IRT Ghost of Georgetown Quarterfinals

Jose Rojas came back from a game down to defeat Daniel De La Rosa in five games in the quarterfinals of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Ghost of Georgetown tournament in Overland Park, Kansas, 9-11, 12-10, 11-1, 7-11, 11-9. Rojas will play IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk in the semi-finals on Saturday, as Waselenchuk defeated Jose Diaz, 11-3, 11-3, 11-2, in the quarters.

De La Rosa looked like he would be the winner early in game five, as he went out to leads of 7-2 and 9-3. But Rojas dug in, and kept plugging away, tying the game at 9-9. His eighth point was a flat backhand pinch, and the was a great get that he reached back for to just keep the ball in play as it looked like it was going to die in the back left corner.

De La Rosa called a timeout at 9-9 after getting the serve back, but he wasn’t able to take advantage of that. Rojas won the match off a lob nick serve to the left that led to a third shot forehand pinch winner.

On the other side of the draw, Felipe Camacho beat Bradly Rogers, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4, in a match of two upset winners from the Round of 16. Camacho will play his first IRT semi-final Saturday, when he’ll face IRT #2 Rocky Carson, who was a winner over Jansen Allen in three straight games, 11-7, 11-1, 11-5.

Ben Croft Update

Of note, Ben Croft, who lost to Camacho in the 16s, spoke of this performance during the IRT Network quarterfinal coverage, and characterized his participation in the Ghost of Georgetown tournament as a “rehab start” to use a baseball analogy, where pitchers are sent to minors when they are coming back from injuries to prepare for big league games.

Croft said he was in Kansas to avoid getting zero points for the event. He was a semi-finalist there last year, so missing the event would have meant dropping a lot of points. A Round of 16 result is already substantially fewer points than a semi-final result, but it’s not zero points, which he would have got by missing the event.

Croft intends to be fully fit for the US Open, which begins October 7 in Minneapolis.

The Ghost of Georgetown semi-finals begin at 4 PM CDT Saturday afternoon and final on Sunday at noon. You can follow the action via the IRT Network.

The 16th Ghost of Georgetown, September 17-20, 2015
Overland Park, Kansas

Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Kane Waselenchuk d. Jose Diaz, 11-3, 11-3, 11-2
5) Jose Rojas d. 4) Daniel De La Rosa, 9-11, 12-10, 11-1, 7-11, 11-9

Felipe Camacho v. Bradly Rogers, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4
2) Rocky Carson d. 7) Jansen Allen, 11-7, 11-1, 11-5

Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Kane Waselenchuk v. 5) Jose Rojas - 5 PM CDT
2) Rocky Carson v. Felipe Camacho - 4 PM CDT

Follow the bouncing ball….