Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson, Arizona was the site of the Diamond Pool Tour’s first “B” player hot-seat winner back in May. The September 10-ball event at Pockets was the site of the tour’s first “B” player forcing an “A” player to a second set in the finals. It was also one rack away from a second “B” player in the hot-seat.
The event, held on September 19th – 20th, drew a field of 45 players with 16 “A” players and 29 “B” players.
The “A” bracket saw Bernie Pettipiece grinding out one close win after another. Pettipiece started out with a 7-4 win over Gus Briseno and the matches just got tighter after that. Pettipiece’s last three matches – Nick De Leon, Bret Huth and Brian Reich – were won by a total margin of four games. Another player who stepped up in the “A” bracket at this event was Tres Kane. Kane had wins over Rudy Alameda and Jerry Stuckart, before dropping a hill-hill match to Reich. Kane would bounce right back with one loss side wins over Alameda, Bret Huth and Reich to earn his spot on the final bracket.
Tournament staff were warned ahead of time that the “B” players in Tucson played very strong. Those were not empty warnings. Tucson’s Ronnie Kidd III and Rick Galloway cruised through the winner’s side with only Kidd allowing one opponent more than four games against either of them. Kidd would take the hot-seat with a 7-2 win over Galloway, but Galloway would also qualify for the final bracket after a 7-2 win over Tonee Allin (Tuley).
The field of players boasted four female competitors, with Bernie Store quickly distancing herself from the others. Store’s 9th place finish earned her the Greenmail.com Top Lady Bonus of $100.
The two brackets came together on Sunday with Ronnie Kidd III taking Pettipiece to hill-hill in a tough match. Kidd stayed with Pettipiece til the end, before Pettipiece won the case game. On the one loss side, Rick Galloway showed that he had no fear of any of the “A” players as he dispatched Kane in 4th place 7-5. Galloway would ride the momentum from that win to a hill-hill win over Kidd in the semi-finals.
The final match was an intriguing one with both players more known for their one pocket games than their rotation games. As the match went on, both players were noticeably tired and opted for safeties instead of run-outs when faced with decisions at the table. Galloway would score a hill-hill win over Pettipiece in the first set of the finals, but Pettipiece would take control late in the second match and score a 7-4 win for his first Diamond Pool Tour win.
The Neil’s Garage Cabinets Second Chance Tournament on Sunday came down to two Tucson players as Mike Hamman defeated Aaron Purdy 3-1 for the hot-seat and 3-1 again in the finals.
Presenting Sponsor, Casino Del Sol Resort, provided vouchers for a two-for-one buffet to all players at the event.
With his fifth place finish, Brian Reich moves within 10 points of Bobby Emmons on the “A” player points list. Joey Barrera remains on top of the “B” players points list, but he can certainly hear the sounds of Nick Kline and Oscar Avila gaining ground on him. Nick Kline is having no such problems on the Junior Points List, as he is far in front of the rest of the competition.
Tour organizers thanked Curtis and his great staff for putting up with us for the weekend. Lenny Marshall put together another great stream and was assisted by “The Voice of the Diamond Pool Tour” George Teyechea on commentary. Rick Schmitz was also in attendance and provided the tour and players with more great pictures.
Due to delays in Skip & Jan’s reopening, the tour has postponed the stop that was scheduled for Skip & Jan’s until November. The Bullshooters stop that was scheduled for November has been moved up to October and will take place on Oct 3rd and 4th. The event will be 9-ball on the 9 foot tables.
In the seven year history of the Desert Classic Tour, a “B Player” has never won an open event. It was thought by a handful of players that a “B Player” could never win an open event. It took Burt Balancad to correct that misconception.
Twenty nine players made their way to Stingers on November 1st and 2nd to play 9-Ball on the 7’ Diamond tables, and Balancad was almost unstoppable.
As is always the case, day one contained more than it’s fair share of upsets and surprising results. Brett Huth went “two and out” with losses to last month’s winner Oscar Avila & Paul Grande. Ben Sutherland was another “two and out” victim on Saturday. Tres Kane looked to be in danger of the same fate after losing in the first round to Robin Clark, but Kane would correct his path and plow through the one loss side to make Sunday play.
