The Edmonds Petanque Club (EPC) traveled to Port Townsend earlier this month, intent on capturing the Cross Sound Trophy from last year’s winner — the Port Townsend Petanque Alliance (PTPA). This year, the PTPA hosted the EPC Sept. 14 at Fort Worden State Park. Over the course of the day, the Edmonds team competed well, but in the end ceded the trophy to Port Townsend by a the thin margin of one point, 12 to 11.

The Cross-Sound Cup, in its second year, is a friendly but serious intra-club competition that is jointly organized by the Edmonds Pétanque Club and the Port Townsend Pétanque Alliance.

Each fall, these two leading petanque clubs in the Pacific Northwest form teams of 12 players. On the day of the competition, players faced off in triples, doubles and singles matches, as well as a shooting and pointing competition.

Player selection is based on guidelines that the clubs have developed to assemble teams that represent their membership. Selection criteria include gender, length of time playing the sport, degree of participation in the club, skill and performance in competitive events during the past year.

The teams took to the courts in high spirits despite overcast skies and a forecast of rain. In the triples competition, each club won two matches, and the team score stood at Edmonds – 2 points, Port Townsend – 2 points.

Next came the doubles competition. The 12 players who had formed four triples teams were now matched with new playing partners to form six doubles squads. Several of the doubles matches were decided by only one or two game points, but the Port Townsend team prevailed. From the six doubles matches, Edmonds captured two wins. PTPA won four matches. The team score stood at Edmonds 4 points, Port Townsend 6 points.

The Edmonds team was accompanied by a large group of supporters who had made the trip across the Sound. For those who had not been able to make the trip, Edmonds’ Ro Verdeja transmitted play-by-play WhatsApp accounts of ongoing matches to the contingent of Edmonds fans back home. Ro’s reports kept everyone up to date with scores, videos and pictures of the games.

After lunch, the singles competition matched the 12 players from each club against individuals from the other team. Each contestant played their best, and two teams split the 12 matches. These were closely contested games against the best Port Townsend players. In the singles Competition, each team netted six points. The team score stood at Edmonds 10 points, Port Townsend 12 points.

The day ended with a pointing and shooting competition, whose outcome would contribute one point to the team score. It was no longer possible for the Edmonds team to make up the two-point difference, but the Edmonds players outperformed their hosts in the two skill sets, winning handily by a total of 47 to 38. This contributed one additional team point to the Edmonds total.

Thus, the final team score was Edmonds 11 points, Port Townsend 12 points. The Port Townsend team emerged victorious by one thin point. The contest could easily have gone the other way. The Edmonds players were disappointed not to have won but were also delighted with their strong showing.

The Edmonds team sends special thanks to Ron Stires, who served as Edmonds team captain. Ron competently coordinated the Edmonds Pétanque Club’s involvement in the Cross-Sound Annual Tournament. The team also thanks the Port Townsend Pétanque Alliance for their hospitality and looks forward to next year, when the Cross Sound competition will take place in Edmonds.

— By Jack McHenry