CANTON — When we last talked with Louisville two-handed right-hander Chase Barstow earlier this summer, he already had made some changes to both his lifestyle and bowling game.
He also had just shot his first USBC-sanctioned 800 series in the Summer Trio league at Eastbury Bowling Center.
Two months later, Barstow repeated his earlier 800 success in the same league, but:
- He has decided to return to throwing Motiv equipment after an earlier decision to throw Storm;
- He has started his internship in accounting with Apple Growth Partners in Akron; and
- He has decided to resume his college bowling career at Walsh University after taking last season off.
It has all added up to a successful summer for the 20-year-old former OHSAA Division I state runner-up at Louisville High School, who averaged over 240 in the trio league.
But the second success came after a short layoff.
“I just got back from a trip to Oregon the Wednesday before we bowled,” Barstow said of the Tuesday league, “and I hadn’t thrown a ball in three weeks.
“It had been a pretty busy summer for me and I really hadn’t been practicing as much as I had before. That’s going to change coming into the season.”
His second 800, an 813, included games of 288, 280 and 245 using the Motiv Venom Shock for all three games. Why the return to Motiv?
“It was what I had used mostly through high school and my first year at Walsh,” Barstow said, adding the Storm Hy Road was what he had thrown.
“But Walsh throws Motiv equipment, which would bring me back to it. For me, it’s more controllable and predictable. Storm had a different motion that I hadn’t seen before. But the Motive equipment, when it overhooks, it won’t surprise me.”
Barstow started Game 1 with 10 strikes before leaving a 9-10 split on his 11th ball and converting it. After starting Game 2 with a strike and a 4-pin spare, he made a two-board move left.
“I stayed there the whole game and took it off the sheet,” Barstow said.
In Game 3, he started with “four or five” strikes before a 10-pin ended that string. A strike in the ninth frame clinched his 800, even though he left a 7-count on his second ball in the 10th frame.
“I really don’t put much pressure on myself to shoot honor scores,” Barstow said. “At the end of the day, it’s just a game.”
But, he admitted, the summer league was just “for fun.”
“I had the two 800s and (former Walsh teammate) Jordan (Norris) had two or three 300s and I think that’s why,” Barstow said. “No pressure … just enjoying it.”
Now it’s a return to league and college bowling, but with a different outlook.