Tavernier Comes Through With Victory at Turning Stone

By Bill Rosenberger

There's an old saying about turning over a new leaf, but Steve Tavernier might just change that to turning over a new stone after coming back from the o­ne-loss side to wipe out Ryan McCreesh in the finals of the Turning Stone Casino Classic.  The February 19-20 event was Tavernier's first big Joss Tour win, making Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY, his new favorite place to play. 

A full field of 96 gathered for the two-day event, including some of the biggest names from New York and the east coast, and many of those names were still beating the billiard balls around when Sunday's action started. 

First, there was McCreesh, whose weekend included wins over Bob Lewis, Mike Carelli, and Pete Genovese, followed by Sunday's wins over Jose Parica and Tavernier to reach the hot seat match.  His opponent was Frankie Hernandez, who may have had o­ne of the toughest draws in the tournament.  After a first-round bye, he battled a few of the best players in the tournament and walked away with victories.  His victims included Mike Wallace, Joey Korsiak, Keith McCready, Teddy Garrahan, and Mike Ransom, which propelled him to the hot seat match against McCreesh.  But it was clear from the start that Hernandez' game wasn't o­n, and McCreesh walked away with a 9-3 win. 

The aforementioned Ransom put together an impressive weekend of 9-ball as well. The Boston, MA, poolroom owner opened with a first-round win over Tom Pound, followed by three straight blowouts over Doug Laplant, Jay Stevens, and tournament director Mike Zuglan.  o­n Sunday, Ransom bested Lyn Wechsler before he fell to Hernandez. 

Meanwhile, Tavernier was playing confidently, but he wasn't as consistent.  He easily won his first match 9-1 over Wint Filipek but nearly went to the wire against Mike Deneault.  Then Tavernier dominated the table against Norm Pomainville before pulling out a tough 9-7 victory over Joe Dipietro.  His second day of play was more of the same, as he bested Dennis Hatch before falling to McCreesh in a nail-biting 9-8 showdown.   

Once in the o­ne-loss side, though, Tavernier turned his game up a full notch.  He faced Hatch again and earned the sweep with a 9-6 victory, sending Hatch home with a fourth-place finish.  Tavernier and Hernandez then dueled it out in the semifinals, and for the second straight match, Tavernier notably outplayed his opponent, scoring the 9-5 win. 

A packed house gathered around the watch the race-to-13 final match, and they witnessed a brilliant display of 9-ball by Tavernier.  The closest McCreesh got in the match was 3-1, as Tavernier outplayed him in every aspect of the game, ultimately winning 13-2. 

Results:

1st Steve Tavernier $5,500

2nd Ryan McCreesh $3,600

3rd Frankie Hernandez $2,500

4th Dennis Hatch $2,000

5th Carlos Vieira, Mark Ransom $1,500

7th Santos Sambajon Jr., Jean Theriault $1,000

9th Jose Parica, Lyn Wechsler, Ronnie Wiseman, Teddy Garrahan $700

13th Dan Doerner, Jay Stevens, Gary Empey, Mike Davis $400

17th Ivaylo Petrov, Joe Tucker, Pete Genovese, Joe Dipietro, Dave Fernandez, Mike Zuglan, Allen Hopkins, Keith McCready $200
 
 

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the Joss Tour and the Turning Stone Casino Classic.