Western BCA’s10th Annual Regional 8-Ball Tournament was more of a celebration than just the run of the mill regional tournament. Players from around the region attended the best event in the Northwest, a gala event filled with new ideas, exciting improvements and $51,825 in total payouts. Western BCA president Mark Avlon, vice president Sam Rabito, along with Vanessa Schwab, Sassy Campbell, Carol Mellors, Joyce Gumm, Kurt Hamm, Darcy Williams-Moss, Tom Moss, and other league operators and player representatives spearheaded the landmark event. The group put in a lot of behind-the-scenes energy and dedication. Of course, the referees (Darryl Farley, Rick Doner, Cecil Picket and Mark Avlon) and, oh yeah, Andrew Monstis, did an outstanding job as well!
Chinook Winds Casino Resort was elated to see our 780 competitors and greeted us with enthusiasm and support. Chinook Winds provided space at the hotel (previously the Shilo Inn) for 12 practice pool tables. The smoker’s lounge was equipped with two pool tables and a 60-inch television. Gary Benson, High Country Promotions, provided 80 Valley tables. Sixty-six of these were used for the main events, which Gary and his staff kept running smoothly. Even when some of the matches ran long, Gary and his staff were able to keep the events on time.
The first of the main events was the Master and Open mixed scotch doubles. The fields were made up of dedicated players who were ready for rigorous competition. Mike Stevens and Cindy Doty took top honors for winning the Masters division. They beat many other great pairs, like league rivals Dave Schelske and Wanda Plummer who took second. Both teams were from the Northwest Players League. The Open division winners were Michael Stephens and Kim Jones from Sno-King BCA Pool League. They had to work their way through a field of 79 entries to take first place.
“The Shoe is back!” Remember the famous line from The Color of Money? It surely applies here. Pat Schumacher of Portland won the men’s Master singles after being absent from the winner’s circle for a few years. He played like the Schumacher that dominated for a long time. It was great to see him in action on the table. He beat several great players: Bill Rosenberry and Rich Geiler, an old rivalry from back in the day, to name a couple. The finals match pitted Pat against Steve Lingelbach. Steve played smart and won the first set, but “The Shoe” pulled away for the championship. The women’s Master singles champion was Phyllis Fernandez. Phyllis is from Spokane and has been doing her share of winning lately. She has demonstrated that she deserves to be among the current women champions and is one of the truly gracious players in our sport. She beat several great women players and was in the finals with Kimberly Kirk. Phyllis prevailed over Kimberly to get into to the winner’s circle. The Masters division featured many nationally recognized players and previous national champions. We are fortunate to have these players in our association.
The winner of the men’s Open–A singles was Harold Prine from the Inland Northwest BCA League. He defeated Mike Dubendorf to take top honors. In the men’s Open–B singles, Robert Niemeyer of Vancouver, Wash., defeated Jamie Boothman of Shoreline, Wash., to take first place. In the Women’s Open, Kim Jones from the Sno-King BCA Pool League took first place by defeating Chelsey Davis from the Northwest Players League. Congratulation to all those who made the grade to become a Master player.
The men’s Senior singles winner was Chuck Jung from the Sno-King BCA Pool League. Bonnie Mahaffey from Emerald Valley BCA took first place in women’s Senior singles. Both are honored for their longevity in playing pool. In Novice singles, Dennis Raun from Cascade Pool League won the men’s division and Kathi Giles from Western Washington BCA Pool League won the women’s.
The pinnacle of the tournament is the team events and the competition was fierce. The women’s Master team champion was City Lights Champs with Cramps from the Western Washington BCA Pool League. The team featured Linda Carter, Michelle Barkdoll, Andrea Saenz-Maes, Wendy Sedlacek and Sandra Schaefer. Do I Need A Potato? from the Sno-King BCA Pool League took second place and featured Margie Avlon, Sherry Griffin, Kimberly Kirk and Shelby Locati. In the men’s Master team event, DaVinci Code from Cascade Pool League went undefeated to take first place. Players on the team were Bill Rosenberry, Pat Schumacher, Bryan Skinner, Mike Patterson and Andrew Monstis. They decoded, mystified and dispatched all the teams they faced. KC Midway’s team with Mike Stevens, Ivan Doty, Mike Jensen, Tony Balzer and Steve Lingelbachtook second place. Hannah’s team, Robert Colby, Ed Haney, Bob Harris, Terry Ludwig and Sam Whitfield, from Thurston County BCA league took third. All teams in the division were competitive including fourth place finishers Mis-Spent Youth from the Emerald Valley league. This team has been together for a long time and they gave DaVinci Code one of their toughest matches. A high level of play is what the Masters division is all about and every Master’s team demonstrated their excellent skills: run-out after run-out, strategy after great shots. City Lights Champs with Cramps and DaVinci Code have become the guardians of the holy grail, the 2005 regional 8-ball Master team champions.
