NORTH CANTON — Outside of 10th frame shots in Games 2 and 3, it had been a solid night for Brian Best.
The 50-year-old Navarre right-hander was looking for a pair of milestones in the Tozzi’s league at Park Centre Lanes.
Best, a tool and die maker for ArtiFlex Manufacturing in Wooster, owned one career 800 series (813) and one 300 game in his bowling career going into that evening.
After shooting 246 in Game 1, when he had one open by missing a 10-pin spare, but ran off the final seven strikes, Best began Game 2 with the first 11 in a row.
Then, the nerves kicked in,
“I just threw the last ball way too fast. I completely missed the head pin,” said Best, laughing.
He left a five-count in shooting a rare 295.
“I really didn’t think it was going to be anything special that night,” said Best, who used a Motiv Jackal.
He was wrong.
Best bounced back in Game 3 with 269 for his second career 800, an 811. But like in the 10th frame of Game 2, it almost didn’t happen.
“I started the third game a little shaky, but I was able to settle down,” said Best, who left a 10-pin spare in the second frame before going on another run. “I wasn’t really thinking about it (800). I didn’t pay attention until the last frame of Game 3.
“I had a feeling that I was close.”
Needing the first strike in the 10th to clinch his 800 bid, Best “didn’t throw a great shot … for a minute, I thought I had missed the head pin again.”
What resulted was a Brooklyn strike, but good enough to clinch the 800.
“Everything just came together real quick for me,” Best said. “I was throwing down five (board) and stayed there all night.”
He almost went back-to-back the following week in the Hannon Electric league at Park Centre, starting with 257 and 299 out of the gate. That time, his final shot resulted in a solid 10-pin.
But he only had 225 the final game to come up short, missing a 10-pin spare along the way.
“I was thinking about back-to-back,” Best said. “I buried that shot in Game 2, but left that 10-pin. It’s the second time I had 299 this year.”
But the 295, a strange total at best, brought another career milestone.