Phoenix, AZ, WPH Press, 3/2/24
Don Stewart played host to the 2024 AZ Shootout at Chaparral Park in Phoenix, featuring 3-Wall Small Ball doubles on the first Saturday in March.
WPH Outdoor and Race 4 Eight pros Shorty Ruiz and Albert Pizano teamed up to win the pro doubles, defeating Race 4 Eight #5 Leo Canales and Phoenix’s David Munoz in a tiebreaker in the semifinals and swept Missouri State teammates Sam Esser and Matt Vollink in the final.
“Albert played really good,” stated Ruiz about his partner, who impressed in his first 3-Wall small ball start in December by pushing R48 #1 Lucho Cordova to a 21-19 second game at the 2023 R48 Icebreaker. “He pretty much did everything himself in the second game of the final.”
“I was playing good,” stated Pizano. “I am playing a little bit more and I was killing everything today.”
Final: Ruiz/Pizano def Esser/Vollink 15-9, 15-1
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer