Triangle PLAYERS

Bennett DUngan

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Software Engineer 

Own any Machines? Nope

Favorite Game: Foo Fighters

Started Flipping: September 2022

Signature Move: Showing newbies where to shoot a shot then proceeding to drain the ball immediately. 

PinQuote: “Hi! My name is Bennett” 

Favorite Pinball Moment: Bennett was losing badly at a Neighborhood monthly tournament, so he shut off the power for the entire block so that we had to move venues. 

Pinball Arch Nemesis: Scott Mott. He must be stopped. 

Kiel Jinkens

Location: Raleigh

Own any Machines? Roadshow, Fish Tales, Earthshaker, Dr. Dude, Space Station

Favorite Game: "I know I will get a lot of sh*t for this, but I really miss playing Cactus Canyon."

Started Flipping: About 6 years ago 

Signature Move: Kiel doesn't have any signature moves, but he loves a good slap save.

PinQuote: "Did you at least have fun?" (Overheard when someone has a bad game, usually to his wife, Westee)

Favorite Pinball Moment: No specific moments come to mind, but he always loves beating Logan on a Ball 3. The further behind, the better, as Logan will often pump himself up about a good score thinking he's already won the game, and will let you know about it.

Pinball Arch Nemesis: No specific arch nemesis, but embarrassing/silencing Logan is always fun (see Favorite Pinball Moment).

Mike "Fist Bump" Talmarkes

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Water Tamer

Favorite Game: Creature from the Black Lagoon

Started Flipping: 8 years old

Signature Move: The Full Send (see picture)

PinQuote: Wat!

Favorite Pinball Moment: Mike's favorite pinball moment was playing and beating Rachel Ristow at District 82.

Pinball Arch Nemesis: Karl Deangelo

Tim "FUT" McCool

Location: NC Raised, Seattle Trained

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Not...Playing....Pinball...? Job...?

Favorite Game: Barracora

Own Any Machines?: Taxi, Fire!, Flash Gordon, Led Zepplin Pro, Godzilla Prem.

Started Flipping: 2015

Signature Move: Tim's signature move is a squeaky-clean drop catch.

PinQuote: Count It!

Favorite Pinball Moment: Tim's favorite pinball moment was winning his Led Zeppelin Pro machine at a tournament on a Player 4, Ball 3 comeback. Talk about pressure! 

Kateryn "Flannel" lake

Location: Cary

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Twitch Sensation

Favorite Game: Creature from the Black Lagoon

Own Any Machines?: Legends of Valhalla

Started Flipping: Kat started playing competitively in July 2022.

Signature Move: Kat's signature move is to make it all the way through a game, start a wizard mode, hit one shot...then promptly drain.

PinQuote: After any quick house ball, Kat will shout "I love pinball."

Favorite Pinball Moment: Kat's favorite pinball moment came on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a tournament. She had a 30 MILLION point comeback. Anyone that knows the scoring in this game knows that this was monster come from behind.

Arch-Nemesis: Machine: Stern's Jurassic Park. Person: Ellen, because she taught her everything she knows.

Kennan "FUll Hand" Staelin

Location: Cary

Favorite Game: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Started Flipping: Kennan dabbled in pinball in 2019 with her sister Frances, and then really got the competitive bug in February 2022.

Signature Move: Kennan's signature move is to use full hand-to-button contact when flipping. Some people use a measly one or two fingers to flip. Kennan is a full-hand player.

Favorite Pinball Moment: The game was Godzilla. Kennan was in dead-last going into Ball 3, Player 4. She was one strike away from elimination. It was in that moment she entered what we call the P-Zone®. She flipped and flipped and flipped and eventually passed everyone and got first place, at which point she turned around and graciously accepted victory by flipping everyone off and yelling F&#$ YOU!! to all of her competitors and doubters.

Arch-Nemesis: No real arch-nemesis (but loves beating Logan from time-to-time). She does however have a machine nemesis, and it is Guardians of the Galaxy.

Richard "Slap the Gap" Brantley

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Computers?

Own any Machines?: Road Show

PinQuote: That's pinball, baby!

Signature Move: Richard gets the nickname "Slap the Gap" from his keen ability to deliver a quick 1-2 slap of a pinball machine to dig a ball out of a center drain. 

logan "kobe" Haislip

Location: Downtown Raleigh

Favorite Pinball Machine: Wizard of Oz

Own any Machines?: A Buck Rogers that hasn't powered on in 14 years.

Signature Move: When Logan reaches a crucial point in a pinball game, he stiffens up like a board and makes his body as tall as possible.

Frances ava "SKILL SHOT" Staelin

Location: Downtown Raleigh

Own any Machines?: Nope

Signature Move: Frances is the master of the skill shot. No matter the machine or the place, watch for Frances to pull off the most difficult version of the skill shot right out of the gate.

bryan caudill

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Engineer

Own any Machines?: Black Knight, Stern Jurassic Park

Signature Move: Bryan's signature move falls somewhere between the smooth slap of a Richard Brantley, and the tense stiffness of a Logan Haislip. When he's in trouble, Bryan will stiffly (borderline spastically) slap a ball out. Upon a drain, Bryan will leave the pinball area as promptly as possible.

Kevin Bowman

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Eye Doctor

Own any Machines?: The Munsters, The Addams Family, Jurassic Park, Foo Fighters (One of a Kind)

Signature Move: Kevin is a pretty measured player, but he is not afraid to take whatever means necessary to bring a ball back from the dead. You'll see a heavy shake and some hard flipper action when the ball is on the verge of a drain.

ovid dillard

Location: Cary

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Engineer

Favorite Game: Twilight Zone

Own any Machines?: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Walking Dead, Total Nuclear Annihilation, Avengers Infinity Quest

Signature Move: Ovid's signature move, and he has saved countless balls doing this, is to bear-slap a machine at the last moment to tip a ball off the edge of the flipper. 

