NORTH CANTON — After sitting second following three games during Saturday’s College Bowl Tournaments doubles event at Park Centre Lanes, Vincent Bellar and Frank Testa ran into a problem in Game 4.
“The last game of qualifying, the lanes started getting real funky for us. The first three games, we had a pretty good look,” said Testa, a 41-year-old Massillon right-hander. “I thought Vinnie’s look was good all day. But he had some carry issues the first couple of games.
“But he picked it up the last two and got us into the number.”
Despite shooting just 417 the final qualifying game, Testa and Bellar gained the final match-play spot by just two pins. They used that opportunity to make some changes and went on to claim the win 489-462 over John Shreve Jr. and Joe Hostetler in the title match.
“I was intentionally going light during qualifying because I knew if I played it in I had a chance to strike,” said Bellar, a 28-year-old Fairview Park right-hander. “I was trying to avoid the high flush hits.”
Testa was the exact opposite of his partner.
“I wanted the high flush to avoid the 2-8-10 at all costs,” Testa said. “We both made some changes going into match play to give us a better look and give us a fighting chance. It worked out.”
Bellar admitted he was having ball reaction problems early.
“I was fighting the wrong ball in qualifying and then, obviously, I had a whole new chance to throw the right ball in match play,” Bellar added. “I decided to test a couple of balls and found the right one.”
After not having a game over 237 during qualifying, Bellar shot 236 in the semifinals and 257 in the final match using a Storm IQ Tour Ruby. Testa, who had a 278 out of the gate during qualifying, moved to a Columbia 300 Cuda Pearl in the title match and shot 232 after a 227 in the semifinals and finishing with 963 during qualifying.
Testa and Bellar opened match play with a 463-448 win over No. 1 qualifiers Charles “Butch” Ferrell and Ty McKinney, who shot 548 in Game 1 of qualifying and took the top spot by 51 pins overall.
But during the match, disaster struck Ferrell in both the eighth and 10th frames as he left pocket 7-10 splits. He nearly picked up both, bouncing the 10-pin in front of the 7-pin twice, but finishing with 213 to McKinney’s 235.
“You just don’t count on either of those guys to make a mistake,” Testa said. “But Butch really didn’t make a mistake on either shot. It was just two awful breaks.
“On the first one, I thought he had made it. But the second time, I told myself that I had to double because he was going to make that one. And, sure enough, he made a run at it.”
RUNNERS-UP MAKE RUN
Shreve and Hostetler have made the finals in the College Bowl doubles four times without a victory.
After finishing third during qualifying with 1,841 as Hostetler shot 863 and Shreve had 978, including a 280, the pair opened match play with a 463-417 win over 23-year-old newcomers Chelsea Dorosky and Andrew Fraleigh. Shreve shot 245 in that match as Fraleigh, a two-handed righty, left splits in the seventh and ninth frames while shooting 193 to Dorosky’s 224.
“They were pretty over-under for me. If I got the ball in too much, I left a 5-10 (split),” said Shreve a 53-year-old Vermillion right-hander. “I just couldn’t seem to find the right angle in.”
Hostetler admitted to having the same problem.
“I was just trying to slap the 10 out, but I had the same thing,” the 33-year-old Cuyahoga Falls right-hander and new father said.
TITLE MATCH
In the title match, the strikes came in bunches for Bellar and Testa, as the pair struck on 14 of their first 16 shots. Testa did miss a 6-10 spare in the third frame while Bellar converted a 2-4-5-8 bucket spare in the second frame.
But Hostetler left spares in the second and fifth frames before running off four strikes in a row while Shreve had spares in the third and fifth frames before running off three strikes in.a row into the ninth.
“I don’t think we missed one makeable spare all day,” Hostetler said. “That’s what got us there in the first place. We just had to catch some doubles to get us in.”
“They were different across the house, but we hung in there at the end,” Shreve added.
Bellar was able to continue his strike run to seven with one in the ninth while Testa got a break when a trip 4-pin left him only a 6-pin spare to convert on a high hit. Both stayed clean the rest of the way for the win.
Hostetler left a 10-pin on his first ball in the 10th frame to stop his four-strike streak while Shreve also left a 10-pin in the ninth to halt his three-strike run.
This marked the first time Testa and Bellar had teamed up in a College Bowl Tournaments doubles event.
“It was a last-minute thing. I was supposed to be somewhere else this weekend, but I decided to come out here and give it a go,” Bellar said.
Testa in the past would have been at the Bud Light Challenge in New York or working in his Ten Back Pro Shop.
“I’m getting a little older now and it’s tough to hop in the car and drive to Rochester or Buffalo after leaving the shop at 9,” Testa said. “Maybe next year, we’ll plan it a little better.”
NOTEBOOK: The first doubles event for College Bowl Tournaments drew 22 teams. … Ferrell and McKinney led qualifying with 1,913 total pinfall, with Dorosky and Fraleigh sitting No. 2 with 1,862. … The tourney was contested on the house oil pattern. … Testa and Bellar gained the final match-play spot by just two pins over Scott Vandegrift and Branden Ball. Vandegrift left a pocket 7-10 split in the 10th frame of the final game. Missing by four pins were Michael Leggett and Brandon Leggett with 1,831. Brian Ball and Dylan Rinella were eight pins out. The top seven teams cashed. … Josh Truman had the lone 300 game in Game 1. … The next College Bowl Tournaments event is a singles at 10 a.m. Nov. 18 at Eastbury Bowling Center in Canton. For details, go to College Bowl Tournaments Facebook page or contact Jeff DiMarzio.
COLLEGE BOWL TOIURNAMENT DOUBLES
(Saturday at Park Centre Lanes, North Canton)
Semifinals (losing teams receive $240): Joe Hostetler (218)-John Shreve Jr. (245) d. Chelsea Dorosky (224)-Andrew Fraleigh (193) 463-417; Frank Testa (227)-Vincent Bellar (236) d. Charles “Butch” Ferrell (213)-Ty McKinney (235) 463-448.
Championship (winning team receives $780; losing team receives $500): Bellar (257)-Testa (232) d. Hostetler (236)-Shreve (226) 489-462.
Other cashers
(With four-game pinfalls; all teams receive $120)
5, Scott Vandegrift-Branden Ball 1,833; 6, Michael Leggett-Brandon Leggett 1,831; 7, Brian Ball-Dylan Rinella 1,827.
