Stoddard Survives the Gauntlet: Intimacy and Intensity at OC Belles & Chimes

In the unforgiving world of competitive pinball, national rankings can sometimes be nothing more than a number on a screen. Just ask Laura Stoddard. Stoddard walked up to the Pokémon (Premium) table sporting an IFPA rank of 3397, facing off in a three-player game against Naoko Neikirk (IFPA #5357) and Rachel Otto, a player ranked a staggering 18,235 spots below her at #21632. In a massive upset, Otto conquered the table, taking first place and 7.00 points, while Neikirk claimed second with 4.00 points, leaving Stoddard with a mere 1.00 point for third. It was a jarring start to the evening, but it perfectly encapsulated the defining reality of the OC Belles & Chimes – Season 21 – #6 tournament on April 6, 2026.

The Weight of a Nine-Player Field

With only nine players in the field, this wasn’t a sprawling, anonymous convention center marathon. It was an intimate, high-stakes brawl where individual head-to-head matchups carried significantly more weight than broad field statistics ever could. Every single participant in the room was IFPA-ranked, boasting a national average rank of #7855. More importantly, all nine competitors were state-ranked in the fiercely competitive California North American Championship Series (NACS), holding a formidable average state rank of #499. When a tournament field is this concentrated, there are no easy rounds and no “warm-up” games. Every group draw is a clash of local titans, and every dropped ball echoes loudly in the final standings.

The Anaheim Arena

The battleground for this microcosm of competitive pinball was Captain’s Arcade Showroom in Anaheim, California. Widely regarded by its passionate patrons as a legitimate hidden gem, the showroom features a staggering lineup of over 45 pinball machines to choose from. Reviewers praise it as a place where players “will lose hours and quarters but every second and cent will be worth it”. The venue is meticulously maintained by CC Castaneda. For this event, Castaneda served a grueling triple-role: managing the showroom, acting as the tournament organizer, and stepping up to the flippers as a competitor. Castaneda finished the night in 7th place, highlighted by a flawless 100% win rate on Laser Cue. With a clear sky and a comfortable 68°F outside, the climate inside the showroom was electric, providing a perfect backdrop for the tightly-knit field.

Showdown on John Wick

Nowhere was this competitive friction more visible than on Stern’s brand-new 2024 release, John Wick (LE). In another crucial Round 1 dramatic beat, two of the eventual top finishers, Amanda Little and Nicole Thornhill, found themselves locked in a fierce faceoff alongside Stephanie Diaz. The John Wick machine demands precision; soft plunges that go past the second rollover and roll back into the crate are punishing, offering no Job progress, minimal scoring, and melting the Ball Save timer. Players know that unlocking the game’s multiball involves a grueling sequence: shoot the left orbit, smash the car multiple times, and hit the left orbit again. Little, who has been surging up the ranks—climbing 1,670 places globally this year alone—navigated the chaotic playfield masterfully. She secured first place in the group for 7.00 points, forcing Thornhill to settle for second and 4.00 points, while Diaz took third. That single game proved instrumental in the final standings, as both Little and Thornhill would eventually find themselves inextricably linked on the podium. Little went on to boast a 100% win rate on both John Wick (LE) and Pulp Fiction (SE) during the event.

The Veteran’s Resilience

Despite her shocking early stumble on Pokémon, Laura Stoddard demonstrated exactly why she has been a force in competitive pinball for 23 years. A veteran of 407 career tournaments and a former top-120 player globally, Stoddard shook off the upset and went to work. Her machine performance throughout the rest of the 93-minute tournament was surgical. She posted a flawless 100% win rate across a diverse slate of tables, securing victories on Counterforce, Frontier, John Wick (LE), and the 1997 Williams classic, Medieval Madness. On Medieval Madness—a beloved table where players must repeatedly batter the castle gate to open it up and score big points—Stoddard claimed a dominant victory over both Otto and Neikirk, earning a measure of redemption against the players who had bested her earlier. Her resilience paid off, securing her the overall first-place finish.

The Podium Picture

The rest of the leaderboard reflected the fierce parity of the nine-player field.

OC Belles & Chimes – Season 21 – #6 Podium

Final Placement	Player Name	IFPA National Rank	CA NACS State Rank
1st	Laura Stoddard	#3397	#531
2nd	Hillary Jacobson	#3132	#227
3rd (Tie)	Nicole Thornhill	#2944	#208
3rd (Tie)	Amanda Little	#8202	#401

• Hillary Jacobson (2nd Place) finished just behind Stoddard. Sitting at a CA NACS rank of #227, Jacobson came into the event having amassed 29.86 WPPR points across six events this season. She dominated her matchups on a wide array of machines , boasting 100% win rates on Ice Fever, Jurassic Park (30th Anniversary), Black Knight 2000, and Legends of Wrestlemania.
• Nicole Thornhill (Tied 3rd) carried heavy expectations as the strongest player in the field by both national and state metrics. With 33.35 WPPR points from eight events this season, she lived up to her billing , systematically taking down wins on Creature from the Black Lagoon and Elton John to secure her bronze finish.
• Amanda Little (Tied 3rd) tied Thornhill for third place. Her CA NACS rank of #401 and 9.19 WPPR points over five events might have made her the underdog on paper against Thornhill, but her head-to-head victory on John Wick (LE) solidified her spot.

The middle of the pack was just as tight, with Erica Oursland taking 5th and Naoko Neikirk finishing 6th.

Every Matchup Matters

The final standings of the OC Belles & Chimes event serve as a stark reminder of the unique pressures inherent in small-field competition. When only nine players step up to the flippers, there is absolutely no place to hide. Every player was a ranked, seasoned competitor in the California circuit, turning a routine league meet into a heavy-hitting gauntlet where individual rivalries took center stage. Rachel Otto proved that a massive rankings deficit can be erased with a single plunge of the ball. Laura Stoddard proved that a true champion doesn’t let one bad game dictate their night. Ultimately, in an environment this intimate, the narrative isn’t driven by sweeping field statistics—it is forged in the fires of head-to-head combat, where every flipped ball can rewrite the script.