Déjà Vu all over again! Matt DiDomizio beats Poppy Langhans for Singles Title; DeCarlo/Lasa take Doubles
The third annual USNJAC event was held this past weekend at Magic City Jai-alai in Miami with tens of thousands of dollars at stake. The 3-day event attracted players from all over the country with the majority coming from the hotbeds where jai-alai lives on – the Miami area, Tampa Bay area and Connecticut NE area.
The Masters Division composed of all amateur and former professional players who have not played professionally since December 31, 2016 and professionals who are age 50 and over. Once again, Matt Domizio took the singles title, with a 7-4 win over James Langhans (the father of current Magic City star players Douglas and Benny). Langhans, a former pro himself, played like Felix the Cat, reaching into his “bag of tricks” with an arsenal of kill shots, but 3 of those shots went off the court or hit the pad. Matt, playing under the name of “Goya” once again, was his usual catching machine, hardly dropping a ball all weekend. Last year, Matt won the singles, again beating Langhans, who played under the name of Douglas I, by the score of 7-6.
In doubles, the Connecticut team of DeCarlo and Lasa defeated the team of Rastock and Conrado 7-6. Rastock, another catching machine-like Matt, got burnt a few times throwing some soft ones but Lasa was able to run them down and score. The final point ended when Rastock just nipped the top of the front pad on game point for both teams.
The Friday action started promptly at 10:01am and lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes but was never boring with non-stop action. Saturday featured the professional division, with finals for both the Master and Pro divisions on Sunday.
When the event ended, about 10 of the players from Connecticut and Tampa Bay made the four-hour drive to get some action in on the St. Pete Court. That Joe P guy (Petro) can catch!
