Renae Fawver-Burns has rolled five 700 series in the Custom Poly Ladies league at Park Centre Lanes with her DV8 Diva bowling ball this season.
It is the newest ball the 36-year-old Plain Township resident owns — a ball that has since been retired. She bought it “three or four years ago.”
But something just didn’t feel right. So Burns decided to make a change — to another retired ball that goes back to 2014.
It paid off as she rolled her second career 300 — the last one came during the Canton Women’s Bowling Association Tournament in 2014 — en route to her sixth 700 series, a 769. Her high career series is 793.
Her other 700s this season include 700, 708, 721, 730 and 736.
“I still had the ball that I threw my last 300 with, so I decided to pull it out the last couple of weeks,” Burns, a registered nurse, said of her Hammer Burn. “I really don’t know how old it is, but it works.”
Her 300 came in Game 3 of her series.
“I was a little bit nervous. But I didn’t let myself look back into the crowd because I know how people can gather,” said Burns, who averages 219 in her only league. “I didn’t let myself look back and just did what I know how to do.”
Burns has been battling a shoulder injury the past few weeks.
“I don’t even know what I did,” she said. “It’s been bothering me, but I’ve been bowling great with it so I don’t want to fix it.
“There is some achiness, but I take some Advil and it seems to help. It might be a pinched nerve.”
Burns also took almost 18 months off from bowling after suffering a right-hip injury following a 2019 car accident.
“I had some work done to it, but it hasn’t been bothering me as much,” Burns said. “There’s some achiness there, but no pain.”
But why the ball change after such a successful run?
“I just wanted to pull out the ball I shot 300 with and see what happens,” Burns said. “The Diva doesn’t hit as hard as the Burn, so just wanted to try the other one.”
Why all the success this season?
“I really don’t know what it is. I go out to have fun and bowl with my friends,” Burns said. “If I get lined up, I get lined up.
“I think I have slowed down a lot getting to the line. I used to be real fast, and that helps me.”
Burns has one goal remaining this season — topping her career-high average of 221 that she accumulated before hip surgery. She is at 219 now.
“That’s the goal,” Burns said, “to aim higher even though it’s been my best year ever.”
PAIR OF 300s FOR PETRICK
Canton’s Jossett Petrick, who operates JP Family Pro Shop at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, also has a pair of 300 games this season.
Petrick rolled a 300 with a 793 series on Feb. 2 and then followed that up with a 300 and 784 on March 16. Both came at AMF Hall of Fame.
Petrick now has 15 career 300 games.