Match Commentary

Weekly Review
Winter 2011/12 Playoffs
SEMIFINALS
April 24, 2012

(5) Cliff Room 1 [3] vs (9) Don Q's 2 [8]
The semifinal match between the previous week's upset winners started with a little drama. Cliff Room 1 was without their top shooter, George Guerrero, who was sick. League rules state that a playoff sub must have played at least 5 weeks for the team during the regular season, and Cliff Room had no qualified subs. That left the ball in Don Q's court, who then must approve of any substitute. Cliff Room's original choice was Rigo Morales, who subbed three times for Cliff Room during the season. Don Q's decided not to allow Rigo to play, but they did allow Cliff Room's second choice, Chris Smith (from Cliff Room 3). Once that was settled and the teams got down to business it was pretty clear who the better team was on this day. Don Q's 2 won 6 of the last 7 games and cruised to an 8-3 victory. Albert Covarrubias was the man for Don Q's. Albert won all three games, including the match clinching game. Antonio Martinez and Chris Atkins also did well for Don Q's; both going 2-for-2. 9th seeded Don Q's 2 became the lowest seeded team to make it to the League Championship match.

(5) Cliff Room 1 [3] vs (9) Don Q's 2 [8]

The semifinal match between the previous week's upset winners started with a little drama. Cliff Room 1 was without their top shooter, George Guerrero, who was sick. League rules state that a playoff sub must have played at least 5 weeks for the team during the regular season, and Cliff Room had no qualified subs. That left the ball in Don Q's court, who then must approve of any substitute. Cliff Room's original choice was Rigo Morales, who subbed three times for Cliff Room during the season. Don Q's decided not to allow Rigo to play, but they did allow Cliff Room's second choice, Chris Smith (from Cliff Room 3). Once that was settled and the teams got down to business it was pretty clear who the better team was on this day. Don Q's 2 won 6 of the last 7 games and cruised to an 8-3 victory. Albert Covarrubias was the man for Don Q's. Albert won all three games, including the match clinching game. Antonio Martinez and Chris Atkins also did well for Don Q's; both going 2-for-2. 9th seeded Don Q's 2 became the lowest seeded team to make it to the League Championship match.

(2) Don Q's 4 [7] vs (3) Break Time 4 [8]
The rematch of last year's League Championship lived up to its billing, but the result was marred by an unfortunate occurrence at the end of the match. Three-game winner John Rivetti and two-game winner Steve Moreno helped Break Time build a 6-4, but Don Q's came back with three straight wins to go on the hill at 7-6. Rivetti's last win evened the score at 7-7, leaving the outcome to the match between Break Time's Gabino Hernandez and Don Q's captain Jeff Azevedo. Both player had their chances during the game, and both were making nervous mistakes. Azevedo made what appeared to be the last and fatal mistake when he scratched with Hernandez having only two balls left to win. With ball in hand, Gabino inexplicably lined up the cue ball to shoot at one of Azevedo's balls. That's when the well-fought match turned ugly. Something caused Hernandez to stop what he was doing and line up to shoot the correct ball. According to the Don Q's players, that something was Gabino's teammates coaching him. The referee was called over to make a ruling. Gabino claimed that he heard nothing from his teammates, and his teammates claimed that they were not coaching Gabino. Since the referee had some evidence that coaching did occur but could not be certain that it did occur, he decided, in fairness, to have the pivotal game replayed. Break Time captain Martin Hernandez did not agree with the referee's ruling and threatened to walk out of the remainder of the playoffs. But before the scene could get any more ugly, the players on Don Q's 4 decided that they were going to rescind their complaint and allow Gabino to shoot with ball in hand. Thus after a 20 minute delay, Hernandez sank his remaining two balls, and Break Time advanced to the championship match. Don Q's, led by two-game winners Robert Rosa and Steve Myers, settled for the 3rd place consolation match.

