Pagliacci March Madness -- Sweet 16 Day 2

On Saturday the second group of tossers came to Lake City Way to try and earn a berth into the finals. With a cumulative scoring system the competitors knew just how low they had to go. Perhaps jangled by nerves most of the tossers put a hole in their dough – a significant drag on time and quality scoring. Given the scores posted by the first group, most competitors were eliminated before their pie came out of the oven. (A note on scoring: like golf, the object is to go low. A point is added per second used making the pizza and points are added for quality flaws such as cheese distribution, crust appearance and quality of bake.) 102 was the score to beat in order to sneak into the top 4 and West Seattle AM Chris Bunger matched that – meaning that it could well come down to a quality tiebreaker to see who advanced to the finals. With most eliminated there was one tosser with a chance to beat 102. Shift Leader Scott Heikkinen of Crossroads had posted a score of 55 on his first day of competition. With a 34 second pizza he could afford 12 points on quality to move on. In true Crossroads spirit he did one better. His 11 on quality gave Scott an even 100 earning his spot in the Final 4. Moving on are GM Mike Baxley (145th), AM Sam Kosola (Juanita), Core Crew Zach Lindner (Main Street) and Shift Leader Scott Heikkinen (Crossroads). Each kitchen position is represented and Crossroads has a participant in the Final 4 for the third consecutive year – better than any other store. Last year’s champ, GM Paul Williams, feels vindicated for stepping aside for his crew and will be rooting for Scott. Look for the crowd to be behind Zach – the David looking to knock off all the managers and prove that cooks from our new store have skills too. 

145th’s Mike Baxley

Juanita’s Sam Kosola

Crossroads’ Scott Heikkinen

Main Street’s Zach Lindner