PERRY TWP. — Despite sitting in first place after three qualifying games of the 20th annual Furbay Electric Open, Brian Ball felt a move needed to be made.
“I started out standing 25 (board) and trying to play 10 to the right,” the 48-year-old Massillon right-hander said. “But with my walk, my drift and my shoulders I can’t play up the lane like a Joe Hostetler can. So the only way to get it there is to hook it.
“I was 10-to-2 10-to-3 the first three games, but the ball just started reading (the lane) too soon. So I made a giant move left and stayed there the rest of the day.”
The move paid off as the top-seeded Ball claimed his second Furbay title with a 197-182 win over No. 2 seed Andrew Smith on Sunday at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
“This one without a doubt,” Ball said when asked which of the wins meant more. “I’ll be 49 in October and to beat these kids … it just means a lot.”
Smith, a 29-year-old Cleveland left-hander, advanced to the title match with a 224-190 win over two-time Furbay champion Hostetler in the semifinal game.
Smith started that game with five strikes before leaving a 10-pin in the sixth frame. He missed the spare.
It was a preview of things to come.
Hostetler struck on three of his first four shots, but left a 6-7-10 split in the fifth frame and a 4-6-7 split in the ninth while Smith followed up his early run with a double in the seventh and eighth frames en route to the win.
In the title match, Ball started with four strikes using his Storm Pro Motion before leaving a “Greek church” 4-6-7-9-10 split in the fifth frame. This came after Smith struck on three of his first four shots before leaving a 10-pin in the fifth.
But, as in the semifinals, he missed the spare as Ball maintained a four-pin lead after both struck in the sixth frame.
The match could have turned in the seventh, when Smith missed his second spare of the match after leaving a 3-9 and getting just the 3-pin. But Ball, after leaving a 4-pin on his shot, missed the spare to the left, keeping his lead at four pins.
“I just said to myself you f—ing moron. That was literally the first single-pin spare I missed all day,” Ball said. “Sure I had a couple of splits, but come on man, you can’t miss a 4-pin in that situation.”
Both had strikes in the eighth frame followed by spares in the ninth with Ball maintaining his four-pin lead. Ball threw first in the 10th frame, leaving a 2-pin on his first shot. He converted the spare and left a 9-count on his final ball.
Smith, who had struck on his previous four shots on the right lane, left a 2-7 split on his first ball in the 10th frame.
“I missed two spares that were critical. Make those and I win; it’s as simple as that,” said Smith, who was playing near the gutter during both his matches. “The last shot, it could have been pressure.
“I think the lanes were getting a little tighter as the game was going on. I did notice some carry down, but I just didn’t make the right moves to combat it. That’s why the last few kind of wiggled on me.”
Ball, who had just returned from a week’s vacation Friday night and bowled an event at Triway Lanes in Wooster on Saturday, said luck played a big factor in his win.
“I had a good draw and bowled with Andrew all day. I started right and that wasn’t very good, but when I got inside, they opened up for me,” said Ball, who won the singles version of that Triway event and teamed with Dylan Rinella to finish third in doubles.
“I got lucky in my opening match because (Dave) McLaughlin struggled. Then I bowled the kid (Jordan Norris). He’s going to be a good bowler, but I was just a little smarter today. He tried to throw it too hard in the friction and I just used my slow wheel and got around it.”
Cleveland’s Tim Jones Jr. won the opening stepladder match, stringing three strikes late and adding a double to top Alliance’s Rich Stoffer 235-190. It was Stoffer’s second straight fifth-place finish in the event.
In the quarterfinals, Hostetler had a double the first two frames and didn’t have an open frame en route to a 204-185 win over Jones. Jones failed to convert a 2-8 spare in the ninth frame and had just three strikes in the match.
Ball has now won the Furbay twice from the top-seeded position, stopping Girard’s Adam Barta for the 2019 title.
“We just got back from vacation late Friday night,” Ball added about a trip to Pidgeon Forge, Tenn. “It was five straight days of walking around and a lot of fun.
“I had a pretty good week, but I’m whooped.”
NOTEBOOK: The tournament drew a field of 120 players on the Furbay sport shot oil condition. It took 972 total pinfall, an average of 194.4 to make the cut to the top 20. It also took 954 to cash among the top 30 in the field (190.8 average). … PBA pro Chris Loschetter had the high game of the day with 277 in Game 2. … Stoffer was the qualifying leader with 1,099, four pins ahead of Loschetter, with Ball sitting third (1,038). Smith finished seventh (1,019). … Ball never dropped below fourth during qualifying … Seven high school bowlers participated in the event, with McKinley senior Alex Coffelt leading qualifying after two games before falling back to sixth. He lost his opening match to Norris, a Walsh University sophomore bowler, 394-322. … Ball became the third two-time Furbay winner, joining Hostetler (2020, 2018) and Joe Bailey (2007, 1013). Frank Testa has won the event three times (2012, 2015, 2016) and is the only back-to-back champion. All three made the cut, with Testa, who is recovering from back and neck injuries, falling in the opening round of two-game match play to Jason Johnson (431-350) and Bailey falling in Round 2 to Smith (455-392). … Six women participated in the event with Walsh University junior Alicia Yocano being the high finisher at 66th. … Mark Suchan gained the final match-play spot by just two pins over Ty McKinney. … Dennis Bloomquist earned the final cash spot by just one pin in 30th position over Dean Billings. … Only six left-handers have made the top five in Furbay history with no victories. Smith tied Jim Fellows for the top finish with second. … Event sponsors included Track Bowling, AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, Poling Painting, Ztech Automotive, Heighway Awards, Wagrich Construction, Sled Dog, Premiere Bowlers Mart, M&L Heating and Cooling and Waikem Auto Group. .. The event was live streamed on Twitch TV at
twitch.tv/furbayelectric.
FURBAY ELECTRIC OPEN
(Sunday at AMF Hall of Fame)
MATCH PLAY FIRST ROUND
(Two-game totals, losers each receive $200)
Joe Bailey d. Reginald Petty 411-380; Tim Jones Jr. d. Chris Loschetter 381-324; Andrew Smith d. Jon Boyajian 420-363; Brian Ball d. Dave McLaughlin 424-347; Jason Johnson d. Frank Testa 431-350; Jordan Norris d. Alex Coffelt 394-332; Joe Hostetler d. Eric Randazzo 390-364; Rich Stoffer d. Mark Suchan 350-341; Dean Vargo d. Dustin Eckman 459-436; DJ Assaff d. Dirk Hartman 433-396.
MATCH PLAY SECOND ROUND
(Two-game totals, losers each receive $300)
Stoffer d. Vargo 409-385; Ball d. Norris 482-390; Jones d. Assaff 439-369; Hostetler d. Johnson 445-357; Smith d. Bailey 455-392.
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Match 1: Jones d. Stoffer 235-190; Stoffer win $400.
Match 2: Hostetler d. Jones 204-185; Jones win $500
Match 3: Smith d. Hostetler 224-190; Hostetler wins $600
Championship: Ball d. Smith 197-182; Ball wins $1,200, Smith wins $800.
OTHER CASHERS
(With five-game pinfalls)
21, Ty McKinney 970, $150; 22, Eric Bator 968, $145; 23, Kevin Cowper 967, $140; 24, Brandon Ball 962, $135; 25, Mark Pordash 960, $130; 26, Vicktor Varner 959, $125; 27, Kevin Oravecz 957, $120; 28, (tie) Joe Gugliotti, Josh Haddad, Dennis Bloomquist 954, $110.