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| Players of the Week for April 29, 2014 | |||
| Heroes of the Playoff Quarterfinals | |||
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The following is a summary of the four quarterfinal matches played at Don Q's on Tuesday April 29th.
THE MEGA-UPSET THAT WASN'T TO BE Don Q's 7 defeats Don Q's 1 [8 - 6] --------------------------------------------------------- If you were watching this match on TV, you would have turned it off after the first commercial break. You would have also kicked yourself for missing a thrilling comeback. #1 seed Don Q's 7 jumped all over #8 Don Q's 1, winning the first four games in convincing fashion. Little Al Vafa and Jim Zambelli both had break-and-runs in that opening salvo, and Don Q's 1 appeared shell shocked. Terry Howell finally got Don Q's 1 on the board with a hard-fought win against Jeremy Tessmer. Captain Damian Rebman followed with his second win of the night to put Don Q's 7 back up by four games. After the two teams traded wins and with the score 6-2 in favor of Don Q's 7, the table rolls suddenly switched in Don Q's 1's favor. Zambelli, Tessmer, Rebman, and Vafa all watched as key shots fell short, and their opponents capitalized. As quick as their lead came, it went, and when Brian Shillington dropped the 8-ball against Little Al, the score was tied at 6-6. But while Don Q's 1 was able to hand the two BCAPL masters (Rebman and Vafa) three losses, they were not able to contain Steve Moreno. Moreno won all three of his games, and his game 13 victory over Terry Howell put Don Q's 7 on the hill. In game 14, Gene Manriquez appeared to out-duel Zambelli, but things went awry on his way to the 8-ball. Manriquez had his last stripe sitting in the corner pocket, cue ball a foot away, and the 8-ball sitting cozily nearby for the easy runout. Inexplicably, Gene went rail-first rather than play a stop shot, and by doing so he left himself a very difficult full-table bank shot. The bank shot missed, giving Zambelli a tap-in shot to win the match. Don Q's 7 advances to the semifinals and will face #5 seed Don Q's 2. Don Q's 2 happens to be the only team in the league who has beaten Don Q's 7 this season. BIG MOOSE ALMOST TOPPLED BY LITTLE BADGERS Moose Lodge 2 defeats Don Q's Badgers [8 - 7] --------------------------------------------------------- The Don Q's Badgers proved that their upset win last week against Sportsman 1 was no fluke as they gave reigning league champion Moose Lodge 2 all they could handle. You can't play a match any closer than this; neither team held more than a one-game lead all night. Each of the five Badgers had one win through the first two frames, and they were able to beat 'A' Division champion Rigo Morales twice during that span. Ismael Huerta and Andres Cortez both won their first two games to keep the heavily favored Moose even with the pesky Badgers. In the opening game of the third frame, Moose Lodge's Mundo Burquez and Badger Jeremy Warner played a marathon, safety-filled game. Mundo finally got the upper hand and a shot at the 8-ball, but the cue ball also found the pocket and Jeremy took the game.Captain Alfonso Lazaro evened things up with his game 11 win against Badger Sean O'Brien. In the next game it appeared that Ismael was going to put the Moose on the hill, but an untimely scratch enabled Andy Reagan to get back to the table. Reagan ran off his remaining six balls to give the Badgers a 7-6 lead. In game 14, Badger Tyler Malta let a couple of great chances slip through his fingers, and Rigo capitalized with a win that evened the match. In the hill-hill game, the Moose had Andres Cortez (#7 in 'A' Division) going against Badger Terri Bentzinger (#44 in 'A' Division). Just as Tyler did before her, Terri let a few golden opportunities pass her by, and Andres cashed in her mistakes for the match-ending game win. Moose Lodge 2 survives and will face #6 seed Break Time 3 next week in the semifinals at Break Time. ENTER THE DRAGON SLAYERS Break Time 3 defeats Don Q's Dragons [8 - 2] --------------------------------------------------------- Break Time 3 had their swords drawn entering their quarterfinal match against the Don Q's Dragons, and with four mighty blows, Break Time brought the Dragons to their knees. Break Time's Kez Gillatt, Phil Beach, Jim Steele, and Jaime Hernandez did something that has never before been done in league play; open a match with four consecutive table runs. And after Dragons captain Jeff Azevedo temporarily slowed his teams bleeding with a game 5 win against Break Time captain Debbie Beach, Phil returned to break and run his next game. Things got even worse for the badly wounded Dragons, as Steele and Hernandez (#24 and #26 in league power ranking) took the next two games against Mike Rys and Robert Rosa (#6 and #3 in league power ranking) to put Break Time on the hill. Dragon Matt Carr, who subbed for Dave Clark, won the next game to make the score 7-2, then Gillatt delivered the death blow by beating Azevedo. Break Time 3 moves on to the semifinals and will face #2 seed and reigning league champion Moose Lodge 2. THEY CALL HIM GEORGE THE GIANT KILLER Don Q's 2 defeats Carp 7 Linden Pub 1 [8 - 5] --------------------------------------------------------- George Guerrero had three wins and powered #5 seed Don Q's 2 to a come-from-behind 8-5 victory against #4 seed Carp & Linden Pub 1. Things started off well for Carpinteria as three-game winner Ernie Rivas helped his squad jump out to a 4-2 lead. Chris Atkins finally got things going for Don Q's 2 with a game 7 win against Paul Edmunds. Captain Ken Hilton, still baggy-eyed and jet-lagged from last night's cross-Pacific flight, then tied the score with his win against Paul Nelson. After Guerrero got his second win, J.P. Ramirez extended the Don Q's win streak to four and ended the second frame with a 6-4 lead. Rivas slowed his teams bleeding when he opened the final frame with his third win of the night, but Hilton answered by beating Edmunds to put Don Q's on the hill. Nelson had his chances in game 13, but George wasn't going to be denied. Guerrero's win gave Don Q's 2 the match and a date next week with top-seeded Don Q's 7 in the semifinals at Break Time. | |||
