By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Jack Lenhart wanted to bowl in Saturday’s College Bowl Tournaments Senior-Junior Doubles event, but he couldn’t find a partner.
So he called friend Bobby Moyers to see if he knew of anyone available on Friday.
“He said, ‘I’ve got a partner for you,’ ” the 66-year-old Uniontown right-hander said. “You can bowl with Marissa (Perrine). I said I would love to because she could just pound me every game and I just had to stay out of her way.
“And she showed up and she did pound me pretty much all day.”
Perrine, the Summit County and Federal League high school girls player of the year for Green High School during the 2022-23 season, shot 276 during the title match as the pair topped Joe Hostetler and John Shreve Jr. 468-432 at Eastbury Bowling Center.
For Perrine, who has bowled in “10 to 15” adult events since graduating in June 2023 and has a victory in the Akron 600 Club event, it marked her first win in a male-dominated event. In fact, she was the lone woman in Saturday’s 70-player field.
“I knew I was the only girl, so I wanted to prove them wrong,” said Perrine, a 19-year-old Green right-hander who shot 941 during the four-game qualifier, an average of 235.2.
“It was fun,” said Lenhart, who shot 883 during qualifying as the pair finished seventh overall to reach match play. “I just told her before we started the last game that you had better strike a lot because I’m tired. And she did.”
The pair stood 23rd after Game 1 with 433, but rose to sixth in Game 2 with 501 and remained in the top eight for the final two qualifying games.
“I’m getting older and my ball speed is slowing down, so I tend to overhit the ball and I get in trouble sometimes,” said Lenhart, who shot 300 earlier this season in the Summit County Senior Traveling League at Park Centre Lanes. “I just kept bumping it left.
“Honestly, I was just trying to stay out of her way and shot 220s. I was just trying not to shoot 150 and screw it up for us.”
MATCH PLAY
The pair opened against No. 2-seeded Richard Elliott Jr. and Richard Elliott III, a pair of Alliance right-handers who finished second in this event a year ago. Perrine and Lenhart pulled out a 411-406 win
During the semifinal match against No. 3 seed Brian Ball and Branden Ball, things got a bit testy at the end of the pair’s 475-425 victory. Lenhart went on a six-strike run at the end for a 257.
“Something was said, but I don’t really want to talk about it,” Lenhart said. “But it made me a little irritated. I don’t bowl that much anymore and that kind of focused me in more. It was probably the wrong thing to do on their part.”
Meanwhile, Shreve and Hostetler, who took over the qualifying lead after Game 2 and held it the remainder of qualifying, barely got by No. 8 seed Rick Shawver and Josh Truman 443-436 in their opening match before Shreve shot 285 in the semifinals to give the pair a 529-425 win over No. 4 seed Eric Long and Michael Emerick Sr.
“He’d have a good game and I’d have an average game or I would have a good game and he would have an average game,” said Shreve, a 53-year-old Vermillion right-hander of Hostetler. “We just couldn’t seem to get one game with both of us going.
“But it was all good. I think our low game was 440 (442) and our second was 480s (484 and 482). We never shot any real big scores so we were surprised to be in the lead after qualifying.”
TITLE MATCH
But while three of the four participants struggled to find a shot in the title match, Perrine had no such problem.
Using the same Track Stealth that she had used all day, Perrine left a 10-pin in the first frame and then ran off the next nine strikes before leaving a 2-4-5-8 bucket spare on her second ball in the 10th frame.
“I just kept throwing the same shot over and over. I moved a little more left so I wouldn’t wrap the 10-pin,” said Perrine, who said her target area was around the 13th board. “Jack told me not to switch out of that ball even through I wanted to.”
“She kept trying to change,” Lenhart said, “but I kept telling her no.”
Shreve opened with a 4-9 split in the first frame and had just four strikes in the match,
“If I got the ball in, it would go too long. And if I got it out, it hooked too early,” Shreve said. “We had to try to weather it out somehow and we just couldn’t do it.”
Hostetler had 4-pin and 1-2-4 spares in the first and third frames, but then ran off five straight strikes before leaving a 2-pin spare in the ninth.