Shell "fast & Loose" Dillard

Location: Cary

Favorite Games: Medieval Madness, Monster Bash, Theatre of Magic

Own any Machines?: See "Ovid Dillard."

Signature Move: Shell's signature move is to start a lucrative multiball and then drain every ball simultaneously as the ball save light goes out. 

joan mcCool

Location: Cary

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Retired (Full Time Pinball)

Own any Machines?: Dialed In!, The Hobbit, DE Star Wars

Signature Move: Joan is one of the nicest people in pinball. Her signature move is to tell you exactly what to aim for on a game if you're not familiar with it, and pick you up when you're bummed out about your performance.

andy lyle hall

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Musician

Signature Move: Andy is still honing his skills and doesn't yet have a signature move, but the force is strong in him, and he will one day find something to call his own.

jErrod Lankford

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Software Developer

Own any Machines?: Nope.

PinQuote: "If you're not tilting, you're not trying."

Signature Move: Jerrod likes the fastest games in the arcade. For this reason, he has developed a cheetah-like reflex to potential ball drains. He also wins the award for "Most Likely to Tilt a Game."

JOHN FOWLER

Location: Raleigh

Favorite Game: We can't say for sure, but Game of Thrones is probably high on the list for John. Blink an eye, and he will have dropped 500 mil on you.

Signature Move: John hasn't been playing competitively for long, but his rule knowledge for games is becoming his signature.

Chris Day

Location: Raleigh

Signature Move: Chris is definitely one of the faster players in Raleigh. Upon a drain, Chris will give a signature double fist tap on the lockdown bar. 

Paul "7:01" Sanders

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Rock Star

Signature Move: Paul's signature move is to roll up right at 7:01 as the tournament is starting and then have a top 3 finish.

"Dancing" David Klionsky

Location: Durham

Own Any Machines? World Cup Soccer, Xenon

Signature Move: David may be the most animated player in North Carolina...some may even say the world. When David is on a machine, hide your kids, and hide your wife. There's a chance that they could get a roundhouse kick to the face.

Paul Scrutton

Location: Durham. Has a funny accent, Possibly British.

Fun Facts: In addition to pinball, Paul loves all things fun: Foosball, pool, kayaking, mountain biking...the list goes on.

morgan Grimes

Location: Raleigh

Signature Move: Morgan is a late night pinball player, for sure. He will submit a selfie score at Boxcar at 11:59PM on the last day of the month.

Scott "anybody wanna play beatles?" Mott

Location: Raleigh

Favorite Games: Beatles: Gold Edition, Beatles: Platinum Edition, Beatles: Diamond Edition

Own any Games?: F-14 Tomcat

Signature Move: Scott's signature move is being one shot away from really blowing it up.

Jason Keith

Location: Durham

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Science Law?

Signature Move: Jason's signature move is to claim to know nothing about machine rules, proceed to blow the game up, then walk away and shrug.

derrick Casto

Location: Raleigh

Favorite Games: Walking Dead Pro, Iron Maiden Premium, any EM

Own Any Machines?: Bally Bow & Arrow (won when he was 7!)

Signature Move: Derrick's signature move is to jump around before and during a game. Derrick's level of animation directly correlates to how good of a ball he is having.

Favorite Pinball Moment: Derrick once had a 30 minute Ball 1 on Iron Maiden.

ron batcho

Location: Raleigh

Signature Move: Ron has a very unique playing style. His ratio of flipper button presses to actual ball contact is about 15:1. No matter where the ball is on the playfield, Ron is seemingly always flipping.

Joe X ROss

Location: Garner

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Screen Printing

Signature Move: Joe's move is the signature dance he does while playing a machine. Joe is big on hip action and general thrusting when playing a pin.

logan king

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Screen Printing

Own Any Machines?: Logan and his wife, Jessica, own several machines on location in Raleigh: Medieval Madness, Monster Bash, and Metallica. They also have a rare Domino's machine as well as a Grand Prix.

jessica king

Location: Raleigh

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Screen Printing

Own Any Machines?: See Logan King.

Signature Move: Jessica has the incredible ability to hang a human off of her body and play pinball simultaneously.

JOhn Sjogren

Location: Durham

Own any Machines?: Johnny Mnemonic

Signature Move: John gets a pretty strong lean going into a machine when he gets a good ball going. He went to the same pinball school as Ron Batcho for his technique of rapid flipper action.

Eric "zootie" sutton

Location: Shallotte

Favorite Pinball Machine: Road Show (at the moment)

Own Any Machines?: Zootie owns and operates 10 machines at locations in the Cape Fear region through his company, Flippin Balls Amusements. He is also the commissioner of the Cape Fear Flipper Club (CFFC).

Signature Move: Double Middle Finger Wiggle Waggle. Eric also literally has a pinball signature on his body: a pinup pinball tattoo.

Favorite Pinball Moment: Beating a higher seeded player in a best of 3 to take 1st place in a local tournament.

samantha bacon

Location: Reidsville

Own Any Machines?: Iron Maiden

Signature Move: A classic Sammie Bacon move is to get 4 strikes really early in a 5-Strike tournament, and then come back and win the entire thing.

dwain Marchant

Location: Winston-Salem

Signature Move: Dwain is one of the most travelled pinball players in North Carolina. His signature move is to show up at every single tournament in the state. 

orin "Lobster" Day

Location: Durham

Job When Not Playing Pinball: Pinball! Orin was a software designer for Data East/Sega.

Signature Move: Orin's signature move is when something goes wrong with a game, he's on his phone texting the game designer demanding answers!