CANTON — After playing baseball most of his life, Chase Barstow felt he needed a change.
But, he still wanted to stay active at the same time.
“I started my freshman year (at Louisville High School), but I didn’t really know if I enjoyed baseball anymore,” the 20-year-old Louisville resident said. “It just started feeling like a job.”
At the same time, Louisville was in the early stages of its high school bowling program.
“I wanted to find something where I could stay active and have fun with my friends,” Barstow said. “It was like, what about bowling? I was never very good at it. But I figured, what was the worst I could do? Be bad at it?”
Instead, he found a love for the game, became a student of all things bowling and continues to develop his game after finishing second in the OHSAA Division I State Bowling Championships individually as a senior in 2021.
One more item was added to his bowling résume during a two-year period that included his first adult singles and doubles titles (with Jordan Norris) recently at Eastbury Bowling Center.
Bowling in the Tuesday Summer Trio, Barstow had games of 278, 255 and 279 for 812, his first USBC-sanctioned 800 series..
“I had a few during my youth bowling days and one non-sanctioned as an adult,” Barstow, a two-handed right-hander, said. “It’s one more thing to put on my résume, and I want to keep adding to it.”
In Game 1, using his 900 Global Zen, he left a 4 pin after the first five strikes and a 9-pin on his final shot. He followed that by mixing in a six-strike run with three spares in Game 2.
Game 3, he started with the first nine strikes. Any pressure in the 10th frame?
“Not really. It’s just a game to me,” said Barstow, who owns three sanctioned 300s. “It’s just a bonus if you do it in that situation. I don’t really get nervous anymore.
“I just leaked the ball out a bit and left a 10-pin. It’s like whatever. I wanted that 800 more.”
LEARNING THE GAME
Barstow started his bowling career as a one-handed player before making the change. He is self-taught, getting most of his bowling information via videos, webinars and other Internet sources. Watching slow-motion videos was a key from TV telecasts
“I couldn’t get more than 10 revs on a ball one-handed. Even when I felt I ripped it, I could still read the logo going down the lane. It was pretty bad,” said Barstow, who estimates his rev rate now at the high-400 to low 500 level.
“At first when I tried two-handed, I had a problem throwing it hard, which is a problem most two-handers have. I started working on throwing in harder, then on control and accuracy. Once I had the speed and accuracy down, I started working on different hand positions. And, of course the whole time, spare shooting.
“With the slow-motion videos, you can actually see what was going on. During the telecasts, you can see (the pros), but not the fine parts of the game, But watching in slow-motion from an angle, you can see the wrist action.”
Barstow also turned to recording himself to improve.
“I did a lot of self-analysis and recorded myself a ton,” added Barstow, adding he did “countless hours of study” on bowling. “I wanted to see what I was messing up within my approach. I identified a lot of issues early on and was lucky enough to be able to fix them.”
From high school, Barstow moved on to Walsh University and bowled his freshman year. But, as a sophomore, some old feelings returned.
“I just found I wasn’t enjoying it like I used to. I kind of was getting the same feelings that I had in baseball … that I was doing it for my coaches and other people and not for myself,” Barstow said. “I just felt it was time to step away and get my enjoyment back.”
If anything, he also has become his sharpest critic.
“There are always obvious ways you are supposed to attack a certain oil pattern, until you are actually bowling on it,” Barstow said. “You’re not going to know how it plays. It could depend on the house, the lane surface, weather … they all affect it.
“There’s no better experience than bowling on hard stuff (tougher oil conditions) against good bowlers, I have real high expectations for myself. Two or three years in, I don’t know who this guy is from where I started. I almost expect myself to be as good or better than I am now.”
He will be starting an internship in his major, accounting, with Apple Growth Partners in Akron soon, but he is not ruling out a return to college bowling.
“I’m not going back at least for now, but I’m not against going back. I still have friends on the team I would like to finish their career with,” Barstow said.
But he also is considering his bowling future as well.
“I would like to make bowling (Professional Bowlers Association) regionals part of the future,” Barstow said. “I have to get my game more developed before I give that a shot.”
And the studying continues — on the lanes and in the classroom.
NORRIS HAS 300
The night Barstow had his 800, former Walsh senior teammate and his teammate in the trio league, Norris, also had his first sanctioned 300 game.
“I’ve probably had about 20 some in practice,” Norris said, “but getting one in league makes me happy.”
The 21-year-old Plain Township two-handed righty also will begin student teaching later this year.
“There really wasn’t any pressure,” Norris said. “I was making jokes with Alex (Lincoln) on the approach. I’ve been there before.”
It also kept Barstow going in Game 1 of his 800.
“I saw Norris keep striking,” Barstow said, “and it was kine of embarrassing not to keep up with him.”