Iphone Saves “Mrs. Cachin” from Serious Injury on the Cancha  

i

Longtime season ticket holder Bronwyn Doyle, the wife of current Puryear Park player Gary “Cachin 47”  Doyle, barely survived of what would have been a very painful experience and a trip to the hospital with serious injuries.    

Season ticket holders have the option to sit on a bench behind the screen fence (basically where the players cage would be, sit in your own chair anywhere alongside the court outside the fence, or sit inside the cancha with extreme caution.

Players were using the Matt 165G ball, the latest version of the Connecticut Amateur pelota.  It is the fastest and heaviest ball they have used in Berlin Connecticut for the past 16 years and plays much faster on the St. Pete Cancha than ever before.   

Mrs. Cachin was sitting at about the 10 line in a beach chair with their little doggie, splitting her time reading something on her phone or watching her husband play. 

Near the end of the Sunday performance, Alex threw a remate that caromed off the side wall, hit the front wall, and out of the reach of Rastock in the front.  The pelota was heading right at Bronwyn’s head.  Everyone yelled “Watch it!!!”. With less than a split second of notice, she looked up, saw the pelota heading right at her face as a Hurricane 5.  She quickly raised her phone up right in front of her head – blocking the near 100 mph “rock” from nailing her.  The ball had a direct hit in the middle of her iPhone.  

As you can see from the photos, the ball left a perfect tape mark on it from the direct hit.  She also suffered an “injury” that fortunately caused no pain.  She lost her nail.  And yes, it was from her Middle Finger.  The ball broke off her middle fingernail and left a tape mark on the phone with no other damage.  The ball is 2.25” in diameter. 

Without her quick reflexes, this story would not have had a happy ending.  The Doyle’s attorney declined to file charges against Alex for the nail repair, citing the wording on the back of her ticket – “Not responsible for injuries incurred from a thrown pelota while inside the cancha!”.