Two nights, two leagues, same bowling center, same ball.
But that’s where the similarities end for Perry Township’s Paul Sanko III, who rolled back-to-back 800 series at Park Centre Lanes recently.
The first night during the Pizza Oven Classic league, Sanko put together games of 230, 300 and 278 for 808. He then came back Day 2 in the Sharpshooters mixed league with 289, 300 and 223 for 812.
It gives Sanko 10 career 800 series and 18 300 games, including four this season between the two leagues.
“The first night I had a decent average game in Game 1. The second one I had a really crappy third game,” said the 43-year-old right-hander who operates a third-party medical billing firm with his wife. “It was just nerves, me being scatter-brained, throwing the ball too hard and not doing what I was supposed to do.”
Night 1 started with decent practice balls — “I think I struck on every shot except one where I was trying to see how much room I had,” Sanko said — before going out for 230, missing a spare after leaving a 7-count on his second ball in the 10th frame.
Then Sanko went on a 21-strike run between Games 2 and 3.
“There was a lot of luck in there,” Sanko said of his 300. “I had a couple of messengers, some light shots and some stringers up the middle, but nothing Brooklyn.”
Rolling along in Game 3, the thought of two 300s did cross his mind. But there also was a more pressing issue — Sanko still was alive in the Park Centre strike pot, good for $2,000.
“Toward the end I was thinking about it (two 300s). In a night where I have nine in a row, why not?” Sanko added. “That first ball in the 10th was for the jackpot. The nerves kind of got me there. I haven’t gotten that close to double 300s plus the jackpot all at the same time.”
Instead, he left a 4-8 spare, which he converted to finish out with the 278.
“I knew I had a chance for the 800 if I picked up the spare. After the 300 and 230 and getting to 270 I thought just finish out clean and see what happens,” Sanko said.
Night 2 was an entirely different situation.
Sanko ran off the first 10 strikes before leaving a 10-pin in his quest for another 300 in Game 1. But that was cleared up when he ran off the next 12 in a row in Game 2 to get to 589 after two games.
“You have to be thinking about (800) at that point. In Game 3, I just lost my carry. I just did too much thinking about a good 800 because I knew what I had,” Sanko said. “There were a lot of nerves going on.
“I was trying to throw a good ball, but I didn’t get the carry and I got a little lackadaisical out there.”
After a 10-pin miss in the third frame and early struggles, Sanko thought his second 800 quest had ended. But then he ran off six strikes in a row.
“I thought that ruined my chances. But I stayed clean with that big string in there with a couple of spares,” Sanko said. “It was one of those times where I knew the third game I was not going to do well with the way I was throwing it.
“I was trying to pull out whatever I could just so I could have face. There’s been a couple of nights where I followed a 300 with a 180.”
Sanko called the magnitude of his accomplishment “overwhelming.”
“I was just wired up after the first night and especially after Thursday,” Sanko said of his second 800 that came with his family watching as part of the league. “I couldn’t sleep. I was just hoping those nights would flow into the state tournament.”
The following weekend, Sanko bowled in the Ohio State USBC Open Championships in Toledo. His wish came true with a 770 in singles.
“This is the best overall year I’ve had,” said Sanko, who also has had three 299s this season. “I’ve had years where I’ve had two 300s in a season. But nothing like this, with the two 800s.”