AKRON — T.J. Charles said on his Facebook page that he had “a good feeling” about Sunday’s Spins Bowl Doubles Sweeper.
“I called my dad on the way to the lanes,” the 39-year-old Jackson Township right-hander said, “and told him that mom was on my side.”
Charles, whose mother Shari Charles died just three weeks ago, teamed with partner Eric Randazzo to claim the title after making the top four twice in the past three months, including a runner-up finish in February.
“I actually think we bowled better than we scored,” said Charles, after he and Randazzo topped Mike Clark Jr. and Jason Johnson 4381-437 to claim the win at Spins Bowl Akron.
“That was a tough field out there today. After Game 3, there was only 15 pins between second and sixth. Somebody could have jumped anybody else at any time.”
Charles and Randazzo, a 31-year-old Parma Heights thumbless right-hander, combined for 523 out of the gate to take the lead, fell back to sixth after 426 in Game 2, but then jumped back to first with 520 in Game 3. The former recorded his 49th career 300 in Game 3 — the only one of the event
“They were a little more crispy (drier) than in the past it seemed,” Charles said. “And that was right from the get go. But our ball speed kind of helps with that.”
Their only “bad” game came in Game 2, but that wasn’t from lack of hitting the pocket.
“I think we left four pocket 7-pins between us,” Randazzo said. “It was really the only bad pair we caught. We just left a lot out there.”
Clark and Johnson, who were never lower than fifth all night, moved up to second in Game 3 and stayed there with 516 in Game 4. Clark, a 50-year-old North Olmsted right-hander, was the high individual on the night, finishing with 1,007 during the four-game qualifier.
This marked the third straight doubles event where the pair has finished second. The stretch is even longer for Johnson, a 39-year-old Macedonia right-hander, who also finished second at Randazzo’s March Madness singles event and during the John Klonowski Memorial Scratch Singles.
“I guess I should just count on second and not worry about cashing first,” Johnson said. “I’ll bet you’re getting tired of doing this same interview.”
EARLIER MATCHES
Fourth-seeded Frank Testa and Tyler Meredith reached the stepladder finals by shooting 450 in Game 4. But it was the third-seeded duo of 20-year-old Walsh University students Chase Barstow and Ryan Hanzak who made the biggest surge, jumping from seventh after shooting 502 the final qualifying game.
Testa and Meredith, who were knocked out of the last doubles sweeper by eventual champions Dean Billings and James Nolan 579-508, ran into another buzzsaw in the opening stepladder match against the two Cavaliers.
Barstow, a Louisville two-handed righty, and Hanzak, a Cleveland left-hander, shot 279 and 278, respectively, combining to miss just three times in a 557-501 win over Testa and Meredith.
But in the semifinals, the carry stopped for the pair as Barstow struck on just three shots until finishing with four strikes and Hanzak had just one double into the ninth frame during a 466-417 loss to Clark and Johnson. Barstow left four 10-pins — missing one — and a solid 8-pin while Hanzak had a 4-6-7 split in the seventh frame.
Both Clark and Johnson had open frames, Johnson missing a 10-pin in the seventh after striking on five of his first six shots, and Clark leaving a 4-6-7-9-10 split in the eighth after running off six straight strikes.
TITLE MATCH
In the title match, Charles and Randazzo opened by striking on eight of their first 10 shots before the latter failed to convert a 3-10 split in the sixth frame.
“After the practice pair, we kind of expected them to be hooking more down here,” Randazzo said. “But they actually were very similar for us.
“But in the middle of the game they started hooking up more on me. I tried to move left as much as I could and made it work. With TJ, he had enough ball speed to fight the right side.”
Charles stayed clean, leaving just a 4-pin in the seventh frame en route to 258, while Randazzo finished with 223.
Johnson opened the title match with a 6-7 split before running off seven straight strikes.
But then he left a 4-pin in the ninth frame, and followed it with a pocket 7-10 split in the 10th for 235.
Clark left 3-6-7-10 and 4-9 splits in the fourth and seventh frames, striking just four times after three straight strikes to open the match for 202.
“I threw two really bad shots that game and Jason threw one … that’s the difference,” said Clark, who will be teaming up with Johnson against the USBC Open Championships in Reno, Nev., in a week. “That’s the difference between winning and losing for us right now.
“But I really believe this is the first one we lost due to our own execution. They out-bowled us, but I felt like we could have been there. We just didn’t execute the way we could have.”
Johnson said the high-scoring environment does’t leave room for error.
“When you’re bowling in such a high-scoring environment and make one bad shot, you will pay for it more than bowling on something hard,” Johnson said. “You can string five or six strikes together, but you don’t make up any ground. We hung around pretty even until a couple of bad breaks in the middle of the game.”
Johnson and Clark didn’t bowl league play during the season, one due to injury the other due to his commitments as a basketball referee.
“I fell bad for JJ … that’s like his fifth second-place in a row,” said Randazzo, who works with Johnson at Ace Mitchell Bowlers Supply.
“I guess that’s what happens when you don’t bowl league,” Charles joked.
But for Johnson and Clark, this was just another rung in the ladder of preparation for Reno.
“They bowled outstanding, and we can’t take anything away from them,” Clark said. “But it’s a nice tuneup before Reno. We feel good about our games, where we’re going to be. Hopefully, it continues.”
And that’s one place where second will mean a lot.
NOTEBOOK: The event drew 18 doubles teams, with Charles and Randazzo topping qualifying with 1,941 total pinfall, 11 pins ahead of Clark and Johnson. … Testa and Meredith earned the final cash and stepladder spot with 1,862, 23 pins ahead of Joe Bailey and Jason Sollars, who captured the sweeper in January. … The next doubles scratch sweeper will be at 6 p.m. May 21 also at Spins Bowl Akron. .. It was quite a weekend for Barstow, who claimed the College Bowl Tournaments doubles title at Eastbury Bowling Center on Saturday with teammate Jordan Norris. Norris and partner J.D. Jones finished 14th in the field Sunday.
SPINS BOWL DOUBLES SWEEPER
(Sunday at Spins Bowl Akron)
Quarterfinals: Ryan Hanzak (279)-Chase Barstow (278) d. Tyler Meredith (256)-Frank Testa (245) 557-501. Meredith and Testa win $160.
Semifinals: Jason Johnson (225)-Mike Clark Jr. (241) d. Hanzak (211)-Barstow (206) 466-417. Hanzak-Barstow win $260.
Championship: T.J. Charles 258-Eric Randazzo (223) d. Johnson (235)-Clark (202) 481-437. Charles-Randazzo win $720; Johnson-Clark win $372.
