NEW PHILADELPHIA — Going into Sunday’s semifinal match at the PBA Wabash Lanes Member-Nonmember Doubles Central Open, Jean Perez had a feeling about the tourney’s ultimate outcome.
“I told (Jalen Mosely) that whoever won that match was going to be the winner of the tournament,” the 43-year-old left-hander said.
His premonition turned into fact as Mosely and Perez, the No. 1 seed entering the eight-team, best-of-seven Baker System match-play elimination rounds, claimed the title and a $5,000 first-place check at Wabash Lanes.
Perez and Mosely, who led the field by 140 pins after Saturday’s eight qualifying games, stopped No. 3 seed Dave Wodka and Frank Testa 4-1 in their best-of-seven title match.
It came after the pair swept by No. 4 seed Patrick Dombrowski and Dan Higgins Jr. in just four games during the semifinals.
“I really thought that match was going to be tougher. But things just go your way sometimes,” said Perez, a native of Puerto Rico now living in Indianapolis.
Not one of their three matches went beyond five games in the best-of-seven format.
“It was all about communication. It was on point when we needed it, and everything fell our way,” said Perez, who earned his second career Professional Bowlers Association regional title, both coming this season.
For Mosely, a 21-year-old Cincinnati right-hander, it was only his second PBA regional appearance. His first came in this event a year ago, when he finished 18th with partner Kyle Cook.
“It was different because I’m used to bowling with right-handers in doubles events,” Mosely said. “With the righties, I just feel you can communicate better. But this is my first time bowling a bigger event with a lefty. It worked out.
“I just had to breathe, stay patient and stay in the moment.”
Perez and Mosley won the first three games of the title match 248-235, 229-205 and 244-165 before falling in the fourth game 228-177. They then teamed for 257 in Game 5 to put the match away as Wodka and Testa combined for 220.
In that final game, Perez and Mosley combined to strike on eight shots.
“We started on the right lane, which was a little tougher. But I wanted us to start there because I was the only righty on our team with their two righties and I wanted to get it out of the way,” Mosely said. “But then maybe two or three games in, the left lane got even tighter than the right.
“I was just trying to keep up with the transition. Our communication was really good.”
Wodka, a 51-year-old Muskegon, Mich., right-hander blamed himself for the Game 1 loss. Needing a double to finish off the top seed, he left a 2-pin spare.
“I had the right ball in hand to win and I just made a bad shot. No excuses,” Wodka said. “We were just fishing a little bit in Games 2 and 3.”
Testa struggled with the lane transition in Game 3, leaving a pair of 2-10 splits, covering one of them. But the 40-year-old Massillon right-hander knew a move was necessary.
“His ball kept pushing through the spot where it was hooking on the other pairs we were on,” Wodka said.
“Dave was throwing urethane Saturday and I expected it all day (Sunday). The transitions were fairly consistent for me in the first and second matches. But with Jalen adding in with urethane and his higher rev rate, it happened a lot quicker,” Testa said
So Testa made a ball change and a big move.
“He made an unbelievable ball change and jumped 15 (boards) left, slow hooked it and hit the pocket on every shot after that,” Wodka said.
“I needed to make the change obviously faster, and my ball speed needed to be slower than previous matches,” Testa added. “I thought the two shots in Game 3 were good shots, but looking back, they were just fast enough to split. In previous matches, they would have struck.”
After the change, Testa failed to strike on only three shots — another 2-4-8-10 split in the first frame of Game 5 and a pair of 10-pins. He covered the split.
“The adjustment was the same, but I needed to do it faster and back down on the ball speed,” Testa said.
BOHN BATTLE
Wodka and Testa didn’t have an easy time reaching the title match.
In their opener against Chris Loschetter and Kyle Bigelow, the pair had to shoot 277 in their final game to pull out a 4-3 win — the only match of the day to reach Game 7.
In the semifinals, the pair took on the father-son team of Parker and Justin Bohn III.
Game 1 ended in a tie at 246, resulting in a one-ball rolloff. Wodka won it 10-9 as Justin Bohn left a 10-pin on his shot.
Testa and Wodka then won Games 2 and 3 205-170 and 207-194, respectively, before falling in Game 4 239-205.
Game 5 was nearly another tie as Wodka doubled in the 10th frame and left a 10-pin on his final shot. Justin Bohn, needing to strike out to tie the game at 194, left a 2-pin on his final shot as Wodka and Testa advanced.
“It’s a tough way to lose, I don’t care if you lose by one or 100. At least we had the opportunity,” Parker Bohn III, the 59-year-old 2022 PBA50 Player of the Year, said. “I had a couple of unforced errors in Game 2, missing spares, and I’ve got no one to blame but me.
“Justin really stepped up in the 10th frame all day. We tied the first game, but had to do the rolloff on their lane, which is the rule, and we lose the last game by one pin and another one was close. We started to look at the way things went, and we still could have been bowling. Zero disrespect to them because they bowled great.”
Justin Bohn, a 21-year-old two-handed righty, had thrown a pair of Brooklyn shots on the left lane leading up to the 10th frame of Game 5.
“I had two shots earlier where neither hit the right side of the head pin. So I was really questioning what I was going to do,” Justin added. “I made an educated guess on where to move. The first shot they all went down, and the second one I threw as good as I could have. The third one was on that same spot, and I’d throw that same shot a couple more times.”
Wodka and Testa know how the Bohns feel.
“Frank got a couple of really bad breaks with 10-pins the last game. Otherwise, we would have had a chance in the 10th frame to win and continue,” Wodka said.
As for the winners, it was the first time they had teamed up in a major event.
“I’ve known Jalen since he was a kid and I’ve been watching him develop every step of the way,” Perez said. “He just couldn’t make time to bowl with the old guy.”
Mosely got a laugh out of that statement.
“Just not used to bowling with lefties,” he added.
They could both laugh about it later Sunday. After all, they were driving to Richmond, Ind., to compete in another sweeper event.
“This time,” Mosely said, “we aren’t bowling together, but against each other.”
NOTEBOOK: Dombrowski and Higgins, who finished 14th in this event a year ago, shot 204, 207, 179 and 207 in their loss to Perez and Mosely. … The results of first-round matches included Mosley-Perez over No. 8 seed Kyle Cook-Brian Hatcher 4-1; Dombrowski-Higgins over No. 7 Zac Tackett-Brian Hatcher 4-2; No. 3 Bohn-Bohn over No. 6 Andre Gonzales-Scott Kramer III 4-2. … Lochetter and Bigelow finished fifth overall after finishing four in this event a year ago. … Wodka teamed with Adam Barta to finish ninth a year ago, and Testa bowled with Dean Billings and finished 21st. … In the high school payouts coming after the drafting of PBA pros for the event, Claymont won $1,500 for its bowling program thanks to Perez and Mosely claiming the title. Other money awards went to Warsaw River View $1,000, and Carrollton $500. See more on this program in a later story. … Primary sponsor for the event was MPS Manufacturing.
See complete tourney results here: