# 2020 Stern Pro Circuit Championship Game 3

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2023-06-19  
**Duration:** 31m 34s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_VnYHNKFx0

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## Analysis

Stern Pro Circuit Championship Game 3 features a ladder finals format on Godzilla pinball (Keith Elwin, 2021). Four players compete with the lowest scorer eliminated and replaced each round. Eric Stone dominates with 556M points, Jason Wardrick reaches 200M, Zach Sharp moves into contention, and Trent Augustine is eliminated after struggling with shot consistency and multiball opportunities.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The Stern Pro Circuit Championship winner receives a championship belt, a brand new Stern Pinball machine, and a five thousand dollar cash prize. — _Host Tim Sexton explicitly states prize structure at beginning of broadcast._
- [HIGH] Godzilla pinball was released in 2021 by Stern Pinball and designed by Keith Elwin. — _Announced during game introduction by host._
- [HIGH] In the Stern Pro Circuit format, the top seeded player has the opportunity to choose the game or choose their order on the game. — _Host explains tournament rules at start of commentary._
- [HIGH] Trent Augustine has been playing competitively since 1992, starting with the Ohio State Championships. He has played in hundreds of pinball tournaments across the United States and travels in a van. — _Trent's own statement in video interview segment._
- [HIGH] Eric Stone's ball two performance with multiball and strategic ally selection (Rodan 2x + Anguirus) gave him scoring efficiency that put him well in the lead with 556 million points. — _Host commentary tracking Eric's multiball strategy and final score._

### Notable Quotes

> "Crying at picking Godzilla, the deal is an awesome game that's pretty much my go-to game right now man. I love playing it. Lots of new stuff, easy to understand."
> — **Top seeded player (game selector)**, Early in commentary
> _Demonstrates player confidence in Godzilla as tournament selection; reflects positive sentiment toward the game._

> "I started playing competitively around ninety-two. I think the Ohio State Championships was my first tournament. Kind of went on from there."
> — **Trent Augustine**, Mid-broadcast interview
> _Establishes Trent's deep history and longevity in competitive pinball._

> "Wow, everyone played really well. Just didn't come together. Had some bad, bad, uh, bad drops. We'll be around next year. Good luck to everyone."
> — **Trent Augustine (post-elimination)**, End of game
> _Trent's graceful response to elimination; attributes loss to execution rather than bad luck._

> "Eric is displaying some great control at the bottom of the playfield using the flippers, especially that left flipper to keep all the balls in play no matter how many times the balls come down there."
> — **Host Tim Sexton**, During Eric's multiball
> _Highlights Eric's technical skill and control mechanics that differentiated his performance._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Tim Sexton | person | Host and commentator of the Stern Pro Circuit Championship broadcast. |
| Trent Augustine | person | Player ranked #15 on Stern Pro Circuit; from Ostrander, Ohio; longtime competitive pinball player since 1992; eliminated in Game 3. |
| Zach Sharp | person | Player from Chicago, Illinois; competes in Stern Pro Circuit Championship; reaches contention during Game 3. |
| Jason Wardrick | person | Player from Park Ridge, Illinois; scored 200M+ points in Game 3; previously had billion-point win. |
| Eric Stone | person | Player from Tampa, Florida; dominant performer in Game 3 with 556M points; advances through ladder. |
| Josh Sharp | person | Partially responsible for setting up Godzilla game for tournament; mentioned during Eric's commentary. |
| Keith Elwin | person | Designer of Godzilla pinball (2021). |
| Godzilla | game | Stern Pinball machine (2021) designed by Keith Elwin; game selected for Pro Circuit Championship Game 3. |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer and organizer of the Stern Pro Circuit Championship. |
| Stern Pro Circuit Championship | event | Competitive pinball tournament using ladder finals format; Game 3 featured on this broadcast. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Tournament Format and Rules, Godzilla Pinball Game Design and Strategy, Competitive Pinball Player Performance, Multiball Strategy and Execution
- **Secondary:** Shot Consistency and Error Management, Pinball History (Trent Augustine's Career Arc)

