CANTON — Richard Stoffer called his second 800 series of the season “honestly, it was more one of those nights where I had a really good look.
That look produced games of 247, 267 and 300 for an 814, his 32nd career 800 to go along with 62 300 games.
But the series didn’t come without some type of disappointment for the 44-year-old Alliance right-hander.
“The game before (267), I needed a double in the 10th frame to win the game,” Stoffer said of his team game in the Liberty Vending league at Eastbury Bowling Center. “But I had a 7-10 split and we lost by four pins.
“But after that, I jumped I’ve boards left and couldn’t miss after that.”
Using his Storm Absolute, Stoffer also found himself competing against left-hander Gary Brobson on the pair beside him. Brobson finished the night with an 818 series.
“I was watching him,” said Stoffer, a MAC Trailer Manufacturing employee. “I was trying to run him down, but I couldn’t catch him.”
The night didn’t start well for Stoffer, who left a 4-pin on his first shot — and missed the spare.
“I missed it badly,” Stoffer said. “Then I had the next four or five in a row.
“During the first game, I had to strike out for us to win. So I leave a 10-pin, and we lost.”
Stoffer wasn’t even thinking 800 after the first two games. But that changed in the fifth frame of Game 3.
“Jason Gribble told me, ‘if you strike out, you can shoot 800,’” Stoffer said. “I wasn’t even paying attention to it. It was like, oh, all right.”
The following Wednesday, Stoffer also had another shot at 800, finishing with 799 at Forest Lanes in Hanoverton while bowling as a substitute.
“I had 280 in Game 2, and left a 7-10 split on the 11th ball,” Stoffer said, “Then I turned around and was in about the same position. It felt pretty good.”
Overall, Stoffer said, it has been a solid league season, including bowling in the Northeast Ohio Travel League, where his team of last season — which included Taylor Devaul and Kara Kutz — recorded the highest United States Bowling Congress series of the 2021-22 season for a one-man, two-women trio team.
“It’s been a pretty good season. I’ve had the front 10 (strikes) seven or eight times this year and other chances at 800s,” said Stoffer, who used the Roto Grip Gem for his 799.
“That ball rolls really well,” Stoffer said, “as long as I get it where it needs to go.”
He is bowling in three regular leagues this season after coming off a painful hip injury.
“I was really having a problem with my left hip. During my release, I would get pain down my backside and upper leg,” Stoffer said. “I took off about four months.”
It was diagnosed as a sciatic nerve problem, which has improved with rehabilitation.
And his scores illustrate how it has improved.