“It really got blended and my ball reaction on that last pair was either it rolled out and if I tried to move left, then it wouldn’t hook at all,” said Hostetler, a 33-year-old Cuyahoga Falls right-hander. “I switched to the (Brunswick) Ethos and it worked out, but I still had a lot of over-under with it.
“I nearly had a stone-9 (in the eighth), moved left, and then 2-pinned in the ninth. I definitely didn’t have a look for 270 or better.”
Lenhart left 4-6-7 and 7-10 splits in the third and fifth frames, but did throw three strikes in a row from the seventh through ninth. But he didn’t have to do much with Perrine’s run and his opponents struggling.
“I think I used four different balls all day,” said Lenhart, who used “an old Roto Grip ball” during the final two matches. “I didn’t like the pair, but it didn’t really matter.”
“The lanes weren’t a problem. Someone struck a lot, and it wasn’t me,” Shreve said. “Marissa bowled great. What are you going to do?”
While Perrine is just beginning her adult career, Lenhart says he is going to start bowling more tournaments again after taking about five years off.
“I’ve won a lot over the years, but I just wanted to take some time off,” Lenhart said. “I’ve decided I wanted to start bowling more again.”
But Lenhart didn’t know until later that the title pair, Lanes 11 and 12, have been good to Perrine before. In fact, during the 2022-23 high school season, she had shot a 537 two-game series in a match on that pair, which ranks fourth all-time in the 23-year history of the Stark County High School Bowling Conference.
“I didn’t know it until later,” Lenhart said. “I guess she kind of likes that pair. I needed her to strike a lot — and she did. It couldn’t have worked out better.”
NOTEBOOK: Shreve and Hostetler also finished second in the October College Bowl regular doubles event at Park Centre Lanes, falling to Vincent Bellar and Frank Testa in the finals. They fell in the semifinals of this event in 2023. … Lenhart made the cut in the 2023 John Klonowski Memorial Singles at Eastbury, the oldest player to do so, but was beaten by Branden Ball 669-574 during the first round of match play. … Tournament director Jeff DiMarzio said this was the largest turnout in the three-year history of the College Bowl Tournaments series (70 players-35 teams). … The format was adjusted with eight teams making the cut to match play and 10 spots overall cashing. … Shreve and Hostetler topped the field with 1,909 total pinfall, finishing just one pin ahead of the Elliotts and nine ahead of the Balls. … Shawver and Truman earned the final cut spot with 1,823 by 34 pins. … Mike Spitale Jr. and Alex McCourry earned the final cash spot with 1,785. … Senior player Rick Smith turned in the top overall four-game series with 989, followed by Bob Eckenrode with 985. … Brian Ball had the day’s lone 300 game with Mark Herdlick also shooting 290 — both coming in Game 1. … The next College Bowl Tournaments event will be a singles event at 10 a.m. March 9 at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes in Canton, Entry fee is $65. For information, go to the series’ Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1732438633645945
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENT SENIOR-JUNOR DOUBLES
(Saturday, at Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
Round of Eight
(Single-game match play elimination; losing teams receive $240)
John Shreve Jr.-Joe Hostetler d. Rick Shawver-Josh Truman 443-436; Marissa Perrine-Jack Lenhart d. Richard Elliott Jr.-Richard Elliott III 411-406; Brian Ball-Branden Ball d. John Shreve Sr.-John Price 449-395; Eric Long-Michael Emerick Sr. d. Bob Eckenrode-J.D. Jones 400-389
Semiinals
(Single-game match play elimination; losing teams receive $320)
Shreve-Hostetler d. Long-Emerick 529-424; Perrine-Lenhart d. Ball-Ball 475-425
Championship
(Single-game elimination; winning team receives $1,000, losing team receives $500)
Perrine-Lenhart d. Shreve-Hostetler 468-432.
Other cashers
(With four-game qualifying pinfalls)
9, Dale Csuhta-Johnson 1,789, $130 earnings; 10, MIke Spitale Jr.-Alex McCourry 1,785, $130
Might want to check your facts. Rick Smith shot 989 for the seniors yesterday for the Collage Bowl over 50 under 50 tournament. Not Bob Ecklenrode.