Anthony Meglino chalked up his best earnings year, to date, in 2017, winning stops on the Sunshine State Pro Am, J. Pechauer Southeast 9-Ball and 8andOut Florida Amateur One Pocket Tours. He was among the top 10 finishers in nine other stops on the Sunshine State Pro Am and SE 9-Ball Tour, and cashed in the Derby City Classic’s (DCC) One Pocket and 9-Ball Banks Division. He opened his 2018 campaign at the tables with runner-up finishes in the DCC One Pocket Mini (to go along with a 19th in the One Pocket and 28th in 9-Ball Banks), and the February 10-11 stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am. He chalked up his first (recorded) win of the year on Saturday, February 24, going undefeated through a field of 62 on the AllOut Pool Tour. The event was hosted by Shooter’s Billiards in Port St. Lucie, FL.
After being awarded an opening round bye (one of two; the other went to Andy Breslin), Meglino started out by giving up only a single rack through his first 15 games; that one, to Javier Chirino, before he (Meglino) shut out Danny Christian. Kris Clark gave him a run for his money in a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal, but Meglino prevailed to meet James Sandaler in one winners’ side semifinal. Douglas Tittle, in the meantime, who’d defeated Meglino’s eventual finals opponent, Stephen Richmond in a winners’ side quarterfinal match, faced Kenny Willis in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Meglino went back to the quicker route, giving up only a single rack to Sandaler to get into the hot seat match. He was joined by Tittle, who’d sent Willis west 7-5. Meglino doled out another lone rack to Tittle and claimed the hot seat. Going into the finals, Meglino boasted a 35-10 game record.
On the loss side, Sandaler ran into Richmond, who’d defeated Mark Coats and Gaston Leblanc, both 6-4. Willis drew Tommy Kennedy, who’d been defeated by John Ditoro in the event’s opening round, and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would propel him as far as the quarterfinals. Kennedy had most recently shut out Chris Gentile and given up a single rack to Jason Sheerman, to pick up Willis.
Richmond downed Sandaler 6-3, and in the quarterfinals, met up with Kennedy, who’d eliminated Willis 6-2. Sandaler put an end to TK’s loss-side run 6-4 in the quarterfinals and then, earned his re-match against Meglino with a 6-2 win over Tittle.
Sandaler gave Meglino a run for his money in the finals, chalking up more racks against him than all (but one) of his opponents combined, but it wasn’t enough. Meglino concluded his undefeated run 9-5, having, throughout the course of the event, chalked up (just shy of) three out of every four games he played.
