Gareth Steele
Gareith Steele defeated a familiar foe - Corey Tapley - twice to take first place in the seventh stop of the Lucasi Hybrid New England 9-Ball Series held on Sunday, November 28. The $100-added event drew 24 players to Sebago Billiards in Windham, ME.
Steele and Tapley had last met in October, when they battled for a slot in the quarterfinals at the same location; Steele, the 6-1 victor. This time, though, they battled twice; first, for the hot seat and later, in the finals. From among the winners' side final four, Tapley got into the hot seat match with a 4-2 victory over Joe Meuse. Steele joined him, following a 6-3 win over Nick Vasallo. In their first of two, Steele gained the hot seat 6-3.
On the one-loss side, Nick Conner, who'd been sent over by Vasallo 4-1 from among the final eight winners, was on a four-match journey to the semifinals. He defeated tour director Marc Dionne 5-3 and Ben LaBlanc 6-3, to pick up Meuse. Dan Brien, who'd defeated Jimmy Nuygen 6-2 and Josh Paquet 5-2, was waiting for Vasallo. Vasallo downed Brien 4-2, and with a 5-2 victory over Meuse, Conner got his chance to avenge the previous loss. And did so, 6-2 over Vasallo, in the quarterfinals that followed.
Tapley, looking for a second match against Steele, ended Conner's run with a 4-1 victory in the semifinals. Steele, though, took the opening set of the true double elimination final 6-3, securing his undefeated day, and his second win on the tour.
