Tigard, Or - The Pechauer Tour of the Northwest held its second stop at Break Time Billiards December 3rd and 4th. With nearly half the field represented by Washington players, top Oregon players Bob Zack, Kenny Dodd, Pat Schumacher, Gary French, Justin Lilje, Al Perez and Mike Stevens had their work cut out for them! Dan Louie, Don Wirtaman, Mark Edwards, John Doherty, Jeff Jimenez, Scott Chandler, LeRoy Dorsey, Frank Rocha, and many other players from the Tacoma/Seattle area converged upon Break Time like a surprise attack from a stealth enemy!
With the help of her 11 year old daughter Madeline, Carissa was able to get the tournament started on time and running smooth. Break Time boasts 20 plus Brunswick tables, 14 of which are 9' tables which is what the tournament matches were held on. In a first round upset, Matt Bryan of Aloha, OR put the serious heat on Justin Lilje of Gresham, Or who just couldn't get warmed up and lost in a hill-hill heartbreaker. Bryan continued on a tear until he ran into Mike Stevens of Oregon City, OR who sent him over to the B-side in a close 9-6 match. Al Perez did his part to defend home turf when he delivered the knockout punch to JD uncharacteristically early in the tournament. With such great equipment, the tournament finished up early Saturday evening with the promise of exciting matches on Sunday!
Sunday's winner-bracket rounds pitted Oregon's Mike Stevens against Washington's Dan Louie; as well as Oregon's Gary French against Washington's Don Wirtaman. French absolutely stormed through Wirtaman who just couldn't seem to get things going his way; while Stevens had his plate plenty full, as many others have with Louie! Early in the match Stevens played extremely tight, and had a couple little things here and there go his way to take a significant lead; but for those familiar with Louie, know that no matter what the score, he cannot be counted out! Louie worked his back into the match despite the fact that Stevens was on the hill for several games, but when Stevens decided he had had enough, he closed out the match 9-7. In the next round, Stevens and French had a close match as well with Mike Stevens taking the point with a victory of 9-7.
Over on the B-side, Bob Zack was definitely on the attack! He had suffered his A-side loss to Dan Louie and seemed to live solely on the possibility of a rematch! Zack tore through Harold Prine 9-1, battled with Al Perez 9-6, beat up on LeRoy Dorsey 9-?, kicked Kenny Dodd's butt 9-3, and alas, earned his rematch against Dan Louie. Zack commented "I figured if I kept him in his chair, it would probably be my best chance at winning! Dan Louie is one hell of a player!" And with that mindset, Zack did just that, although the match was still a close 9-6 nail-biter. Zack then went on to play yet another tough match that he barely snuck out of against Pat Schumacher. With a final score of 9-8, Schumacher talked about his satisfaction throughout the tournament on the whole, despite the fact that he didn't care for losing. He would like to send his assurance to the Oregon players that despite what he may have previously believed about the 9-foot tables, they really aren't as scary as everyone makes them out to be! After Schumacher, Bob Zack had another very tough match. Gary French, formerly of the bay area, didn't waste any time taking a significant lead on Zack. By the time French allowed him to the table he was at a 5 game deficit. Zack chipped away at the difference and mighta snuck in an early nine once, or maybe twice, and in the end he was able to chalk up another exciting hill-hill victory.
In the finals against Mike Stevens, Bob Zack was definitely on cruise control! Stevens had few opportunities at the table, and despite the fact that he capitalized whenever he had the opportunity, Zack was simply too much to manage on that hot of a streak! Stevens won't soon regret picking Zack up for his BCA team next spring. Should be a pretty scary team!
On The Wire Promotions would like to thank Break Time Billiards. Owners Kevin and Shannon Parr worked countless hours, in addition to their 'real' jobs, and being 7 months pregnant, to take care of all the players. Becky made sure things were kept clean and the mochas kept coming hot! We look forward to the possibility of coming back to Break Time Billiards with such incredible equipment and hospitality!
