By BILL SNIER
NORTH CANTON —Josh Haddad began planting the seeds for a 2023-24 Northeast Ohio Travel League championship run two weeks before the May 2023 player draft.
“It’s funny, because I talked to Justin (McIlvain) two weeks before the draft,” said Haddad, a Perry Township right-hander who will turn 40 on Saturday. “I told him if he was there (at the 12th overall pick), I’m going to go with you and we’ll come up with a third bowler.”
When draft night came, McIlvain was available to Haddad. But with their combined averages, they knew they would have one of the final couple of picks available in the final round of the trio league’s event.
“We had it down to Kara (Kutz) and one other person,” Haddad said. “We knew how Kara throws the ball and stays out of trouble. We wanted the sure thing, if Kara was still available.”
“We thoroughly talked it out in the short time we had, and I told Josh I liked the way Kara throws the ball in matching up with the two of us,” McIlvain, a 31-year-old Alliance right-hander, said. “It was a no-brainer.”
The plan finally reached fruition Thursday night at Park Centre Lanes as the RJ Flooring team of Haddad, McIvain and Kutz, a 28-year-old Louisville right-hander, claimed the NEOTL title with a 3-1 victory over Key Realty in the league’s all-Baker System rolloff.
Eight teams — four each from the American and National divisions in the 16-team league — made the rolloff, which consisted of best three-of-five Baker matches.
But in the highest scoring rolloff in the league’s over 10-year history of employing the Baker System style for championship rounds, it was RJ Flooring that turned on the afterburners during the final round.
On the night, the eight teams in the rolloff combined to average 231.67 over 62 Baker games. Consider:
- There were three 300 Baker games rolled — two in the championship match.
- There were only seven sub-200 games, with the lowest being the final game of the championship match (151) when the outcome already was determined.
- There were two ninth and 10th frame rolloffs to determine outcomes after ties, with the first one in the opening round keeping Key Realty’s team alive after a tie with Ace Mitchell in Game 5.
- At one point in the title match, 32 straight strikes were rolled on the left lane (Lane 9) over three games.
“I wanted to start the match on the left lane,” Key Realty captain Brett McCourry said, “and then we ended up losing on it (237-224). But that right lane was really tricky.
“It’s tough to beat anyone when they throw almost 1,100 (1,082 was RJ Flooring’s four-game total, 816 for the first three games) at you.”
McCourry’s team of Jason Bogavich, the lone lefty in the finals, and Tony Varn had to survive the rolloff in its opening match with McCourry topping Ace Mitchell’s Eric Randazzo 50-40 with three strikes in the 10th frame after a 7-pin spare in the ninth.
Using the order of Bogavich, Varn and McCourry, Key Realty then topped Triway Lanes 3-1 in the semifinals, shooting 754 over its final three games after a 225 start, to reach the finals.
RJ ADVANCES
RJ Flooring lost its first two games of the opening round against Diehl Auto, and Kutz felt some of the responsibility was hers.
“I started shiny (ball) and it was not the right choice. My husband (Adam Kutz) wanted me to switch to the (Storm) Proton (Physix) in the fifth game, but I refused to do it because I didn’t throw it in practice and I didn’t know what surface was going to do,” Kutz said. “So I just moved left and made it work for that game.
“But when we got practice for the next round, I switched to it and it was the right choice.”
RJ Flooring won the deciding Game 5 256-235, completing three wins in a row to advance.
Kutz wasn’t the only one to make a late ball decision.
“I typically don’t match up well here and we usually don’t bowl on the fresh with travel league,” McIlvain said. “The ball I grabbed for practice I put away after two shots. I pulled out my (Storm) Virtual Energy Blackout and threw it the rest of the way.
“It matched up real well.”
Haddad also felt his familiarity with Park Centre made a difference.
“I was the only one who bowls regularly in league here, and I know that helped in the title match with the way Lanes 9 and 10 are,” Haddad said. “So I was able to give some advice on how to play them.”
RJ Flooring also had to go through a rolloff in the semifinals against KS Machinery after tying at 258 in Game 3. McIlvain defeated Rich Elliott II 38-28 with a pair of spares after the latter left an 8-10 split in the 10th frame.
RJ Flooring then rolled to a 280-210 win in Game 5 — a preview of what was to come in the finals.
TITLE MATCH
The title match didn’t open on a good note for Key Realty as Bogavich failed to convert a 7-pin spare. He went on to leave another 7-pin in the seventh, converted it, and then a 5-10 split in the 10th after a strike.
RJ Flooring ran off five strikes to start Game 1 before Haddad left a 10-pin spare. But the team stayed clean en route to a 237-224, with McIlvain converting a 4-pin spare in the 10th. He then struck to close that game.
It was the beginning of a run of 19 straight strikes and 31 of the next 32 for the champions.
