Congratulations, Gary Rowell, winner of 8-Ball Open Championship

Joe Giammarino and Dominic Borland

On January 24, 2015 an 8-Ball Tournament was held at the SaddleBrooke Ranch and run by tournament directors Dominic “The Doctor” Borland and Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino. We had 18 participants. Wow! SaddleBrooke residents and guests were Dominic “The Doctor” Borland, Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino, Jim “Aviator” Wydick, Tom “Half Jacket” Barrett, Richard “Villa Park” Werkmeister, Al “Big Al” Petito, Gary Rowell, Don “Deadeye” Cox, Don “California Kid” Fowler, John Nola and Fred Dianda; from the Ranch the participants were Richard “Loose Rack” Galant, Harley Schlachter, Frank Sciannella, Jim Kauffman, Peter Bratz, Tom “Teck” Sorensen and Cliff “Lucky Shirt” Terry.

A big thank you goes out to all the participants of the first SaddleBrooke Ranch 8-Ball Open Tournament. Dominic and I really enjoyed the company and above all the competition. Thank you to the SaddleBrooke Ranch, SaddleBrooke Ranch Golf, SaddleBrooke, and SaddleBrooke Senior Softball Association for your support. Additionally, Dominic and I would like to thank Tim Fudge and Andrea Marchus for their encouragement and allowing us the use of their facility; it’s a comfortable and beautiful place to hold an 8-Ball tournament. Let us not forget the gracious ladies from the Bistro Viente Restaurant for their fine service. One more thanks to The SaddleBrooke Progress, SaddleBag Notes and The SaddleBrooke Ranch Roundup publications for printing our tournament announcement flier and the tournament results.

The day started with a players meeting held at 12:45 p.m. to explain the tournament format and rules. The tourney was a double elimination format, which means you have to lose two matches before you are out of the tourney. We also held a raffle in which three billiard gloves, provided by the tournament directors, were given away to the participants. Play commenced on two tables at 1:00 p.m.

Final results: 1st Gary Rowell (SB); 2nd Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino (SB); 3rd Dominic “The Doctor” Borland (SB); 4th Peter Bratz (Ranch).

Tournament Recap:

Peter Bratz’s road to fourth place started by beating fellow Ranch player Frank Sciannella and then facing Dominic “The Doctor” Borland who sent Peter into the loser’s bracket. Peter proceeded to give walking papers to John Nola, Tom ”Half Jacket” Barrett, Richard “Loose Rack” Galant another Ranch player before losing to Dominic “The Doctor” Borland for a fourth place finish. Congrats, Peter, on a nice tourney.

Dominic “The Doctor” Borland’s path to third place began by beating Tom Sorensen (thanks, Carol, for entering Tom), Peter Bratz, and then losing to Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino, which sent The Doctor into the losers bracket where he met and defeated Richard “Villa Park” Werkmeister and then Peter Bratz again before losing to Gary Rowell for a third place finish. Congratulations, Dominic, on a fine showing.

Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino’s second place finish was accomplished by outlasting Richard “Villa Park” Werkmeister, then Jim “Aviator” Wydick, who broke dry and never got back to the table as Joe ran out for the win. This set up a match between Joe and Dominic “The Doctor” Borland. The Doctor had been woofing at Joe for a few weeks before the tourney, so Joe was ready for The Doctor. The Doctor called tails on the coin flip, bingo its heads, Joe breaks, The Doctor racked the balls and sat down and never got out of his chair. Joe broke and ran the table, all that woofing for naught! Gary Rowell was next up for Joe, and Gary was sent to the loser’s bracket, which put Joe on the hill (hill: undefeated waiting for the winner of the loser’s bracket) and somebody would have to beat Joe twice to win the tournament. Gary Rowell did beat Joe twice to send Joe packing with a second place finish. Kudos to Joe, but nobody remembers second place.

Gary Rowell’s first place finish was very much deserved as Gary was the most consistent player all day. He got off to a quick start with wins over Tom “Half Jacket” Barrett, Cliff “Lucky Shirt” Terry, Richard “Loose Rack” Galant before Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino sent Gary to the loser’s bracket. Gary and Dominic faced off in the loser’s bracket final where the winner would go to the finals. Gary outlasted Dominic and headed to the finals to meet Joe. Gary had to beat Joe twice to win the tournament, and Gary was up to the challenge and a well-deserved first place finish. A big high five to you, Gary, our SaddleBrooke Ranch 8-Ball Open Champion.

A fun day was over after three and a half hours and 35 games of 8-Ball. Eighteen pool players had competed, won some, lost some, and met new friends that shared their passion. That is a good day!

We are always looking forward and planning for another event; watch for details in our community’s publications and your emails. If you know of any pool players in your community who would enjoy competing in these events, please tell them to send their email to Joe Giammarino [email protected] or Dominic Borland [email protected] and we will add them to our list.

Rack ‘em up!