AKRON — A weekend that began in sorrow ended in triumph for a pair of Akron boyhood friends who grew up bowling in The National Bowling Association youth organization.
Kimani Smith and Royce Fry spent Saturday at the celebration of life for deceased childhood friend Raymond Jones, a fellow TNBA Youth member.
A week ago, Fry contacted Smith (now living in Dayton) about bowling an event in the Akron area, but it didn’t fit in with Smith’s work schedule. However, following the Saturday event, Fry had his partner back out for Sunday’s Mac’s Cabana Scratch Doubles sweeper at Spins Bowl-Akron. He immediately thought about asking Smith.
“I saw this tournament was going on and it was perfect for me, it was perfect since I was on spring break,” said Smith, a 36-year-old right-hander who is assistant principal at Dayton Belmont High School. “He told me the person he was going to bowl with couldn’t bowl, kind of inferring for me to bowl.”
After leading the 14-team field after Game 1, the pair fell to third after Games 2 and 3 before earning the No. 1 seed following the four-game qualifier with 1,893 total pinfall.
Fry and Smith then completed their quest with a 421-390 win over the Kent area father-son team of Logan and Eugene Manhard in the title match.
“I just thought it was meant for us to win,” said Fry, a 35-year-old right-hander who led the team during qualifying with 1,065, including the event’s lone 300 in Game 4. “He thought about it when I asked. It was just about winning this for Ray, in his memory.
“I hate to say it, but I’m kind of glad my partner backed out. It worked out the way we wanted it to.”
Smith, who has bowled sporadically over the past several years, was hoping to find some of his old equipment at his parents’ house in Akron. He showed up at the tourney with one old urethane ball. It was the only ball he had.
“I was kind of throwing it at the 3-pin and hitting it good, trying to keep it in the oil,” said Smith, who hit the ball with 1,000 grit before the tourney. “I didn’t want to mess with the friction. Actually, what I was doing probably affected the other team a bit. It helped me at the beginning and again at the end.”
The Manhards, the third seed entering the three-team stepladder finals, advanced to the title match by stopping first-time adult tourney participants Patrick Ambrose and Jerry Koerber 438-373 in the semifinals.
Ambrose, a 20-year old Akron lefty, teamed with Koerber, a 17-year-old Springfield High School senior righty two-hander. Koerber, who plans to forego college to join the Professional Bowlers Association when he turns 18 on April 29, finished with 927 in qualifying with a high game of 279. He shot 190 in the semifinal with one split while Ambrose, who had 950 with a 278, shot 183 with one split and a missed 7-pin spare.
In the semifinals, Logan Manhard had the final six strikes after a pair of splits while Eugene Manhard had four strikes in a row to put the match away.
The title match was a different story.
“The old guy just ran out of gas,” said 52-year-old righty Eugene, who is recovering from a heart attack suffered in January. “When you bowl just one day a week after that, it just beat me up. I’m just getting back into it.”
The Manhards, who were surprised to get the third spot after standing eighth following Game 3, shot 525 in their final game to advance. Logan finished with 928; Eugene had 909.
“I think I threw the ball well, but it just didn’t work out,” said Logan, a 23-year-old right-hander.
Neither team established momentum early in the title match as Smith failed to covert a 10-pin spare after an early double and Fry missed back-to-back 7-pin spares.
“The left lane got a lot more dry and I was bowling with a plastic ball,” Fry said. “It was hard to carry. I should have gotten more left.”
But then Smith got hot, throwing six strikes in a row beginning in the sixth frame, en route to 242 to go with Fry’s 179 with three opens.
“He held me up all day,” Smith said of Fry. “It was only right that he struggled late so I could boost my ego.”
“It was a team effort,” Fry added.
Both Manhards struck only four times each in the title match, with Logan having the only open with a 3-4-5-7-10 split in the 10th frame. Each had one double.
“When I was struggling, I should have gone to a lighter ball,” Eugene said.
But this is one event Fry and Smith will remember.
“We’re working with Gerrick Black (TNBA Youth director) about doing something in Ray’s name,” Smith said. “But this was a good thing and a memory for us.”
NOTEBOOK: The Manhards got the final qualifying spot by just 22 pins over the Walsh University duo of Chase Barstow and Jordan Norris, who shot 454 in their final game. … Viktor Varner, who teamed with Vincent Ludwig to finish fifth, converted the 7-10 split in Game 1. … The team of Red Kroger and Ron Foss, who were in second following Games 2 and 3, dropped to sixth after the final game with a 392. … Fry and Smith led after Games 1 and 4.
MAC’S CABANA SCRATCH DOUBLES
(At Spins Bowl-Akron)
Championship round
Match 1: Logan Manhard (212) and Eugene Manhard (226) d. Jerry Koerber (190) and Patrick Ambrose (183) 438-373. Koerber and Ambrose win $120.
Championship: Kimani Smith (242) and Royce Fry (179) d. Logan Manhard (188) and Eugene Manhard (202) 421-390. Smith and Fry win $584; Logan and Eugene Manhard win $360.