Maryland State events are quickly becoming the premiere event and the Maryland State 9 Ball Bar Table Championship March 17th – 18th was no exception. With another full field event of 128 players, $1000 added by McDermott cues, first place paying over $5900, and a stacked field with every big name you can possibly imagine, it’s no wonder there’s a buzz about the On the Hill Productions tournament. The home room of these tournaments, Bank Shot Bar and Grill in Laurel, MD, was brimming with green-clad players gunning for the top spot this St. Patrick’s Day weekend, everyone hoping for a bit of luck. Earl Strickland was more than lucky, winning the “pot o’ gold” and claiming his second MD State victory. 

 

Strickland was the star of the show as usual, entertaining fans between matches with endless stories and replayed layouts. He was like a Shakespearean actor with a skull in his hands, retelling dramatic matches with famous opponents, waving and illustrating the drama to captivated listeners. On the table, Earl simply dominated, going undefeated with only one opponent getting to the hill before the finals (Adam Kielar). 

 

Of crowd favorites, Earl was of course the largest, then Jason Kirkwood, a bar table champion whose reputation preceded him. The luck of the Irish was not with Kirkwood though, as he was brought down unexpectedly by Leeroy Taylor (7-6), and only won one more on the B-side before his run was ended by Eddie Abraham (7-6), leaving Kirkwood in the top 32 but out of the money. Leeroy went on to finish 9-12, surely leaving some green with envy as he wasn’t an anticipated challenger.

 

The spectators kept hope with their next favorite in line to win, Shaun Wilkie, a professional player who consistently places in the top of any field he enters. True to this expectation, Wilkie immediately downed Danny Basavich, otherwise known as Kid Delicious (7-4). Wilkie could not get past Strickland (7-4) later in the bracket, however, and went to the B-side Sunday to knock down Reymart Lim (7-5), before falling to Tony Long (7-2), taking 4th in this strong event.

 

By Sunday, only monsters remained. The green shirts had dissipated, leaving more of a quiet intensity to the play rather than festivity. Reymart finished 5th/6th after the mentioned loss to Wilkie, but not before taking down Zippler (7-5), Brett Stottlemeyer (7-3), and Pat McNally (7-5) among others. Kenny Ruttmann (Russian Kenny) went on a tear on the B-side which was ended by Paul Cogle Sunday, and Tom Zippler ended Cogle’s run a few rounds later. An exhausting tournament for those making it to this point, but all were in the money and were hungry for their shot. 

 

Speaking of exhaustion, Tony Long may have had the longest (pun intended) journey to get to his 3rd place finish but on the way he ended more runs than a pulled hamstring. Long lost 2nd round to Joe Chester (7-4) and then won an incredible 9 matches in a row. Among those Long knocked out were Greg Sabins (7-1), Chris Wilburn (7-5), Adam Kielar (7-5), Joe Wright (7-4), and Steve Fleming (7-5), before RJ Carmona put a stop to Long in a hill-hill semifinal. 

 

On the way there, Carmona RJ cleared the top of the A-side brackets, with no opponent getting to the hill until his hotseat match with Strickland. He downed Steve Fleming (7-4), Leeroy Taylor (7-5), Joey Mastermaker (7-1), Paul Oh (7-3), Stosh Sheldon (7-2), and in the first round, Kenny Ruttmann (7-5). His first matchup with Strickland did not go smoothly though. Carmona lost a quick 7-2 in the hotseat match before recovering on the B-side. 

 

The Philippine native travelled from Virginia Beach with the Greg’s Not So Pro Shop crew to put up an impressive hill-hill set in the finals against the Hall of Fame legend, even though the true double-elimination format meant that RJ would’ve also had to win a second set to claim the title. The odds were against Carmona, facing a five-time US Open and two-time world champion, but it didn’t seem to phase him.  

 

The final match got off to a funky start, with RJ scratching on the break, leaving a guaranteed 2-9 combination shot, but ball in hand on a 1-8 combo up table. In an effort to control the 1ball, Earl failed to pocket the 8-ball, and conceded the game. RJ then tacked on another game after a fluke scratch by Earl. Another scratch on the break swung things towards Strickland, who took that game and the next, making 3 balls on his break. Score 2-2, RJ broke dry, leading to a safety game and ultimately a miscue. Earl took that game and the next, taking the lead 4-2. The scratches were a large factor in this matchup at this point.

