This partial group of Southern Maryland educators who were “One Ball Short” is all smiles after claiming their $50,000 third-tier prize from the July 19 drawing.
‘One Ball Short’ group pooled cash for ticket, will split third-tier prize
Eleven educators from Southern Maryland joined forces and won $50,000 in the July 19 Powerball drawing. The jackpot-chasing group matched four of the five winning numbers on one of their tickets along with the Powerball for a third-tier prize.
“We missed it by one ball,” said the group’s spokesperson, which inspired the players’ nickname of “One Ball Short” for Lottery publicity.
The anonymous team is made up of eight Southern Maryland residents and three residents of Virginia. The 10 women and one man are ages 39 to 58. Each person contributed $20 for ticket purchases.
The spokesperson explained that their team has bought Powerball and Mega Millions tickets during the past seven years when the games’ jackpots reached milestone highs. When the Powerball jackpot rolled to $1.08 billion on July 19, the group said it was time to start another Lottery pool.
“We get in when it reaches 1 billion,” said the spokesperson.
The “One Ball Short” team members take a different approach to their ticket purchases compared to groups that buy all tickets at one retailer. Members of this group purchased tickets in Maryland and Virginia. The team’s winning $2 quick-pick ticket was sold by Waldorf BP at 2301 Crain Highway in Charles County.
After the July 19 drawing, which resulted in one jackpot-winning ticket being sold in California, one of their tickets matched four of the white balls and the Powerball. “One Ball Short” was truly one ball short of winning a $1.08 billion prize. A text message circulated to each member of the group delivered news of the $50,000 prize.
The spokesperson said the third-tier prize will get split evenly among the 11 winners, which is protocol for this group. The most money “One Ball Short” won in previous drawings was $40.
“We always ask if everyone wants to split it,” she said, “even if it is $4.”
Some of the educators have plans for their share of the prize. One woman said she was going to spend her windfall on “non-adult stuff” while another mentioned buying shoes and yet another person talked of visiting Paris.
“I’m going to spend it on myself,” chimed in one of the winners.
“One Ball Short” hopes they match all of the numbers next time. They already plan to purchase multiple Mega Millions tickets in hopes of winning the estimated annuity of $910 million on Friday night.
