The 2005 BCA Pool League National Nine Ball Championship concluded today with the inauguration of three more champions. In the Ten Ball singles event Dave Datillo shot down Danny Medina in a single set after Medina had topped Shannon Daulton in a double-hill thriller to gain his berth in the finals. Medina never got to his top gear as Datillo dominated the table with his methodic and precise play.
The Bank Pool division had seen Shannon Daulton grab the hot seat and Brandon Shuff had to best Mike Pankoff to face 'the Cannon' in the final round. After taking down Pankoff 4-1 in a quick match Shuff called out: "The Cannon'?s getting ready to be shot down!" Daulton only grinned and came out to let his stick do all his talking. Taking a sure 3-0 lead in their race, Daulton showed that he is the master of the cushions, sending balls dead into the heart of the pockets off of any number of rails that he pleased.
Two racks later Daulton had captured the top prize 5-0 and had shown the crowd just who the class of the banks field was this week. In truth, no one had shown anything close to the strength that Daulton, player representative for SouthEast Cues, had brought to bear upon his opponents.
The Men's Nine Ball team event wound up with a showdown between The Corporation from San Antonio, Texas and Hit 'N Run from Bakersfield, California. The Corporation, made up of Captain Manny Guerra, Co-Captain Rick Largue, Destry Ensley and James 'Bastrop' Davis, would have to double-dip Hit 'N Run as they had come undefeated through the field of 64 teams.
Hit 'N Run, comprised of Captain Terry Lilly, David Turner, Frank Shirey, Brian Parks and Sam LaCava, had no intention of allowing any such thing. The match stayed incredibly tight and as they neared the end to their race to thirteen games Hit 'N Run held an 11-10 lead. With no room to relax every player began to slow their pace and do whatever they could manage to avoid giving away any daylight to their foes.
The format of the match was designed to eliminate any luck factor coming into play. When these two teams played to a 12-12 tie the match was sent into a three-game tie breaker. The two captains had to choose their three best players to send out for these crucial games. Hit 'N Run went with David Turner, Frank Shirey and Brian Parks. The Corporation sent Manny Guerra, Rick Largue and James Davis into the fray.
First to face off were Rick Largue vs. David Shirey and Manny Guera vs. Brian Parks. Guerra finished his set early with a two-nine combination. While Largue and Shirey continued their game James Davis and David Turner began theirs. Largue polished off his rack to send us into the second set before Davis and Turner could damage their rack.
With these two teams so evenly matched it was no surprise that our final set would be razor close. Te two teams tied the score first at six games apiece, then at seven games each and again at ten. The title became a tense race to three. The Corporation got to the hill first and needed only to win one game while Hit 'N Run stalled. Then Frank Shirey made the nine on the snap to bring Hit 'N Run within one game at 12-11. Manny Guerra of The Corporation had the opportunity to end the drama. And he did. When he pocketed the final nine The Corporation of San Antonio became our new National Nine Ball Championship team.
