PERRY TWP. — During Game 1 of Thursday’s Hall of Fame Summer Series’ sixth event, J.D. Jones was looking for answers.
“I’ve got to learn to bowl again,” the two-time Series winner said on his way to a 158 at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
He’s a quick study.
Jones came back with 266 in Game 2 and 257 in Game 3 before struggling with 147 in Game 4. It still was enough to earn the top seed for the stepladder finals, which produced a 211-206 win over No. 2-seeded Brian Ball for his third Series win heading into next week’s Series finale.
“I’ve never been on a run like this … winning this many times obviously. Knowing that coming into a tournament, my demeanor is a little better, my mind is in the right spot and, if I struggle, I know I can find a way to bounce back,” the 28-year-old Massillon right-hander said.
“I never take myself completely out of it even if it seems like it’s not going to happen that day.”
That was apparent in Game 1 when the night started slowly for Jones.
“I just couldn’t hit my mark,” said Jones, who also had wins in the second and fourth events — all the evened number tourneys. “I went face, face, face, face. I finally moved far enough left, took that out of play, aimed at the 3-pin and watched it walk right in.”
Using his 900 Global Zen, Jones posted the night’s highest two games in the 42-player field on the 2022 U.S. Open No. 1 oil pattern in Games 2 and 3.
“This pattern went a lot longer,” Jones said about the different Series patterns. “This one, the misses left and right you had more consistent reactions than the others.”
The stepladder finals opened with fourth-seeded Uniontown right-hander Dave Mramor Jr., making his second Series top five, stopping 20-year-old Tallmadge two-handed right-hander Josh Parry, a Walsh University player, 171-160.
Parry failed to convert a pair of 3-10 splits and missed a critical 2-pin spare in the 10th frame as Mramor overcame three open frames early with a double in the seventh and eighth frames.
In the semifinals, Mramor had a pair of three-strike strings against No. 3 seed Joe Stauffer, while the 48-year-old Canton right-hander with the 10-step stop-and-go approach, had four open frames, including a pair of splits, in the first six frames. Mramor advanced with a 213-147 win.
Ball, a 48-year-old Massillon right-hander had just one spare during the first eight frames of the semifinal match against Mramor, including a string of five in a row, en route to a 234-200 win to advance against Jones. A pair of splits in the first five frames doomed Mramor.
But things changed quickly in the title match.
Jones was able to stay clean throughout, throwing three strikes in a row beginning in the fifth frame, while Ball had three open frames in the first four, including a pair of splits and a missed 9-pin.
“I had the world during the semifinals, but they just broke down in the title match and I didn’t move quick enough,” said Ball, who was bowling for just the second time since the Stark USBC Open Championships in early May and used a Storm IQ Tour.
“I missed the 9-pin because I just hung up in the spare ball. The next two shots just hooked.”
Despite trailing by 47 pins in the sixth frame, Ball put on a late run with the final six strikes, forcing Jones to mark in the 10th frame to earn the win.
After leaving a 7-pin on his opening shot, Jones converted the spare to preserve his third Series victory with an eight-count on his final shot.
“I had the last six out of seven, but that’s kind of the way my night went … split early, split early then finish it out,” said Ball, who took the summer off from bowling after changing jobs to Five Star Fence. “I’m happy. I’m just trying to knock the rust off getting ready for the tournaments coming up.
“But that was fun. That’s my buddy.”
Jones learned early that the title pair had changed.
“I got up and threw the ball that I thought was going to be good, but it didn’t react like I thought it would,” said Jones, who started with a Motiv Trident Odyssey in practice. “I noticed that Brian had the left lane hooking a lot more and, fortunately, I wasn’t as bad as him. The Trident just wasn’t getting there in practice, so I switched back to the Zen.”
The pair will be on the same team for a September Baker System event in Western Pennsylvania that will include bowling 49 Baker System games in the 50-team event.
That produced a lot of joking back and forth between the two future teammates, part of it about putting Jones in the anchor position — a spot Jones doesn’t want.
But with three Series wins, one thing is certain — Jones’ growing confidence.
“I’m getting more relaxed every time in these situations that I put myself in,” said Jones, who also set Eastbury Bowling Center’s all-time scoring record (875) during the 2021-22 season. “I don’t have that second thought in my head that you might do this or might do that. I’m more focused.”
Jones will lead 20 competitors into the Aug. 6 Summer Series finale at Hall of Fame. Players earned their spots by winning an event, being among the top 12 on the points list or through a second-chance drawing of those who did not win 50-50 raffles held during the first six events.
“I’ve only won on the even number of events,” Jones added. “So I guess this will put a test to it.”
It also means bragging rights.
“I’ll get that for a week on Facebook,” Jones laughed, “and I’m going to take advantage of it.”
SERIES FINALE
Players qualifying for the finale, set for 6:20 p.m. Aug. 11 on the 2019 U.S. Open No. 1 pattern used during Series event No. 3 (the most difficult scoring pattern according to statistics), are:
Past winners: Jones, Chase Barstow, Frank Testa and Bryce Oliver;
Points list: Adam Kutz, Kara Thomas, Eric Long, Jeff Mowls, Tony Confalone, Alex Lincoln, Rob Weary, Mramor, Mark Walters, Branden Ball, Robert Wilson, Bobby Wenger; Jim Fellows and Curtis Duffield are alternates. Players must have bowled in at least three events to qualify.
Second-chance participants: Tyler Back, Dave Mramor Sr., Rob McPherson, Dave Keagy.
NOTEBOOK: The cut to the top five was at 769 for Parry in the four-game qualifier, edging Weary by six pins. Wenger earned the final cash spot with 739, 10 pins ahead of Rob Wilson. … Only one past champion, Barstow, participated in Thursday’s event, finishing 28th. … Ball won a one-ball rolloff with Stauffer for the No. 2 seed by a 9-8 score, with the latter leaving a 3-6 and the former a 4-pin. … The Series drew 79 players over its six-week run in its first season, employing USBC Open and U.S. Open patterns during its run. .. Entry fee for the finale remains $40, with added money from the series being added to the prize fund.
HALL OF FAME SUMMER SERIES NO. 6
Championship finals
Match 1: Dave Mramor Jr. d. Josh Parry 171-160; Parry wins $90.
Match 2: Mramor d. Joe Stauffer 213-147. Stauffer wins $100.
Match 3: Brian Ball d. Mramor 234-200. Mramor wins $120.
Championship: J.D. Jones d. Ball 211-206. Jones wins $308; Ball wins $180.
Other cashers
(with four-game pitfalls)
6, Rob Weary 760, $80 earnings; 7, Branden Ball 750, $70; 8, Bobby Wenger 739, $60.