CANTON — Midway through Thursday’s title match during the first event of the second annual Hall of Fame Summer Series, 21-year-old Cuyahoga Falls two-handed left-hander Bryce Oliver uttered one word to describe what he was seeing on the lanes.
“Yikes,” Oliver said during back-to-back spares late in the game at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
It was a word that could have been spoken by most, if not all, of the 37 competitors (some phrases less printable) as they battled the 49-foot U.S. Open No. 1 oil pattern on the initial night of the six-week series which saw just 14 200 games shot during the four-game qualifier.
Despite bowling what Oliver later characterized as “probably the worst game I’ve ever bowled in this situation,” the University of Pikeville senior got through the title match with just one split in the fourth frame en route to stopping Perry Township left-hander Jim Fellows 198-174 to earn the win.
The victory is important for Oliver, who also won one event during the series’ inaugural season last summer, since it qualifies him automatically into the series finale Aug. 10.
“I just couldn’t find the right lane in practice. I think I threw one good shot,” said Oliver, who won $300 with the win. “I was fortunate enough to get a couple of breaks.”
Those breaks came on the right lane as Oliver had crossover strikes in the first, third and ninth frames. In all, he had four strikes on the lane.
“Unfortunately, I left that 6-8 split (fourth frame), but those two big spares in the seventh and eighth frames calmed me down a little bit,” said Oliver of covering the 2-4-7 and 3-5-6-9 bucket, respectively. “Those really aren’t the easiest spares to make when they are this hard.
“But that kind of settled my mind. I threw three really good shots to end the game. I kept smooth in the process and it came out in my favor.”
Oliver had a pair of doubles to hold off Fellows, who shot 200s in both of his previous matches as the No. 3 seed in the five-man stepladder finals.
FELLOWS’ RUN
The ages of Fellows’ last two opponents — Massillon 28-year-old right-hander J.D. Jones and Oliver — didn’t equal that of the 55-year-old lefty.
On the night, consistency was key for Fellows, who didn’t record a game under 194 until the finale.
“They just kept getting younger,” Fellows said of his opponents. “This was absolutely a grind. I just tried to take the lane out of play. I found a spot I could hit. I wasn’t counting on it to hook, and it ended up getting to the pocket.”
Fellows, who got into last year’s finale as an alternate and ended up finishing third for his lone stepladder appearance, opened against No. 4-seeded Brian Ball, his former doubles partner.
Fellows stayed clean throughout, striking on five of his first six shots, while Ball, a 49-year-old Massillon right-hander, had a double early but was unable to put two strikes together for the remainder of the match. Ball also left a 6-7-9-10 split in the 10th en route to a 220-195 loss.
In the semifinal against Jones, a three-time winner in the series a year ago, Fellows went to work after leaving a 2-7 split in the second frame. He had a run of six straight strikes through the ninth frame while Jones missed on a 3-10 split and a 3-pin spare in the fourth and fifth frames, respectively.
“It was pretty much the same shot that I had seen all day,” Fellows said, after beating Jones 234-168. “I hardly moved all day. I had about a three- or four-board area, but it might not have even been that big.
“Spares were crucial.”
TITLE MATCH
After just one split in the first two matches (he also covered a 1-3-6-7 washout against Ball). Fellows failed to convert a 3-5-6 spare in the second frame and a crucial 1-3-6-9 spare in the ninth for his lone open frames.
“I just kind of lost focus for a second,” said Fellows, who admitted he had taken a couple of weeks off following the winter season due to some wrist pain. “I kind of lost my train of thought for a second, but it happens.
“But this was pretty awesome. It was a really tough shot and a well-run tournament.”
Oliver’s split in the fourth frame was his lone open with a pair of doubles.
“They were just hooking down lane. I got one left on (Lane) 38 on the one strike I had and it hooked. It was the first one that hooked from out there all night,” said Oliver, who went to a Columbia Top Speed for the title match. “It was close to 10-to-12, but I thought it hadn’t hooked all night from there. That pair was hooking two to four boards more than any pair.
“I knew that if I just marked out I would shut him out.”
Oliver, who sat first entering Game 4 of qualifying, shot 242 the final game to secure his spot by 47 pins over Jones.
“The big thing was finally getting ball reaction for the first time,” Oliver said. “I was pretty much pointing and shooting until then and just shooting spares. I caught a couple of breaks the fifst two games to get to 200 and then hit a tough pair in Game 3. I just started stringing strikes in that final game late to get the No. 1 seed.”
In the opening match, Ball stopped No. 5 seed Dave Mramor Jr., a 26-year-old Uniontown right-hander, 198-194. Mramor, who won last season’s series finale, had four strikes to finish, but had two open frames and a 4-10 split while Ball stayed clean with one double.
Oliver will bowl another sweeper at Roseland Lanes tonight, and then prepare for the MEGA Singles in Columbus the second week of June.
“I took a little hiatus to get things together at school and then moving back home,” said Oliver, who hadn’t bowled in two weeks heading into the tourney after not missing a day while in school in Pikeville, Ky. “Then I hit the ground running again.”
And the opening part of that run was another win.
NOTEBOOK: It took 766 over four games to qualify for the top five. Mramor shot a tourney-high 259 in Game 4 to jump from 10th into the stepladder finals. He finished 22 pins ahead of Curtis Duffield for the final spot. … It took 715 to cash, with Josh Parry and Kara Kutz having a one-ball rolloff to determine the final cash spot after a tie. Parry had a strike to Kutz’s 7-count for the spot. … No 200 games were thrown during Game 3, while three of the four highest games of the event came in Game 4. …. Ball led the tourney after the first two games, throwing 256 in Game 1. … Low game of the event was 80, with Oliver being the only player to average 200 with 844 to lead qualifying. Jones was second with 797, shooting 239 in Game 3. … Series sponsor Jimbo’s Landscaping has added $1,000 to the tourney prize fund. In addition, $6 out of each $45 entry along with 50-50 raffle proceeds go to the prize fund for the finale, which will include each week’s winner, plus the top 20 players on the points list, determined by tourney finishes. … The next event will be at 7 p.m. June 8 on the 2023 U.S. Open Pattern No. 2. A practice session will be held at 7 p.m. June 1 for those interested in sampling the pattern. For tourney information, contact T.J. Jones at 330-477-7226 or towens@amf.com
HALL OF FAME SUMMER SERIES NO. 1
(Thursday, AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, Canton)
Stepladder finals
Match 1: Brian Ball d. Dave Mramor Jr. 198-194; Mramor Jr. wins $90.
Match 2: Jim Fellows d. Ball 220-195; Ball wins $120.
Match 3: Fellows d. J.D. Jones 234-168; Jones wins $175.
Championship: Bryce Oliver d. Fellows 198-174; Oliver wins $300, Fellows wins $200.
Other cashers
(With four-game pinfalls)
6, Curtis Duffield 744, $70; 7, Josh Parry 715, $60 (wins one-ball rolloff).
