Wade, Yeager, Zug, Ford And Stokes Shine In Hardball Singles At Merion   
by Rob Dinerman

Dateline January 12th --- Still reeling from the recent news that the 2016 U. S. Hardball Nationals will be the last one that US Squash will classify as an official national championship, and stung as well by a follow-up conference call this past Wednesday that had more than its share of contentious moments, nearly three dozen hardball players responded to these contingencies in the most productive possible way, namely by playing their hearts out at the 54th annual William White Invitational, hosted as always by the venerable Merion Cricket Club in suburban Philadelphia. Adding poignancy to the occasion was the fact that Merion’s three fabled hardball courts, on whose terrain the farewell Nationals will be contested just seven weeks hence (on the weekend of February 26-28), are themselves scheduled to be removed this coming summer, and are therefore in their final run.

   The courts, which are ringed with long lists of past winners and many photos from trophy presentations of past years, are still in excellent shape, and there seemed to be an element almost of defiance in how keenly the players were competing throughout the weekend. From the positioning, stroke production and precision of James Zug Sr. in his 70’s final-round win over Scott Ryan, to the brawny athleticism that Gary Yeager evinced in capturing his 60’s final with Tefft Smith, to the variety and consistency with which Peter Stokes took his 50’s final against Tim Kent (with each of these players being a past winner of at least one Hardball Nationals age-group title), all of the components of classic hardball play were on full display. In the Open division, Rich Wade defeated top seed Alex Stait in the semis and then prevailed 13-15, 15-10, 15-8, 15-12 over Chris Ehlinger in the final, and in the 40’s, the only flight of the five that was played as a round-robin rather than a full draw, David Ford Jr. topped the four-player field.

   Inevitably, some of the conversations around the courts and in the gallery were tinged with sadness, but there was also considerable resolve to make next month’s Hardball Nationals a truly special occasion, both as a way of going out in style and, perhaps, as a signal to the Association of what the future might hold. Notwithstanding the dual punches to the solar plexus of the swiftly approaching doom of the Merion courts and the US Squash decision to terminate the Hardball Nationals after 2016, the hardball players showed with their passionate play what a devoted and canny band they still are, and anyone who spent this past weekend around them at Merion would have a difficult time avoiding the sense that there may still be more chapters yet to be written.