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.

 

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.

The Desert Classic Tour returned to Skip & Jan’s Sports Bar in Tempe for the 5th stop on the 2013 schedule with a field of 32 players fighting it out on the 7’ Diamond Tables.

 

With the best players in the Valley in attendance, it was a slight surprise to see two players ranked outside of the top ten facing off for the hot-seat. #11 ranked Paul Grande started Sunday play with an 8-4 win over #3 ranked Rick Armbrust. Meanwhile, Pete Lhotka (ranked outside of the top 20) beat #1 ranked Mitch Ellerman 8-9 on Sunday morning. That left Lhotka and Grande playing for the hot-seat.

 

The hot-seat match would be a close one, with Grande coming out as the 8-7 winner.

 

While the left side of the board looked tough, a handful of the top players on tour didn’t even make it to Sunday play. Dennis Orender (ranked #2), Nick DeLeon (#4) and Bobby Emmons (#7) all suffered “three and out” performances on Saturday and were eliminated out of the money.

 

While Susan Williams didn’t make Sunday play, she scored her usual upsets over top players with wins over Ray Robles and Dennis Orender on Saturday.

 

Sunday play on the one loss side was all about “The Freezer”, Scott Frost. After a first round loss to Mike Sandoval on Saturday, Frost had won four matches on the left side of the board to earn his place in Sunday’s matches.

 

Frost kept things going with a 10-1 win over Tucson’s George Teyechea first thing Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Sandoval scored an 8-6 win over Rick Galloway.

The next round of play saw Frost scoring a 10-5 win over Ellerman and Armbrust eliminating Sandoval 7-5.

 

The match for fourth place saw Rick Armbrust hold a 3-2 lead over Scott Frost before Frost won eight straight games for a 10-3 win. Frost wasn’t done though, as he went on to win the first nine games against Pete Lhotka in the next match for an amazing run of seventeen games in a row. Lhotka would get on the scoreboard at 9-1, but Frost then closed the match out at 10-1.

 

The first set of the double elimination finals saw Frost race out to a 4-0 lead and then basically trade racks with Grande for a 10-6 win.

 

The second set of the finals looked to be going in the same direction for The Freezer as he quickly took a 4-1 lead. That was when Grande took control of the match. He won two games to get back within one rack at 4-3. Frost won another rack and Grande took the next two to tie things at 5-5. Grande then got to the hill at 7-5, leaving Frost needing to win five straight games for the victory. Frost would give it his all and win two in a row before Grande closed out the match with an 8-7 victory.

 

The Desert Classic Tour will be playing 14.1 at Pockets in Tucson on September 21st and 22nd for the next stop.