COLUMBUS — Vince Yoder saw a similar situation play out Friday for the girls team.
“You can’t leave frames open, not get pins after big splits and miss easy spares,” the Triway head boys coach said.
After the defending state champion girls team was eliminated in three games during its first match after making the cut Friday, the Titans boys also made the cut to match play Saturday during the OHSAA Division II Boys Bowing Championships on Saturday.
But Triway’s boys faced a similar fate, falling in three games to Stark County High School Bowling Conference rival Conotton Valley at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
The Rockets, whose girls team captured the state title Friday, had games of 202, 201 and 203 to gain the sweep during a best-of-five Baker System opening match in the round of eight. Conotton Valley was the No. 4 seed with 3,451 total pinfall; the Titans were No. 5 with 3,404.
Triway shot 173, 190 and 144 in the loss, leaving a pair of splits in Game 1, including a “blower” pocket 7-10 in the 10th frame. The Titans also had two more splits in each of the next two games.
“We really didn’t catch too many breaks. If we don’t have that 7-10, maybe we don’t win that game, but we make it a lot closer,” said Yoder, who has guided the team to five state appearances with a high of second in 2015.
“They had a couple of Brooklyns (strikes). But we still have to make better shots when we’re under pressure. But that’s bowling.”
Junior Aeron Meshew led the Titans with a 629 series, junior Owen Fiesler added 600 and senior Caden Swanger had 550. The Titans ultimately finished seventh overall.
“On a shot like this, if you don’t play the lanes right it can hurt you. Skill doesn’t always win, but that’s the way it goes sometimes, and I don’t want that to sound bad,” Yoder said. “We learned you can’t use too much (ball) surface to start.
“I thought they played a little tighter than what the girls did. We had to play a little straighter than I expected. I thought we’d be moving more left.”
The Rockets didn’t have an open frame in Game 1, and had just one in the final two games. They had one string of three strikes in Game 2 to go with three doubles in the match.
But the Titans never had more than two strikes in a row and had three open frames in the final game, not including a gutter ball on a spare.
“Making the cut to get here in back-to-back years is nothing to be ashamed of,” Yoder said. “We are going to have to fill in some holes on both sides next year, but the core for the girls will be back and three on the boys side with experience. Sometimes that can be good bringing along inexperienced kids.
“It will be interesting.”