Hatch Back on Top of Joss Tour
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Amsterdam, NY
by Lea Andrews
Recent Mosconi Cup MVP Dennis Hatch may have briefly fallen from grace at the last Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop, but at the February 20-21 stop, he proved the fall was only temporary. Hatch topped the field of 44 that gathered for the $2,000-added event, which was held at Main St. Billiards in Amsterdam, NY.
Hatch edged out last stop’s winner Chris Orme 9-8 to reach the hot seat match against Dan Heidrich, who’d come out on top of his own hill-hill match against Kevin Guimond. Hatch took control of the set 9-6 to claim the hot seat and push Heidrich into the semifinals.
On the left side of the bracket, tournament director Mike Zuglan, who’d earlier taken a 9-7 loss to Hatch, had been blazing his way through the field. A 9-2 blowout over Tom Acciavatti put him up against Paul Dryden, who’d breezed past Jared Zimmerman 9-2. After taking care of Dryden 9-5, Zuglan moved on to Guimond. Meanwhile, Dave Grau eked out a win over Mike Dechaine 9-8 to face Dave Fernandez, who’d held Paul Rozonewski to five games. Fernandez managed just four against Grau, though, and landed in seventh while Grau moved on to Orme, who had his eyes on another stint in the finals. A 9-6 victory over Grau pushed Orme into the quarterfinals against Zuglan, who’d eased past Guimond 9-3. Both Zuglan and Orme were looking for the rematch with Hatch, and though Zuglan fought hard for it, it was Orme who got himself one step closer 9-6, and another 9-6 win over Heidrich in the semifinals put him there.
It seemed like a second set wouldn’t be needed in the true double-elimination final match as Hatch got out to a comfortable 7-3 lead, but Orme stormed back into the match, keeping the string to himself and pushing the second set 9-7. The two powerhouses stayed even at first, tying up at four games apiece, but once Hatch managed to pull away a little bit, he stayed there, earning his fourth Joss win this season 9-7.
Hatch topped the field of 44 that gathered for the $2,000-added event, which was held at Main St. Billiards in Amsterdam, NY.
Results:
1st Dennis Hatch $1,500
2nd Chris Orme $1,000
3rd Dan Heidrich $760
4th Mike Zuglan $560
5th Kevin Guimond $400
Dave Grau
7th Paul Dryden $250
Dave Fernandez
9th Tom Acciavatti $100
Jared Zimmerman
Paul Rozonewski
Mike Dechaine