CANTON — There are times when change is good.
Joe Bailey could see it coming with his bowling game. He predicted as much to this writer just under a month ago.
“You’re going to be talking to me a lot this year,” he said during a recent scratch doubles event at Spins Bowl-Akron.
The 41-year-old Doylestown right-hander didn’t win that night, but he knew what was coming.
It came to pass Sunday as Bailey won his third Furbay Electric Open title and first since 2013, stopping Cleveland’s Reggie Hawthorne 226-195 in the championship match of the 21st annual event at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
“I made some changes with my fit for the first time in probably 20 years, and I immediately began to throw it like I’ve been trying to throw it the past few years,” said Bailey, whose wife and young son were there to witness his win Sunday.
“It just came down to learning shapes again because everything is so different. Today, I saw some things I was able to do that I haven’t been able to do in a couple of years. It was just a good day overall.”
Bailey was 15th after Game 1, the lowest position he held all day, but kept moving up after that en route to earning the No. 5 seed with 1,042 total pinfall for the quarterfinal two-game match play round.
“It was just a good day overall. I like it when scores are lower and you don’t feel like you have to shoot 230 or 240 every game,” said Bailey, who earned $1,200 with the win. “I got out of the gate with 223 and then had what I thought was a good 189 in Game 2. I had 256 in Game 3 after a ball change and then just searched the rest of the day.
“My spare game was really good today — I think I had just three opens in qualifying and made quite a few splits. Everything just went the right way.”
Bailey stopped Louisville’s Adam Kutz 457-414 in his opening match, and then defeated Plain Township’s Branden Ball 408-345 in the semifinal round to earn the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals.
HAWTHORNE’S RISE
Hawthorne, a 32-year-old right-hander, earned the No. 15 seed following qualifying with 992. He opened the quarterfinal round with a 396-373 win over sixth-seeded Andrew Smith before stopping No. 8 seed Alan Femlee 429-381.
It was a day that started at 5 a.m. for Hawthorne, part of the “Camp Walker” Cleveland group that had three bowlers in the stepladder finals.
“I was bowling a postal Federal event in Columbus, and didn’t intend to bowl the night shift. But someone needed a partner for doubles so I agreed to bowl,” Hawthorne said. “We bowled doubles and singles, a total of six games, and didn’t get done until around midnight.
“So I stayed down there with a friend, got up early and came up. I just love bowling on hard stuff. I am absolutely beat up, but I’m really happy with my performance.”
Hawthorne, second-seeded for the stepladder finals and making his third Furbay appearance after reaching match play in 2021, was able to bounce back after a slow start during his semifinal match against Martez Walker.
After leaving a 2-10 split in the second frame and failing to convert a 3-6-9-10 spare in the third with just one strike through five frames, Hawthorne made a ball change.
“The ball I was using had too much over-under and I needed something more smoother with the surface,” Hawthorne said. “But I should have started laying it down sooner.
“I got lucky with a couple of Brooklyn breaks (three in a row late against Walker into the 10th) and realized that I needed to not loft the ball. It was opposite from every other pair I was on all day. But I was able to catch it and make the change.”
It resulted in a 181-158 win as Walker missed three spares in the game, including 10-pins in the eighth and 10th frames.
TITLE MATCH
Bailey struck to open the title match, but then left a 1-2-4-6-10 washout in the second frame. He was able to convert it.
“It was just a bad shot. I sent it right and it never had a chance,” Bailey said. “It was purely me.”
Hawthorne opened with two spares and a double, but then failed to convert a 7-pin spare in fifth frame. He followed that up with a 9-10 split conversion, but struck just twice more in the match.
“I should have been moving left every shot, and I wasn’t,” Hawthorne said. “I really didn’t realize it until the seventh frame. Then I miss a 7-pin and make a 9-10 split.”
Bailey was able to double in the fourth and fifth frames, convert an 8-pin spare in the sixth, and then run three strikes through the ninth, with the final one being a light mixer.
“Even on that shot I needed (in the ninth), everything just went my way,” said Bailey, who used three Motiv Tank balls during qualifying and the Blue Coral Venom during the title match. “Reggie is a great bowler and so is that whole group. You just have to try to make good shots and, hopefully, you get the break that goes your way and not the other way.
“That’s the difference between winning and losing.”
Hawthorne, who needed a strike in the ninth to keep his hopes alive after a strike in the eighth, left a 2-pin spare to end his chances.
EARLIER MATCHES
In the opening stepladder match, two Cleveland cousins — No. 5 seed John Boyd III and No. 4 Walker — squared off. The two 30-year-old right-handers also are members of “Camp Walker,” named in honor of the latter’s father.
