AKRON — Shawn Curtis is a regular in James HIles’ Friday night sport-shot series events in the Pittsburgh area.
But prior to leaving for Ohio and the Akron Open singles, Curtis decided to take a bowling break for a night.
“I just wanted a Friday night off, so I went to the demolition derby at our county fair back home,” the 27-year-old Burgettstown, Pa., right-hander said. “I just wanted to be fresh for the weekend.”
Then he went out Saturday and demolished the pins during A squad of the Akron Open on Saturday at Station 300 Akron (formerly Stonehedge).
After recording the early shift’s lone 300 in Game 2 and adding 270 in Game 3 en route to shooting 813 for the first three, Curtis used his Storm Summit ball to zoom to the top of the leaderboard.
He maintained that position after the squad, leading by 61 pins with 1,516 total pinfall.
Cleveland Heights left-hander Teroy Wade had a pair of 279s to stand second with 1,455, followed by two-handed lefty Andre Gonzales, who shot 289 his final game for 1,451.
“I was on the bubble last year and made the cut by a couple of pins,” Curtis said of the 2022 event when he finished 27th overall in his first Akron Open appearance. “Everyone chases those days when you bowl really well. Today was one of those days.”
The 50-year-old Wade was happy with the way he threw the ball, but admitted his spare shooting must improve for Sunday’s casher’s round.
“I threw the ball pretty well except for the third game when I felt I threw it badly,” said Wade, who had 214 that game. “If I carried, I was finishing.”
Like Curtis, he didn’t bowl during Friday’s doubles event.
“I had an idea what to expect, I’ve bowled here enough,” Wade said. “But you’re still unsure until you step out here.”
The 7-pin proved to be Wade’s nemesis. “I missed three of them. I don’t miss those, I’m better off,” Wade said.
Gonzales started the day on the high end of the center so he knew what to do when he got back there for Game 6.
“They were hooking early and I remembered how they were hooking a little more at that end,” said the 27-year-old two-handed Shelby Township, Mich., who left a 7-pin in the 10th frame to fall short of 300.
“I have to come out (Sunday) relaxed, make sure I’m comfortable, and make spares. I missed easy spares today. The main thing is to find my shot early and get into that top five.”
OTHERS MAKE RUN
Mike King, a 44-year-old Cleveland right-hander, went 279-268 to start and topped the leaderboard after two games. But he shot just 850 the rest of the way and sat seventh after A squad.
“Me … I changed after two games,” King said about his day. “I didn’t keep that momentum and didn’t keep up with the ball changes. My carry went away and I just had to get back on track.”
Urbana left-hander Graham Fach, who finished second a year ago, had just 172 his final game to drop from second to fifth.
“Just transition caught up to me. I was in between balls and had a couple of bad splits,” the 31-year-old said. “I saw a lot more friction last night with a lot more traffic on the lanes. It was a little simpler to navigate today.”
Ryan Liederbach, who finished second in Friday’s doubles with partner Viktor Varner, was sixth after A squad and said two words described his day.
“Ringing 7 … I had three of them (in Game 5 when he shot 201),” said Liederbach, who dropped one spot in Game 4.
The 26-year-old two-handed Northfield lefty said there was a difference from Friday’s doubles.
“In the beginning I saw it tighter down lane, allowing me to throw some stronger back-end motion balls,” Liederbach said. “Once the pattern broke down, I was trying to ball down to weaker stuff unless I was following someone else who was pushing the oil down.”
To a man, the top players from A squad agreed on a Sunday game plan.
“Try to throw better shots and keep myself together,” King said.
“I’ve been in this scenario before. Every time after the first casher’s round, the lanes were completely gone for the second round,” Liederbach said. “I’d like to stay in the same spot with the same ball the whole time, but 10 games is a long way to go. I’m hoping they hold up.”
NOTEBOOK: A squad had 128 bowlers out of a possible 132, with a full field of 132 bowling on B squad. … Sponsors for the 2023 Akron Open include House of LaRose and Poling Painting which enabled first place to be worth $4,000. … Lanes 41-42 were taken out of play due to mechanical issues that could not be repaired by the time first shift began at 9 a.m. … Sunday’s casher’s round of five games, with pinfall carryover, will begin at 9 a.m., with the top 24 following that round advancing to bowl five additional games until the final cut to the top five for the stepladder finals. … Curtis had the lone 300 during A squad, with Brandon Kane also shooting 298 to go with Gonzales’ 289. …The projected cut for the overall field is 52 players for Sunday’s casher’s round. … Among past champions on A squad, Kyle Mayberry (2020) sits 19th and past champion Darrel Ratliff, who won Friday’s doubles with Nick Christy, finished 90th. Christy also will miss the cut, finishing 41st. Two other past champions — Joshua Jones (2019) and Michael Martell (2022) — are bowing on B squad.
