JACKSON TWP. — Jim Williams thought he might be the oldest player participating in the 16-player field for Saturday’s College Bowl Tournaments end-of-season event at Park Centre Lanes.
When the event ended, the 62-year-old left-hander — indeed the oldest participant — also proved to be the best player.
Williams struck on six of his first seven shots en route to a 256-203 victory over fellow left-hander Jim Fellows during the title match of the tourney, which was closed to players who participated in at least four College Bowl Tournament events during the 2021-22 season.
“This is the first thing I’ve won of any consequence,” said Williams, who retired from Hilscher-Clarke Electric Co. on April 24. “I’ve made the cut before but always seemed to get knocked out.
“It really feels good and makes you want to come back out here again.”
Williams, the No. 3 seed following qualifying, was surprised when he discovered his placement following the four-game qualifying round.
“I only had 203 the second game and I thought that had hurt me, but I really wasn’t paying too much attention,” said Williams, who opened the day with 268, but stood seventh after Game 3 before shooting 234 his final game. “I was shocked when I found out I qualified third. I thought I might sneak in in eighth.”
Williams opened single-game match-play elimination with a 246-216 win over Louisville’s Adam Kutz. He followed that with a 247-237 win over 21-year-old Plain Township right-hander Branden Ball.
Ball, the No. 8 seed who had knocked out Uniontown No. 1 seed Joe Hostetler 204-184 in his opening match, finished with eight strikes in a row after a pair of missed spares early.
The title match matched a pair of lefties — a rarity in a tourney finale — and the only two to make the eight-player cut for match play.
“There really weren’t any nerves. I’ve known Jim for years through leagues so it didn’t really bother me,” Williams said.
Fellows took the early lead with three strikes while Williams had a double before leaving a 5-7 split in the third frame. But the latter covered the split to stay close.
“My timing was there, I was hitting my mark and I was carrying, getting the back row out,” Williams said. “I was nervous on that 5-7. I knew it could be a turning point, but there’s no way of knowing what’s going to go on after that.
“But it allowed me to stay clean.”
Carry was the key. Fellows, a 52-year-old Perry Township lefty, struck just once more following his opening three strikes, leaving four 7-pins, a 10-pin and a 9-pin. He missed one of the 7-pin spares.
“That just about sums it up. I tried probably four moves the last game on the left lane and just couldn’t get anything going,” Fellows said. “I finished on that pair during qualifying and shot 230 on it.
“I was switching back and forth between balls, but nothing was working.”
Fellows, who was bowling with a back injury he suffered about two weeks ago that also affected his hip, said the 7-pin miss was “part of the game, I guess.”
“But it might have been a little bit of frustration,” he added.
Williams, throwing his Motiv Pride, then put the finishing touches on the win, striking on seven of his final nine shots, leaving a 6-pin in the eighth frame and a 7-pin on his final shot.
Fellows, the No. 2 seed, reached the title match with a 213-168 win over Akron’s Ray Cook in the quarterfinals and a 223-204 victory over Plain Township’s Brandon Clifford in the semifinals.
Pushing his way past two younger players meant something to Williams, who remembers a remark made during one of the events a couple of years ago.
“I was set to bowl someone in the first round after qualifying and I heard the comment, ‘Oh good, I’ve got the old guy in the first round.’ So I showed him how to throw a 279,” Williams said. “His buddies told him if he got beat by 100, he had to buy everyone lunch.”
No one was making comments this time.
TOURNEYS WILL CONTINUE
Tournament director Jeff DiMarzio plans on the events returning in September 2022, with the same three centers — Park Centre, Eastbury and AMF Hall of Fame — hosting.
“This was our fifth season. The virus thing kind of messed things up for one season and part of two. We used to be at a consistent 40 players per event and that went down,” DiMarzio said. “But we noticed the last four events of this season we were back to where we were before and, hopefully, we can pick up where we left off next season.”
DiMarzio gave credit to the centers and to Dawn Altimore for running the side action and the standings for events. “She is the best,” DiMarzio added, “and the houses were very helpful.”
NOTEBOOK: With the added money for the year-end event, the tourney had a total prize fund of $1,355. Only six of the eligible 22 players did not participate, with eight of the 16 entries cashing. …. Hostetler was the qualifying leader with 1,088 — an average of 272 and 152 pins ahead of Fellows on the house oil pattern. He had the day’s high game of 299 and also added a 278. … The cut for match play was 913, an average of 228.25. … First place was worth $640 and second was $400. … There were four lefties in the field. … This is the second time two lefties met in a College Bowl Tournaments title match this season, with Fellows defeating John Price in a March singles event at Eastbury.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS YEAR-END
(At Park Centre Lanes)
Quarterfinals (single-game match play; losers earn $150): Branden Ball d. Joe Hostetler 204-184; Jim Williams d. Adam Kutz 246-216; Jim Fellows d. Ray Cook 213-168; Brandon Clifford d. John Randolph 245-231.
Semifinals (single-game match play; losers earn $240): Fellows d. Clifford 223-204; Williams d. Ball 247-237.
Championship (single-game match play; winner earns $640; loser earns $400): Williams d., Fellows 256-203.