Emerson Verano, sitting in the hot seat, watched, as James "Doc" Pasciolla completed a six-match, loss-side run to meet him in the finals of the September 21 stop on the Tri-State Tour. Pasciolla had been at it on the loss side since the opening round, and eliminated five opponents (plus one by forfeit). Verano, though, stepped to the table and stopped the run to finish undefeated. The $1,000-added event drew 19 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Verano's trip through the winners' bracket kept tightening. He opened with a 7-4 win over Fred Garcia, then gave up five to Chris Karp and in a winners' side semifinal, battled to double hill before winning over Steve Kaminow. Verano's hot seat opponent, Andrew Cleary, had weathered some tough storms of his own, including two, successive double hill wins over Mike Guevara and Martin Carducci for the right to face Verano for the hot seat. Verano sent Cleary to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Pasciolla.
Pasciolla's loss-side trip began with a shutout over Mike Figueroa, and almost stalled in a double hill battle against Mike Guevara. He survived to earn a re-match against Motos, whom he defeated 6-3 to pick up Carducci, coming over from the winners' side semifinal. Kaminow drew Chris Karp, who'd defeated Mike Cardinale 7-2 and Eddie Medina, double hill.
Pasciolla rolled on through to the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over Carducci, as Karp was busy defeating Kaminow, double hill. Pasciolla won his second, loss-side double hill battle against Karp and with a forfeit by Cleary, jumped right into the finals against Verano. Verano opened up with a six-pack, and though Pasciolla would win the next two, and then, three more, Verano completed his undefeated run 8-5 to claim his first Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rockaway Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, a $1000-added, A-D handicapped 9-ball event, is scheduled for September 29 at On the Snap Billiards in Sayreville, NJ.
