Epic Women’s Monday Night League Season 4: B Division Finals Recap

Sometimes a pinball tournament is a beautiful display of skill, strategy, and controlled chaos.

And sometimes pinball looks at you, laughs, and says, “Oh, you thought you were in charge?”

The Epic Women’s Monday Night League Season 4 B Division Finals was very much the second kind of night. 😂

But it also turned into one heck of a comeback.

B Division Finals

After making the B Division Finals, I knew I had five rounds of group match play ahead of me. Eight players were fighting it out, with the top three earning prizes.

And, because this is pinball, we had to wait for A Division to get everything set up before B and C could get started. So there was plenty of hanging around, watching the action, talking with friends, and trying not to think too much about the games ahead.

It was also pretty awesome having Tracy Lindberg there running the A Division live feed. Tracy has been such an important part of Arizona women’s pinball, and I’ve known her for years. 💓

At one point I joked about how she has explained the finals format to me approximately 47,000 times over the years.

The funny thing is, that’s actually pretty much true.

I’ve been playing Belles & Chimes for years, and for the longest time I didn’t pay much attention to the finals format because I wasn’t in the finals. Why waste precious brain bandwidth on something I wasn’t going to need?

Then, when I finally made finals, I looked at Tracy and said:

“Okay, so how does this work?”

Her response was essentially:

“I’ve been telling you this every month for four years.”😂

I have limited bandwidth, Tracy! Sorry

Round 1 — Cirqus Voltaire

Zoey Wittmann — 2nd
Christy Kohtz — 3rd
Krisha Shufran — 1st
Jess Cota-Forsee — 4th

Christy: 3.3 million
This one was… interesting.

We actually had to restart the game because the first attempt wasn’t properly in tournament mode. Once we got everything sorted out, I managed to settle in a little better.

I got the popcorn mode started, hit the boom, and then promptly exited the building. 😂

But I was still getting things going and trying to make the game work for me. It wasn’t a disaster, but it certainly wasn’t the start I wanted.

3rd place. 3 points.

Round 2 — Space Shuttle

Elena Valenzuela — 1st
Zoey Wittmann — 2nd
Christy Kohtz — 3rd
Jess Cota-Forsee — 4th

Christy: 398,010

Space Shuttle was another battle.
I started pretty slowly, but by Ball 3 I had finally started figuring things out. I stole some ball locks from another player’s progress and built up the multipliers.

It wasn’t enough to climb higher than third, but it was enough to keep collecting points.

Another 3rd. Another 3 points.

Round 3 — Godzilla

Oh, Godzilla.
I have a Godzilla at home.
I know this game.
This one should have been comfortable.
Godzilla had other plans.

I was Player 3 and spent the entire game watching the machine through the window, trying to find my rhythm.

Ball 1: 1.9 million
Ball 2: 22.8 million
Ball 3: 25.7 million

I got the 5M skill shot(which did not register). I got a ramp. I got another ramp. I got 2 loops.
And then came the shenanigans.

I tried desperately to get the scoop to start a mode and watched the ball find an exit instead.

Then I managed a Mecha ramp on Ball 3…
…and immediately drained.

Final score: 25,745,390
That put me in 3rd place again.
Three consecutive third-place finishes.

At this point, I was beginning to wonder whether the universe was trying to tell me something.

After three rounds, I had 9 points and sat in 7th place.

And yes.

There was definitely a moment when I thought:
“I want to go home.”

Round 4 — Spanish Eyes

Then came Spanish Eyes.

And this was a weird one because it is a five-ball game played one player at a time, which meant a lot of waiting around between turns.

I was Player 4, so I had plenty of time to sit there and watch everyone else play.

Eventually, it was my turn.

The scores:
Jess — 21,880
Krisha — 28,910
Christy — 34,900
Elaine — 44,470

And suddenly…
2nd place.
After three straight third-place finishes, I finally moved up.
5 points.

And that changed the whole feel of the tournament.

Round 5 — Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye

And then came the comeback.
I was sitting at 14 points going into the final round? Nope.
Wait.
Let’s look at the actual scoring.
After three rounds I had 9 points.
Round 4 added 5.
That put me at 14 points heading into the final round.

The final game was Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye.
And I was Player 4.
Ball 1 was ugly.
1.3 million.
Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of.
Then Ball 2 happened.
I found the game.
131 million.
Dragon Multiball.
Caravan mode completed.

And suddenly I was very much alive.

Going into my final ball, the other players had:
Elaine — 37.1M
Mayia — 13.0M
Zoey — 53.6M

And I had one ball left.
I finished at:
165,670,930
FIRST PLACE.🥇
After starting the game with 1.3 million.

That is pinball.

The Final Standings
And here’s where the night got really interesting.
Place Player Points
🥇 1st Mayia Hayashi 25
🥈 T-2nd Zoey Wittmann 23
🥈 T-2nd Valerie Doucette 23
🥈 T-2nd Elaine Hecht 23
5th Krisha Shufran 21
5th Christy Kohtz 21
7th Elena Valenzuela 19
8th Jess Cota-Forsee 5

I finished tied for 5th with 21 points.
And here’s the part I really like:
After three rounds, I was 7th with 9 points.

Then:
3rd → 3rd → 3rd → 2nd → 1st
That final-round win pulled me all the way up into a tie for fifth.

And I finished only 2 points behind the three-way tie for second.

Sometimes You Just Have to Ride the Storm
There were absolutely moments during this tournament when I wanted to pack it in.

Godzilla was particularly good at making me question my life choices.

But after nearly seven years of competitive pinball, I’ve learned something:

You don’t have to have a good game every time.

You don’t even have to have a good night.

Sometimes the ball behaves beautifully.

Sometimes it takes a completely inexplicable path that seems to violate several laws of physics simultaneously.

And sometimes it appears to be powered by actual magic.

You just have to keep playing.

Put on the big-girl pants.
Ride the storm.

Because you never know when the next ball is going to suddenly click.

For me, that ball was Dungeons & Dragons Ball 2.

From 1.3 million to 165.7 million.

From “I want to go home” to winning the final round.

That’s why we play.

And now?
Epic Women’s gets a week off.
Which, after this particular evening, feels entirely appropriate. 😂🎰

Final result:

Tied 5th in B Division — 21 points

Incidental Exercise Receipts