Danny Mastermaker went undefeated through a field of 64 entrants, on-hand for the main event of the April 13-14 stop on the Action Pool Tour. His brother, Joey Mastermaker, finished in the tie for 17th place in that main event, but chalked up his own undefeated run in the tour stop's Second Chance tournament on Sunday, which drew 10 entrants. Both events, marking the start of the tour's second half (stop # 8 of 14), were hosted by First Break Cafe, in Sterling, VA.
Danny Mastermaker's victory moved him up about eight notches in the Action Pool Tour's rankings, placing him among the tour's top 10 players this season. His finals opponent, Brett Stottlemyer, who'd won 10 on the loss-side to meet him in those finals, remained at the top of the list in first place, with Dominic Noe, Mike Davis, Dan Madden and Ozzy Reynolds right behind him.
Also maintaining his position among the tour's top 10 (at # 6) was Dave Hunt, who almost sent Mastermaker to the loss side in a third round match. Mastermaker was awarded a bye in the opening round and had defeated Willard Whitehair 7-2. Hunt got out to an early lead in their third round match and was on the hill, ahead by four at 6-2. Mastermaker fought back and at 5-6, found himself hooked by the tip of a side pocket, shooting at the 8-ball. He jumped that tip, sunk the 8-ball, then the 9-ball to tie the match. He broke and ran the 13th rack to move among the winners' side final eight, where he defeated Renato Aste 7-2.
Mastermaker squared off against Brandon Shuff in one of the winners' side semifinals, while Jimmy Varias (who'd just downed Mike Davis) faced Jordan Grubb in the other. Mastermaker sent Shuff packing 7-4, as Varias was sending Grubb west 7-5. Mastermaker then defeated Varias 7-4 and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Stottlemyer to complete his 10-match, loss-side streak to meet him in the finals.
Stottlemyer had been sent to the loss side by Dan Madden in the opening round, and went through Chris Ramos, Pauline Mattes, Leroy Davis, Mike McNaughton, Larry Kressel, Rafael Reyes, and Mike Davis, before picking up Shuff. He downed those seven, loss-side opponents by a combined score of 35-5, which included two back-to-back shutouts against Davis and McNaughton. As Stottlemyer faced Shuff, Grubb drew Shaun Wilkie, who'd defeated Chris Bruner 5-3 and Steve Fleming 5-1 to reach him.
Stottlemyer ended Shuff's day 5-3 and was met in the quarterfinals by Wilkie, who'd eliminated Grubb 5-2. Stottlemyer gave up only a single game to Wilkie and defeated Varias 5-3 for a shot against Mastermaker. Mastermaker, though, punctuated his undefeated run with a shutout over Stottlemyer in the finals to claim the event title.
Brother Joey Mastermaker's run through the short field in the Second Chance tournament was a five-match journey that went through Debbie Davis, Kia Sidbury, Chris Bruner and two encounters with Rick Glasscock. They met first in the hot seat, where Joey prevailed 4-2, and again, in the finals, where Joey repeated that score to claim the second chance title.
MAIN EVENT
1st Danny Mastermaker $1,000
2nd Brett Stottlemyer $600
3rd Jimmy Varias $400
4th Shaun Wilkie $300
5th Brandon Shuff $200
Jordan Grubb
7th Mike Davis $100
Steve Fleming
9th Dan Madden $60
Rafael Reyes
Renato Aste
Chris Bruner
SECOND CHANCE
1st Joey Mastermaker $140
2nd Rick Glasscock $60
3rd Ozzy Reynolds $40
