Kevin Birrell is officially Oregon’s number-one pinball player. He’s representing the Beaver State at nationals in Dallas, Texas this March. And he doesn’t even live here.
For years, Birrell competed on the Washington circuit. In fact, he represented the Evergreen State at the national tournament in Denver in 2014.
But Birrell found a closer-knit group of players south of the Columbia. He liked it better down here.
“There’s just such a huge scene here,” he said. “There’s a big scene in Seattle, too. But this one’s different. I like it down here.”
So, throughout 2016, he spent his time competing in Oregon tournaments, placing high enough to compete at BlackBird Pizza on Feb. 11. The single-elimination, 16-player tourney began at 1 p.m.
For nearly five hours, Birrell and Colin Urban made their way up the ladder. Each bested three other opponents before facing off against each other in the final round.
Urban was favored to win, according to a press release ahead of the tournament. The 15-year-old wunderkind — hold the “Pinball Wizard” references — has been a mainstay of the Oregon pinball scene for years.
Their series began at approximately 6 p.m. The tournament rules were simple. One player picks a cabinet.
High score wins the match. First to win four takes the trophy.
Things didn’t start well for Urban.
Birrell logged a win on the first game, a cabinet with a theme inspired by the 1994 Alec Baldwin film, “The Shadow.” He also bested Urban on a cabinet based on the 1992 “Dracula” film. (Notice a pattern?)
The next match put Birrell up 3-0 for the series.
Then Urban logged a win. And another. Finally, the two faced off on a cabinet called “Alien Star.”
They took turns haphazardly navigating steel balls inside the maze of bumpers. Urban went first — Birrell took over after each of the teenager’s turns. Urban’s score after three balls was 1.4 million.
Birrell’s was just under 500,000 after two.
He was ready for a Game 7. In fact, he was almost sure it would happen.
“I thought it was over after Ball 2,” Birrell said. “But I made a really, really nice save on Ball 3 and I just kept going.”
He scored more than 1 million points on his last turn to best Urban and take home the trophy.
But Birrell wasn’t the only person bracing himself for a trip to Texas at BlackBird Pizza that night. Zöe Vrabel was steeling herself to win it all when she walked through the doors for the Oregon tournament.
She didn’t make it past the second round. But the loss came as a bit of a relief.
“I’m bummed, but I’m glad,” Vrabel said.
A win at BlackBird would’ve meant she would be playing two tournaments one after the other. One to compete for the title of national champion, the other to retain Vrabel’s status as the women’s world champion in pinball.
–Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344
@edercampuzano
ecampuzano@oregonian.com
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