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Broadcast reflects professional, enthusiastic coverage of high-level competitive play. Hosts express genuine appreciation for skilled execution (Eric's ball control, Jason's combo strategy). Trent's elimination is handled gracefully. No significant controversy or criticism of game design or manufacturer. Tone is celebratory of competitive excellence.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** Stern Pro Circuit Championship Game 3 represents high-level tournament content from official Stern Pinball broadcasting. Tournament structure and prize pool demonstrate manufacturer investment in competitive circuit. (confidence: high) — $5,000 prize, championship belt, new machine award; ladder finals format with player elimination/addition each round.
- **[competitive_signal]** Multiple players adopt identical strategy on Gigan mode (Jason, Eric, Zach) — using right ramp repeatedly rather than completing all 8 shots. Demonstrates emerging meta-strategy optimization in competitive Godzilla play. (confidence: medium) — Host commentary: 'Jason was going for the right ramp only... Zach surprised going for right ramp all day strategy as well that Jason and Eric were doing during their Gigan modes.'
- **[product_concern]** Godzilla pinball selected as tournament game demonstrates manufacturer confidence in game balance, reliability, and competitive viability. Game handles multiball complexity and shot variety appropriate for championship-level play. (confidence: high) — Game performs cleanly across four players' balls; multiball mechanics, lock system, and scoring architecture support competitive depth.

