ALLIANCE — Three separate houses within four square miles of each other, with three different surfaces — two wood, one synthetic.
A total of 22 lanes in all, with three separate cuts and 24 total players in the field — all in one day.
The first Alliance Masters had a different type of format with unconventional scoring on the house shot at each center — Christopher Columbus, Elks and Al Leasure Lanes inside the American Legion.
When it was over, 53-year-old Akron right-hander Eric Long found his stride on the four lanes at Al Leasure to stop Alliance right-hander Kevin Schott 241-222 in the title match.
“Carry was the key in all three places, and I didn’t have very many shots do that at the other two places,” said Long, who won $600 for the win. “I just happened to bowl well enough to get through and I found a good line here that carried.”
During the opening four games at Christopher Columbus, Long shot 814 to finish 12th and make the cut to the top 16 by just 15 pins. A 253 in Game 2 saved him from a 189 in Game 4.
Then, at the six-lane Elks, Long was more consistent with 646, with a high of 226, to make the cut by 15 pins and sit fourth to advance.
But things changed at the final house, four-lane Al Leasure, as Long opened with a Game 1 high of 236 and added 202 in Game 2 to earn the No. 1 seed.
In the three-center format, no pins carried over between each round. Round 1 was four games, followed by three in round 2 and two in round 3 before the top four made match play. The first cut was to 16 players, followed by eight for the final center.
“I just found a good line here that carried,” Long said. “And when I didn’t carry, I made my spares.
“I just went with my weakest ball and threw it as hard as I could toward the gutter with less revs because I knew it would recover. It worked.”
In his opening match, Long battled No. 4 seed Brian Buehler, a 56-year-old Alliance thumbless right-hander who bowls part-time on the PBA50 Central Region Tour.
After Buehler opened with a 6-7 split in the first frame, he ran off four strikes in a row to take the early lead.
Long, following a double, missed a 10-pin spare in the third, but then struck on his next eight shots en route to a 266-216 win.
“I just needed to hit the hook right,” Long said. “I just didn’t want to miss it in. It was get the ball to the right and let the lanes feed it to the pocket.”
Meanwhile, the second-seeded Schott, 25, who lost to Long 438-431 in the battle for the top spot, stayed clean during his match against tournament director Chris Miller, a 42-year-old Beloit right-hander, and earned a 226-191 win.
Schott put three strikes together late and three in the 10th to hold off Miller, who had back-to-back solid 9-pins in the fourth and fifth frames and missed a 3-6-10 spare in the sixth. Miller had just four strikes in the match.
“It wasn’t bad going between the houses. I threw about four or five different balls all day, but just stuck with one here,” said Schott, an Alliance High School graduate who had experience in all three houses. “I was just switching back and forth. But the Elks was really tough; each pair of lanes played differently. But I was finally able to find some high scores there.”
Schott, who finished seventh at “the Christopher” with 640, including 243 in Game 1, had 213 and 248 during his first two Elks games before a 182 for 643, making the final eight by 12 pins.
Schott then had games of 194 and 237 to earn the No. 2 seed at Leasure.
FINALS BATTLE
In the title match, on Lanes 1 and 2, Long opened with a 4-6-7-10 split. He then ran off five straight strikes.
Schott was unable to put together more than two strikes, doing it twice in the match.
“Some carry would have helped. I left a couple of 10-pins that last game. It didn’t ruin my game, but it was definitely a deal breaker,” Schott said. “During my first match on 3 and 4 I was right more and straight up the boards.
“(Lanes) 1 and 2 hooked a lot more, and I knew that going in. It was the same in the stepladder. I needed to pay more attention to how my ball was going through the pins. I made needed to make some adjustments on those 10-pins, but felt it was too late in the match.”
Meanwhile, Long left a 4-7 spare in the seventh after his five-bagger, but then ran off three more strikes to earn the win. Schott doubled into the eighth, but left another 10-pin in the ninth and a 6-10 spare in the 10th.
“Being a senior, I was just holding on as long as a I could, trying to hang with these kids,” Long said. “Anyone who knows Kevin knows he’s one of the better players in Canton and Akron. But I also consider myself to be a pretty good bowler, and I’m going to give him the best I’ve got.
“I’m still coming out every weekend. I don’t win every weekend … obviously I struggle sometimes … but I came in here with the mentality to stay around the pocket and pick up my spares because I knew it would be hard to strike.”
Because Schott is an Alliance resident, there was little doubt who the fans were supporting. Long used it as motivation.
“They would get loud for him and I would just push a little harder and try to give it back,” Long said.
It pushed him all the way to a title.
“It was definitely a grind all day,” Schott said. “I was glad to still be bowling.”
NOTEBOOK: The tourney drew 25 players with 16 making the first cut. … Wayne Unkefer was the top qualifier at “the Christopher” with 914 for four games 10 pins ahead of Jeff Mowls (904). But in the round of 16 at the Elks, neither Mowls nor Unkefer survived for the final eight, with Mowls shooting 608 and Unkefer 576. … Jacob Shahan was the high qualifier at the Elks with 681, seven pins ahead of Nate Glista. Shahan finished seventh overall with 324 for two games at Leasure. … The cut for “the Christopher” was 799 for four games by Harry Gordon, while the cut at Elks was 632 by Buehler, who shot 233 his final game to advance. … Rob Weary had the high game during the first four games with 277 in Game 4 and also at the Elks with 268 in Game 2. Weary missed the cut to the final four by eight pins behind Miller (385-377). … The tournament will return in 2024, but the date will be moved to late February, according to Miller.
FIRST ALLIANCE MASTERS
(At Christopher Columbus, Elks, Leasure Lanes, Alliance)
Semifinals: Eric Long (Akron) d. Brian Buehler (Alliance) 266-216; Kevin Schott (Alliance) d. Chris Miller (Beloit) 226-191. Buehler wins $210; Miller wins $180.
Finals: Long d. Schott 241-212. Long wins $600; Schott wins $300.
Other cashers
(Based on two-game pinfalls)
5, Rob Weary 377, $150; 6, Nate Glista 341, $140; 7, Jacob Shahan 324, $120; 8, Chuck Stout 322, $110.
