CANTON — There are various ways to battle a difficult lane oil condition — slowly up the outside or up the track or hooking the lane inside-out are a few.
Then, there’s the way Kevin Schott chose to battle the 49-foot 2023 U.S. Open No. 1 pattern used during the Hall of Fame Summer Series finale Thursday.
“I was just throwing rockets right at the head pin,” Schott said.
After a slow start en route to winning his opening match, the fourth-seeded Schott averaged 217.6 over his final three matches en route to winning his first Summer Series title at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
The 24-year-old right-hander stopped two-time Series winner and No. 1 seed Brian Ball 213-204 to claim the win.
“I spent the summer working a lot on speed,” said Schott, who started the stepladder with a 165-121 win over Troy Wilt.
“But when you’re bowling on something like this, it’s just so hard to slow down because you can get inconsistent. Throwing rockets at the pocket was my thing today, and it didn’t change during the stepladder. I was just getting lucky.”
MOVING UP THE LADDER
Schott, who was tied for 27th on the Series points list and had one top-five finish, had just one 200 game during qualifying to earn the No. 4 seed.
“Playing a straight line like was playing, you have to be consistent,” said Schott, who also claimed the Alliance Challenge, bowled on four different oil patterns, during the season. “I had too much speed to try to hook it here and I was too inconsistent to play the outside line where everyone else was.
“They all played the same for me … just take the oil out of consideration as long as I was hitting my target.”
In the opening match against Wilt, a 43-year-old Perry Township right-hander making his first stepladder appearance after a high finish of sixth this season, Schott had just two strikes with a pair of missed spares.
But after striking on his first shot, Wilt had five straight open frames, including two missed spares and two washouts, to fall back.
“I reached my goal of making the top five against some of the best bowlers in Stark County,” said Wilt, who shot the night’s high game of 242 in Game 4 to jump from 11th to fifth. “I just kind of ran out of gas at the end. We moved to a fresh pair for the finals and I just got lost out there.”
In the quarterfinals against No. 3 seed Frank Testa, Schott again missed a pair of one-pin spares, but also put together three-strike strings twice en route to a 213-202 win.
Testa, a 41-year-old Massillon right-hander who was the highest non-winner on the points list, failed to convert a 2-6 spare in the second and left a 4-6-7-9 split in the eighth while also having two three-strike strings, including striking out in the 10th frame.
What changed for Schott?
“Nothing really changed for me after that first match. I was just being more consistent,” said Schott, who stayed with his Track Archetype. “It was what I did all night.”
REMATCH WITH JONES
Schott faced No. 2 seed J.D. Jones in the semifinals. Jones had knocked Schott out of his only previous stepladder appearance with a 220-168 win.
This time, Schott struck on five of his first seven shots and didn’t have an open frame en route to a 227-201 win. Jones also stayed clean, but had just one double and four total strikes.
“I wasn’t making good shots as it was and you just can’t miss right on this pattern or you won’t get it back to the head pin,” said Jones, who has four total Series titles in two seasons.
Jones shot 147 in Game 1 of qualifying before averaging 219.6 over the final three games.
“I wasn’t really locked in at the start … a little too lackadaisical,” Jones said. “Then I settled in, focused more on what I was trying to hit and executed better.”
TITLE MATCH
Ball, A 49-year-old Massillon right-hander, entered the title match as the No. 1 seed after averaging 209.7 during qualifying and joining Jones as the only players with three 200 games.
The match stayed even until the sixth as Schott continued a four-strike string with a messenger taking out the 5-7 in the fifth. But Ball then left a 4-9 split in the sixth frame.
“That pair was tight as hell … probably the tightest pair we’ve bowled on this year,” said Ball, who used a Roto Grip Rubicon UC3. “All day when I got it straight through the heads it hooked.
“On the 4-9 I just got it left. Instead of hitting 11 (board), I hit 12.”
What disappointed Ball, who had two wins, a second and a fourth during the Summer Series, was leaving a 2-4-5-8 bucket in the ninth frame that halted his comeback.
“I just don’t know how I left that bucket. That shot was perfect,” Ball said. “But it’s a 50-foot pattern so it is what it is.”
Schott made it interesting by missing a 10-pin spare in the ninth. But needing a mark to close out Ball in the 10th, he converted a 7-pin spare after just tripping out the 5-pin on the shot off the wall to break up a possible split.
“I’m not awful at this … just not very good,” said Ball, a 49-year-old Massillon right-hander. “I played straight up all day. I never got my feet left of 20 (board) and my eyes never left 12. I just can’t throw it as hard as the other kid.”
The “kid” was rolling it over 21 mph on his first shots and topping 24 mph on his spare attempts. Then it just came down to consistency for Schott, a new father of a six-month-old boy, Asher Michael, whom he calls “my best friend … it’s been a life change.”
But he also was wearing his lucky Bowlifi Track jersey for only second time this season. It made the Bowlify associate staffer 2-0 in the shirt.
“It has my father’s initials on the back and it’s really special to me,” Schott said. “I knew if I was wearing it tonight I was going to do pretty well.
“I’ve been struggling the last few weeks of summer league. But Tuesday I shot 730s so I felt like it was coming around.”
He was right on both counts.
NOTEBOOK: The season finale drew a field of 28 bowlers, with one competitor withdrawing after Game 1. There were four no-shows among the 32 eligible players. … First place payed $900 for the final event thanks to a prize pool collected during the season plus sponsor Jimbo’s Landscaping. The final cash spot was worth $293.50. … Ball led the last two games of qualifying, finishing with 839, 33 pins ahead of Jones. … Wilt earned the final stepladder spot by 14 pins over Tony Wagner. … Kara Kutz was the lone woman in the field and led after Game 1 following a 233. … Tournament director TJ Owens said the Series would return in 2024 with different oil patterns … There were 16 200s thrown on the finale pattern during Week 1, when bowlers averaged just over 166 as a field. This time, bowlers averaged 175.4 during qualifying with 24 200 games. … Defending finale winner Dave Mramor Jr. finished 12th with 734 during qualfying.
HALL OF FAME SUMMER SERIES FINALE
(At AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, Canton)
Match 1: Kevin Schott d. Troy Wilt 165-121; Wilt wins $293.50
Match 2: Schott d. Frank Testa 213-202; Testa wins $350
Match 3: Schott d. J.D. Jones 227-201; Jones wins $450
Championship: Schott d. Brian Ball 213-204; Schott wins $900, Ball wins $575.
