and grazed Willis’s fingertips before striking the car and sealing the victory for Richards.

Ehren “Dieter” Leipzig took third, while Collin Hegna won the Consolation Award.

Richards was jubilant after watching Willis’s final effort come up short, but tempered his comments in deference to his friend of 18 years. “I feel privileged to have played against such a tough competitor and I’m lucky to have won,” said Richards.

Despite his disappointing finish, Willis was upbeat about the excitement generated by the championship game.

The drama of the final inning wasn’t limited to its bottom half. In the top of the inning, Richards’s throw hit very near the pole, but was ruled to have not struck the pole. Richards objected but the ruling stood, giving Willis his chance to tie the game. And that wouldn’t have mattered much if not for Willis’s clutch around in the bottom of the 9th that brought him back to within striking distance.

Richards took an early 10-1 lead on a 1st inning around, but Willis struck back with arounds in the 3rd and 5th innings to take a 30-29 lead. Willis led 37-36 going into the 8th, but two Richards pings and an ill-timed over put the future champion up to stay in the 8th.

Richards posted a round-high 44 in the first round and won his Semifinal heat and the Trophy Round with scores of 53 and 46, respectively, to advance to the final. Willis earned a wild card with a first-round score of 39, then won his semifinal heat with a score of 55. A 29 in the Trophy Round was enough to get Willis into the final.

Leipzig started strong, posting a 26 and a 36 in his first two rounds, but an early over and string of zeros lead to a Trophy-Round 13, ending his run at the championship.