Mike Davis
Earlier in April, Mike fought through a tough field of 61 players to capture the first Virginia State Bar Box 9-Ball Championship put on by the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Pool Tour. Well, he’s done it again!! This time he fought through another very tough field to capture the Virginia State Bar Box 8-Ball Championship. Although an amateur tour, the MAAP Tour puts on three state events on a bar box. They are 8, 9, and10-Ball events. Those three tournaments are open to all players, regardless of skill level.
While only 48 players were able to take part in the event, Mike did not have an easy road to his second title. Young up and coming guns, Nathan Childress and Thomas Haas, along with many other local favorites like Eric Moore, Benjie Piamonte, Rob Leeper, Jimmy Bird, and Jaime Gonzalez. From Richmond, Virginia Larry Kressel and David Hunt. Joining Mike from North Carolina was Lee Abernathy, and Chris Gentile made his way up from Kentucky for the event. There were many other great players that took part trying to claim the state title, but after the dust settled, Mike stood tall going undefeated through the tough field.
Mike’s road to the title was littered with heavy hitters. First match was a 7-3 victory over local favorite Rob Leeper. His second round only got harder when he met a very good young player in Nathan Childress, but Mike would prevail 7-4. Next came a very familiar opponent in Lee Abernathy, and once again Mike dispatched another opponent to the B-side of the bracket 7-4. Chris Gentile was the next opponent to suffer the familiar 7-4 defeat. Finally, Mike was pushed and actually trailed 6-5. Benjie was in the middle of running out the 12th rack when he unfortunately hung the 5-ball in the jaws of the pocket, surrendering the table to Mike. Mike quickly cleared the rack and pocketed the 8-ball to take the match to a thrilling hill-hill finish. Mike broke the balls beautifully and easily ran through the rack claiming the 7-6 victory.
Runner Up Benjie Piamonte
While Mike was busy sending player after player to the B-side of the bracket, the B-side bracket was in full battle mode full of high-quality matches. One such battle came between Nathan Childress and Chris Gentile. Nathan got out to a flying start. In a short race to five, Nathan quickly took a 4-0 lead, only to see Chris fight and claw his way back to claim victory 5-4. One of the best matches that didn’t deserve a loser, but as we all know there has to be someone that falls just short. Chris would go on to play the other young gun Thomas Haas in the fourth-place match. This time Chris would fall a little short and Thomas would claim the 5-4 victory. Thomas would now move forward to play a very in form Benjie for third place, but Benjie had his sights set on going up against Mike again and he took the 5-2 win versus Thomas.
Setting his sights high, Benjie knew he had more than his hands full. Not only did he have to beat Mike in a race to seven, he would have to do it twice in order to claim the title. This match was almost a carbon copy of their hot-seat match. Benjie got out to a 3-1 lead only to see Mike fight back to tie it at four. Mike then took his first lead of the match at 5-4, but Benjie wasn’t ready to give up and tied it up at five. Benjie was the first to reach the hill, but shortly thereafter he was joined on that hill by Mike. With the score tied at six and looking to take the finals into a deciding second set, Benjie was methodically going through his rack. He was on his last ball before the 8-ball and was contemplating which way to get position on the winning ball. He seemed to be between two different options, and when he took the shot, he juiced it a little too much and drew the ball just beyond the position needed in order to pocket the 8-ball. He was forced to kick at the 8-ball, but unfortunately fouled by hitting one of Mike’s balls first. Mike then took ball in hand, and with the table clear of any obstacles, he cleared up to claim the title.
Overall, a very exciting tournament and finish.
Congratulations to Mike on his victory!!
I would personally like to thank Mike Richards, owner of the host location Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, Virginia and all of their staff for their wonderful service.
Thank you to all of the tour sponsors.
Thank you to all of the players that took part in the event. Some of you traveled long distances to get here and I truly hope that the experience was a good one.
A huge thank you to my two counterparts Thomas Krohn and Luke Diehl. As well as our volunteer helpers Robbie Norford and Bert Flores. Thank you for making this another successful tournament.
The Virginia State Bar Box 10-Ball Championship will be held on October 21st&22nd. I’m hoping to see many players come out to try to keep Mike Davis Jr. from completing the sweep of state titles.
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