(2) Don Q's 4 [7] vs (3) Break Time 4 [8]

The rematch of last year's League Championship lived up to its billing, but the result was marred by an unfortunate occurrence at the end of the match. Three-game winner John Rivetti and two-game winner Steve Moreno helped Break Time build a 6-4, but Don Q's came back with three straight wins to go on the hill at 7-6. Rivetti's last win evened the score at 7-7, leaving the outcome to the match between Break Time's Gabino Hernandez and Don Q's captain Jeff Azevedo. Both player had their chances during the game, and both were making nervous mistakes. Azevedo made what appeared to be the last and fatal mistake when he scratched with Hernandez having only two balls left to win. With ball in hand, Gabino inexplicably lined up the cue ball to shoot at one of Azevedo's balls. That's when the well-fought match turned ugly. Something caused Hernandez to stop what he was doing and line up to shoot the correct ball. According to the Don Q's players, that something was Gabino's teammates coaching him. The referee was called over to make a ruling. Gabino claimed that he heard nothing from his teammates, and his teammates claimed that they were not coaching Gabino. Since the referee had some evidence that coaching did occur but could not be certain that it did occur, he decided, in fairness, to have the pivotal game replayed. Break Time captain Martin Hernandez did not agree with the referee's ruling and threatened to walk out of the remainder of the playoffs. But before the scene could get any more ugly, the players on Don Q's 4 decided that they were going to rescind their complaint and allow Gabino to shoot with ball in hand. Thus after a 20 minute delay, Hernandez sank his remaining two balls, and Break Time advanced to the championship match. Don Q's, led by two-game winners Robert Rosa and Steve Myers, settled for the 3rd place consolation match.

Weekly Review
Winter 2011/12 Playoffs
CONSOLATION
April 24, 2012

(2) Don Q's 4 [8] vs (5) Cliff Room 1 [2]
Just as Don Q's 2 had done earlier, Don Q's 4 also disallowed Rigo Morales from subbing for Cliff Room 1. And just as Don Q's 2 had done earlier, Don Q's 4 thoroughly beat Cliff Room 1. Don Q's 4 came out strong, winning the first five games. Jaime Hernandez and sub Chris Smith (who ironically had two of the five total wins of the night for Cliff Room) won two of the next three games to close the gap a little, but Steve Myers then got his second win to put Don Q's on the hill and Jeff Azevedo finished off Cliff Room with a table run.

(2) Don Q's 4 [8] vs (5) Cliff Room 1 [2]

Just as Don Q's 2 had done earlier, Don Q's 4 also disallowed Rigo Morales from subbing for Cliff Room 1. And just as Don Q's 2 had done earlier, Don Q's 4 thoroughly beat Cliff Room 1. Don Q's 4 came out strong, winning the first five games. Jaime Hernandez and sub Chris Smith (who ironically had two of the five total wins of the night for Cliff Room) won two of the next three games to close the gap a little, but Steve Myers then got his second win to put Don Q's on the hill and Jeff Azevedo finished off Cliff Room with a table run.

Weekly Review
Winter 2011/12 Playoffs
CHAMPIONSHIP
April 24, 2012

(3) Break Time 4 [13] vs (9) Don Q's 2 [7]
Break Time 4 utilized a string of seven straight wins to build a huge lead that Don Q's 2 could not recover from, eventually winning 13-7 and capturing their first league championship. Luis Hernandez was the driving force for Break Time. Luis won his first three games, and his fourth win clinched the match for Break Time. Teammates John Rivetti and Steve Moreno both had three wins. Down 10-2, Don Q's mounted a mini comeback, winning four straight games to close the gap to 10-6. But Moreno and Rivetti then won back-to-back games to put Break Time on the hill, and two games later the match was over. This was third time that a team from Break Time had a team in the championship match but the first time winning the right to hold onto the giant 8-ball trophy.

(3) Break Time 4 [13] vs (9) Don Q's 2 [7]

Break Time 4 utilized a string of seven straight wins to build a huge lead that Don Q's 2 could not recover from, eventually winning 13-7 and capturing their first league championship. Luis Hernandez was the driving force for Break Time. Luis won his first three games, and his fourth win clinched the match for Break Time. Teammates John Rivetti and Steve Moreno both had three wins. Down 10-2, Don Q's mounted a mini comeback, winning four straight games to close the gap to 10-6. But Moreno and Rivetti then won back-to-back games to put Break Time on the hill, and two games later the match was over. This was third time that a team from Break Time had a team in the championship match but the first time winning the right to hold onto the giant 8-ball trophy.