By CALEB FOX
Staff Reporter
Organizers of the Oakdale Pickleball Club returned with their fourth pickleball tournament of the summer, bringing together 14 teams from the Riverbank, Oakdale, and Escalon areas over the weekend.
On Saturday, Aug. 31 at 5 p.m., the 14 teams gathered at Gilbert Park in Oakdale to compete in a free entry double elimination pickleball tournament provided by the local club.
“Playing in these tournaments is a great way to see how you compare with others playing in the area. My favorite part is meeting new people who want to play,” Talmage Allen, a competitor in the tournament, commented.
“The Oakdale Pickleball Club has been a great experience,” Riverbank resident and father of five, Trey Hoyt, said. “I love that they are getting people out and moving, interacting, and making their community fun and great.”
Hoyt has attended almost every tournament hosted by the Oakdale Pickleball Club and has helped encourage outreach to players in Riverbank and the surrounding area.
Teams entered in the tournaments are encouraged to give themselves fun and unique team names, most of which are filled with pickle puns. On the courts, Pickleball Pals, PartTime Picklers, The Smash Talkers, and many others play games to 11 to try and climb their way through the brackets.
However, at the end of the night, only one team can stand victorious.
After losing their second game against T-and-T – the winners of Oakdale Pickleball Club’s first pickleball tournament earlier this summer – The Fickle Pickles climbed up through the loser’s bracket, only to play T-and-T again.
This time, though, something was different with The Fickle Pickles. Instead of using their beginner paddles, Talmage Allen of T-and-T allowed The Fickle Pickles to borrow his extra Friday paddles. Although members of The Fickle Pickles had only played pickleball a handful of times, their combined tennis experience and help from the loaned paddles gave them enough strength to come back and beat T-and-T. This was not their final game; after defeating T-and-T, The Fickle Pickles had one more team to beat, Big Dink Energy – the champions of Oakdale Pickleball Club’s second tournament. After two long and competitive games, The Fickle Pickles eventually won and claimed the championship for themselves. These underdogs played their way through the loser’s bracket all the way to the podium. When the final game concluded, three teams were provided with medals. T-and-T, comprised of Talmage Allen and Tyler Thalman, got third place. Big Dink Energy, made up of Ryan Carey and Moe Moe, came in second place. The Fickle Pickles, a father-son duo of Ryan Poling and Caleb Poling, took the gold. Honorable mentions include the Part-Time Picklers, Trey Hoyt and Brent Bauguess, who came in fourth place, and Two Old Pickles, Jason Jericoff and Craig Baize, and Net Ninjas, Robert Stout and Bryan Whitemyer, who tied for fifth place.
Oakdale Pickleball Club plans to host one final pickleball tournament on Saturday, Sept. 14, with the location still being decided. To register, email the two teammates’ names, team name, and a self-rating of pickleball skill for each team member. For more information, visit @oakdale_pickleball_club or email oakdalepickleball@gmail.com.