 

RJ answered next rack with a much-needed break and run, clearing the air of mistakes. He then also took advantage of a dry break by Earl, running that out. 4-4, RJ broke, made the 1-ball and got hooked getting to the 2. After a messy back and forth, RJ stroked a beautiful 7-ball to get to the 9, score 5-4 RJ. Earl then broke and ran to even things up, 5-5, then closed the next one after RJ accidentally hooked himself mid-rack.

 

Earl, now on the hill, tried to play safe off the 2-ball, but scratched. RJ seized the opportunity and ran out. Now hill-hill, RJ broke, made the one, and bumped the 2 into a difficult position against the side of the pocket behind a ball. Knowing he couldn’t afford a mistake, RJ decided to play safe by just rolling the cueball against the 2, executing beautifully. Earl somehow not only made a good hit but made the 2. From there, he ran down to the 8, where RJ threw in the towel (literally), conceding the match. 

 

Earl Strickland now owns two Maryland State titles, with Klenti Kaci and Dennis Orcullo each owning one also. Strickland, a North Carolina native who currently resides in the Philadelphia area, is revered as one of the greatest pool players to have ever played. Congratulations go out to him and RJ Carmona for their thoroughly entertaining play. 

 

On the Hill Productions would like to thank Bank Shot Bar and Grill, McDermott Cues, Simonis Cloth, Navigator Tips, Phillippi Custom Cues, Aramith Pool Balls, CBR TAP Leagues, and all the players and spectators that made this event successful. A special acknowledgement to Lights Out Billiards Apparel in addition to sponsoring, but also for donating 10% of their proceeds from this event to a fundraiser run by Greg’s Not So Pro Shop, benefitting a young child in the Philippines that needs a heart operation. 

 

To watch the streamed matches from this event and more, find Ground Zero Scott (Adict2speed) on Youtube. Also follow On the Hill on Facebook, keeping your eye out for the next event at Champions Billiards Sports Bar in Frederick, the first big table event for the crew. These events fill up fast, so jump at any chance if you can! 

 

With a couple of significant 'cats' away, a few fairly formidable 'mice' came out to play at the Action Pool Tour's fourth stop of the year. One of the 'cats' who stayed behind for the April 9-10 stop was Brian Deska, who came back from a hot seat defeat to challenge Jimmy Varias and win his second straight Action Pool Tour stop. The event, missing regular APT 'cats' Brandon Shuff and Shaun Wilkie, who were competing in the Don Coates Memorial in Raleigh, NC, drew 41 entrants to First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.

 

Sporting remarkably similar won/loss records, featuring only three kinds of scores (8-5, 8-2 and each recording a shutout), Deska (32-9) and Varias (32-12) advanced to a winners' side semifinal against an opponent named Paul; Deska versus Paul Helms and Varias against Paul Cogle. Deska chalked up his second 8-5 score, defeating Helms, while Varias won his first 8-3 match, sending Cogle to the loss side. Varias won his second 8-3 match, defeating Deska to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Helms picked up Alan Duty, who was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He won his third and fourth loss-side matches against Derek Crothers 7-2 and Chris Hansen 7-3. Cogle drew Will Moon, who'd been sent to the loss side by Deska in a winners' side quarterfinal and was on his own, somewhat shorter loss-side streak that would advance him to the semifinals. Moon had defeated Trevor Dentz 7-1 and Paul Oh 7-4 to draw Cogle.

 

Duty downed Helms 7-4 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Moon, who'd eliminated Cogle 7-5. Moon ended Duty's loss-side run with a 7-5 victory in those quarterfinals, to earn himself a re-match against Deska. Deska, though, obviously determined, defeated Moon a second time, but not before Moon had forced a final, deciding 15th game. 

 

Deska's second shot at Varias came within a game of coming to double hill. In the end, though, Deska pulled out in front to win it 10-8 and claim his second straight APT title of the year. The victory movEd Deska up on the tour's ranking list, from outside of the top 10 to within three of the leader, the absent-for-this-stop Shuff and the VA State 10-Ball Champion, Eric Moore.

