Mike DeMarco, Jordan Emerson and William Aley
In a gritty come-from-the-loss side performance that belied his pool career resume, Jordan Emerson worked his way through a short field of 24 entrants at the April 25 stop (#9) on the New England 9-Ball Series. He returned from a three-match campaign on the loss side to down Mike DeMarco twice in the true double elimination final that earned him his first NE 9-Ball Series and tournament-anywhere title.
Our records indicate that Emerson and DeMarco have both competed on the same tours and New England-oriented events since about 2013. The difference, though, is that while they both came into this recent event with the exact same Fargo Rate of 575 and had joined the AZBilliards’ player database in the same year (2013), DeMarco had cashed in a total of 14 events since that time, while Emerson had cashed in only two. The last time Emerson brought cash home from a tournament before this past weekend (that we know about) was in 2013, when he finished 9th at the 25th Annual Ocean State 9-Ball Championships (won that year by Mike Dechaine, defeating Jayson Shaw in the finals). The $500-added 8-Ball event that earned Emerson his first major victory drew its 24 entrants to Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
The aforementioned “grit” that characterized Emerson’s trip to the winners’ circle this time was exemplified in his nine matches, all but two of which went either double hill or one game shy of becoming double hill. One of his three double hill matches was won by DeMarco. One of the matches he won by a wide margin (5-1) was his quarterfinal match against Phillip Russo, while the other wide-margin win, same margin, came against DeMarco in the first set of the double elimination final.
Following victories over Dave Soule 5-3, Jim Prather, double hill, and Derek Cunningham 5-3, Emerson faced DeMarco for the first time in a winners’ side semifinal. From the lower bracket, William Aley and Phillip Russo squared off in the other one.
A harbinger of things to come, Emerson and DeMarco battled to double hill before DeMarco dropped the last 8-ball and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Aley, who’d defeated Russo 4-1. DeMarco shut Aley out and claimed the hot seat.
Emerson began his trip back to the finals against Francisco Cabral, sporting a 68-point higher Fargo rate (643-575), who was working on a modest, four-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently sent Justin Bertrand home after a double hill fight and defeated Matthew Rezendes 5-2. Russo picked up Barrett Ridley, who’d shut out both Amanda Reynolds and Sandra Kostant to reach him.
Russo won a double hill fight versus Ridley and advanced to the quarterfinals. Emerson joined him after defeating Cabral 4-3 (Cabral racing to 5). In a straight-up race to 5, Emerson gave up only a single rack to Russo in their quarterfinal match, and then downed William Aley 5-3 in the semifinals for a shot at DeMarco in the hot seat.
Emerson opened his necessary two-match, last campaign against DeMarco by allowing him only a single rack in the opening set of their true double elimination final. DeMarco rose to the challenge and battled him to double hill in the second set before Emerson finished it to claim his first event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Straight Shooter’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator, Poison, Arcos II, BCAPL, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, AzBilliards, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3 Cushion News, MJS Construction, Master Billiards, OTLVISE, Piku Tips and Just The Tip Cue Repair and Custom Accessories. The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series (#10), scheduled for this weekend (May 2), will be a $500-added event, hosted by House of Billiards in Hampton Falls, NH.
