Oakboro pitcher wins Hall of Fame benefit in Statesville
Published 9:39 am Thursday, October 11, 2018
- Photo by B.J. DRYE/staff Ronnie Tucker proudly displays his championship plaque from a recent tournament in Statesville.
Oakboro pitcher Ronnie Tucker is back pitching horseshoes after eight months of layoff with back problems.
The temperature at a recent Statesville event reached 100 degrees on the pure asphalt pits.
The first game Tucker beat Jamie Woodcock from King 23-14.
Tucker took the second game over Robert Bryant 20-12.
His winning continued in the third game by crushing Danny Woodcock from King 24-6.
In the fourth game, Tucker edged out Keith Cheshire 19-18.
The final game saw Tucker against Robert Covington, who pitched in the world tournament in Florence, South Carolina this year.
Covington came out throwing four ringers in a row, taking the lead 12-0. Then Tucker fired 3-out-of-4 shoes to close the gap to 12-9. After a few pitches, the game is knotted at 15.
Then Tucker went 3-of-4 shoes, getting the last point of the game.
Tucker finished 5-0 for first place, with Covington going 4-1 for second place.