By BILL SNIER
LANCASTER — Until Saturday at Lex Lanes, Jon Byers and Andrew Kennedy had never met.
The meeting, arranged by 36-year-old Lancaster right-hander Ryan Daubenmire, turned into a win for the threesome.
After qualifying for the No. 4 seed during the stepladder finals, Byers, Daubenmire and Kennedy combined to win four matches and capture the title during the ProCore Health Brokers Junior-Junior-Senior Trio Tournament.
The threesome topped the team of Jerry Hicks, Kyle Cook and Jalen Mosely 664-640 in the title match.
“I bowl nationals with Andrew,” Daubenmire said of Kennedy, “and I work with Jon at Blue Label Packaging (in Lancaster) so that’s how we put it together.
“We got a few breaks along the way, but that’s what it takes to win, right? It’s a team game and when one struggles, someone else has to pick them up.”
Daubenmire was the lone remaining team member available for an interview as his teammates had a game to watch (Browns vs. Texans NFL playoff game) and a distance to drive on a wintery day. Byers iives in the Canal Winchester area; Kennedy is from Delaware.
During the five-game qualifying round, the right-handed Kennedy led the trio with 1,236 total pinfall, followed by Daubenmire with 1,194 and the left-handed senior Byers with 1,113 as the team finished with 3,547 overall.
“Every pair seemed to be different across the house. The first pair started off kind of tight and, as we moved on, they opened up,” Daubenmire said. “Then, when we jumped from the high end back to the low end, they seemed to get real tight again.”
STEPLADDER RUN
The trio opened match play against No. 5 seeded right-handers Ray Cook, Chad Morris and two-hander Brendan Salo, who had gained the final stepladder spot by just 22 pins after shooting 652 their final game.
Byers came out with the first six strikes before failing to convert a 7-pin spare en route to 256. Kennedy also was able to string six strikes at the end for 247, but it was Daubenmire who struggled with three opens in his first four frames en route to 157.
“That pair (Lanes 9 and 10) was probably the driest pair I saw all day,” Daubenmire said. “Once we got into match play, they seemed to hook a ton for me, but luckily, everyone else was able to handle it. As we moved left, they tightened up a little bit and we were able to blend it.”
Salo, who had led the tourney with 1,320 (264 average) during qualifying, had just four strikes and one double in the match. Morris and Cook both had four-strike strings, but the group fell 660-627.
During the stepladder finals, each match moved one pair to the left — which helped Daubenmire.
“Of course, it helped with Jon being a lefty. But for me, there was a lot of over-under on that first pair, and I just couldn’t find a ball to play the lanes correctly,” Daubenmire said. “I was just trying to keep my score as decent as possible without making too many changes. But just moving that one pair made a huge difference.”
Facing the No. 3 seeded team of right-handers Chad Roberts, Dean Billings and Dan Higgins, Daubenmire started with the first five strikes while Kennedy had the first seven before both ended runs with splits. Meanwhile, Roberts was able to strike on 10 of his first 11 shots, leaving a 4-pin in the seventh frame.
However, Billings and Higgins had just one double — finishing with six and five strikes, respectively — as Daubenshire’s team won 704-660. Kennedy finished with 265 to lead them and Daubenshire added 227.
The semifinal put the trio against a pair of lefties — two-hander Ryan Liederbach and Jean Perez — and senior righty Charles “Butch” Ferrell.
Byers, after a 4-6-7-8-10 split in the first frame, struck on eight of his next nine shots, while Daubenmire struck on six of his first seven. Kennedy then added five strikes to close his game as they advanced 752-735.
Daubenmire striking out in the 10th frame was a key. They didn’t have a game under 245.
Liederbach struck on nine of his first 10 shots en route to 267, while Perez had a four-strike run and Ferrell had a pair of three-strike runs and a double. But no one on the team struck out in the 10th as the two teams were within one pin of each other late.
TITLE MATCH
Then came the title match on another pair against top-seeded Hicks, Cook and Mosely. Both Cook and Mosely had the event’s only 300 games during qualifying.
“We were originally supposed to bowl with Michael Haggitt,” said Mosely, a 23-year-old Cincinnati right-hander. “But he was bowling in the military championships in Las Vegas.
“I’m pretty sure Jerry was the first person who came to mind.”
