AKRON — After three of the four players struggled to strike on the pair, just four pins separated the two teams going into the eighth frame of the title match.
Then, it happened.
While leaving a solid 10-pin on his shot in the eighth frame, Brett McCourry pivoted away from the foul line — and went down on the approach.
After discussions between the two teams — top-seeded TJ Charles and Eric Randazzo and McCourry and his partner, Rob Sample — and a 15-minute delay, the Perry Township right-hander wanted to continue the match.
“We tried to split (first- and second-place money), but he just didn’t want to give up,” Charles said later. “He just pivoted and he went one way and the (right) knee seemed to go the other.”
As for the match, Charles and Randazzo earned their second straight win in the Spins Bowl-Akron monthly Scratch Doubles Sweeper series with a 401-356 victory Sunday.
McCourry, attempting to ice his knee between shots, gingerly used a five step delivery to complete the last three frames.
He failed to covert a 10-pin on his first shot, missed a 2-pin spare on his second, but converted a 6-10 spare on his third to finish at 180. To that point, he was clean in the game despite having just three strikes, including a double in the fourth and fifth frames.
“I just backed up, took a step, pivoted and it literally just came out of place,” an emotional McCourry said of the right-knee injury. “I felt it and (the kneecap) literally felt sideways. Never had trouble with it before.”
After McCourry’s injury, Sample then left a 4-6-7-10 split in the eighth frame.
“We were in that match until that happened,” Sample, a 50-year-old Akron right-hander said. “I didn’t help us out any to get through it. If I’d thrown some strikes it would have helped.
“The guy is half my age. My old ass should be the one that falls and hurts himself.”
Charles also left a 4-6-7-9-10 split in the eighth, but Randazzo continued a run of three strikes and added three more in the 10th following a 10-pin spare in the ninth for 238. Charles also doubled in the ninth and 10th to finish with 163.
Sample had just one one strike the rest of the way to finish with 176.
“You don’t want to see anyone get hurt like that, especially with friends,” said Charles, a 39-year-old Jackson Township right-hander. “It could affect him going forward.”
BIG QUALIFYING BLOCK
Charles and Randazzo, a 31-year-old Parma Heights right-hander who throws without his thumb in the ball, learned from their previous winning experience at Spins Bowl-Akron.
“We had momentum coming in from last time,” Randazzo said. “We kind of had a game plan that was the same as the last time, and it worked out well again.”
The duo’s low doubles game was 515 through the first three qualifying games, and they were the lone team to break 500 in three of the four qualifying games.
Charles was the key, shooting his 50th career 300 in Game 2 and finishing with 805 for his 20th 800 series over the first three. But after 280 in Game 1, Randazzo was right behind with a 773 series as the pair jumped out to a 99-pin lead heading into Game 4.
“We were hot early through qualifying,” Charles said. “We were just locked in. We could miss left and it would hold. If you missed a couple (boards) outside, it would just sit.”
Despite finishing with 435 the final game, they secured the top seed for the four-team stepladder finals by 60 pins.
BARELY GETTING IN
While Charles and Randazzo topped the field from the start, Sample and McCourry were sitting fifth and out of the stepladder cut heading into Game 4.
Despite shooting 424 the final game, the pair secured the fourth seed for the stepladder finals by just three pins over Ty McKinney and Ryan Ashby (1,814-1,811).
They had to face No. 3 seed Dylan Rinella, a 29-year-old Akron two-handed righty, and Aris Anadilla, a 39-year-old Aurora right-hander, in the semifinals. While McCourry struggled with four strikes and two splits, Sample missed just three times for 268 and the pair won 440-404.
But a ball change in the semifinals got McCourry on a run against Massillon’s Frank Testa and Cooper Smith, who had graduated earlier in the day with a degree in exercise science from John Carroll University.
McCourry started with five strikes after switching to a Roto Grip Hyped Hybrid, and missed just twice the rest of the way for 259 while Sample stayed clean en croute to 242 and a 501-395 victory.
But things changed on Lanes 15-16 drastically in the title match.
STRUGGLES TO TITLE
“That pair just fried up tremendously from when we started,” Sample said. “Lane 16 was just flying, and I just couldn’t get it right enough. But if you got it too far right, it just hung.”
Charles, after moving on to the pair following practice, found similar problems.
“Lane 16 was just light years different. I just couldn’t find it,” said Charles, who had just one strike through eight frames along with a pair of splits and a missed 4-pin spare.
“Then I started getting mixed up between the two (lanes). I was trying to overcompensate. It was just bad.”
But Randazzo, who struck on six of his first eight shots, was able to compensate by moving inside.
“After watching the previous matches, I knew to stay out of trouble I had to be deep. I knew all three of these guys would be firing it up the track area,” Randazzo said. “If I could just get inside and stay clean, I thought it would work out.”
But it didn’t work out the way the four bowlers felt it would in a close match.
“I retired for a month, and then Brett beat me last week (College Bowl Tournaments finale), so I figured I’d recruit him to bowl,” Sample said. “I unretired for today, and now I’m retired again for the rest of the summer — unless something comes up.”
Randazzo and Charles will be heading to the USBC Open Championships in July.
But the thoughts of all three are with the injured McCourry.
“I just hope nothing is torn or broken and he’s back on his feet sooner than later,” Charles said.
NOTEBOOK: The sweeper included 15 teams, with four teams cashing. … Randazzo and Charles led the field with 2,013 total pinfall for the four-game qualifier. … Charles shot 300, while Testa, McKinney and John Ford had 289, with high-schooler Bobby Brennan at 286. Brennan, a senior to be at Conotton Valley, and Lake junior Zachary Abbott — a pair of two-handed righties — finished eighth with 1,752. … Randazzo and Charles posted the high doubles game with 537 in Game 1. … According to McCourry’s father, Matt, x-rays showed “everthing was in line” with the right knee and he was given a brace to wear. He will then follow-up if pain persists to see if an MRI is warranted.
SCRATCH DOUBLES SWEEPER
(Sunday, at Spins Bowl Akron)
Quarterfinals: Brett McCourry (172)-Rob Sample (268) d. Aris Anadilla (166)-Dylan Rinella (238) 440-404; Anadilla-Rinella win $130.
Semifinals: McCourry (259)-Sample (242) d. Cooper Smith (190)-Frank Testa (205) 501-395; Smith-Testa win $210.
Championship: TJ Charles (163)-Eric Randazzo (238) d. McCourry (180)-Sample (176) 401-356; Charles-Randazzo win $630; McCourry-Sample win $300.
