Sabra MacArthur Beahn, Hammer Heads Representative Gary and Chris Fields
Sabra MacArthur-Beahn has been a part of the Florida-based Bay Area Amateur Tour (BAAT) for just over three years now. In addition to her obvious skills at the table (she finished in seventh place in the final 2010 tour rankings), she has been an invaluable assistant to tour director Stephanie Mitchell, pitching in wherever help has been needed (“I wouldn't want to do it without her,” said Mitchell). On Saturday, January 22, for the first time, MacArthur-Beahn became an event winner, giving up only one match in a true double elimination final to Chris Fields. The $440-added event, which drew 22 competitors to Hammerheads in Holiday, FL was the opening event of the 2011 BAAT season.
MacArthur-Beahn got into the hot seat match against Mitchell, following a 7-1 victory over Marci Whitaker. Mitchell had sent Valerie Dukich west in a double hill battle. In that hot seat match, MacArthur-Beahn used three combinations on the 9-ball to win the 5-3 match.
“I don't know,” MacArthur-Beahn commented to Mitchell at the time. “I can just see them today.”
“And see them she did,” said Mitchell, who moved over to the semifinals, never to return, thanks to Chris Fields.
Fields, in the meantime, who'd been sent west by Whitaker in the second round was on a march to those semifinals. She got by Christine Brenner 7-1 and prevailed in a double hill match over Stacey Lantz to get a second crack at Whitaker. Dukich picked up Kelly Cavanaugh, who'd survived two straight double hill matches, versus Jamie Toennies and Sabrina Bunnell, to reach her. Fields exacted her revenge against Whitaker 7-1 to move into the quarterfinals and was joined by Cavanaugh, who'd prevailed in a double hill match against Dukich.
Fields got into the semifinals against Mitchell with a strong 6-1 victory over Cavanaugh, and then, in a straight-up race to 5, defeated Mitchell 5-3. She moved on to prevail in a double-hill opening set of the true double elimination final against MacArthur-Beahn. MacArthur-Beahn, though, came back to win the second set 5-2 and chalk up her first victory on the BAAT's 2011 season opener.