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## Transcript

welcome to another episode of the stern pro circuit championships I'm your host Tim Sexton I'm here to bring you up to speed with everything going on in this circuit final so far Stern pro circuit Championship is an exciting ladder finals format this means starting with four players we eliminate the last place player and bring in a new player until we're down to just the final two the winner of that game wins a championship belt a brand new Stern Pinball Machine and also a five thousand dollar cash prize let's take a look at our field Trent Augustine and I'm from Ostrander Ohio hi I'm Zach sharp I am from Chicago Illinois my name is Jason wardrick I'm from Park Ridge Illinois Eric Stone and right now I live down in Tampa Florida in each match the top seeded player has the opportunity to choose the game or choose their order on the game crying at picking Godzilla the deal is an awesome game that's pretty much my go-to game right now man I love playing it lots of new stuff easy to understand the game selected for this match is Godzilla pinball released in 2021 by Stern Pinball and designed by Keith elwin round three starting introducing Trent Augustine ranked number 15 on the stern pro circuit he has chosen Godzilla and will be going first going for a skill shot but not hitting any skill shot so Trent does not have any ball safe because we're back hand on the Mechagodzilla shot hasn't quite hit anything significant yet it's a saucer there for some points it takes a danger all right shoots a right ramp a little late on the left ramp very side to side right now into the scoop okay he chooses either of the spinner mode and he gets some points from a combo there so Trent finally it's the ball here lets it bounce which was a good move gets a few left spins for a few right spins for a 5 million award there's less spinner again that'll do it for 10 million there and he just needs the middle spinner but drains out the left Outlet on the rebound of that left player two Zach sharp is stepping up to the game testing out the flippers a little bit he's going for a softer plunge from the skill shot gets a little bit of points and more importantly some ball save because right away the ball is out of control but he gets it under control shoots a left ramp and a right ramp and there's another ski pass for Zach one of his favorite sliver control moves and shoots it into the Right Scoop chooses the same mode and he decides to go with the right spinner first nice bounce off the left flipper shoots the left spinner and unlike Trent he has control the ball again he goes to the backhand on the center spinner hits a couple of slingshots gets a control with a nice drop catch a few more Center Spinners big move there to save it as the ball kind of trickled into the hill to play field his slap save sending up the ramp it's back down the middle and he didn't have enough tilt warnings left to save the ball do you so Zach moves into the lead just by a little bit Jason wardrick is up next to had a massively log ball wine over a billion points on his first game in the stern pro circuit he's stepping up to the game very comfortable with how this Godzilla plays Jason Takes a 500 000 Point skill shot gets a five second ball saver thank you security Bridge he is going for his ransby has not made that left ramp yet shoots the easier right ramp the early shot still having a lot of trouble with hitting the left ramp shot he is trying a lot of moves here to get the ball on the right flipper and then from here he wants to make the shot and that's how he Nails it so this ball will come over to the left hooker he'll aim for the scoop and he hits it in one try Zach and Trent both chose ibra as their monster to battle let's see what Jason chooses Chaser goes Gigan instead of shooting The Spinners he shoots the ramps howling the ramps will give him more points it is more shots though it's eight shots to complete this mode he's just gonna go for the right ramp only so every time the ball is coming down the in Lane he passes it over to the left flipper and takes a shot at the right ramp you don't get as many points that way but if you're more comfortable shooting the right ramp and Jason had trouble with the left ramp you know this could be a much safer path toward beating the door yeah Jason was going for the double scoring Ally but instead he gets Mothra still a good Ally it means he has a ball saver lit on the left Outlet Jason has not missed her three shots in a row here that will make it four and finish the mode which lights his destruction jackpot at 2x Value Plus gives him a final shot of 10 million plus 9 million for time remaining let's put chase this puts Jason into first place he's shaking his head for some reason so about 16 and a half million available if he shoots this destruction jackpot and he does have a chance to get it right here but he shoots a little too early on that shot and does not get that 16 million points so not available for him until he likes another destruction jackpot Jason Takes Two dangers which he wasn't happy about drains out the left alley with the ball saver and then almost immediately drains down the middle just didn't have enough tilt above there left to move the game without tilting tilt warnings 60 million just about for Jason after ball one Eric is going to have to keep Pace with all the other players by he's probably going to want to at least start a mode and get about halfway through to get ahead of Zach and Trent and if he can beat a mode like Jason did he will be in pretty good shape foreign with his performance on Mandalorian see if he could make up for that performance here on Godzilla and he's starting a lot out of control a lot of slingshots and pop bumpers and he has not hit a ramp shot yet takes a tilt warning there he's having trouble getting a trap finally gets one on the left flipper and makes his right ramp shot so he makes his left ramp he shoots another right round for some reason I guess he's progressing towards jet fighters here Scooby to start his mode so he is right now on Pace with the other players to at least get one mode started and hopefully get some mode points out of it Eric is going with Gigan to shoot the ramps come on he's having trouble with that tough left ramp shot but hitting the right ramp dude that was the one Jason was going for he looks like he's going to copy Jason's strategy and just pass the ball over shoot the ramp over and over again three in a row for Eric and that one's kind of a little out of control it did not have enough Flipper on that ball to get it up the right round shoots a left ramp it's a bailout shot though another half ramp