AKRON — Vicktor Varner admits he doesn’t scoreboard watch at any time.
“it’s one frame, one game at a time,” the 42-year-old Akron left-hander said, “and the rest will take care of itself.”
The same cannot be said for Varner’s partner, 26-year-old Wickliffe right-hander Vincent Ludwig, who knew exactly where the pair stood entering the final game of Sunday’s Mac’s Cabana Sunday Sweeper doubles event at Spins Bowl Akron.
“I took a look after the third game and knew we were just two pins out of fourth,” Ludwig said. “After what we shot the last game, I knew there was a chance.”
Varner had 268 in Game 4 to go with Ludwig’s 193 to earn the third and final stepladder finals spot by just one pin. And, after failing to reach the finals in their 10 previous attempts, the pair made it pay off by earning the win with a 424-394 win over No. 1 seed Tyron McKinney and Ryan Ashby.
“We’ve missed the cut here five or six times by less than 10 pins,” said Ludwig, who earned his first win of any type in two seasons. “I’ve had a lot of honor scores and high finishes, but this is just fantastic.”
After narrowly getting through the qualifying round, the pair first had to stop the Akron pair of Springfield High School senior two-hander Jerry Koerber and left-hander Colton Riddle, who shot 300 in Game 2 of qualifying.
It was not a good start. After Varner opened with a double, he left a split in the third frame and then rolled a gutter ball on his first shot in the fifth and followed it with an eight-count.
“I rolled the ball off my ankle. I was more mad than anything else,” Varner said. “I started with a ball that just flattened out. So I went to a stronger ball that was more rounder for me, stayed aggressive and let the ball do the work.”
Ludwig missed a 10-pin spare in the fifth frame, and the pair trailed by nearly 100 pins heading into the sixth frame.
“We were on fresh oil for the match, so I had more room to the right,” Ludwig said. “I had to square things up a bit. Once I did that, I was fine.”
Ludwig (236) went on to throw seven straight strikes while Varner (195) added four in a row before a 3-7 split in the 10th frame to gain a 431-399 win. Riddle (200) and Koerber (199) aided their opponents’ surge with the former leaving 6-8 and 6-7 splits in the seventh and 10th frames, respectively, and the latter missing a 10-pin spare and throwing his own gutter ball in the eighth frame, getting seven on his second shot.
The title match was a different story as Varner started with four strikes before leaving a pocket 7-10 split in the fifth. Ludwig struck on four of his first five shots, covering a 10-pin spare in the second.
McKinney left a 7-pin spare in the second and a 7-10 split in the third while Ashby had a 2-8-10 split in the first and a 4-10 split in the fifth. Neither had more than a double until McKinney struck three times in the 10th frame.
“If those shots carry early, it might have been a different story. But that’s bowling,” said McKinney, a 41-year-old Mansfield right-hander. “I’ve been on the other side of it before, but it sucks.”
McKinney had a chance to tighten the match with a strike up in the ninth, but left a 3-6-10 spare. Ashby also left a 10-pin in the eighth following a double.
“I was a little slow. I knew I needed it,” McKinney said of his shot. ”In my head I got a little grabby and it just wasn’t a very good shot. I got what I deserved.”
“The last game just got the best of us. In practice I just tricked myself that the right lane wasn’t hooking,” said Ashby, a 27-year-old Madison right-hander. “I switched balls and started on the right lane with that same ball and it still didn’t hook, but it hooked on the other lane.
“I was just all confused. So I just buckled down and tried to make good shots. I would either carry or there was no carry.”
Ludwig struck only once after the fifth frame, missing a 6-9-10 spare in the seventh and leaving a 4-6-7 split in the eighth. But Varner stayed clean, running off the final four strikes to preserve the win.
Ludwig finished with 190 while Varner checked in with 234. McKinney had 205 to team with Ashby’s 189.
“On the spare, I just forgot I was on fresher lanes and the ball didn’t roll up like it had been,” Ludwig said. “I felt I had to make a move and then I split on the next shot. So I moved back to where I was.”
Varner also had family issues on his mind. His 3-year-old daughter Elliott, who suffers from sickle cell disease, was due for surgery Monday morning to have her spleen removed.
“My son suffers from the same disease,” Varner said. “This win was for her tonight.”
NOTEBOOK: Sunday’s sweeper drew just 10 teams with the earlier 4 p.m. start time. … McKinney and Ashby, who have teamed before in the event but never won, were the qualifying leaders with 1,948 total pinfall, including 506 the final game. McKinney has won this event in the past, but with different partners. … Rob Sample and Tyler Meredith finished fourth with 1,825, one pin behind Ludwig and Varner. While Meredith had 234 the final game to go with 279 and 289 in earlier games, Sample had 179 the final game. … Varner and Ludwig earned $380 for first place, with three teams reaching the stepladder finals. … Riddle turned in the top individual series of 1,037, including 278 to go with his 300. Both he and Koerber are Perfect Fit pro shot staff members at Spins Bowl Akron. … In an update on his daughter Monday, Varner said in a Facebook post “she is out of surgery and in her room. She hasn’t fully woken yet probably due to morphine and they just gave her a dose of oxy to stay ahead of any pain. She needed a little oxygen but is now on room air. She can’t eat or drink until 4 pm. She has 4 little incisions on her belly and there was no bleeding. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes.” … The next Sunday Doubles Sweeper is set for 6 p.m. May 22 with a $100 entry fee per team. For information, contact Frank Dallas.
SUNDAY SWEEPER SERIES
(At Spins Bowl Akron)
Championship round
Match 1: Vincent Ludwig-Vicktor Varner d. Colton Riddle-Jerry Koerber 431-399. Riddle-Koerber win $100.
Championship: Ludwig-Varner d. Tyron McKinney-Ryan Ashby 424-394. Ludwig-Varner win $380; McKinney-Ashby win $280.