Olivieri double-dips Roberge to take Rack ‘Em Up Tour stop

It was the first time in the history of the Northeast-based Rack ‘Em Up Tour that two “C” level players competed in the finals. And it was the lower “C” player, Casey Olivieri, who came back from a shutout defeat in the hot seat match to double dip the “C+” player, Bill Roberge, in the finals. The A/C handicapped event, held Sunday, March 27, drew 56 entrants to The Fan Club in East Wareham, MA.

They met first once Olivieri had sent Josh Gormly west 3-3 (Gormly needing to reach “5”), and Roberge had sent Choneyi Tenzin over 3-1. In the “5-4 race” hot seat match that followed, Roberge didn't give up a single rack in a victory that turned out to be his last.

Gormly picked up Joey Dupuis on the one-loss side. Dupuis, who'd been sent west by Tenzin from among the final eight winners, survived two straight double hill matches against Pete Bowman and Kevin Bauccio to reach Gormly. Tenzin drew Liz Taylor, who'd defeated DJ Hopkins 5-1, in a straight-up race to 5, and Jim Prather, double hill, in a race to 4.  It was Taylor and Dupuis who advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating both Tenzin and Gormly 5-2.

Dupuis then defeated Taylor 5-2, and latched on to an apparently determined Olivieri in the semifinals. Olivieri ended Dupuis' day, defeating him 3-5 (Dupuis needing to reach 7) and turning back for a double elimination final versus Roberge. Olivieri gave up only a single rack in the opening set, and though Roberge battled to double hill in the second set, Olivieri hung on to take the game, set and match that earned him top honors.

Dupuis added to his third-place winnings in the main event by pocketing $31 in the Break and Run contest. Jim Prather, who finished the main event in a tie for 7th place, ended up as the event's top money winner, when he sunk seven balls in his Break and Run attempt, which added $490 to the $75 he'd already earned.