The two players who set themselves ahead of the pack on Saturday were Balancad and “The Mailman” Chuck Evans. Balancad had day one wins over Jerry Stuckart, John Ritonya, Jude Espinoza and Pete Lhotka. Evans stayed with Burt – win for win – all day with wins over Jack Ritonya, Junior Jiron, Brian Reich and Oscar Avila.
Sunday dawned with six players still shooting for the win. Things weren’t looking good for Balancad early in the hot-seat match, as Evans led the 8-7 race 5-2. Balancad then took control and won five of the next six games for the 7-6 win.
On the one loss side, Tres Kane eliminated Oscar Avila 8-5 and Reich sent Pete Lhotka to the seats to join Avila in 5th place.
Reich then beat Kane 8-4 for fourth place.
The semi-final match saw Evans take an early 3-0 lead and force Reich to try to mount a comeback win. The match went back and forth with Evans regaining a three rack lead at 7-4. That was when Reich shifted into a different gear and won four straight games for the 8-7 win.
The first set of the double elimination finals saw each player go on a run. Reich started things off with a three game run, taking a 3-0 lead. Balancad quickly tied things at 3-3, only to watch Reich then win five games in a row for the 8-3 victory, forcing a second set.
The second set was Balancad’s turn to come out and take an early lead. He won the first three games for a 3-0 tally. Reich would then win two games, but Balancad would not allow him to catch up. Balancad pushed his lead back to three games at 5-2 and then traded racks with Reich and won the case game for the 7-4 win.
The Desert Classic Tour will hold their season finale on December 6th and 7th at Bullshooters for a $2000 added 10-Ball event on the 9’ tables.
Mitch Ellerman defeated John Smith in a match between arguably the two best barbox 8-ball players in the state to capture first place at the Desert Classic Tour’s June event on the 1st and 2nd at Stingers Sports Bar.
As is always the case, the field in this one was a tough one. The forty player field included eight of the top ten players on tour, with only Scott Frost and Manny Chau missing.
Saturday matches were tough on both sides of the board, and a number of top players would not make it to Sunday play. #2 ranked Nick Deleon dropped matches to Gary Koschnik and Jerry Stuckart on Saturday. #4 ranked Bobby Emmons also failed to reach day two after a “three and out” performance. #10 rated Mike Sandoval had an even worse day with two straight losses in his first two matches.
Only eight players would earn places in Sunday’s matches, with four players undefeated and four players who already had one loss.
Sunday winner’s side matches saw tour points leader Mitch Ellerman scoring an 8-5 win over John Smith and DCT tour director Dennis Orender scoring a 6-2 win over tour newcomer Jason Stanley.
On the one loss side, Tres Kane eliminated Tucson’s Mike Hamman 6-4 and B player Rick Armbrust scored a 5-0 win over Brett Huth. The next round of one loss side play saw Kane fall to B player Jason Stanley 5-5 and John Smith send Armbrust to the seats with a hill-hill 6-4 win. John Smith then eliminated Stanley in 4th place with a dominating 6-0 scoreline.
Back on the winners side, Ellerman was playing Orender in an 8-6 race. Orender took a 1-0 lead and Ellerman had to come with back to back “miracle shots” to avoid a 0-2 scoreline. After Ellerman knotted the score at 1-1, he cruised to an 8-3 win and the hot-seat.
The semi-final match between John Smith and Dennis Orender saw Orender holding early 1-0 and 2-1 leads before Smith took control to win the match 6-3.
The final match was a true contrast in styles as Ellerman has never found a reason to use more than one practice stroke, and Smith brings a very methodical approach to the table and won’t pull the trigger until he knows exactly what he wants every ball to do. On this day, it was Ellerman’s rapid fire game that controlled things. Ellerman won the first three racks and never trailed in the match. Smith got back within two racks twice, but a 5-3 Ellerman lead quickly became an 8-3 Ellerman win.
The Desert Classic Tour will be at Skip & Jan’s on August 17th and 18th for their next event – a barbox 10-ball event.
