Chad Pike
The ‘Farewell’ part of this tournament’s name – MAAPT Farewell 10-Ball Tournament – caught our eye. Acting on the assumption that whoever was doing the farewelling was at least as important as who won the $500-added event which drew 72 entrants to Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA, we reached out to Tony Gonzalez, who started the tour in 2020, as well as Diane Steele, who’ll take the reins on January 20-21, when Steele Blue Tournaments holds the 3rd Annual Bill Yates Memorial at the same location.
According to Gonzalez, he and his wife, Amy, are looking forward to doing a bit of travelling, an activity that was curtailed more than either of them would have liked by the monthly demands of the tournaments held under the auspices of the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Pool Tour (MAAPT) he’s run since 2020. It’s not the only thing that Gonzalez himself is looking forward to.
“I get to be a player again,” he said with obvious delight, “and I don’t have to listen to players complaining about ratings and skill levels anymore.”
For her part, Diane Steele is looking forward to being at the helm of a tour for the first time and to be ably assisted by Rob Leeper, who’s worked alongside Gonzalez since the tour began and who’ll be her tour director when the tour gets underway again at the Bill Yates Memorial next month.
“I play a lot,” she said, “and I’m passionate about the sport.”
She went on to explain that part of her rationale for taking over the tour was related to the idea that she didn’t want to see the tour’s (Gonzalez’s) equipment – cameras, computers, streaming equipment – just vanish when he did.
“I wanted to make sure that all that capability would stay in the area,” she said, “so players could continue to compete here without having to drive far to compete somewhere else.”
Tony Gonzalez and Diane Steele
She’ll be bringing some changes to the newly-named tour (she has not completely settled on calling it ‘Steele Blue Tournaments’ just yet), including a determination to run double-bracket tournaments that keep upper- and lower-ranked competitors apart for all but the last matches of a given event. She is also making plans to raise the top Fargo rate allowed in the tour’s events above its current levels.
“I can name half a dozen players who’d be sitting on the sidelines if I kept (the highest rate) at 649,” she said, “so this will have a way of putting some people back on the table.”
She’s sorry to see Gonzalez go. And she’s thankful for what he brought to the ‘tables’ for the players and the sport, as well as herself during his tenure.
“Tony (Gonzalez) has done a wonderful job with this tour,” she added, “and has taught me so much.”
Pike and Spriggs split top prizes
Though Chad Pike came into this event with the highest Fargo rate (658), it was Nick Spriggs (600), who went undefeated to the hot seat. Spriggs, racing to 10 against all but one opponent (Jimmy Bird; 645), got by David Harrell (2), Bird (double hill), Joseph Jones (4), Lucas Courtney (5), and Arkeen Glenn (3) to draw Bruce Reed in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Todd Elkins, in the meantime, racing to 9, downed Michael Bumpass (6), Eduardo Garcia (4), Allan Lingley (1) and Leroy Ives (7) to draw Pike in the other winners’ side semifinal.
With Pike racing to 13 against him (658 vs. 543 Fargo), Elkins got into the hot seat match, double hill 9-12. Spriggs joined him after defeating Reed 9-2. Spriggs claimed the hot seat 10-3 in what proved to be his last match.
On the loss side, Pike picked up Arkeen Glenn, who’d followed his loss to Spriggs with victories over Marlin Foster 7-5 before leapfrogging over Larry Averman, who forfeited his match. Reed drew Leroy Ives, who’d followed his loss to Elkins with wins over Nigel Francis 8-7 (Francis racing to 10) and Scott Guschel 8-7 (Gushcel racing to 9).
Reed held Ives to one rack and advanced to the quarterfinals. Pike joined him after downing Glenn 13-5. Pike took the quarterfinal match 13-4 and then, in the semifinals, defeated Elkins 13-5.
That, as they say, was all she wrote. Pike and Spriggs negotiated their split and the final MAAP Tour stop went into the books.
Gonzalez proffered extended-thanks to a number of people who’d supported the tour during his tenure, including Michael Richards and his entire Peninsula Billiards staff for “always taking great care of us,” as well as all of the sponsors that supported the tour: Timothy C Tillage, Larry Phlegar, Greg Sabins, Michael Welcher, Jennifer Zachau, John Catlett Jr., Walt Jenkins, and Diane Barker-Steele.
“A Huge thank-you as well,” said Gonzalez, “to Thomas Krohn, and Luke Diehl for always being there to set up, tear down and commentate. Also, Kaylyn Anne Richards, Roberta Flores, Dylan Slavick, Rob Baines, Ty Lutz, David Cohan, Mike Ristaino, Jimmy Bird, Jadyn Bird, Robbie Norford, Rob Leeper, Jaime Gonzalez, Cassie Diehl, and Eddie Gayden Jr. for helping out.
And a big thank you to my buddy Joshua Harget for helping me start the tour. “
The first stop on the Steele Blue Tournaments tour, as noted above, will be the 3rd Annual Bill Yates Memorial at Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA, scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 21-22.
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