Geoff Schafer and Julian Tierney
In what looks to be his first recorded event victory in a regional tour, Geoff Schafer went undefeated to claim that victory at a stop on the Garden State Pool Tour last weekend (July 29-30). He got through some veteran competitors to do it, including, in the hot seat and finals, Julian Tierney. The $250-added event drew 48 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Schafer comported himself well in his first trip to a regional tour winners’ circle. After being awarded an opening round bye, he advanced to the hot seat match having given up only six racks through 33 games; one rack each to Alfredo Altamirano, Dave Schull, and in a winners’ side semifinal, Raymond Paragas. In the second round, Christopher Cheung managed to chalk up three against him.
Schafer’s opponent in the hot seat match, Julian Tierney, who was also awarded a bye, did even better than that. He arrived to challenge Schafer in the hot seat match with a 32-3 record. He opened with a shutout over Pat Mareno, gave up two racks to Pat Mareno and only one to Santos Carpio, before shutting out Brook Villa in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Given their combined 59-9 record for an 86% game-winning average before the hot seat match, their 55/45% game-winning average in the hot seat match must have come as a bit of a shock, and probably a wake-up call. Schafer chalked up the six racks to Tierney’s five and claimed the hot seat.
Looming on a loss-side horizon was Pascal Dufresne, who’d lost his second-round match, double hill, to Tri Chau (4-6, Dufresne racing to 7). Dufresne went on a six-match, loss-side winning streak. The DigitalPool bracket for the event tagged Dufresne’s last win in that streak, a 7-2 successful re-match against Tri Chau, as ending at 4:01 p.m., about 15 minutes after the conclusion of the last winners’ side semifinal. By that time, Schafer and Tierney were already engaged in their battle for the hot seat, not knowing that one of their potential threats to challenge one of them from the loss side, had lost his seventh match, to Brook Villa (4-5, Dufresne racing to 8).
Villa advanced to the quarterfinals and was joined by Raymund Paragas, who’d picked up Hunter Sullivan. Sullivan, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Villa, was probably looking forward to a rematch and in service to that had given up only a single rack to each of his two previous loss-side opponents, Steve Barreiro and James Conn. Sullivan didn’t get by Paragas, who downed him 6-2 join Villa in the quarterfinals.
Paragas and Villa battled to double hill in those quarterfinals, with Paragas prevailing to face Tierney in the semifinals. Tierney gave up just a single rack to Paragas and headed back east on the bracket for a second shot at Schafer, waiting for him in the hot seat. In a straight-up race to 6, Schafer downed Tierney a second time, 6-3, and claimed the event title.
Tour director Dave Fitzpatrick thanked Kris Kemp and her Shooter’s Family Billiards’ staff for their hospitality, along with sponsors In the Bx, Kamui, JFlower Cues & Cases, John Bender Custom Cues, Billiard Engineering, Outsville, and Off the Rail Apparel. The next stop on the Garden State Pool Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 19-20, will be a 675 and lower Fargo 9-Ball event, to be hosted by Diamond Jim’s Billiards and Pub in Nanuet, NY.
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