By BILL SNIER
LORAIN — It would be difficult to have a tougher start to a title match than John Kertis did Friday at Rebman Recreation.
Facing No. 15 seed Mike Hastings in seeking his first Professional Bowlers Association title during the PBA50 Ohio Lottery-Baldo Campana & Dave D’Entremont Memorial Central Open, Kertis started with a 7-8-10 split.
Then, he left a solid 7-pin in the second frame, followed by a 9-pin in the third.
“I agree it wasn’t a great start. I did like the first shot. I thought it was good, but obviously, it wasn’t,” said the 62-year-old Streetsboro right-hander. “So I moved left, and I upper-deck a seven. OK, so I moved again and leave a 9-pin.
“OK, so I keep moving and then I started to strike.”
After converting both one-pin spares, Kertis ran off five strikes in a row and was able to hold off Mike Hastings 224-216 to capture his first PBA title.
The lone runner-up finish for Kertis, who still works in computer support for Penske Logistics, came in this event a year ago when he was second to Bill Watson, who also won his first title that day.
But that was under a round-robin match-play format with no title match . And, it was a two-day event.
Friday featured eight qualifying games, two rounds of three-game match play, followed by the final four bowling single-game elimination games. Kertis and Hastings each bowled 16 games during the-one day event.
In fact, Hastings had to endure three extra balls during one-ball rolloffs in the Round of Eight against No. 2 seed Larry Verble to advance.
“It’s a dream come true. I never expected to be in this position,” said Kertis, who was the No. 8 seed following qualifying. “It still hasn’t set in yet, but it’s a pretty awesome feeling.”
HASTINGS’ DAY
The fact that Hastings, a 66-year-old Millsboro, Del., right-hander, was even bowling in the event is a story in itself.
In July, the two-time PBA regional winner (his last title came in 2017) had surgery to repair his rotator cuff, labrum and muscle in his right shoulder in July.
“In seven months, I started with a nine-pound ball, went to a 10 for two months, a 12 for two months, a 13 for two months,” said Hastings, who also battled illness for about a month that drained his energy “It was three or four weeks ago that I stated working with a 14-pound ball again. I only went full-time with it two weeks ago.”
Hastings did bowl the opening PBA50 Tour stop in Westland, Mich., last week, but was not fond of his results.
“I was good for about two games, but that was about it. I had to get through 14 games in two days and I was tired,” Hastings said. “Holy Toledo, I had to do 16 all in one day today. I’ve been on fumes for hours and just trying to focus. Sometimes, it makes you focus better.
“I was able to bowl through the coughing when I was ill, but I’m used to doing an elliptical about two to three days a week for 30 minutes, and I haven’t done that in a month.”
Hastings shot 220 and 240 his final two games to make the cut to match play by just three pins.
“I really didn’t think it was going to be enough,” Hastings said. “But once you get in, and in this type of bracket format, anybody can beat anybody.”
In his opening match against Verble, the latter forged a 201 tie in Game 3 with five strikes to end the game, resulting in a one-ball rolloff. The pair both had 8-counts on their first ball, with Hastings leaving a 4-10 split. After both struck on the second ball, Hastings followed with another strike while Verble left a 3-9-10 on a high hit to lose.
Hastings then met friend and road roommate Jay Boyle in the second round, earning a 2-1 win by winning Game 3 249-235.
In the semifinals, he faced North Olmsted right-hander Mike Clark Jr., the No. 6 seed. The match was tight through five frames, with Hastings recording a double and a 4-7-10 split in the fifth.
But Clark had two consecutive splits on the right lane (4-7-10, 4-6-7) in the sixth and eighth while Hastings ran off three strikes en route to a 212-155 win and a title shot.
KERTIS’ RUN
Kertis’ opening match was against the only two-hander in the field, Greg Wilson, and he earned a 204-183 win in Game 3 to advance.
Next up was No. 1 seed Dan Knowlton, a Dade City, Fla., right-hander who won his first PBA50 Tour title in July 2023. Knowlton, who had the day’s lone 300 in Game 7, finished 40 pins in front of Verble to earn the top spot.
