Greenfield Recorder - They’ve got it in the bag: Franklin County Baggers cornhole league offers fun, camaraderie for all

Oct 25, 2024

Players in the Franklin County Baggers cornhole league compete at the Montague Elks Lodge 2521. The group gathers to play every Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Teams of two, with members at either end, toss 1-pound bags of resin beads at a 6-inch hole on an inclined plane in the Franklin County Baggers cornhole league. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

The Franklin County Baggers cornhole league meets at the Montague Elks Lodge 2521 on Wednesday evenings. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

A 1-pound bag flies through the air in the Franklin County Baggers cornhole league at the Montague Elks Lodge 2521 earlier this month. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Ten-year-old Tyler Kuzmeskus plays next to his mother, Mary Sue Campbell, in the Franklin County Baggers cornhole league at the Montague Elks Lodge 2521 on Oct. 9. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Michael Shedd, left, of Bernardston, and David Knox, of Greenfield, are the organizers of the Franklin County Baggers cornhole league that meets at the Montague Elks Lodge 2521 on Wednesday evenings. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Tyler Lavin of Turners Falls, participates in the Franklin County Baggers cornhole league at the Montague Elks Lodge 2521 on Oct. 9. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

What would you do if you loved cornhole but there was no league in your area? Well, if you’re David Knox and Michael Shedd, you would start your own.

The two hit it off while playing in a Northampton club in 2022 and on Jan. 3 of this year held the first tournament of the Franklin County Baggers, a league that meets at the Montague Elks Lodge 2521 on Wednesdays.

“There was nothing really in Franklin County,” Shedd said. “And I knew there were some rec-level or backyard players that would play — they just didn’t want to travel to Northampton or Chicopee or Fitchburg on a weeknight.”

The league has exploded in size since forming nearly 11 months ago, averaging 20 to 30 players per week.

“The cornhole community is just one huge family, no matter where you go,” Knox said on Oct. 9 as the room filled with the familiar thuds of bags smacking cornhole boards.

It costs $20 per person per week to play, and 80% is paid out to the winners at the end of the night.

“There’s nothing real different from any other league. They’re all run the same,” Knox said. “When we start, you run a four-round round robin. So you get four games. You get a different partner every game. And, depending how you throw as an individual, then you’ll be separated into one or two tiers, maybe three, depending on how many people are here. And then you’ll get a partner for [a double-elimination bracket].”

Shedd said players are guaranteed a minimum of six games per week.

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Play at the Montague Elks is notably sportsmanlike, with participants often complimenting opponents on their throws and offering encouragement in the form of a fist bump. Jolly banter is the norm, as those in attendance rib one another and swap inside jokes and references. There is no age requirement or limit and players of all ability levels are welcome.

“Everyone tries to help each other,” Shedd said as his music playlist runs through a speaker system in the background.

The object of the game is to score points by throwing beanbags into a hole on a raised board. A bag that goes through the hole earns its thrower three points, and a bag that lands on the board is worth one. A bag that lands on the ground or bounces onto the board is worth nothing. The player or team with the higher score subtracts the other team’s points for that particular inning. For example, if one team notches four points and the other team registers two, the team with four points scores only two. Each player throws four bags in an inning and the first team to reach 21 points wins. In this league, points are tracked via Scoreholio, an app that facilitates tournaments sports ranging from volleyball to darts to ax throwing.

The lawn game carries its fair share of lingo, with airmail meaning a throw that goes directly into the hole (the cornhole equivalent to a swish in basketball) and a blocker being a bag that lands in front of the hole, blocking it from an opponent’s slide shot. Shedd explained players throw square 1-pound bags filled with resin pellets or discs, which have replaced the preserved corn feed that gave the game its name.

The boards are 24 inches wide by 48 inches long, with a 6-inch hole. They are inclined in such a way that the back end stands 12 inches above the ground. The distance between the front of the boards must be 27 feet. The boards used by Franklin County Baggers bear the name Bailey Brook Cornhole, a custom cornhole board-building business Shedd runs on the side.

The league held a cash tournament the Saturday of the Franklin County Fair last month and the following day set up boards for curious passersby to play.

Corey Bryant was spotted practicing off to the side during a break in his play on Oct. 9. A year and a half ago, he moved home from upstate New York, where he started playing the game during his 12-year stint there, and joined Franklin County Baggers because he wanted to start taking it more seriously again. He has played tournaments in Rhode Island, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and South Carolina and said he is interested in “just developing the culture here.”

“It doesn’t matter where you go, everybody knows each other, everybody’s cool with each other,” he told the Greenfield Recorder. “Everybody’s so happy to be here.”

Bryant said backyard play is a far cry from what you’ll see in professional tournaments run by the American Cornhole League (ACL), which has gotten airtime on ESPN. He explained the game is like bocce or shuffleboard, in that it is not necessarily physically demanding but requires finesse and strategy.

It’s that competitive nature that drew Scott Thielen to the game. He and his wife, Karen, started playing regularly during the COVID-19 pandemic after they ordered their own boards and bags. They live in Stoddard, New Hampshire, about an hour and 15 minutes from the Montague Elks.

“We just played at home, in the backyard. I thought I was decent, or good, then we went to an event and I got my butt kicked pretty bad,” he said with a laugh. “I just played a lot. And then I got good and then I started traveling around to play ACL events. And then last year I got to run around and play in a minor league cornhole team [the Worcester Woodchucks] that travels around the country and plays.

“So, this year, I just turned 55, so I qualify for the seniors [tournament],” Thielen added. “So I probably will be able to make Senior Pro this year.”

He said he and his wife live “in the middle of the woods” and have to travel at least an hour to play competitively.

“I used to play a lot of sports when I was younger, but I’ve gotten older and I obviously can’t run around like I used to. I used to play a lot of softball, flag football,” he said. “This just fueled my competitive nature, plus it’s somewhat athletic-based. So I really enjoy that part of it and I got to meet a lot of nice people in different clubs. There’s a really tight-knit community in cornhole, so that’s been really nice.”

Karen said she doesn’t care much for winter sports and cornhole offers an opportunity to get out of the house three or four nights a week.

“I really like it for that reason,” she said. “And, plus, it’s something everyone can do — from young kids to older women. You don’t have to really be athletic. The sport accepts everyone.”

One of the league’s youngest players is 17-year-old Ethan Eichorn, who was recruited after organizers saw him dominate at a Franklin County Baggers fundraising tournament at Turners Falls High School, where he is a student. He said he rarely practices but looks forward to playing and getting better every Wednesday.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I love it.”

Cornhole’s origins are a bit murky, but the game first appears in written records in the 1800s. According to USA Today, a Chicago man named Heyliger Adams de Windt patented “Parlor Quoits,” a game in which players earned point by tossing rings at a stake. It included a board and bags for players to throw in a hole. Depending on who you want to believe, cornhole took off on Cincinnati’s west side during the 1960s or 1980s.

Shedd mentioned he first dabbled by playing at the now-closed Hitchcock Brewing Company and he soon attended a tournament in Windsor, Vermont, with his brother.

“We got beat hard, but we had fun up there,” he said, adding that he eventually joined the Orange Cornhole League, which no longer meets regularly.

Sheed is now a representative for the company Black Sheep Baggers, while Knox recently became a brand ambassador for Swag Bags.

Doors open at the Montague Elks at 5:30 p.m., and play begins at 6:30 p.m.

More on Franklin County Baggers is available on the league’s Facebook page.