The Freezer is Tops at Bullshooters
As the Desert Classic Tour came to a close for the regular and bonus tour stops of 2009,
Scott Frost once again sat on top with his 10 – 8 finals victory over tour operator
Dennis Orender. The only remaining tournament to be played is the 2009 Tour Championship which starts on January 8th, NOON, at the Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler, Arizona. The top 8 points leaders from the season will receive paid entry into the $4000+ added tournament along with being seeded in the tournament.
This 2nd bonus tournament was a Bar Table 8-ball event on December 5th-6th, 2009, at Bullshooters in Phoenix, AZ. 29 players came out to this $500 added event and got to enjoy another well run event by the DCT. The race was 8 games on both sides of the board which allowed for some tight matches throughout the entire tournament.
On the top half of the board, many of the early favorites to do well would end up clashing early.
Susan Williams was able to get 5 games in a defeat to Scott Frost which setup a 2nd round match between Scott and
Gus Briseno. The two showed how easy this game can be to players of their caliber. Gus broke dry in the opening rack and Scott ran out that rack and 2 more in a row before Gus saw the table again. Up 3 – 0 Scott also came up dry on the break and watched Gus return the favor of 3 racks of his own. The two traded dry breaks and table runs to get it to 5 – 4 Scott before Gus made the first error of the match by over running position on his last ball and fouling. Scott ran out the remaining balls and the set to take the 8 – 4 victory.
Some other players that were still on the winners side of the bracket after round 2 completed were
Mitch Ellerman, Mike Williams, Scott Frost, Mike Sandoval, Jimmy Mendoza, Mike Hammon,
Bobby Emmons and Dennis Orender. Mitch Ellerman staged a big comeback being down 6 – 1 to knock Scott Frost to the one loss side. Mike Williams overcame Mike Sandoval 8 – 3, Jimmy Mendoza found himself in a battle after being up early to win hill-hill over Mike Hammon of Tucson, and Dennis Orender cooled the fast shooting Bobby Emmons to the other side of the board.
On the one loss side there were many players playing tough match after tough match in hopes to reaching the money stages. Ultimately players were eliminated round after round until the tournament reached the final 6 players that would all return on Sunday in the money. Mike Sandoval lost to Gus Briseno 8 - 3 to share 7th/8th place with
Jerry Stuckart who was eliminated by Scott Frost 8 – 6. 9th-12th place was shared by Mike Hammon,
Al Barlow, Nick Deleon and Al Terpstra. Jerry Stuckart was the winner of the B Player and below sidepot and took home $80, Mike Hammon took 2nd and received $40.
On Sunday, Jimmy Mendoza was unable to play as he became very ill, which resulted in an early gift for Dennis on the winners side of the board. Mitch Ellerman was able to get by a great barbox 8-ball player Mike Williams to setup the hot seat match with Dennis. Mike was eliminated by Gus Briseno in 5th place along with Jimmy for $150 each. Gus’s back was acting up after the victory and he forfeited to Scott to take 4th place. Scott would await the loser of the hot seat match.
Dennis and Mitch squared off for the chance to play in the finals. The two traded racks early with Dennis taking a 4 – 3 lead only to watch Mitch come back and take the lead at 5 – 4. Mitch ran out the next rack to the 8 ball but got lazy and scratched on the 8 to let Dennis back in at 5 – 5. Dennis made a late mistake in the following rack in giving Mitch an easy out followed by a break and run pushing the lead to 7 – 5. Dennis was not done yet as he capitalized on a scratch on the break and then a Mitch mistake to get back to 7 – 6 and breaking. Game 14 had a tough layout but Dennis took the tougher balls and played a great safe in forcing a hill-hill match and was able to follow that up with a break and run of his own for the win. You can view a replay of this match at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2730428.
Waiting for Mitch was Scott Frost and ready to get some redemption after his early loss to Mitch on day 1. Mitch broke and ran the first game, broke dry in game 2 and Scott ran out. Scott broke dry at 1 – 1 and Mitch ran out. After a couple mistakes by each player they were tied again at 3 – 3. Mitch was able to put together a few racks to push the match to 6 – 3 and then reached the hill first after Frost called safe and made his own ball. This is when Scott woke up and won the next 5 games in a row to advance to the finals against Dennis. Mitch took home $290 for his 3rd place finish.
The Desert Classic Tour always implements a single race finals and this tour stop was no different with an extended race to 10 games. Dennis put up a great match and gave him a chance with both players tied at 8 each needing 2 games. He fired at a long 6 ball through traffic but it rattled in the pocket. Scott finished it off to get to the hill first. Dennis had a chance in the final game, made a good shot and watched a ball kick the 8 out of the middle of the table and into the pocket for the match. You can view the last 3 matches at http://desertclassictour.com/videos.html.
AZPoolScene.com would like to send a special Thank You to Bullshooters for adding the $500 to have this additional stop for all the players and to help grow the DCT. The owner and staff of Bullshooters always do a tremendous job of creating the perfect pool environment for the players.
1st place – Scott Frost - $710 w/sides
2nd place – Dennis Orender - $450 w/sides
3rd place – Mitch Ellerman - $290
4th place – Gus Briseno - $200
5th place – Jimmy Mendoza - $150
5th place – Mike Williams - $150
B & Below Side – Jerry Stuckart – 7th place -
$80
B & Below Side – Mike Hammon – 9th place -
$40
