Molina Ortíz
It’s hard to figure how the Northwest Women’s Pool Association (NWPA) Tour can draw an average of 49 entrants over its last seven stops to sites that are in the vicinity of a geographic, west-east line that ends in Portland, ME. The tour opened its 2024 season last weekend (April 27-28) with a stop at Players Sports Bar in Kennewick, WA (pop., approx. 85,000) which drew 47 entrants. With its millions, the New York City Tri-State area’s regional pool tournaments (and there are quite a few of them) struggle at times to get entrant numbers into the 40s, of any gender, let alone women.
No pool tour competition, perhaps? The only game in town? Or maybe it’s something in the water of the Columbia River that flows along to the east of Kennewick? The tour does stop in Spokane and Seattle (Stops #5 and #6 this year), so there are those larger communities, but in any case, they appear to be doing something right out there.
So is Molina Ortiz, the NWPA’s 2023 Tour Champion; winner of five of its last seven stops, including an undefeated run in Kennewick this past weekend. She and Kathie MacDonald, the NWPA’s 2023 Player of the Year, winner of one 2023 event, and runner-up twice (once to Molina) battled in the hot seat this past weekend. Ortiz was challenged in the finals by Regene Lane, who made three appearances on the tour last year to finish at #13 in Player Standings.
In races to 6, Ortiz wasn’t scored upon in this season opener before the third round. Nobody chalked up more than three racks against her until MacDonald did so in the hot seat match. She got by Rita Chew and Sue Frisbie before Susan Andree broke through with two racks and in their first match, her eventual finals opponent, Regene Lane got three. It put Ortiz into a winners’ side semifinal against Dora Valdez.
In the meantime, from the other end of the bracket, Kathie MacDonald was making her way to the hot seat match. Like Ortiz, nobody managed more than three racks against her until she ran into Ortiz in the winners’ side final. Andrea Turner started MacDonald off with three racks, Joy Pierson and Suzanne Smith got two before Linda Massey scored one, sending MacDonald to the other winners’ side semifinal versus Angela Higgins.
A total of 15 combined games sent Molina and MacDonald to the hot seat match. Molina sent Valdez to the loss side 6-2, as MacDonald was busy sending Higgins over 6-1. The two familiar foes squared off in the battle for the hot seat and fought an almost-double-hill match, won by Ortiz 6-4.
Higgins and Valdez showed up on the loss side and picked up Regene Lane and Melinda Hoffman, respectively. Hoffman had lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Higgins and won two straight, double-hill matches to Nicole Donisi and Linda Massey to face Valdez. Lane, following her loss to Ortiz, shut out both Robin Adams and Stephanie Drakulic (#3 in 2023 Member Standings) to draw Higgins.
Lane got into the quarterfinals 5-1 over Higgins and presumably got to watch the result of the double-hill match waged between Valdez and Hoffman, which went on (according to a digitalpool time stamp) for about another hour. Valdez won it to join Lane in the quarterfinals.
Valdez put up a double-hill fight against Lane, but it was Lane advancing for a shot at MacDonald in the semifinals. Lane took care of business there with a 5-3 win, earning her a second shot against Ortiz.
MacDonald and Lane each won 40% of the games they played in the hot seat match and finals, respectively. Ortiz won the other 60% both times, claiming the event title with a 9-6 win over Lane in the finals.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Players Sports Bar, along with tour sponsor Littman Lights. The next stop on the NWPA, scheduled for the weekend of June 22-23, will be hosted by Golden Fleece in Everett, WA.
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