CANTON — Brian Walked admittedly was anxious heading into the semifinals of Saturday’s College Bowl Tournaments 50-50 scratch doubles event at Eastbury Bowling Center.
“We both liked the left lane to start that match,” Walker said of doubles partner John Randolph, “and I was anxious to get started. So I jumped the gun and led off and ended up making him finish, something we hadn’t done all day.
“I guess it worked out.”
With Walker running off six strikes in a row from the third through eighth frames, the pair were able to hold off the Alliance father-son pair of Richard Elliott II and Richard Elliott III 436-398 to claim first place in the 30-team field, the largest in the College Bowl Tounaments organization history.
Walker, a 37-year-old Cuyahoga Falls right-hander, shot a match-high 246, finishing with eight strikes, while Randolph added 190. Elliott II finished with 202 while his son had 196.
“I guess there was a little strategizing there. He goes 268 and I go two teens (218),” Walker said of the 486-446 semifinal win over Rob Sample and Brett McCourry. “He had a better look playing straight. The straight line he throws is great and he’s out of trouble most of the time.”
Walker and Randolph were never in the top four, the cut for the semifinal round, until the final game of qualifying. They were fifth in Game 3, just six pins out of the cut.
But in Game 4, Walker shot 279 and Randolph added 227 for 506 and the pair zoomed to the No. 1 seed for the single-match semifinal round.
“I was really surprised we went all the way to the top,” said Randolph, a 55-year-old Tallmadge right-hander. “I wanted to stay as clean and straight as I could and I knew he was on a string.
“It was, OK, I have to finish up here and hopefully he goes 270. I rode the horse for that one.”
It was Randolph’s turn in the semifinals with his 268 leading the pair into the finals. Both men made ball changes after qualifying.
“I went with the (Root Grip) UFO Alert during qualifying, but went to the (DV8) Brutal Collision in the semifinals. I almost switched back for the title match, but I wanted to keep it safe and it worked out,” Randolph said.
Walker used the Storm Absolute through qualifying and the semifinals, but knew a change had to be made.
“The lanes were just hooking too much, and I felt I had to make a change late in the semifinals. But I just wanted to say clean and get through it,” Walker said. “So I knew I had to go to a weaker ball so I went to the (Storm) Night Road. That was actually hooking more than I anticipated so it definitely was a good move.”
ELLIOTTS PAIR UP
The Elliotts, who were bowling together in a tournament for the first time this season after Rich II turned 50 in January, were never out of the top five all day. Standing fifth after Game 1, they moved to first in Game 2 with a 527 and didn’t drop out until Game 4 when they took the No. 3 seed.
“We were just hitting our marks most of the time and we were lucky enough to get carry,” Richard II said. “We threw the ball well and kept each other hyped up and ready to go to the next game. When we made a bad shot, we moved on from it.”
The elder Elliott shot 278 in the semifinal round to his son’s 206 as they stopped No. 2 seed John Shreve Jr. and Joe Hostetler, both previous winners in College Bowl Tournaments events, 484-463.
But in the title match, the carry the pair had enjoyed most of the day just wasn’t there.
“The ball was just going down the lane farther than I was used to and I wasn’t kicking out the corner pins,” said Richard II, a right-hander.
“I tried to move two (board left), but it seemed like when I moved over and hit a certain spot outside, the ball would just go heavy for me,” said Richard III, a 22-year-old right-hander who is in his third year as an adult.
Elliott II opened the title match with a 4-6-7-10 split and was unable to string more than two strikes together until the 10th frame, also leaving a pocket 8-10 split in the eighth frame.
Elliott III also was unable to string more than two strikes together, leaving a 1-2-8-10 split in the ninth. The pair combined for 12 strikes in the match.
Elliott II, a manager at Major League Tire in Hartville, bowls just one night per week with is son at Eastbury. He was able to bowl this event due to having a rare Saturday off.
“This was awesome. I’m glad we can actually bowl tournaments together,” said Elliott III, who made his only previous 50-50 doubles appearance with tournament host Jeff DiMarzio. “That we placed second in our first tournament together is awesome.”
In the title match, Walker struck on seven of his first eight shots to set the pace, leaving only a 10-pin in the second frame, while Randolph left a 4-6-7-9-10 split in the third for his only open frame.
“I had to go two balls less in the title match to do what I did there,” said Walker, who captured the Summit County USBC singles title with 825 last weekend at Clutch Lanes with his Absolute. “I got a couple of lucky ones in there to keep it going.”
Randolph admitted getting “a little slow” on the split.
“That pair was hooking more than I anticipated on the outside,” said Randolph, who won the November College Bowl Tournaments singles event also at Eastbury. “So I had to bump another board to a board and a half.”
Walker’s string came to an end in the ninth frame when he left a 2-5 spare. But by then, the match was pretty much decided.
“I had a little fancy footwork there,” Walker said. “I got a little fast.”
Walker and Randolph have bowled in team and doubles tournaments together for about four years with successes in both the Portage County and Summit team events. Randolph also bowls in the Northeast Ohio Travel League.
“They might be all little wins,” Walker said, “but they all mean something.”
NOTEBOOK: The 60 players was the highest total in the organization’s four seasons. Each team had one player 50 or older and another under age 50. … Randolph and Walker topped qualifying with 1,975 total pinfall, 20 pins ahead of Shreve Jr. and Hostetler (1,955). … Sample and McCourry were the cut for the top four with 1,906, 13 pins ahead of Jason Gribble and Ray Cook. The cut to cash was 1,830 by Bill and Austin Reese, five pins ahead of Alan Hoover and Jason Johnson. … Matt Frock had the tourney’s lone 300 game in Game 4 of qualifying, Tony Godden, who shot 846 over his final three games, had 289 and teamed with Jim Williams to finish seventh. John Shreve Sr. also had 288. … Alex McCourry shot 802 for his first three games. …. The date has been changed for the April College Bowl Tournaments doubles event. It is set for 10 a.m. April 15 at Eastbury. The next event is a singles at 10 a.m. March 11 at Park Centre. Entry fee is $65.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS 50-50 DOUBLES
(Saturday at Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
Semifinals (losing teams win $260): Elliott II (278)-Eliott III (206) d. Shreve Jr. (257)-Hostetler (206) 484-463; Walker (218)-Randolph (268) d. Sample (201)-B. McCourry (245) 486-446.
Championship (winners win $1,000; losers win $680): Walker (246)-Randolph (190) d. Elliott II (202)-Elliott III (196) 436-398.
Other cashers
(With four-game pinfalls)
5, Cook-Gribble 1,893, $260 earnings; 6, Shreve Sr.-Price 1,892, $260; 7, Williams-Godden 1,885, $125; 8, Eckenrode-Jones 1,857, $125; 9, Reese-Reese 1,830, $125.