Last time out, I said I needed a winning week to get the T-H Marine Pick ‘Em contest pointed back in the right direction for me. I guess I needed to be more specific and say I needed a BIG winning week. 4-3 at Santee Cooper stopped the bleeding, but I am still 5 points under .500 with 22 wins and 27 losses. The goal, with 3 to go, is to somehow finish above .500, so I am looking for a couple of 5-2’s here, beginning with the next event, at the Pasquotank River and Albemarle Sound on the coast of North Carolina.
No one expects a repeat of Kyle Welcher’s record beatdown from last April, so many of these matchups could be pretty tight.
Match 1 pits 1 and 2 in the AOY race, Cory Johnston, and Trey McKinney, who is 20 points back after his annual head scratcher, this one a 90th place finish at Santee Cooper. McKinney has more finishes in the 90’s in his career (2) than he does in the 30’s-70’s (1). He better close that lead Cory has here, because you don’t want to be too far behind a Johnston heading to New York. I’ll take McKinney here to bounce back big.
Match 2 is between the 2 guys who slugged it out a couple of weeks ago, Brandon Palanuik and Chris Johnston. Johnston is in the top 20 of the AOY right now, while Brandon is flirting with the Classic cut line. The scope is in play this week, but I’m not sure that advantage either way. I’ll take Chris Johnston in the battle of the urchins…
Match 3 is between Tar Heels Hank Cherry and Shane LeHew. Hank opened the season with a win, but has slipped a bit since then, while LeHew has been a steady Eddie…LeHew is the pick.
In Match 4, we get Kyle Welcher and the guy who finished 2nd here last year, albeit a LONG way back, Brandon Lester. Confidence is high for Welcher, and his Crush City Bronco Bug, so I have to go with him over my state mate, Lester.
Match 5 has a couple of other Brandons, Cobb and Card, from the Carolinas. Now, Cobb is Carolina born and bred, while Card just recently jumped over the Tennessee border into the mountains of Western Carolina…Cobb is tough not to pick in this one as he continues to fight towards making the Classic on his home lake.
Match 6 is a bearded beatdown between the vet, Greg Hackney, and young Robert Gee. Hackney will find the skinniest water he can, up one of those many tributaries, but I am going to make a pick solely on technology here and go with Live scope wiz Robert Gee.
And in our Final match, the Cheeseheads go at it, Kyle Norsetter and Pat Schlapper. I think Schlapper will catch plenty of three-sies and four-sies (If you know, you know) and take this one over his in-state pal.
Good luck with your picks!
