ALLIANCE — Coming off shooting an 802 series during league play Wednesday, a writer approached Michael Emerick to talk about his latest accomplishment.
“After I lose in the third game of the stepladder,” the 35-year-old Canton right-hander said during Game 2 of the six-game qualifier of the Ted Nagle Memorial Tournament on Saturday at Christopher Columbus Lanes.
This came after the MSC Industrial Supply employee had opened the tourney with 202 and was on his way to his second 202 in Game 2. But then things changed for the man they call “Mr. Alliance.”
“I love this house and I love this city. It has always been special to me,” Emerick said. “I was lucky to bowl with Mike Ring and his family so the Nagle Memorial means so much to me.
“In the second game, Sandie Forster and Debbie Papic (two members of the Nagle family) came in and I gave them both big hugs. I don’t know if it had anything to do with it or not, but I went on a run after that.”
Over the next four qualifying games, Emerick shot 976 to earn the No. 4 seed for the stepladder finals. Then, he ran the table during the championship round, stopping top-seeded Walsh University junior Jordan Norris 215-203 to win his second Nagle title in three seasons.
“I’ve won two tournaments my entire life and it’s been this one,” said Emerick, who topped Canton left-hander Mike Thewes to win the 2020 title by coming from the No. 5 seed.
“I thought about what I told you earlier, but I had me losing the third match. That’s just too funny.”
The event was in its eighth year as a holiday event at “The Christopher” following the closing of Parkway and Super Bowl of Alliance. It was moved from its traditional Christmas Eve date six years ago.
After using the Brunswick Melee Jab throughout qualifying, Emerick made a change to the Brunswick Prism Warp during the stepladder finals. This came after he discovered earlier in the week that the ball he used to win two years ago, a Track Tactic, had cracked all the way around while sitting in his garage.
“The last game of qualifying it was biting super hard. So I decided to move five boards went to a strong cover, but a weaker ball that I hadn’t thrown all day,” Emerick said. “Luckily, I half-ass know my equipment.”
CLIMBING THE LADDER
In his opening match against 38-year-old Salem right-hander Dustin Eckman, who shot the tourney’s high game of 288 in Game 1 of qualifying, Emerick survived despite leaving a 1-2-4-8 spare in the second and a 4-6-10 split in the ninth.
Eckman, who had just one double in the match, failed to convert a 3-10 split in the fifth and struck on just three of his first seven shots with an 10-pin miss in the 10th to fall 210-184.
In the quarterfinals against 23-year-old Alliance right-hander Kevin Schott, who has three 800 series this season, Emerick opened with a solid 9-pin in the first frame. After converting, he ran off five strikes in a row en route to a 240-216 win.
Schott had just two doubles in the match, leaving a key solid 9-pin in the seventh frame between them to halt a possible string along with a 4-pin on his first shot in the 10th frame.
Two spare misses — a 10-pin in the first frame and a 6-pin in the seventh — doomed 34-year-old Alliance right-hander Justin Hackney, the No. 2 seed, in the semifinals against Emerick.
While Emerick stayed clean, with a double and a string of three strikes before missing a 6-pin spare in the 10th frame, Hackney had three strikes in a row early but just two more the remainder of the match en route to a 213-195 loss.
“I got a lot of breaks, and that’s all it was. When I missed, it was mostly me. I knew I had to be up the back of the ball and hit it hard,” Emerick said. “The ball was going to do the work. That ball was drilled to do nothing on the back end.”
GETTING THROUGH THE FINAL
Norris, a 21-year-old two-handed righty from Plain Township, came out of the gate with three strikes to take the early lead in the title match.
Emerick, despite striking on his first shot, stuck at the line and left a 6-10 spare in the second frame.
“That was the second time I had stuck on that lane, but I’m not going to lie. That second one hurt, and it hurt my right knee also,” Emerick said. “I just told myself I had to throw it hard and be aggressive.
“If that was in league, it might have bothered me. But I had enough adrenaline pumping that it wasn’t going to stop me.”
Emerick then threw the next five strikes before leaving a 4-7 spare conversion in the seventh frame.
Norris then ran into trouble on the left lane, leaving 2-8 double wood spares in both the fourth and sixth after strikes and a 6-10 spare in the eighth.
“I had the better look on that lane in practice and chose to finish on it,” Norris said. “I just got around the ball a little too much on those shots. I spun it and left the 2-8s. It happens.”
Norris then hurt himself with a 6-7-10 split in the ninth frame after Emerick had spares in the seventh and eighth.
“I just pushed the ball out too fast. At that point, the lane was toasted, and if I pushed it out like that it was going to go through the nose,” said Norris, who finished third in the 2021 event. “I thought maybe it would kick the 7-pin out, but it didn’t happen.
“I almost made it, but it happens. One of these days I’m going to win this. Mike bowled well and you can’t be mad when you lose to a good bowler. I’m happy with the performance.”
Emerick struck in the ninth on a high hit before missing a 10-pin spare in the 10th frame with the match determined.
“I was bowling against a two-hander, and these kids are good,” said Emerick, who was texting with his son, Michael Jr., who was bowling with Louisville High School in a tournament in Coshocton, during the stepladder finals.
“Like I said, I got a lot of breaks, like caving in that one in the ninth.”
But the meaning of his second tourney win — both at “The Christopher” — showed on the big right-hander’s face.
“This just means so much.” he added, “The city, this house, these people are a big part of my life.”
Chalk up one more win for the man who has “Mr. Alliance” on his Facebook page.
NOTEBOOK: The event drew a 35-player field, with first place worth $405 and eight players cashing. … Norris was the No. 1 seed with 1,479 total pinfall, 67 pins ahead of Hackney. That included a pair of 278 games for the two-hander. His low game of the day came in the finals against Emerick after shooting 216 in Game 6 of qualifying. … Eckman earned the No. 5 seed by just 14 pins over Perry Township’s Curtis Duffield, who shot 278 in Game 5 before a 207 in the final qualifying game. Eckman shot just 203 in the final game, but held on to the spot. … Only one female, Louisville’s Kara Kutz, participated, finishing with 1,292. … The 12-lane wood center, which features old-fashioned telescores and over-the-top ball returns, had each bowler hitting all six pairs during qualifying, with the finals being held on Lanes 5 and 6. Emerick won on Lanes 3 and 4 two years ago, but bowled his very first series in the center on Lanes 5 and 6. … Tournament director Chris Miller is working on another Alliance tourney that will involve using all three city centers — Elks, American Legion and Christopher Columbus — during one event. Details to come, he said.
TED NAGLE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENTA
(At Christopher Columbus Lanes, Alliance)
Championship round
Match 1: Michael Emerick (Canton) d. Dustin Eckman (Salem) 210-184; Eckman won $180.
Match 2: Emerick d. Kevin Schott (Alliance) 240-216; Schott won $195.
Match 3: Emerick d. Justin Hackney (Alliance) 213-195; Hackney won $250.
Championship: Emerick d. Jordan Norris (Plain Township) 215-203; Emerick won $405; Norris won $305.
Other cashers
(With six-game qualifying pinfalls)
6, Curtis Duffield 1,339, $140; 7, Scott Vandegrift 1,330, $100; 8, Jeremy Thompson 1,323, $85.