RJ Flooring shot 300 in Game 2, followed by 279 in Game 3 (McIlvain left a 10-pin spare in the seventh frame) and 266 in Game 4 (with Kutz leaving a 7-pin spare in the eighth before McIlvain left a 7-count spare on his second ball in the 10th).
McCourry had the only non-strikes for Key Realty in Game 2, leaving 10-pins on all three of this shots, missing one, in the 300-225 loss on the right lane.
“This place is so wet-dry. If you hit the wrong pair or get the wrong ball read in this format it’s difficult,” Bogavich said. “Bakers move so quickly that you really can’t make the adjustments. You just have to deal with it.
“If this is a three-game match, bowling 10 frames, you have the ability to change and figure out what is going on. With Bakers, you don’t have the time. You just hope it works out.”
Key was able to handle the problems with 300 in Game 3 after RJ Flooring missed just once on the difficult right lane.
But Game 4, on the right lane, was a problem for Key. After starting with a strike, it had three straight splits and struck just twice the rest of the way while RJ Flooring ran off seven straight strikes at the start for a 266-151 win and the title.
Haddad’s team had to win four points the final week of the regular season just to reach the rolloff. It ended up as the American Division’s top seed.
“When I found out the rolloff was at Park Centre, I really liked our chances,” Haddad said. “I knew what it was like with fresh oil, and Justin had 780 and 820s here this season. We bowled well as a team here.”
Kutz, who found out she was drafted while returning from a cruise, said the whole experience “was so much fun.” She also had another secret weapon she brought out.
“When the fan came out for the first time, it changed everything,” Kutz said of the battery-operated fans she brought to the NEOTL nights. One of those fans went back to her mother, Jodi Thomas.
“To be honest, I’m always one of the final picks in the draft. We were always so hot at the centers that we just shared the fans. We ended up with one, but it worked.”
And it also ended up in the first team title for all three.
“It feels pretty good. At the end of the day, we’re all here to compete and we’re pretty competitive people,” Haddad said. “During a season this long, you have your ups and downs.
“But for the most part, we held each other up, and I just had a good feeling about this the whole season.”
DRAFT COMING UP
The NEOTL’s annual player draft is set for 7 p.m. May 18 at Park Centre.
The night will begin with a draft combine at 6 p.m. for players new to draft as captains will be able to observe players on the lanes.
There is a $10 application fee for the draft, with food being served.
The league is 30 weeks, bowling on Thursday evenings with starting times ranging from 8 to 9:30 p.m. This is a trio league, with league fees being $25 per week.
There are 16 teams with competition in four divisions, beginning Sept. 5.
For draft applications and information, go to the NEOTL Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/NEOHIOTL
SENIOR TRAVEL LEAGUES COMPLETE SEASON
In addition to the NEOTL, two area senior traveling leagues completed play recently:
ELLSWORTH AUTO BODY SENIOR TRAVELING LEAGUE: Rossi Funeral Home took the title in the Stark County based league, open to players ages 55 and older. The team consisted of Mike Sterling, Don Impagliozza, Bill Lesh, Jeff Swallow, Bill Clark, Bill Charles and Ralph Miday. Eastbury Lanes finished second in the 12-team, five-person league.
SENIOR ALL-STAR TRAVEL: The Foxfire Lounge team of Mark Boron, Jack Reed, Brian Buehler, Bruce Class and Forest Friley captured the Senior All-Stark Travel League title in the 24-team Summit County based league. The league has four-person teams, with Street-Protect-Principle finishing second.
NEOTL PLAYOFFS
First round
American Division
KS Machinery (Rich Stoffer, Rich Elliott II, Rich Elliott III) (204-300-202-233) d. Roto Grip (Dustin Dingler, Chris Miller, Joe Bailey) (198-245-226-196) 3-1
RJ Flooring (Josh Haddad, Kara Kutz, Justin McIlvain) (204-188-227-218-256) d. Diehl Auto (Gary Liber Jr., Scott McIntire, Ryan Trowbridge) (244-259-209-214-235) 3-2
National Division
Key Realty (Brett McCourry, Tony Varn, Jason Bogavich) (202-256-238-246-234) d. Ace Mitchell (Parker Braccio, Chase Barstow, Eric Randazzo) (206-213-258-172-234) 3-2 (Key wins two-frame rolloff 50-40)
Triway (Jordan Norris, Scott Vandegrift, Matt Frock) (204-239-219-222-201) d. Track (Curtis Duffield, Joe Altimore III, TJ Charles) (266-215-245-199-183) 3-2
Semifinals
American Division
RJ Flooring (246-212-258-280) d. KS Machinery (279-188-258-210) 3-1 (RJ Flooring wins Game 3 rolloff 38-28)
National Division
Key Realty (225-256-267-231) d. Triway (288-209-258-207) 3-1
Championship
RJ Flooring (237-300-279-266) d. Key Realty (224-225-300-151) 3-1