on the right side that could be very dangerous started for Eric he will get additional points by shooting these ramps from Gigan and the Jet Fighter attack and jet fighters will help him light his another Ally he has one available if he shoots the scoop down finishes the mode a little bit faster than Jason did and has this destruction jackpot lit up the middle but he's gonna shoot more jet fighters the pain dude he's screaming at just sharp who was partially responsible for setting up the game I don't know if Josh is completely deserving all this blame here Eric will have his chance at his destruction jackpot shot which would put him in the lead significantly if he makes it here 18 million points available if he could just shoot around to that upper Loop switch he has another chance for it here and he Nails it there's the 2x destruction jackpot for 18 million points and Eric Stone is well in the lead and has lit his Godzilla multiball locks getting his first ball locked yeah Eric taking the drain on purpose with the ball saver didn't really help about it just punched the ball into the top of the playful so two balls locked and he doesn't have any modes running right now he does have to change his City if he wants to start another mode before this Godzilla multiball but he's player four he may just want to take the Godzilla multiplier or leave it on the table for the next fall so Eric is about 50 million points in the lead and none of the players have played a multiball yet I started playing competitively around 92 I think the Ohio state championships was my first tournament kind of went on from there one tournament that year two the next year and then pinball started taking off blurb from Trent Augustine Trent has been on the circuit for many many years playing in hundreds of pinball tournaments all around the world mostly in the United States Trent resides in Ohio but he travels in a van all around the country playing pinball tournaments and doing very well at them Trent here is going for his Mechagodzilla uh he has the next phase lit if he shoots the spinner and up the ramp again oh boy he hits a saucer but sends it out to the left Outlet the calm cool and collected Zach Sharp is up next currently in last place just by 2 million gets a skill shot there to put him ahead of Trent Augustine and the goal here not coming last so he is in a better position than Trent already just by virtue of having the ball in hand and having the points he's gonna go back to his zebra mode he just needs some Center spinner shots complete the mode you will not get as much a time bonus since this is his second time playing the mode but he does complete it there in one shot and he has lit his construction jackpot up the middle he is not going for right now he shot the pop-uper and now because he actually hit the pop of her first for the completion he has a 2X destruction Jack Gauntlet foreign just slightly laid on that very tough destruction jackpot shot on his second attempt he does not make it and I don't think he's gonna try to go for it again no he goes for a bridge attack shot instead Zach has double scoring Ally lit right now or any other Ally he now he is currently a double scoring but nothing really running right now so nothing getting too doubled decides to boost his Godzilla multiball based jackpot he decides to change his City to London going for another mode soon he's trying to skip out of these animations too use the double scoring as much as he can double scoring will expire right now Zach with one more left ramp light his second mode not happy a lot of players are hitting that shot a little early hitting the magnets which is preventing that ball from going all the way up that orbit and up the ramp it has a lot of distance to travel a big show there gives Zach a double danger but he will not tilt but he needs the ball under control and he gets it under control on the right flipper Zach's now going for his scoop in the area shooting for saucers or maybe the scoop but he did hit his first saucer tomorrow we'll get him an extra ball for some good points keep setting that saucer maybe it's what he's going for how he finally landed the scoop does that taking guy get into his second mode surprised to see Zach go for the right ramp all day strategy as well that Jason and Eric were doing during their Gigan modes no Zach is comboing the ramps which is actually going to give him way more points for every combo he makes left and right on the ramps and he also has his jet fighter attack running 6 million for that shot on the combo oh and that shot goes go straight down the middle and a half ramp collectible in the dream but not until Zach pulls into first place of this very close game of Godzilla Here Comes Jason werder to play his ball too Jason Takes the little baby skill shot immediately sends the ball out the bright out lane and uses that ball saver not before he got 500 000 points from it it's another ball saver by shooting the shot between the magnet and the building which often sends the ball straight down the middle so there's a software ball saver added every time someone shoots that shot started shooting a scoop and hitting the saucer instead Chase is still having trouble making a scoop shots takes second danger there did not look like he was making massive moves in the pinball machine but obviously he was doing something that we couldn't see on camera all right Jason now just going straight for Godzilla multiball trying to light his locks does he continues to lock all three balls on the premium to start Godzilla multiball that first one there will eject out the side of the ramp because there's already two balls up there another mist of the scoop finally shoots it finally gets the chance to change his City and she's his power up considering that Godzilla multiballs lid I would be shocked if he didn't take it he does Godzilla multiball jackpots are boosted collects his 8 million Carnage bonus and moves to the city of London so Jason here shoots both ramps looks like he wants to pass it over to the left flipper it's both ramps he can light a mode before he starts Godzilla multiball if he takes the multiball now you will not have the chance to start a mode until after the multiple's over battle is lit takes his second ball lock this ball will come around to the left flipper and give him a chance to shoot the scoop he uses his heat ray to spot his jet fighter shots which lights the power up and he takes Rodan for 2x scoring very wise move he is the power of to get the Ally and make sure it was on Rodan gets his double scoring now selects his battle and he's all set up where coming out of the scoop all he needs is one shot up the middle and his score will