MARION — One key split conversion, one suggested ball change and being on the “right” lane at the right time.
All three contributed to making Vince Yoder a winner during his inaugural senior appearance in an Ohio Matchplay Tournament 50-and-older event.
The 50-year-old right-hander converted a critical 2-8-10 split in the ninth frame of the title match and added three strikes in the 10th frame on the right lane to stop John Shreve Jr. 205-202 and capture the OMT Breast Cancer Shootout on Saturday at Blue Fusion Entertainment.
“This just feels awesome. This is something I really want to get back into,” said Yoder, who also serves as head coach of Triway High School’s bowling program. “Hopefully, this gives me a nice little boost to keep me going.”
Yoder was the No. 6 seed following the five-game qualifying round, with 1,083 (216.6 average), but was struggling to find the proper line through his initial three games. Then his daughter, Emma’s, boyfriend, former OHSAA Division I individual champion and Marion Harding High School graduate Jaden Combs, suggested a ball change.
“I had a decent look with the (Roto Grip Idol) Cosmos, but it was not going to be a 240 type of ball but more like a 2-teen. That’s about all I shot with it,” Yoder said. “Jaden made the suggestion toward the end of Game 3 and I went to the (Storm) Virtual Energy.
“It gave me the shape down the lane that I was looking for. It would recover and it gave me room. To score like that, you have to have room. You can’t be perfect.”
Yoder shot 279 in Game 4 to jump from 13th to sixth and maintained that position with 214 his final game.
His good fortune continued during the single-game match-play rounds following the cut. First, he stopped No. 3 seed Brent Watson 244-190 in the quarterfinals before disposing of PBA50 Tour regular Michael Haggitt 235-217 in the semis to reach the final.
“It’s weird, but on the right lanes of the pairs I hit, it seemed like I had room to the right as much as I wanted without throwing it out the window,” Yoder said. “But the left lanes on most of the pairs gave me trouble.”
That was evident again in the title match against Shreve.
SHREVE’S RUN
Shreve, a 53-year-old Vemillion right-hander,, was never out of the top four all day, leading the field after Games 2 and 3 and shooting a tourney-high 298 in Game 2.
“It was good across the house for me,” said Shreve, who has now finished second twice in two OMT events this season. “I had one bad pair where I switched balls and I shouldn’t have (he shot 171 in Game 3).”
He used a combination of the 900 Global Reality and Zen Gold Label and finished with the Storm IQ Tour Ruby in the title match.
Sitting fourth after qualifying, Shreve stopped No. 5 seed Matt Ballard 223-211 and then rolled past Marion pro and tourney host Robert Manning, the No. 1 seed, 256-206 to reach the final.
TITLE MATCH
But Shreve saw a different pair of lanes when he reached the finale.
“They definitely pushed down a lot. If I moved right, the ball stood up early on me,” Shreve said. “If I threw it a little harder, it just went by the break point. I tried to feather it out a little better, but I couldn’t make good shots at the end when I needed to.”
As had been the case all day, Yoder again had problems with the left lane. After a strike to open the match, he left a pocket 7-10 split in the fifth and the 2-8-10 in the ninth along with a 10-pin spare in the third.
Shreve had a double through the third and fourth frames, but failed to convert a 4-8 spare in the eighth. He also left three 10-pin spares on the pair.
“I finished qualifying on that pair and shot 218, but I left six 10-pins,” Shreve said. “In the final game I left three and all of them came in flat. But I should have made better shots overall.”
SPLIT CONVERSION IS KEY
But the shot of the match came in the ninth after Yoder left the 2-8-10 split.
“I thought it was a good shot. I moved right, but the thing never even saw the back end,” Yoder said.
“I’ve made it about three or four times before, but I knew I had to go for it. My only chance was to have get a spare there. As soon as I let it go, I knew it had a chance. I knew I had the 2-10. I just had to get the kick off the wall.”
He got it to knock out the 8-pin for the conversion.