After splitting the first two games, Knowlton left a 5-10 split on his first ball in the 10th frame of Game 3. He converted, but lost pin count. Kertis struck on his first shot and added a spare to claim a 226-224 win to advance.
“That pair was very difficult. It was hooking more than any pair I saw all day,” Kertis said. “I was farther left than I had been the last two matches. I wasn’t even that far left the last two matches. I don’t know what happened. I don’t now if it was something the two of us did or what.”
In his semifinal match against No. 13 seeded Vermillion right-hander John Shreve Jr., Kertis started with three strikes before leaving a 7-10 split in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Shreve had a pair of spare misses through six frames and didn’t put together three strikes until the eighth into the 10th as Kertis ran three more strikes from the sixth through the eighth and overcame a second 6-7-10 split in the ninth for a 210-186 win.
TITLE MATCH
During Kertis’ less than stellar start in the final match, Hastings had one strike to start followed by a pair of spares. Then, the strikes began coming for both players.
Hastings ran off four in a row before leaving a 5-pin spare in the eighth while Kertis ran off five strikes before a 10-pin in the ninth frame.
But disaster hit Hastings in the 10th frame when he left a 6-7-10 split,
“I just grabbed it. I made a great shot in the ninth and just made a bad shot,” Hasting said. “I’d been making good shots all day when I needed them. I wasn’t feeling any pressure, but the nerves are natural with all of the clutch shots I had to make all day,” Hastings said. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been in that position.
“I’m just thankful to God for being able to go out there and make good shots and be in position to win a tournament. I’m blessed.”
Kertis left a 3-6 spare on his first ball in the 10th, but converted and struck on the fill ball for the final count.
Kertis, who bowls two leagues per week at Spins Bowl Akron and Spins Bowl Kent, didn’t do any special preparations for the regional event.
“I just came out and bowled … nothing any different in practice,” Kertis said. “I had no problems with this pattern. There was a little problem with the first round of match play with the urethane going down the lane making them a bit squirrelly, so I had to move left. But it wasn’t an issue.”
Kertis, who usually only bowls Central Region PBA50 events, has one goal on his bucket list: bowling in the PBA50 World Series of Bowling beginning July 22 in Jackson, Mich.
“I’m going to need to get off work and all that fun stuff,” Kertis said, “but it would be a real neat experience.”
A second and a first in two starts during this event helps his confidence.
“I match up pretty well in this place,” said Kertis, who threw the Track Theorem most of the day, including in match play “But I really don’t know why.”
NOTEBOOK: The one-day event drew 62 players, with many using it as a stopover before heading to Aberdeen, N.C., for the next PBA50 Tour stop, which begins Sunday. … Kertis earned $2,000 for his victory. … The lanes were re-oiled during qualifying and after the first round of match play, with open pairs being used the final three rounds. Match play was bowled on the high side of the two-sided center, with both sides being used during qualifying. … Knowlton led qualifying with 1,906 total pinfall, an average of 238.25 on the Mike Aulby 39 oil pattern. … Kevin Anderson earned the final cut spot (1,728, 216 average), just one pin ahead of John Marsala and two ahead of Rebman Recreation host Rick Zakrajsek. … All 16 players in match play were right-handers, with Wilson being the lone two-hander. … The final cash spot went to Jay Hess, finishing 20th with 1,725 (215.63 average). Four other super seniors (age 60 and older) also received checks: John DiSantis, Dale Csuhta, Mike Moore and Paul Lemond. … The regular regional version of this event was held last Sunday, with Mikey Schlabach defeating Zeke Bayt 290-269 to claim the win with the identical one-day format. There were eight 300 games thrown, including two in match play. Drew Klingler was the qualifying leader with 2,010, a 251.25 average on the PBA Chameleon 39 oil pattern. It took an average of 227.25 to make the cut to the top 16.
See complete results of the PBA50 regional here: