AKRON — All Cassidy Schaub wanted to do was win a match.
Any match.
Making his fourth appearance in an Akron Open stepladder finals Sunday, the No. 2 seed had yet to win once in the stepladder finals.
“The first year, I lost to AJ Rice to finish third, then in the final to Dillon Dingus,” the 39-year-old Greenwich two-handed left-hander said. “Last year, it was to (Michael) Martell.”
The fact that two of those opponents went on to win the title was of little consolation. And after No. 3 seed Michael Menge ran off four strikes in a row to build an early lead during Sunday’s semifinal of the fifth edition of the reincarnated Akron Open at Station 300 Akron, it didn’t give Schaub a confidence boost.
When Schaub then missed a 7-pin spare in the fifth frame of that match, well …
“After I missed the 7-pin it just felt like this is probably going to go the same way as it has in the past,” Schaub said.
Not this time.
Schaub was able to string six strikes in a row to end the semifinal for a win and then went on to earn his first Akron Open title with a 194-193 win over top-seeded Kyle Mayberry in the title match.
But it didn’t come without a lot of drama that brought the fate of the 260-player tournament down to the final ball.
MISTAKES LATE HURT BOTH PLAYERS
Neither Schaub nor Mayberry, who earned the No. 1 seed by averaging 239.5 over 16 games, could put two strikes together through the first four frames before the latter doubled in the fifth and sixth.
“It seemed like with Cassidy throwing urethane and me throwing kind of a urethane ball with all the spares being shot on the left side, the fronts got really tight,” said Mayberry, a 29-year-old left-hander and treasurer for Capital Fire Protection Co. in Columbus.
“You had to make really good shots.”
Schaub agreed.
“The left lane started OK, but it seemed like the fronts got burnt and the oil kind of pushed down,” said Schaub, a Richland County parole officer. “It created the illusion that it wasn’t going to hook. But if you moved in tighter, it would spark off of it.
“It kind of gave you an over-under look, and that is never good.”
Mayberry opened the door by leaving a 3-7-9 split in the eighth frame.
Schaub, who had just two strikes through eight frames but covered five 7-pin spares, then left a 3-9 spare in the ninth. He missed it.
“When I was able to strike out against Menge, that gave me confidence going into the final match,” said Schaub, who earned $4,000 with the win. “When I missed the 3-9, I felt, well, this is probably over unless I double.
“That 3-9 kind of surprised me. I decided to slow the ball down and let it hook, but Chad (Roberts) said I missed it at the bottom. So, apparently I did. Then I just totally whiffed the spare. It was just a bad shot.”
Needing strikes in the 10th frame to give himself a chance after the open, Schaub put together three in a row for his only string of the game.
“I just came up to that lane, grabbed the crap out of it and tried to get the 7-pin out,” Schaub said. “I grabbed it twice in a row and it worked so, OK.”
With a strike up in the ninth, Mayberry needed a strike to win or a spare and high count to tie or win. He left a 3-9 on his first shot, but covered the spare, setting up the dramatic finish.
“On the first shot, I just got too tight and it went long and didn’t finish,” Mayberry said. “I made a two (board) and one move to try to make sure I got the ball left so I could catch some kind of friction. It just never grabbed enough.”
Needing nine pins to tie, Mayberry left a 7-9 split on the final ball to lose by one.
“I’m a little shocked,” Mayberry said. “I thought I was going to get at least nine.”
Despite the loss, Mayberry was pleased with his performance. Sitting 35th after qualifying, he moved up to seventh during the casher’s round and then into the top five in the Round of 24.
“I didn’t shoot spares well (Saturday), but I did pretty well today. I caught a couple of good lanes and a couple of good games,” said Mayberry, who was trying to become the first two-time champion (2020) in the event that had been revived in 2019.
“When it’s on a house shot like this, you have to make decent shots and I thought I did that today. I hadn’t bowled in a few months so it was fun to get back into it again.”
MAKING A CHANGE
As for Schaub, who had his son with him to witness the win, he made a change during Game 6 of qualifying Saturday that helped him make Sunday’s run to the top five.
“When we went down to the low end for Game 6, I had to start lofting the ball. I only shot 205, but I lofted the last four and struck out,” Schaub said. “I went home with Charles (Easton) and we started talking about some things.
“I came in today and said screw it, I went to the loft and things started to carry.”
Sitting 28th after qualifying, Schaub used his Brunswick Attitude Control to jump to fifth after the casher’s round with the third-highest six-game block (1,208) and then to second in the round of 24.
“I threw that ball all weekend,” Schaub said. “The (Hammer) Purple just didn’t shape right and it you lofted that one, it either hooked or went long. This ball with the bigger core slowed it down and allowed it to read the lane.”
But for Schaub, who admits he’s not bowling as much as he once did, earning another tournament win means a lot.
“It’s just awesome and to have my son here, it’s a good feeling,”Schaub said.
“But it’s just really good to finally win a match.”
2023 AKRON OPEN
(At Station 300 Akron, Akron)
Stepladder finals
Match 1: Chad Roberts d. Shawn Curtis 219-185; Curtis wins $1,000
Match 2: Michael Menge d. Roberts 260-248; Roberts wins $1,200
Match 3: Cassidy Schaub d. Menge 247-225; Menge wins $1,600
Championship: Schaub d. Kyle Mayberry 194-193; Schaub wins $4,000; Mayberry wins $2,000
Round of 24
(With 16-game total pinfalls)
6, Jeffrey Scott 3,704, $800 earnings; 7, Sean Martin II 3,695, $800; 8, Anthony Wright 3,684, $750; 9, Kevin Oravecz 3,667, $750; 10 Graham Fach 3,652, $700; 11, Deion Tipton 3,637, $650; 12, Adam Barta 3,622, $650; 13, Mike King 3,621, $600; 14, Frank Snodgrass 3,613, $600; 15, Michael Martell 3,570, $550; 16, Leon Lusane II 3,564, $550; 17, Derek Graves 3,532, $550; 18, Dennis Surmaczewicz 3,531, $500; 19, Michael Mossbarger 3,527, $500; 20, Eric James 3,522, $500; 21, James Pack 3,520 $500; 22, Brant Schurr 3,493, $500; 23, Jean Perez 3,467, $500;l 24, Jacob Balser 3,435, $500.
Casher’s round
(With 11-game total pinfalls)
25, George Szczublewski 2,457, $400 earnings; 26, Jake Monto 2,451, $400; 27, Simon Mote 2,449, $400; 28, John Brockway 2,439, $400; 29, Teroy Wade 2,437, $350; 30, Jason Bowles 2,434, $350; 31, Tyler Slaubaugh 2,429, $350; 32, Keith Schooler 2,424, $350; 33 (tie), Brandon Fleming and Eric Hamilton 2,423, $325; 35, Paul Brown 2,413, $300; 36, Andre Gonzales 2,412, $300; 37, Jesse Hawkins 2,409, $300; 38, Scotty Kramer III 2,402, $300; 39, (tie) Brian Zook and Ryan Liederbach 2,377, $270; 41, Dave Hipp 2,376, $240; 42, Tyrell Ingalls 2,368, $240;l 43, Zach Grove 2,366, $240; 44, Korbin Wilson 2,359, $240; 45, Jeff Hicks 2,348, $240; 46, Dustin Sword 2,343, $240; 47, Jesse Smith 2,333, $240; 48, Royce Fry 2,320, $240; 49, J.D. Jones 2,278, $240; 50, Ryan Trowbridge 2,268, $240; 51, Jeremy Saccone 2,221, $240; 52, Andrew Smith 2,209, $240.