Michell Monk, Jeannie Seaver and Stephanie Mitchell
When the day started – Saturday, August 27 – Jeannie Seaver was atop the Tiger Florida Tour’s leaderboard, having competed in all four of its 2022 events and winning the tour’s previous stop (#4) in July. The four women immediately behind her in the standings were on hand for stop #5, at Diamond Billiards in Cape Coral, FL, as were 20 other entrants. The top five were separated by 110 points (dependent on attendance, usually around 200 points for a win), with two events to go; the one at hand and the season finale on October 15, the tour’s annual “Cues for the Cure” breast cancer awareness fundraiser, to be hosted by The Corner Pocket in Largo, FL.
The Corner Pocket’s owner, Stephanie Mitchell, was in 2nd place in the standings, only 40 points behind Seaver. The Pink Dagger (14-year-old Sofia Mast) was 20 points behind Mitchell and Jeannie Seaver’s sister, Vanessa, was 10 points behind Mast. Jessica Barnes was in fifth place, 40 points behind Vanessa. In the day ahead, almost anything could have happened. All five of the top five were capable of winning the event and whoever did so would have the proverbial ‘leg up’ on the tour championship title, which would go to the competitor at the top of the heap at the conclusion of the “Cues for the Cure” fundraiser, seven weeks away. The Stop #5 winner would also receive a qualifying spot in the WPBA’s Dr. Pool Classic in December.
Jeannie Seaver went undefeated, maintaining her position at the top of the tour standings. All four of the competitors behind her in those standings stayed right where they were; Mitchell, Mast, Vanessa Seaver and Barnes. ‘Almost anything could have happened’ turned into ‘nothing about the tour’s top five happened at all,’ except. . . the 110-point gap between 1st and 5th place in the standings, which went from 110 points to 250.
“It will be hard for anyone to catch her,” noted tour director Mimi McAndrews, “unless Jeannie doesn’t play in our “Cues for the Cure” event in October.”
Stop #5 began with a standard, double-elimination bracket. It was played down until there were two on each side, at which point, they redrew into a single elimination bracket.
Jeannie Seaver played two of the four women below her in the standings to be one of the two that advanced to single elimination from the winners’ side of the double elimination bracket. She opened with a 7-2 win over Jessica Barnes, shut out Say Xiong and then locked up in a double hill fight with the Pink Dagger; Seaver is likely one of only a handful of competitors who don’t underestimate the 14-year-old Sofia Mast at the tables. Seaver prevailed, though, and then defeated Dawn Logan 7-4 to earn her spot among the final four.
Michell Monk, who’d climb from #20 in the standings to #8 with her eventual runner-up finish, got by Denise Gugliotta 7-3 and then faced another junior competitor, 13-year-old Gianna “Banks” Fiore, who is currently 7th in the Junior International Championships’ 13U Girls division. Monk got by her 7-3 and after defeating Danielle Marie Fee 7-4 began a two-match set against Stephanie Mitchell. Monk’s 7-4 win in the first set earned her the second winners’ side slot in the single elimination phase.
Logan and Mitchell moved to the loss side of the initial bracket. Logan drew a re-match against Crystal McCormick, whom she’d sent to the loss side in what was McCormick’s first match. McCormick advanced through four loss-side matches including wins over Debbie Hake 5-2 and Danielle Marie Fee 5-3 for a second chance against Logan. Mitchell, another member of the Don’t Underestimate the Pink Dagger Club, drew Mast, who’d followed her double-hill loss to Jeannie Seaver with loss-side wins over Vanessa Seaver 5-3 and Kira Brown 5-1.
In what were the event’s quarterfinals, McCormick avenged her earlier loss, eliminating Logan 5-1 and drawing Jeannie Seaver in the semifinals. Not surprisingly, the tour’s #2 and #3 competitors, Mitchell and Mast, battled to double hill in the other quarterfinals. Mitchell eventually moving on to face Monk a second time.
Though on the hill, ahead by four (6-2) in the semifinals, Mitchell saw Monk rally back to knot things at double hill and then win it to advance to the finals. Seaver dropped McCormick into the tie for third place 7-2. Seaver completed her undefeated run with a 7-4 victory over Monk in the finals.
Seaver chose not to play the event for its qualifying spot in the December WPBA event, so that spot went to Monk. In addition to the cash prizes for the final six competitors, the tour awarded a $50 prize to the highest-finishing league player (APA 4-5 or equivalent). Brittany May, who’d had the misfortune of drawing Sofia Mast on the winners’ side of the early bracket, won two on the loss side before being eliminated by Danielle Marie Fee and finished in the tie for 9th/12th, took home that cash prize.
Tour representatives thanked all of the players who attended the event and Lisa Carroll for running the side-by-side Open event, which contributed to a “great day at Diamonds.” They also thanked GM Lisa Cobb and her Diamond Billiards’ staff for their hospitality, along with title sponsor Tony Kalamdaryan and Tiger Products for their continued support of the tour and players. Thanks, as well, went out to sponsors Boynton Billiards, Great Lakes Billiards, AZ Billiards, Stitch It To Me, Brutal Game Gear, Eastern Billiards, Andy Cloth and to Janis Sessions and the Florida Coast Ladies Tour for sponsoring the APA Prize.
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