The high level of play was not limited to the Master’s divisions. Lights Outs with Chad Bisconner, Mike Dubendorf, Steve Myers, Todd Speakman and David Thompson could have played with the lights off. The Smooth Strokes’ Rick Brunner, Larry Davis, Brad Hornshaw, Jeff May and Randy Measor from Everett played with fire in their gut to prevail after a first set loss. These two teams will in the future be playing each other again. In the women’s Open teams, The Sno-King BCA Pool League team Noel’s Slick Stix with Elaine Eberly, Joyce Howard, Francie Johnson, Kim Jones, Nancy Measor and Rachael Williams took first place in a hill-to-hill match against Just Jakes with Melissa Fine, Nicole Fox, Eva Hill, Shirley Morgan and Kay Rubens from Northwest Players League.
There were second chance tournaments for singles and teams this year. These events were for those who didn’t get into the money in Open singles. The second chance singles tournament had 91 entries: 11 courageous women and 80 brave men. Eileen Stephens from Emerald Valley BCA in Eugene took first place in the women’s second chance tournament. Lynda Fanning of Cascade Pool League in Portland took second. Lloyd Aalvik of Cascade Pool League won $475 for first place and Randy Paszkeicz from the Sno-King BCA Pool League in Lynnwood took second with $355. Scott Hendrickson and Sid Krumpie shared third and fourth place with $225 each. One hundred dollars were added to the women’s second chance tournament and $500 added to the men’s. The team Deadly Strokes with Jeff Jimenez, Lance Bauge, Mike Stephens, Scott Hendrickson and Ed Locati won $600 for first place in the men’s second chance team event. Congratulations to all the winners.
There were mini-tournaments galore from Tuesday through Friday. Jason Defilippis seemed to be at the sign-up window every other mini and was coined the “mini king”. For complete lists of money winners in each division, check out the complete tournament results and payout schedules.
When people weren’t playing pool, they were engaged in trivia questions with a chance to win more than a hundred prizes valued over $5,000. The premier prize was a custom cue by Dave Jones valued at $675 made specifically for this event. Dave has been making handsome and great playing cues for seven years, and has been a strong supporter of his local league and Western BCA. The cue was given away on the last day of the event and everyone present had a chance to win. Mike Rankin from the Emerald Valley BCA League was the lucky player to win the cue. Several other premium prizes were given away: a two night stay at Hudson Manor Inn, a whitewater raft trip for two in the Olympic National Park, a one-night stay at the Ocean Park Resort, dinners to Bella Italian restaurant in Longview, Wash., and more. The Northwest Women’s Pool Association gave the first place winners in both the women’s Masters and Open singles events a paid entry to the NWPA tour stop of their choice. Thanks to BCA Pool League and Mark Griffin, our national organization, for giving two paid entries to the 2005 BCA Pool League national 8-ball championships in Las Vegas; these were awarded to the first place finishers in the Master’s singles events. On The Wire, AAA Pool Tables and Games, Beads and Billiards, who were also our vendors at the event, donated many prizes. Other contributors were Pub 181, Gresham, Ore.; Cadillac Ranch Casino, Longview, Wash.; Chinook Winds Casino Resort; PCC Products, Portland, Ore.; Dan Rolhfing, Gresham, Ore.; Dave Jones, Brier, Wash.; Rick Plummer, Oregon City, Ore.; Andrea Thomas, Portland, Ore.; Paul Chang, Portland, Ore.; Northwest Players League; Cascade Pool League; Juan de Fuca League; and Deschutes Brewery. Thanks to them and the many others who donated items.
Carissa Biggs of On The Wire produced the high-quality, full color tournament program. Vanessa Schwab created the designs used on the souvenirs, plaques and program cover. Thanks to all the Western BCA league operators who make these events possible: Bonnie Russell, Darcy Williams-Moss, Tom Butler, Cindy Doty, Sassy Campbell and Andrew Monstis, Melvin White, Mark Avlon, Don and Jenny Sheldon, Terry Ludwig, Bill “The Cap” Henderson, Doug Schulze, Clay Skidmore, and Tony Balzer. Western BCA would like to give a special thank you to Debra Estes for her time and efforts running the Mid-Valley BCA League in Albany, Ore. Debra is going to pass the torch to Bob Cook of Salem, Ore. League operators endure a tireless and sometimes thankless position and Debra will be missed.
The tenth annual regional tournament was truly exciting. Many players attending the event for the first time seemed wowed at how large the event was. Some of their comments were: “All those tables and all those players…This is truly a major happening…Better than any other tournament I’ve attended…You should have more than one of these tournaments a year.” Next on the Western BCA calendar is the regional 9-ball tournament scheduled for Nov. 2–6, 2005. See you then!