When Mark Joseph and Clint Pires met in the hot seat match and finals of the November 25 stop on the Tri-State Tour, it guaranteed them their second appearance in the AZ database; Pires had finished 4th on a Tri-State stop in August at Clifton Billiards, Joseph finished 5th a month later at Shooter’s Billiards in Wayne, NJ. Joseph won both matches to claim his first regional tour title. The $1,000-added event drew 25 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Both matches went double hill, sending Joseph and Pires into the hot seat match, while Lapadula and Altamirano moved to the loss side. They had both secured their highest finish on the tour, but neither of them was finished. Joseph gave up only a single rack to Pires in their hot seat matchup (5-1) and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Kevin Serodio, who’d lost his opening round to Jowen Pichardo, was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that came within a game of derailing Pires’ bid for a rematch against Joseph. Victories over Luis Lopez and Shane Soto were followed by a 5-2 win over Bob Toomey, and a 5-1 victory over Greg Partlow, which set Serodio up to meet Lapadula. Altamirano, in the meantime, drew Carlos Serrano, who’d gotten by Gil McGrath 5-3 and Michelle Brotons 5-1 to reach him.
Identical 5-1 scores sent Altamirano (over Serrano) and Serodio (over Lapadula) to the quarterfinals, where Serodio chalked up loss-side win #5 over Altimarano 5-3.
Pires was already in a position to record his best finish on the tour when he arrived from the hot seat match to face Serodio in the semifinals. He secured a minimum runner-up finish with a double hill win that ended Serodio’s loss-side winning streak.
In some ways, for both Joseph and Pires, it didn’t matter who won the final match. Both were assured of their best finish, to date, on the tour. But in other ways, it mattered a lot, because they battle to double hill to decide it. In the extended race-to-7 final, if Pires reached five first, the match would extend to seven games. Pires forced that extension and was able to chalk up another rack to reach the hill, but Joseph hung on to win it and claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for December 2, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Frank Sieczka came to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ on Sunday, September 23, looking to chalk up his second victory of the 2018-2019 Tri-State Tour season. His good friend and travel partner, Artur Trzeciak, came in search of his first recorded event victory ever. Sieczka made it to the hot seat. Trzeciak won five on the loss side to meet him in the finals. They opted out of the final match, leaving the undefeated Sieczka as the official winner, and Trzeciak with his first runner-up finish. The $1,000-added, 8-ball event drew 40 entrants.
Trzeciak won his first two matches before running into Joshua Joseph in a winners’ side quarterfinal. A 4-2 victory by Joseph sent Trzeciak to the loss side and advanced Joseph to a winners’ side semifinal against Bernie Vogelsang. Sieczka, in the meantime, worked his way through four opponents (Joe Mazzeo, Sean Emmitt, Paul Madonia and Victor Silva) to arrive at the other winners’ side semifinal against Joshua Joseph’s father, Mark Joseph.
Sieczka sent the elder Joseph to the loss side 5-2, as Vogelsang sent the son west 6-4. Sieczka played what proved to be his last match, downing Vogelsang 6-4 to claim the hot seat, and essentially, win the event title.
On the loss side, the elder Joseph (Mark) ran into Greg Partlow, who’d benefited from a forfeit by Allison LaFleur and eliminated Victor Silva, double hill. The son, Joshua, got a re-match against the ‘finals bound’ Trzeciak, who, following his defeat by Joshua, had eliminated Chris Rudy, double hill, and Joe Romeo 5-1. Father and son got to leave at the same time; Dad downed by Partlow, double hill, while son was shutout in his re-match versus Trzeciak.
Trzeciak battled to double hill in the quarterfinals against Partlow before dropping the final 8-ball and advancing to his last match of the night, against Vogelsang in the semifinals. He won that match 6-4, agreed to the split with Sieczka, and presumably, with cash in both their pockets, they left together.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, along with sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 30, will be a Double Points event, hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
Four years ago, Frank Sieczka chalked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour. The following year, he added two more tour victories. And then, as far as the winners’ circle went. . .crickets. He was runner-up in two events last year, and in March of this year, he placed fifth in an event won by Joe Romeo. On Saturday, July 21, Sieczka worked his way back into a Tri-State victory, going undefeated, though challenged at the end by Romeo, who’d been sent to the loss side in the opening round and won eight in a row to get into the finals. The $1,000-added 8-Ball event drew 28 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
With Romeo toiling away on the loss side, Sieczka advanced to meet Greg Partlow in a winners’ side semifinal. Joseph Bossert faced Jake Kislowski in the other winners’ side semifinal. Sieczka downed Partlow 5-2 and in the hot seat match, faced Bossert, who’d sent Kislowski west in a double hill battle. Sieczka then defeated Bossert 5-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the return of Romeo. . .
. . . who was busy. With three down, he picked up a forfeit win over Shane Soto and defeated Mac Jankov 5-2 to pick up Kislowski. Partlow drew Roberto Hung Ho, who’d eliminated Christian Long 6-1 and Qian Chen 6-3 to reach him.
Hung Ho defeated Partlow 6-3, while Romeo was sending Kislowski to the (figurative) showers 5-1. Romeo and Hung Ho locked up in a double hill, quarterfinal fight, eventually won by Romeo, who proceeded to deny Bossert a second chance at Sieczka by defeating him 6-4 in the semifinals.
Sieczka and Romeo had not met in the event this past March, when Romeo advanced to the hot seat and Sieczka advanced through the loss side only as far as the 5th/6th slot. Showing no signs of hot seat ‘rust,’ Sieczka took the final 6-2 to claim his first Tri-State title in three years.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, July 28, will be hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