Hicks, a 55-year-old Vandalia left-hander, shot 1,171 during qualifying while Cook, a 29-year-old Columbus right-hander added 1,191 and Mosley had 1,269. Cook and Mosley had their 300 games in Games 1 and 2, respectively.
“I wasn’t planning on bowling unless someone asked,” Hicks said.
“Jerry was the first person I asked, and it was early,” Cook said.
The trio shot 707 the final game to earn the top seed by just three pins over Ferrell, Perez and Liederbach.
Again, after starting with a 4-7-10 split in the first frame, Byers ran off six straight strikes while Daubenmire struck on six of his first eight shots and Kennedy had five strikes in in first seven shots.
But Hicks was unable to find his comfort zone with just three strikes in eight frames. Cook had seven strikes in his first eight frames. Mosely left three one-pin spares in his first seven frames, including a pair of 9-pins.
But the key came in the ninth, when Mosely left a 4-6-7 split, Cook left a 10-pin spare and Hicks had an 8-pin spare.
“I should have made a bigger move in the ninth frame. I just went a couple in and split,” Mosely said. “We just couldn’t take advantage of our good shots and we didn’t get many breaks. The breaks kind of went the other way.”
Cook only wanted one shot back — his 9-pin spare in the sixth frame after rolling the front five strikes.
“Outside of a couple of hits and that 10-pin I left in the ninth, it went pretty well,” Cook said. “I was a little slow with that 9-pin, but if that’s the only one I want back, that’s pretty good. We can find 24 pins anywhere in a trio game.”
But in the 10th, Byers struck out while Daubenmire failed to convert a 10-pin spare. Faced with a critical 2-4-5-8 spare conversion, Kennedy covered it and added a strike on the final ball to preserve the win.
“Like I said,” Daubenmire said, “it’s a team game. We did what we had to do.”
NOTEBOOK: The event drew a full field of 32 teams. … The tourney was bowled on a house oil pattern. … In addition to the 300s by Mosely and Cook, Billings and Salo each had 299 and Joel Butt shot 290. … The high team game of the day went to Ferrell, Perez and Liederbach, who shot 816 during the final game of qualifying to jump from sixth and being 16 pins out of the cut to second. Perez shot 280, Liederbach 278 ad Ferrell 258 that game. … Billings, who turned in the high senior qualifying series of 1,291, shot 805 his first three games. Salo also shot 800, with 276-299-269 for 844. … The final cash spot went to Trent Marner, Andy Rettig and Tyler Slaubaugh with 3,499, just one pin ahead of John Randolph, Brian Walker and Brandon Fleming. … Byers is a former Northeast Ohio resident who once bowled in the Stark-Summit Traveling League during the 2008-09 season. … Hicks, Cook and Mosely were not out of the top three all day, but didn’t lead until the final game of qualifying. Byers, Daubenmire and Kennedy dropped to as low as seventh after Game 3. … Our thanks also to tournament promoter Jody Boyd and Dawn Altimore-Emerson and Makenna Boyd for their assistance in our report.
PRO-CORE HEALTH BROKERS JUNIOR-JUNIOR-SENIOR TRIO
(Saturday, at Lex Lanes, Lexington)
Stepladder finals
Match 1: Jon Byers (256)-Ryan Daubenmire (157)-Andrew Kennedy (247) d. Ray Cook (213)-Chad Morris (222)-Brandan Salo (192) 660-627; Cook-Morris-Salo earn $1,200.
Match 2: Byers (212)-Daubenmire (227)-Kennedy (265) d. Chad Roberts (278)-Dean Billings (197)-Dan Higgins (185) 704-660; Roberts-Billings-Higgins earn $1,650.
Match 3: Byers (245)-Daubenmire (248)-Kennedy (259) d. Charles “Butch” Ferrell (242)-Jean Perez (226)-Ryan Liederbach (267) 752-735; Ferrell-Perez-Liederbach earn $2,100.
Championship: Byers (236)-Daubenmire (200)-Kennedy (228) d. Jerry Hicks (182)-Kyle Cook (257)-Jalen Mosely (201) 664-639; Byers-Daubenmire-Kennedy earn $4,500; Hicks-Cook-Mosely earn $3,000.
Other cashers
(With five-game qualifying totals)
6, Trent Marner-Tyler Slaubaugh-Andy Rettig 3,499, $750.
