On October 5, the Desert Classic Tour rolled into Stingers Sports Bar for a bar table 10 ball event.  24 players arrived on Saturday morning to play in the final B/C event of the year.  Many notable regulars were on hand including previous BC winners Rick Armbrust, Mike Hamman, and Jude Espinosa.  The tour also welcomed some new players in Ken Cottrell, Joe Avila, Jimmy Brewer and Nick Cipiti.

 

As the tourney quickly moved through on Saturday, it was decided that a one-day

event was possible.  Many of the players agreed with finishing it out late Saturday evening.  As the sun set and evening approached, two players began to separate themselves from the rest of the field.  Nick Cipiti was mowing down players in the top half of the bracket by scoring wins over Joe Avila, Reid McKinley, and Paul Feltman.  After a bye in the first round, these victories would place Nick in the hot seat match on Saturday night.

 

While Nick was clipping off players in the top of the bracket, a well known Flagstaff player, Junior Jiron, was finishing off the bottom half of the bracket. He too, would receive a bye in the first round and proceed to rattle off wins over Adam Kroll, Chris Miller and Rick Armbrust. His wins would pit him against Nick in the hot seat match.

 

Meanwhile, over on the B side of the bracket, previous winner Mike Hamman was making quick work of his opponents.  After losing his first match of the tourney to 

Rick Armbrust, he would roll through Jerry Hartnett, Jude Espinosa, Joe Masi and Sara Miller.  This would setup a rematch with Rick Armbrust.  Unfortunately for Mike, Rick played as solid as he has all year on the tour and walked away with the victory.  Mike would settle for a 5/6 finish.  

 

As the B side progressed, Nick made quick work of Junior in the hot seat match.  Nick would cruise to an easy 7-3 victory and await the winner of Rick and Junior.  As easily as he lost the hot seat match , Junior would rebound and score a dominant 7-2 victory over Rick, leaving him with a 3rd place finish. 

 

During the finals, both players would make some uncharacteristic mistakes.  At 4-4 in the straight race to 7, it was obvious we were in for a close finish.  Nick would take the lead at 5-4, only to see Junior win the next two games and reach the hill at 6-5.  Nick would quickly tie the match at 6-6.  After a scratch on the break in the case game, Junior was faced with a tough out, despite having ball in hand.  After 12 games, the players were tied at 6 games a piece.  Junior would attempt a 1-10 bank combo only to come up a little short.  Faced with a tough out of his own, Nick studied the table and attempted a 1-10 cross side combo bank of his own. Nick would nail the shot to take home the win!  

 

Thank you to Dale and the staff at Stingers for hosting another successful tourney.  The DCT would like to thank the 2013 sponsors (On Q Cases, Black Heart Billiard Tips, AzBilliards.com, Billiard and Dart News, Rixx Images, AzPoolscene.com, Jeff Pranke Leather Wraps), and room owners (Pockets, Bullshooters, Kolbys, Skip and Jan’s, Stingers, River City) who continue to support the DCT.  The next tour stop is November 2-3, at Bullshooters.  This will be the final regular season event before the finale in December.  Please visit DesertClassicTour.com for details.

 

The Desert Classic Tour arrived at Pockets Pool and Pub on September 21st for the 6th stop of the 2013 season.  This was a $1000 added event and would serve as the 2013 Az. State 14.1 Championship.  29 players would arrive on Saturday in hopes of taking the crown.  The tourney saw some of the regular heavy hitters from Phoenix, such as Mitch Ellerman, Bobby Emmons, Nick DeLeon, Mike and Susan Williams, Bret Huth, Tres Kane, Dennis Orender and Brian Reich.  Tucson also brought its fair share of top players in George Teyechea, Rick Galloway, Tom Neil, and Mike Hamman.  2011 Az. State 14.1 Champion Pete Lhotka was also on hand to defend his  2011 title.

 

As the tourney got started, it was evident Mitch Ellerman was the man to beat.  He started his first match with a run of 61 against Dennis Orender to win 100-14.  Curious to see how far he could get, he continued his run to 101.  Two more wins on Saturday against Larry Channenson and George Teyechea would provide Mitch a final 4 winner’s side match on Sunday.  His opponent would be Brian Reich.  Brian rattled off 3 straight wins against Mike Hamman, John Rehm and Rick Armbrust to reach his shot at Mitch on Sunday.  

 

At the bottom of the bracket, Bobby Emmons would upend 2011 runner up, Bernie Pettipiece, while Nick DeLeon sent 2011 champion, Pete Lhotka, to the one loss side.  This would set up a showdown with the sharpshooting Emmons against the conservative DeLeon on Sunday.  By close on Saturday, only 8 players remained.

 

The tourney got off to an early start on Sunday and once again, Mitch was hot out of the gate. He dispatched Brian Reich 100-0, while Nick DeLeon grinded out a 100-73 victory over Bobby Emmons.  Mitch would cruise into the hot seat with a 100-14 win over Nick.

 

While Mitch was making quick work of his opponents on the winner’s side, a rematch of the 2011 finals was on course between Bernie and Pete.  Pete had defeated Bernie in the finals of the 2011 Az. State 14.1 Championship and Bernie now had his chance to avenge the loss.  He would come away with a 75-41 victory and continue his run of wins against Brian Reich (75-25), Bobby Emmons (75-61), and Nick Deleon (75-65).  His meticulous and patient play led him to the finals, where he is quite familiar in straight pool championship matches.  

 

The finals would be one race to 125.  Many spectators believed Mitch’s hot hand would lead to a quick finals; however, Bernie had other plans.  As Bernie picked at balls and continued his conservative style of play, he was able to keep Mitch in his chair for most of the match.  A couple of errors on Mitch’s part put Bernie in the driver’s seat, where he ran several racks to finish the match at 125-71 and claim his 3rd Az. State 14.1 title. 

 

Thank you to Lenny and the staff at Pockets for hosting another successful state championship!  The DCT would like to thank the 2013 sponsors (On Q Cases, Black Heart Billiard Tips, AzBilliards.com, Billiard and Dart News, Rixx Images, AzPoolscene.com, Jeff Pranke Leather Wraps), and room owners (Pockets, Bullshooters, Kolbys, Skip and Jan’s, Stingers, River City) who continue to support the DCT.  The next tour stop is October 5-6.  Please visit DesertClassicTour.com for details.