Rookie Reigns
Posted: 06-06-2009 (modified: 06-11-2009)

Roofball newcomer Derek Weber became the first first-time player to win a title in over 6 years, beating veteran Matthew Azar 30-20 in the championship game of the 2008 Roofball U.S. Open.

Weber’s victory over Azar was his 5th win in five games played on Sunday, making him only the 7th Roofball champion to win every game of a tournament, and only the second to go a perfect 5-for-5.

Weber credited his consistency to maintaining a simple strategy. “The goal, just go for a ping every single time, seemed to work out,” Weber said.

Azar lead the final by ten points after a 5th-inning around, but threw consecutive overs in the 6th and 7th innings, helping Weber build a 13-point lead by the end of the 7th.

“I'm not going to blame it on the two overs,” Azar said. “I choked a little bit. I gotta try again I guess. Come back and live another day.”

For his part, Weber was more willing to point to those two overs as pivotal moments. “I actually do have to thank my opponent there, Matt, because without his overs I wouldn't have won that game.”

Weber’s Roofball tournament career began auspiciously, as he became just the 4th player to throw nine or more pings in a single game en route to posting a 1st round score of 51. The score made Weber just the 4th player in Roofball history to score 50 or more points in his first career game.

In the Semifinals, Weber went through his most tense moment of the day. Trailing by eight and in third place by three at the start of the 9th inning, Weber came up huge, throwing his only around of the day. Weber wound up winning the game 39-37-37 to clinch a spot in the Medal Round.

Roofball founder Eric Anderson, making his first appearance since the 2003 Roofball World Championships, took home the bronze medal. Anderson won his first three games before bowing out in the Medal Round. Trailing Matt Azar by two points for second place going into the 10th inning, Anderson could only muster a catch, handing Azar a spot in the Championship Game.

Elyse Dodson won her third Women’s Championship in three appearances by posting a women’s single game record 41 points in her 1st round game. Dodson’s score was the 4th best overall in the 1st round. A score of -7, her career worst, ended Dodson’s day in the 2nd round.

In Saturday’s Roofball Games, Matthew Gibson took home his first career time trial title. His 38 points bested RFA President Adam Willis by a single point.


NOTES: Weber set a new Roofball record for most pings in tournament with 32. Daniel “Danno” O'Reilly also won five games en route to the 2005 U.S. Open title. Casey Campbell was the last newcomer to win a Roofball championship. His win at the 2002 Roofball World Championships was the first of Campbell’s four titles. Defending champ Robert “Buddy” Emmons III was eliminated in the 2nd round. His score of 32 was not enough to earn a wild card spot to the semifinals.