Adam Kielar rode a match-by-match roller coaster through seven opponents during the 2nd Annual VA State 10-Ball Championships held on the weekend of January 11-12, and ended the ride with the event title. In a concurrently-run women's event, Tracie Majors faced five opponents and like Kielar finished undefeated to claim the event title. The dual events, held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour and hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA, drew 80 entrants; 64 to the Open, and 16 to the women's tournament.

 

Kielar started his trip to the state championship winners' circle with a shutout over Alex Travino, and then as the winners' bracket narrowed, started to face increased competition. Paul Cogle chalked up three racks against him, Alan Duty got within two at 8-6 and in a winners' side final eight battle, Kenny Miller forced him into a double hill deciding game. He survived to face Shaun Wilkie, as Brian Deska squared off against Greg Taylor in the other winners' side semifinal. 

 

Fresh off his double hill struggle, Kielar gave up only a single rack to Wilkie and in the hot seat match, met Deska, who'd just survived his own double hill troubles against Taylor. Kielar gave up only three in the match against Deska, which left him in the hot seat, awaiting what turned out to be the return of Wilkie.

 

Wilkie had moved over to meet Reymart Lim, who'd defeated Eric Moore, double hill, and Chris Bruner 6-4. Taylor drew Kenny Miller, who, after his defeat at the hands of Kielar went on to drop Cody Phillips 6-2 and defeat Danny Mastermaker, double hill. Wilkie got by Lim 6-2, as Miller was busy chalking up his second straight double hill win; this time, against Taylor.

 

Wilkie gave up only two racks against Miller in the quarterfinals, and gave up only one to Brian Deska in the semifinals. Kielar, though, was not to be denied. He took the final match 10-4 to claim the VA State 10-Ball Championship title.

 

On the women's side, Tracie Majors charted a similar up and down course to the finals. She gave up two racks in an opening round match against Michele Jones, four against Jacki Duggan, and then had to fight a double hill deciding match against Tina Scott in a winners' side semifinal. In the hot seat match, Majors met Sheri Bruner, who'd sent Shanna Lewis to the loss side 8-2. She defeated Bruner 8-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the only opponent who'd given her a double hill hard time, Tina Scott.

 

Scott had moved over to pick up Gwen Townsend, who'd gotten by Sarah Thomas 6-2 and Daisy Blancafor 6-4. Meanwhile, Shanna Lewis drew Cheryl Pritchard, who'd defeated Pauline Mattes and Jacki Duggan, both 6-4. Scott and Prtichard both survived double hill matches against Townsend and Pritchard to face each other in the quarterfinals, where Scott advanced 6-2 to meet Bruner in the semifinals.

 

Scott prevailed over Bruner in another double hill match to earn a re-match against Majors in the finals. Majors completed her undefeated run with a 10-5 win over Scott to claim the VA State Women's 10-Ball Championship.

 

These VA State 10-Ball Championships were the first event of the 2014 Action Pool Tour season, but the last official event to be overseen by Tour Director Ozzy Reynolds, who will move to Las Vegas in February to accept a position as a manager of Cue Sports International. He will continue to maintain administrative oversight of the Action Pool Tour, as Stephen Quan, long-time assistant, will handle tournament responsibilities going forward.

 

"I have 100% confidence that (Steve) will do a fantastic job," said Reynolds, "mainly because he's been doing everything anyway. We'd get it all set up and I'd go out and play, while he did everything else."

 

Reynolds is still a little stunned by this turn of events in his life.

 

"I'm excited for the opportunity," he said. "I never in a million years ever saw (a position like this with CSI) as an option, so I'm still pinching myself a little."

 

"I didn't realize that the tour would have the success that it's had, and would catapult my name into a position to even have this opportunity," he added. "The most rewarding part of the experience for me has been the wonderful people that I've met and interacted with over these past few years. It's one of the reasons that I wasn't upset about being eliminated early in this tournament (tied for 33rd), because it afforded me the opportunity to spend some quality time with the people I've been associated with. I anticipate maintaining relationships with many of these people."