The last ringers have been thrown: 2018 Batavia Moose horseshoe contest is in the books
Clank. Clank. Thud. Clank.
"Nice shoe, Gene-o," a player calls out, as he examines the four steel horseshoes his opponents just pitched in a pit at the Moose Lodge in Batavia. His teammate writes down the players' scores.
As twilight fell Aug. 31, the annual horseshoe league was closing its 26th season. And after 14 weeks of play, it came down to the final inning of that night's three-game match to determine what person, and what team, would be the season champ.
To the surprise of no one, deadeye Gene Glazik of North Aurora claimed the top spot as an individual. He and Topher Kottkamp of North Aurora were the best team. They'll enjoy bragging rights, a little cash and a free rib dinner at a banquet in October.
Frank Salas started the league; but about three years in, Tim Griesmann of Oswego took over running it.
Members play at six sand pits off Millview Drive.
Pitching styles vary. Most are underhand flippers; a few, overhand flippers; and some are turners, gripping the horseshoe by its sides.
Griesmann is a turner. "I've always done it that way. My grandfather did it that way, my father did it that way," he said.
In their league, you get three points for a ringer, where the shoe surrounds the stake, and 1 point if the shoe merely touches the stake or lands within about 6 inches of the stake.
The stakes are set 40 feet apart. Players over the age of 70, however, get to throw 30 feet. Glazik is one of them. And like golf, each player has a handicap.
The players bring their own horseshoes, which weigh about 2½ pounds each and have never been near a horse's hoof. Many use a magnetic stick, with a hook welded to the end, to help them pick the horseshoes out of the sand.
"Man, I threw better when I was throwing with my left hand," complained Mike Wade of Aurora, as he waited for his next turn.
Why would he throw with his left? When his right arm was immobilized after shoulder surgery.
He keeps playing, even though he's had two surgeries on one shoulder and one on the other.
"This is actually a dying sport, but we've got a lot of kids (20-somethings) here lately," Griesmann, age 48, said.
The competition is friendly, with players complimenting and teasing competitors. "Nobody gets carried away. A lot of the guys, they come out for their beer," Griesmann said.
Pitching horseshoes is a little more dangerous than a similar sport, bags. Asked if he has been hit by a shoe, Glazik replied, "Uh, not hard. In the leg I have." Griesmann points out an overhand flipper who gets a little wild, once striking the top of a lightpole.
"It's easy to throw bags. It's hard to get a ringer," Griesmann said.