MacDonald successfully defends her NWPA Martha Hartsell Memorial title
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Kathie MacDonald (Sandro Menzel)
Canada’s Kathie MacDonald checked a lot of ‘boxes’ with her undefeated run to claim Stop #3 on this year’s Northwest Pool Association Tour (NWPA), an event known as the Martha Hartsell Memorial, held as it is traditionally, at Phil’s Bar & Grill in Salem, OR this past weekend (June 28-29). First win in 2025 (check), first win since last September (check), successful defense of her Martha Hartsell Memorial title, earned in 2023, which entailed a loss in her opening round and winning nine on the loss side to reach the final and defeat Dyamelle Castilleja by allowing her only a single rack (check).
This year’s $1,250-added event allowed her to defend a title she’d last won two years ago, because the event was not held in 2024. According to NWPA representatives, the tour generally has more venues interested in hosting stops on the tour, than the number of stops on the tour. As a result, venues are often rotated in a way that repeats them in a given year, while in other years, they don’t appear on the schedule. The (relatively) annual Martha Hartsell Memorial, which began in 2011, has always been slated for a Salem, OR venue because Hartsell was a respected tour player from that city, who inspired many tour veterans like Kris Robbins and Liz Cole. Hartsell was known, according to the history pages of the NWPA Web site as “a fierce competitor yet always made matches so fun to play. Her peers say she had the best laugh!” Hartsell passed away in 2010 and in 2011, the first NWPA Memorial event was held at The Cue Ball in Salem. In 2022, the Memorial moved to Phil’s Bar & Grill in Salem, but the event is uniquely attached to Salem, OR and when Phil’s didn’t work into the 2024 rotation of venues, the Martha Hartsell Memorial wasn’t held. MacDonald, as a result, was able to retain title to that memorial for the two years until this past weekend.
MacDonald opted out of repeating her 2023 path to the win and went straight from opening match to the title, and while she allowed two of her opponents – Jackie Fitchner, 2nd round and Marian Poole, winners’ side quarterfinal – to get within two racks in races to 6, her opponents averaged just three percentage points shy of 3 racks per game. Opening with a 6-2 win over Stacie Larson, she followed with the Fitchner win, a shutout over Ellen Petrik and the 6-4 win over Poole, who’d return from the loss side to challenge her in the final. MacDonald drew Sarah Myers-Mitchell in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
From the opposite end of the bracket, Jordan Oakes set out for the hot seat match with victories over Amy Burdick (2), Andi Beebe (4), Sara Moore (4), and Andy Camping (4), winner of the season opener back in April. Oakes drew Dora Valdez in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Oakes got into the hot seat match 6-1 over Valdez and was joined by MacDonald, who’d sent Myers-Mitchell to the loss side 6-3. MacDonald claimed the hot seat over Oakes 6-2.
Myers-Mitchell joined the loss-side ‘party’ and ran right into a rematch. She’d defeated Robin Adams in the opening round of play, at which point Adams headed out on a trip that looked, at first, like MacDonald’s efforts at the Martha Hartsell Memorial two years ago. Adams won six straight on the loss side, including recent wins that had eliminated Sophia Tran, double hill, and Andy Camping 5-2. Valdez joined the loss side and picked up Poole, who’d followed her loss to MacDonald with elimination wins over Maryann McConnell 5-1 and Sara Moore 5-2.
Poole and Valdez ‘duked it out’ in a double-hill fight that eventually sent Poole to the quarterfinals where she was joined by Myers-Mitchell, who punctuated her second win over Adams with a shutout exclamation point!
A little over two hours later, according to digitalpool time stamps, Poole ended Myers-Mitchell’s very short visit to the loss side with a 5-3 win in those quarterfinals. Poole moved on and punched her ticket into the final with a 5-2 victory over Jordan Oakes.
In an extended race-to-9 final, MacDonald got out ahead of Poole and stayed there. She completed her second straight win at the Martha Hartsell Memorial 9-4.
In a 16-entrant Second Chance event on Sunday, Ellen Petrik won a winners’ side semifinal match, double hill, to Nicole Donisi, and then lost a double-hill hot seat match to Jackie Fitchner. Petrik moved to the semifinals and in a rematch versus Donisi, shut her out. In an extended race-to-4 rematch final, she defeated Fitchner 4-2 and claimed the Second Chance title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Phil’s Bar and Grill, along with official tour sponsor Littman Lights and stop sponsors Diamond Mine NW and Rose City BCA League. Stop #4 will be a $1,000-added event, scheduled for the weekend of July 19-20 and hosted by The Pocket in Boise, ID.
