Hernandez Wins Hampton Ridge Opener

By Bill Rosenberger

Frankie Hernandez picked up right where he left off o­n the Hampton Ridge 9-Ball Tour.  The season-opening event took place o­n February 27 at Master Billiards in New York City.   

A strong field of 32 players filled the room for the o­ne-day event, including Hernandez, Joey Korsiak, Eddie Abraham, and Eddie Vasquez.  And all four were in contention for a victory as the day wore o­n.

Hernandez dominated most of his matches, winning 7-1 over Michael Tosado and Noel Bensurto, while pulling out a 7-5 win over Joe Scott.  o­n the bottom of the winner's bracket Korsiak was doing much of the same, besting Kent Wuethrich, Marc Vidal, and both Vasquez and Abraham. 

With their strong play, Hernandez and Korsiak advanced to the hot seat match, and they left it all o­n the table, as the match remained close throughout.  Finally, Hernandez seized the momentum and edged out the last few games to win 7-5.

After Vasquez was sent to the o­ne-loss side by Korsiak, he ousted Redgie Culter and David Carver to reach the semifinals to face, o­nce again, Korsiak.  Vasquez got his revenge by easily winning 7-2 and advancing to the finals.

In the final match, Hernandez played the way he usually does when a victory is o­n the line.  Vasquez tried to make a comeback, but Hernandez already had control, and he went o­n to win 9-4.

Results:

1st Frankie Hernandez

2nd Eddie Vasquez

3rd Joey Korsiak

4th David Carver

5th Sean Morgan, Redgie Cutler

7th Pat McNally, John Smith

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