Parks and Rec hosts first week of Cornhole

The Malta Department of Parks and Recreation introduced an organized backyard game to 20 participants last Friday night at the Malta City Hall.

Cornhole, a game that has been featured on ESPN became Malta's latest sport and in the first week of the event, Lance Henderson and his teammate Dylan Bergos (MSYH) became the first winners of the game in Parks and Recreation history, defeating WH, a team consisting of Tommy Erickson and Les Jones. The score was 2-1 after three games.

The matches were played in best-of-three game format, or until 45 minutes had elapsed. Each game was played until one team had reached 21 points.

In Cornhole teammates are separated and go head to head with their opponent pitching four corn kernel filled bags at a cornhole board. One bag on the board equals one point and one bag in the hole equals three points. For each point scored, the opposing pitcher can cancel out their opponents by landing on the board or landing a bag in the hole.

Though things did not start out well for MSYH, the team overcame a 6-4 disadvantage, with Henderson scoring four points in two of his rounds.

"My back hurts from carrying my teammate but it doesn't matter," Henderson joked.

In game two, Jones came alive and he was locked in scoring the first nine points for WH. They won 22-12.

"I just pulled something out of my hat, I guess," Jones said.

MSYH would close out the final game 22-19.

During the event, Sally Wright, Director of Malta Parks and Recreation, shared how she thought things were going.

"It's going great," Wright said. "People are enjoying themselves, enjoying the nice weather, and are having fun. It's just nice to bring something new to town."

The original plan was to hold games indoors, but due to the quality of the weather, Wright and Assistant Director Jessica Zeiger opted to take the game outside.

The winners were: Game 1: MSYH over WH, Game 2: Mother Shuckers over Shut Your Cornhole, Game 3: Colossal Cobs over Cornhole Chowder, Game 4: Great Corn Squad over KMMR. Lug Nut BBQ had a bye. Game 5: MSYH over Lug Nut BBQ, Bye for Great Corn Squad, Game 6: KMMR over Cornhole Chowder, Game 7: Colossal Cobs over Shut your Cornhole, Game 8: WH over Mother Shuckers.