By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — EJ Tackett averaged just 210 and was in the cut position — 24th — after the opening qualifying round of the PBA Tournament of Champions on Tuesday at AMF Riviera Lanes.
But after starting the second qualifying block with just 593 over Games 7 through 9, things changed for the defending PBA Player of the Year and winner of two straight tournaments during the World Series of Bowling, including his second straight PBA World Championship.
And it may have taken some pain in his right shoulder to correct his approach to attacking the 40-foot Don Johnson oil pattern.
Tackett shot 777 over his final three games Tuesday, including the first 300 game of the tournament, then averaged 227 during Wednesday’s final six-game qualifying round to move up to second overall with 3,997, just 27 pins behind leader Brad Miller, heading into Wednesday’s first match-play round.
“About two games into the second block, my shoulder started hurting,” said Tackett, a 31-year-old Bluffton, Ind., right-hander and father of a new four-month old son.
“I had to start throwing it slower and, apparently, that’s what you needed to do here. It worked out really well. A couple of games were a struggle for a little bit as I was figuring out how to throw it without making the shoulder hurt. But I had about 780 the last three last night and bowled pretty well today.”
Between Wednesday’s shifts, Tackett was planning on having some work done on the shoulder. He feels the pain is resonating from the peck muscle in his shoulder.
“I really have no idea … it’s just one of those weird things. Hopefully, it continues to get better,” said Tackett, who was the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals in this event a year ago before losing to Jason Belmonte in the title match.
“It’s OK right now, but it’s not 100 percent. If I work on it, hopefully it will get better.”
Tackett has enjoyed success at AMF Riviera, but he can’t pinpoint a reason.
“I just see the house pretty well. Typically, we bowl on a similar pattern every year, and I have tended to do well on 40ish type patterns in my career,” Tackett said.
“It’s all about execution and staying ahead of the moves. Over the years, I’ve done pretty well on that here.”
Any pressure as he continues his 2024 run, which includes also making five consecutive TV shows earlier in the season?
“It’s all about keeping up the form and getting back to the show as the No. 1 seed,” the 23-time PBA champion said.
DISAPPOINTMENT FOR PD
Parma right-hander Patrick Dombrowski was laid off from his accounting job at InterDesign on March 1. It might have been a blessing in disguise.
It gave the 45-year-old right-hander the chance to practice and prepare for the USBC Masters.
“It gave me 2 1/2 weeks to prepare for it, and it helped a lot,” said Dombrowski, who lost in the title match to DeeRonn Booker 217-177 in the title match.
It also gave him the opportunity to move up the ladder on the PBA Points List, sitting him at 30th and making him eligible for 2025 exempt tour.
But Dombrowski struggled this week at Riviera, finishing 48th overall while averaging 200.17 over 18 games.
“I just couldn’t string strikes here. I couldn’t execute and was just not feeling it,” Dombrowski said. “Pair to pair, depending on the urethane being thrown, everyone was all over the place and it was tough to navigate the first couple of frames each game.”
Next, he waits for the 2025 schedule to see what will happen next.
“It will be the same routine for me … keep practicing and ride some roller-coasters,” said Dombrowski, a roller-coaster enthusiast. “You have to have some fun.”
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE
Second-round leader Marshall Kent made a move from Washington to Michigan late last summer. He also made some changes in the way he worked on his game.
“I needed more quality practice time,” Kent said. “In the past, I knew the changes I had to make, but I didn’t put in enough repetitions to solidify them.”
So after making the move, Kent spent three months on improving his game — “putting in the reps,” he added. He was practicing up to 14 games per day.
“I got to where I could make changes without thinking about them. They were the same things I was working on before except for actually cementing them in my mind.”
Kent pointed to “three or four things” he has to think about, citing swing plane, hand positions in certain spots, especially at the bottom of the swing, and making sure his body lines “are lining up the way I need them to.”
The work has produced his first PBA win since 2017 and a solid qualifying round during the TOC, where he sits fourth heading into match play.
NOTEBOOK
HIGH SCHOOLS SHOW UP: It was high school day Wednesday during the final round of qualifying as 23 high schools were represented among the near capacity crowd. More were expected during the evening session. The pros held a clinic for high school bowlers Sunday at AMF Riviera.
OHIOANS IN CUT: Springfield two-hander Chris Via was the lone Ohioan to make the cut to match play, finishing 22nd with 3,771. Urbana left-hander Graham Fach, who was just three pins out of the cut heading to the final game, shot back-to-back 182s and finished 29th, missing by 24 pins. Via bowled at Notre Dame College in Cleveland, which will be closing its doors in the near future.
TOP SCORERS: Matt Sanders turned in the top block during the third qualifying round with 1,413 (236 average), making the move from 41st after two rounds to 19th. Qualifying leader Brad Miller had the second highest block with 1,406, followed by defending champion Jason Belmonte, who moved up from 29th to 14th (1,400). … Sean Lavery-Spahr, who shot 300 in Game 15 Wednesday, shot just 509 over his last three games to miss the cut in 43rd place.
NOTEBOOK: Five of the final six players in standings of the 68-player field were senior players, with super senior Amleto Monacelli finishing 63rd, averaging 195.0. … Match play continues at 10 a.m. Thursday with eight more games before the final match play round to determine the five stepladder finals is at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 per session or $25 for an all-day pass. … Eric Jones, the 19-year-old two-handed lefty bowling in his first TOC, shot 225 the last game to jump from a tie for 25th to 21st, making the cut. Also making the cut was David “Boog” Krol, finishing 20th.
See complete results here: