Hatch Pulls off a Hat Trick

Hatch Pulls off a Hat Trickby Rick DavisThe January 13-14 weekend brought the first event for the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour of the new year, their eighth stop of the season, which drew a hearty 32-player billiards field into Cap’s Cue Club in Syracuse, NY. The last two events have been dominated by Dennis “The Hatchet Man” Hatch, and his arrival once again left players shaken while spectators wondered if he could pull off three consecutive wins. Late action on the winners’ side certainly supported the expectations as Hatch breezed past Gary Empey 9-3 to reach the hot seat match and yet to give up more than four racks all weekend. Nearby, Dick Cappotto just squeezed past WPBA pro Karen Corr after a double-hill showdown. Hatch was not concerned even with Cappotto, the room owner, staring him down. Before long he skipped by Cappotto 9-3 to reach the finals.
Back on the one-loss side, Empey eliminated Mario Morra 9-7 while Corr stayed alive by knocking out Bucky Souvanthong 9-5. In the quarterfinals, Corr handed out another 9-5 defeat to Empey bringing her to face Cappotto in the semis. The match tipped toward each player early on until Cappotto caught a gear that propelled him to the 9-6 win. With Hatch well-rested, Cappotto appeared for a rematch; however, Hatch managed to improve upon his previous thrashing—this time around Hatch drilled Cappotto 9-2 to take the match and his third consecutive Joss Northeast Tour win. Next, the tour moves on to Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ, where the season’s ninth event will unfold over the January 20-21 weekend. Results:1st Dennis Hatch2nd Dick Cappotto3rd Karen Corr4th Gary Empey5th Mario MorraBucky Souvanthong7th Eric HildebrandLin Wechsler

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