“You don’t see that made very often. I thought I had it won when he left it,” said Shreve, who stayed at least 10 pins ahead of Yoder until the final frame. “Now, I have to throw a three-bagger just to shut him out and I was lost. It didn’t happen.”
Instead, Shreve left his third 10-pin on the left lane, converted and finished with an eight-count.
Now it was Yoder’s turn on the lane he preferred.
“I was nervous … I’ll admit it. But it was like, I got this far and didn’t expect to win my first time out, so let’s go for it,” Yoder said. “But I’ve been around enough now … I was little more mellow. In my younger days, I probably would have been a little more worked up.”
He then threw three strikes for the win.
“It’s a lot tougher coaching in that situation because you don’t have control,” Yoder admitted. “At least with the ball in your hand, you have a little bit of control.”
“That’s two seconds in a row here and then a second at Park Centre (in College Bowl Tournament doubles with Joe Hostetler),” Shreve said. “It’s getting old.”
High school coaching took Yoder away from competition along with taking Emma, who announced her college signing with Division I Jacksonville State (Ala.) last week, to tournaments around the country. One of those trips cost him a year ago as a fall in the Roseland Lanes parking lot during a Junior Tournament Bowlers Association adult-junior event led to a pair of broken arms and other injuries.
“I missed about 10 weeks with that. I also had a cracked rib, bursitis in my hip and a pinched nerve in my neck,” Yoder said. “I didn’t bowl at all last year. But I told my wife I’m getting stronger every day and I want to bowl some stuff.”
But high school season officially begins later this week with tryouts and the season goes until mid-March.
“This is probably the last thing I’ll bowl before high school,” Yoder added, “but I’m going to try to hit more down the line as time allows me.”
NOTEBOOK: The scratch tourney for bowlers ages 50-and-older drew a field of 32 for its second event of the season, with first place paying $800. Tournament sponsors included Tom Carter’s Pro Shop, Singerz Pro Shop, Double Eagle Sports, Hall of Fame Pro Shop and Bowlifi. … Carter’s Pro Shop sponsored payouts to the top two age 60-and-older players who did not reach the top eight. They were Dale Csuhta (ninth, 1,068) and Keith Cogar (11th, 1,053). … Manning finished with 1,233, including 279 his final game, to lead qualifying by 62 pins over Watson and Andy Rettig (1,171). Rettig was given the No. 2 seed due to the high-game tiebreaker. … John Shreve Sr., 74, earned the final match-play spot with 1,074, just six pins ahead of Csuhta. He fell in the first round of match play to Manning 225-181. Shreve Sr. and Matt Ballard were the lone 60-and-older players to make the cut. … Three lefties — Rettig, Haggitt and Shreve Sr. — made the cut. … The next OMT event is the Veterans Day Classic, set for 1 p.m. Nov. 11 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl in Columbus with a $110 entry fee. The OMT will celebrate its third anniversary that weekend and hopes to expand further North in the future if there is interest. For information, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/360430239160799. … The group also will hold an end-of-season tournament at noon March 23 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. Bowlers must participate in at least two regular events to be eligible, with $10 from each entry during the season going to that event’s prize fund. … Our thanks to Mike Craig and Dennis Haines from OMT for their assistance.
OMT BREAST CANCER SHOOTOUT
(Saturday at Blue Fusion Entertainment, Marion)
Quarterfinals
(Single-game match play; losers each receive $175)
No. 1 Robert Manning d. No. 8 John Shreve Sr. 225-181; No. 7 Michael Haggitt d. No. 2 Andy Rettig 257-247; No. 6 Vince Yoder d. No. 3 Brent Watson 244-190; No. 4 John Shreve Jr. d. Matt Ballard 223-211.
Semifinals
(Single-game match play; losers each receive $250)
Shreve Jr. d. Manning 256-206; Yoder d. Haggitt 235-217.
Championship
Yoder d. Shreve Jr. 205-202; Yoder receives $800, Shreve Jr. receives $400.
60 and over cashers (each wins $110): Dale Csuhta 1,068; Keith Cogar 1,053.
