2011 Maryland State 9-Ball Championship
A strong field of 54 players turned out on December 3 for the 2011 Maryland State 9-Ball Championship. The event was hosted by All-Star Billiards in Frederick Maryland. This was to be the last tournament at this great room since it will be closing by the end of the year. Many thanks to room owners Peggy and Larry Nicholson and staff for their support of the game for so many years.
The tournament kicked off on Saturday at noon and concluded at 1 a.m. Sunday morning. Many players turned in impressive performances but, as the event progressed, it became apparent that three players were the ones to watch. Brandon Shuff, sponsored by Diamond Billiards of Midlothian Virginia, was playing strongly and had progressed through the day undefeated. Recently crowned Maryland State 10-ball champion Kevin West was also on a roll with wins through the later stages of the tournament. One of these was a nail-biter against Corey Fogle late in the day, with Fogle on the hill at 7 to 4 before West came back for the win. West eventually came through to a match against Shuff for the right to claim the hot seat. It was a hard fought battle with Shuff advancing.
In the meantime, Brett Stottlemyer had been quietly making an impressive charge. He notched win after win on the one-loss side after an early defeat against an on-form Joe Cataldi. This eventually set Brett up against Kevin West for the chance to reach the final. This was a tough match that went hill-hill. It came down to the final game where a dry break by Kevin and run out by Brett sealed third place for Kevin and sent Brett to the final.
The final between Brandon Shuff and Brett Stottlemyer was held in double elimination style. The format was a race to 8 games with a second race to 6, if required. Stottlemyer jumped out of the gate quickly to claim the first rack. After further rack wins by both players, Shuff put on a charge that put him on the hill by a margin of 7 games to 2. Brett then slowly began to work his way back with wins at 7 to 3, 7 to 4, and 7 to 5. At that point Brandon found an opening and ran through the rack only to come up awkwardly on the 9 ball. He calmly surveyed the situation and then fired the 9 in with a long rail bank for the win.
Results and photos left to right (1st picture: Brandon Shuff, Larry Nicholson, Brett Stottlemyer; 2nd photo is Brandon Shuff; 3rd picture is Brett Stottlemyer; 4th picture is Kevin West):
Tournament:
1st: $600 – Brandon Shuff
2nd: $350 – Brett Stottlemyer
3rd: $225 – Kevin West
4th: $130 – Phil Kerns
5th and 6th: $100 – Corey Fogle, Matt S.
7th and 8th: $80 – Dave Beegle, Joe Cataldi
9th – 12th: $60 – Andy Haggart, Andrew Manning, Russ O’Baker, Don Perryman
Player Auction:
1st: $300
2nd: $200
3rd: $100
4th: $70
5th and 6th: $50