This Saturday (Feb 4^th only) the best of the best of big ball handball’s elite will square off in the WPH OC vs. LA Big Ball Invitational Shootout.  The top eight four wall players from each county will fight for bragging rights and big cash and your invited to come and watch!  The Shootout will be held at C&C Die Engraving, 12510 McCann Drive, Santa Fe Spring, CA.  Come watch LA’s Samzon “Totoy” Hernandez, Braulio “Shorty” Ruiz, and Armando Ortiz, to name just a few, go up against Orange County’s Marcos Chavez, Sal “The Wizard” Duenas, and Joshue Tellez, plus more! 

Unique scoring formats will make this shootout one to remember!  The big prize purse will be paid out to 3^rd place, sponsored in part by the World Players of Handball, C&C Engraving, and Owen Gloves.  Don’t miss the action beginning on Saturday at 8 AM with Samzon Hernandez facing Rudy Cruz for the kickoff match.

                On a warm, sunny Saturday morning in Santa Fe Springs, CA, the top players from Orange County and Los Angeles prepared for the WPH OC vs. LA Big Ball Shootout Invitational.  The stands were packed very early on with spectators from each county supporting their players.  The first round proved to be very exciting as Juan “Ibanez” Santos took Shorty Ruiz to a tie breaker.  Ibanez edged Shorty winning 12-11 in the breaker and sending Shorty packing.  Shorty’s father, Martin “Rambo”, also forced a breaker against OC’s #1 seed, Marcos Chavez.  Marcos eventually defeated Rambo to advance into the quarterfinals. 

                The winners of the quarterfinals all advanced in two games, cruising into the semifinals and a chance to win cash.  The first match of the semis was between Samzon Hernandez and Sal Duenas.  The gallery became packed for this matchup with standing room only.  Chants for each player resonated through the building.  Samzon got the best of Sal in two games 15-11 and 15-7 for a chance in the finals.  On the other side of the bracket, Marcos Chavez faced Juan “Ibanez” Santos.  During the first rally of the first game, it appeared Marcos sprained his left ankle.  Without even a break in the action, he kept rallying with Ibanez.  After very long, exciting volleys, Ibanez took the first game 15-14.  Between games, Marcos recuperated and came back strong winning the next two.

                In the 3^rd place money match, Ibanez was too much for Sal to handle winning in a tie breaker (9), 5, 6.  Immediately after, the finals ensued.  Both Marcos and Samzon amazed the crowd with amazing gets and kill shots.  However, Samzon proved why he deserves the number one title winning in two games 15-13, 16-15.  Samzon won yet another WPH yellow jersey and the cash for first place.  Thank you to tournament sponsors Owen Gloves, C&C Die Engraving, and the WPH.  Also, thank you to the volunteers that helped and to Marcos Chavez for running a great tournament!

by ashley moler/wph