start to explode and this is scary because you've got everything set up and he shoots a little early he's in the slingshots right now he can't nudge the machine too much finally Nails the shot up the middle on his third attempt Godzilla so far on this game of Godzilla wow huge super spinner points for Jason there's 16 million on that shot all these RGB color arrows are giving him jackpots that continue to grow in value throughout this multiball the more shots he thinks so he's got four balls in play right now down to two balls in play multiple is still running oh sorry three I missed the ball that was in the scoop and he is out of multiball right now he does not have the option to add the ball into the multiball so it's over with him at just under 200 million points his battle is running out his 2x scoring is running out so the point opportunities Jason had there were not maximized but he did make significant progress through the game to get himself into first place and dies shooting the middle a couple times 200 million points so Eric Stone who had the best ball one of all the players is stepping up still in a good spot here uh ball two he has just one shot left to go for Godzilla multiball right up the middle guess there's a little ball save right away makes a knife live catch to trap the ball setting up his allies he wants the Rodan 2x plus the Anguirus at a ball and he gets them so he'll have 2X scoring going on right now can you use the top button to add a ball into any of his multiballs he has a chance to choose the power up he'll take the Godzilla multiball jackpot boost he decides to move to London popular right now in this game we moved to London could unleash in another city so Eric's choice now he can make is just take the multiball or bring a mode into it you also have another power up take the time bonus scoring boost for his tier one battle modes to light a tier 1 battle mode he needs to shoot both ramps but instead he starts Godzilla multiball so no battle mode running he's just a Godzilla multiball with the 2x scoring running and all his shots around the Playfield will be lit for jackpots gonna start and give him two balls from the trough one ball from the building into playing he has the at a ball available at any time during this multiball by hitting the top button Eric not as chatty this fall maybe he's feeling a little more comfortable is hitting one jackpot another jackpot there another jackpot there another jackpot there he's doing pretty good Super Jackpot for 34 million right of the building pretty efficient scoring from Eric he was sending balls behind other balls to really make sure they went up certain shots two jackpots in a row there half ramp on the right side he saves it with the right flipper and he's going to use his button for the Atta ball he did not hit it in time to get three balls back into play so he only has two balls back into play gets the natural at a ball so back up to three balls in play and gets a little more ball saver time so with a couple more jackpots Eric will take the lead on this game and as player four it's always a good position to be in because you may not have to play your ball speed play this multiball a little slower right now takes another Super Jackpot for 31.7 million points that puts him well in the lead on the skin and Eric is displaying some great control at the bottom of the Playfield using the flippers especially that left flipper to keep all the balls in play no matter how many times the balls come down there he's always just juggling the balls in play keeping control on the left flipper of at least one ball he uses the ball from the rifle to shoot the ball that was coming down the middle so his scoring has slowed down tremendously but still has all three of his balls in play down to two looks like he's gonna go for the ram shoots the other ramp the other side of the Playfield if she's that ramp again for another jackpot just the right ramp for another jackpot staging the flippers there to try to shoot the left ramp and staging now to hit more jackpots on the upper loop it's getting good value out of these jackpots playing a lot faster with these two balls in play getting a lot more scoring out of here Super Jackpot is lit once again up the middle he has a chance at it right now if he goes for it and he does wow 146 million in the grace period jackpot Stone has been thrown into a rage attacks making his rage combo shots here he's playing in a very good flow right now shooting Loops pretty easily shooting a tail up wow range combo is uh huge points for Eric right there 65 million total for them construction jackpots up to 3x and he has a chance at it right now let's see what this value is going to be 13 and a half million times three if he can make this orbit he has another chance out of here there it is nope what a dumbass what a way to finish that so Eric with a missed scoop shot winds up making an errand shot into a slingshot that drains out the left side of the Playfield great score for him 556 million and is very unlikely that all three players will pass him so Eric is in good shape to move on to the next game Trent stepping up his player one is currently in last place Trent does not have any locks toward Godzilla multiball he does have a destruction jackpot lip though but he's gonna go for his Mecha Godzilla multiball he needs to get the ball actually over that spinner ramp like that to start back in Godzilla and then he needs to turn out all the white lights on that hot dog shaped insert to light Mechagodzilla start so a little bit of work he has to do it's his 2x scoring which certainly will help him he's gonna stay in Tokyo to try to complete his first mode he just needs to make the spinner shot and then the saucer but unfortunately with this mode he lighting the Mechagodzilla phase two he's no longer able to progress it so Trent is really not close to the safety of a multiball right now and he has a significant amount of scoring he needs to put on this ball in order to avoid elimination ball almost drained itself down the middle he saved it with just one danger finally gets the spinner there it hits the saucer for the finishing bonus and final blow shot and now he has the option to change the city or take a destruction jackpot that drains out the left Outlet will eliminate Trent in his first game one and done Trent Augustine is out of the stern pro circuit Championship let's hear what he has to say wow everyone played really well just didn't come together had some bad bad uh bad drops we'll be around next year good luck to everyone match up with the circuit champion thank you

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: a9e58187-a382-4f9b-9fff-6da39855a93d*