KETTERING — Graham Fach really didn’t see any difference in the lanes between the afternoon and evening shifts during Saturday’s BowlerX Ohio Masters.
But bowling in the evening with three bowlers on a pair instead of the six who bowled during qualifying sure helped three other lefties find their stride at Poelking Woodman Lanes.
Saturday’s second round of 54 players has four lefties topping the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s Round of 24 match play.
Fach, as he did during the opening five qualifying games, continued to lead the field with 2,446 total pinfall, an average of 244.6 following the five-game evening round for the remaining 54 bowlers after the first cut from the original 108-player field.
He was followed by Dayton two-handed lefty Simon Mote (2,337), Wapakoneta lefty Brandon Kennard (2,332) and Northfield two-hander Ryan Liederbach (2,309), who tied with right-hander Curtis Rasnic but earned the No. 4 seed by throwing the day’s high game of 299 during Game 8.
“With less people on the pair, you bowl quicker so you get into a rhythm more,” said Fach, the 31-year-old Urbana lefty, who shot the second-high five-game block in the evening (1,215) despite a 203 in Game 8.
“I used the same (Purple Hammer), but some pairs hooked more and some hooked less. I just adjusted accordingly.”
It was Kennard who made the biggest leap. After sitting 29th after qualifying with 1,069, he averaged 252.6 in the evening with a high block of 1,263 to move up to third.
MOTE, LIEDERBACH MOVE UP
Both Mote and Liederbach had problems with equipment choices during the day.
Mote’s problems came in qualifying, when he started the day with 179-210.
“I hit my urethane with surface the first block and they were (moving) way too early, so my first two games were not great to say the least,” said Mote, who finished qualifying with a 279 to move up to ninth.
“But during the break I saw other lefties touching their equipment with surface, urethane specifically. So I left my (Storm) Pitch Black a little shiny. I just cheated left in the friction because this place does hook on the gutter a lot. So I moved into that.”
The result was Mote shot 748 for his first three of the night shift before falling back a bit his last two.
“The first three games, I started off well and it sort of freed up my swing,” Mote said. “The last two I tapered off a bit which is why I’m 100 behind Graham. It’s hard to beat that guy.”
Liederbach also admittedly made a mistake at the start of the second round, choosing to go to a reactive ball and away from his Purple Hammer. But after a 170 start, he went back to the Purple and shot 786 over his next three games.
“It had something to do with my release. It came down to just finding the right ball at the right time,” the 26-year-old two-hander said. “I just felt like I had to put more hand into it than I usually like to.
“I went to the wrong ball unfortunately in the first game (of the night shift). I threw the reactive because I thought it was rolling well. Unfortunately, it had too much over-under on the fresh (oil). I was trying to think ahead instead of thinking about the right now.”
But the lefties also know Sunday is a new day. No left-hander has won this event since it was revived in 2018.
The top eight players have a first-round bye in match play.
“I’m probably not going watch (the opening matches). Just practice,” said Fach, who fell in the final four to defending champion Dean Vargo in 2022. “I just want to see what the pair gives me and do what I’m doing now. If it doesn’t, I want to recognize it soon enough and adjust.”
Mote says his plan of attack remains the same, just dependent on what surface to have on his ball.
“I’m not a morning person, so I’ll probably be a zombie for practice and the first match,” Mote said. “If I throw it well, I throw it well. If I don’t, I don’t.”
Liederbach just wants to find something that works for him in practice.
“I’ll just look to another urethane if I have to or something different depending on what happens,” Liederbach said.
The Round of 24 match play begins at 9 a.m.
NOTEBOOK: The cut to the top 24 for match play was 2,144, with Ken Abner gaining the final spot by shooting 245 his final game. Despite throwing the last 10 strikes for 279 in Game 5, Poelking Woodman general manager and PBA pro Brian Kretzer missed the cut by 10 pins. Kretzer (2,134), Bradly Adler (2,123) and Rusty Walter (2,096) earned the final three cash spots in 25th through 27th place for $200 each. … Walter earned the final cash spot by just two pins over Ryan Beasley despite shooting 193 his final game. … Second-high game of the day came out of qualifying by Ian Carpenter of 298. There were no 300 games. … There were two ties among the top 24, with the high game of the evening block by a bowler breaking the ties. … Co-tournament host and past champion Jeff Fehr made the biggest jump, earning the final spot in the evening round by just five pins to sit 54th. He then rolled a 1,197 evening block to move up to 16th and advance to match play. … First place Sunday will be worth $2,200. … Other past champions remaining in match play are Brandon Novak (2021, ninth, 2,241), defending champ Dean Vargo (14th, 2,198) and Charles Easton (2019, 19th, 2,177). … JT Cherpeski, who sat second behind Fach after qualifying, had just two 200 games in the evening block and finished with 977, which was low among those making the cut to the top 24. He finished 18th. … Among area players, joining Liederbach in the top 24 are Casey Cohagan (13), Vargo (14), Joe Bailey (22) and Tim Voytko Jr. (23). … Five women were in the original field, but none made the cut to the top 54.
ROUND OF 24
First-round pairings: Jeff Fehr (16) vs. Brian Himmler (17); Jeffrey Scott (9) vs Ken Abner (24); Dean Vargo (13) vs. Jalen Mosley (20); Nick Arvin (12) vs. Kyle Cook (21); Eric Hamilton (15) vs. JT Cherpeski (18); Ric McCormick (10) vs. Tim Voytko Jr. (23); Casey Cohagan (13) vs. Charles Easton (19); Brendan Salo (11) vs. Joe Bailey (22).