“We’ve been bowling with each other a long time. We all started out as youth bowlers together at the same Cleveland center,” Hawthorne said, “and Martez’s dad started calling it a camp. More and more people joined in and it spread. They had ‘Camp Walker’ shirts and things made.”
Walker had two runs of three strikes in the match and was able to advance 199-181 over Boyd despite two open frames and a split. Boyd had just one double in the match, with two open frames.
In the quarterfinals, Walker went on a run, getting the first four strikes and then running off three more after a 2-pin spare en route to a 231-223 win over 29-year-old Stow right-hander David Randazzo, who was making his first stepladder finals appearance.
Randazzo started with a 2-4-6-7 split in the first frame and a 4-6-7 split in the fourth around a double to fall behind early. He did run off five strikes late, but Hawthorne converted a 6-10 spare to seal the win.
“The nerves got to me a little bit early,” Randazzo said.
Nerves were never a problem for Bailey. Just confidence in claiming his first title against a large field in nearly two years. How is he different from the bowler who last won this title in 2013?
“I’m older and I’d like to think I’m a little smarter now,” Bailey said. “I used to be able to overpower the ball and make it do what I want.
“The last few years, I’ve had to learn to be softer with it, to make it float through the friction and shape it to what I wanted to see.”
And he is seeing things more clearly now with added confidence and the right changes.
NOTEBOOK: The event drew 107 players to start with several late withdrawals and no-shows denying a larger field. Tournament director Joe Altimore III said his largest field was 120. … Cut for the top 20 was at 975, with Caleb Shovestull earning the spot by four pins over Louisville’s Kara Thomas, the top finishing woman among seven in the field. … The final cash spot went to TJ Charles with 958, two pins ahead of Richard Yates Jr. … In addition to Bailey, past champions Josh Haddad (2017) and Gary McGranahan (2014) made the cut. Defending champion Brian Ball finished 31st and Brian Buehler (2003) was 82nd. … Randazzo won his match-play semifinal match over Matt Zitnik 376-375 despite leaving a 4-6-7-9-10 “Greek church” split in the 10th frame. He got three pins to get the win. … Two-handed righty Caden Mutchler was the high qualifier with 1,182, 86 pins ahead of 54-year-old Akron right-hander Don Hogue, to earn the $150 bonus. Mutchler fell to Shovestull 391-371 in his opening match. … High game of the day was 278 by Mutchler, Andrew Smith and Hogue (during match play), with Mutchler also adding 276 in Game 5 to sew up the top qualifier spot. Low game was an 86. … Tournament sponsors included Sled Dog Transportation, Ten Back Pro Shop, M&L Heating and Cooling, Poling Painting, Track, Apex Roofing, WagRich Excavating and Concrete, Fisherman’s Central and Heighway Awards. Sponsorships assisted with providing a livestream of the event on Twitch.
FURBAY ELECTRIC SUPPLY OPEN
(Sunday, AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, Canton)
Quarterfinal matches
(Two-game total pinfall; losers each earn $175)
Caleb Shovestull d. Caden Mutchler 391-371; Don Hogue d. Carl Bishop 505-361; Matt Zitnik d. Dean Vargo 447-391; David Randazzo d. Ryan Liederbach 429-416; Joe Bailey d. Adam Kutz 457-414; Reggie Hawthorne d. Andrew Smith 396-373; Branden Ball d. Gary McGranahan 382-379; Alan Felmlee d. Tim Jones Jr. 447-383; Martez Walker d. Josh Haddad 375-336; John Boyd III d. Kevin Oravecz 449-383.
Semifinal matches
(Two-game pinfall; losers each receive $250)
Walker d. Hogue 405-381; Bailey d. Ball 408-345; Boyd d. Shovestull 338-268; Hawthorne d. Felmlee 429-381; Randazzo d. Zitnik 376-375
Championship finals
Match 1: Walker d. Boyd 199-181; Boyd wins $400
Match 2: Walker d. Randazzo 231-223; Randazzo wins $500
Match 3: Hawthorne d. Walker 191-158; Walker wins $600
Championship: Bailey d. Hawthorne 226-195; Bailey wins $1,200, Hawthorne wins $800.
Other cashers
(With five-game qualifying pinfalls)
21, Kara Kutz 971, $130; 22, Ryan Hanzak 966, $125; 23, Cooper Smith 965, $120; 24, Justin McIlvain 964, $115; 25, John Brockway 962, $110; 26, Scott Vandegrift 959, $105; 27, TJ Charles 958, $100.
