PBA Communications
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Back in August, Tom Hess won the 2023 PBA50 Fort Myers Classic to become eligible for the PBA Hall of Fame in the senior category.
Hess was later elected and inducted during the PBA Tournament of Champions in Fairlawn in April.
Then, he opened the PBA50 Tour season by taking the Granville Financial Open.
On Wednesday, Hess defended his PBA50 Fort Myers Classic title, stopping Brad Angelo 227-192 for his seventh PBA50 Tour title and the $7,500 first prize.
“I can’t explain it,” Hess told BowlTV’s Craig Elliott after “I’m bowling really, really good right now. I’m seeing the lane. (Storm Tour Rep) Jimmy Callahan is out here every week and Jimmy has got all the Storm guys bowling great.
“And I’m handling everything — the adversity — really good right now. I started today with a 90-pin lead almost on JJ and two games in I was 70 behind him. And regrouped and J.J. and I had a battle to get that No. 1 seed and I ended up getting it. And No. 1 seed is huge with our format. It allows you to win two matches and you’ve only got to bowl one game for the title.”
After Angelo started the title match with a 4-pin spare, Hess left a pocket 7-10 and immediately made a ball change that resulted in five straight strikes.
“I had two balls that looked really good,” Hess explained to Elliott. “I started with the wrong one. Jimmy (before the match) told me to put a little bit of surface on my (Storm) DNA Coil. I did. I decided to start with the (Roto Grip) Attention Star that I threw up in North Carolina. I 7-10’d. I’m like, ‘Come on man. Just because it won a couple of weeks ago, it’s not the right ball.’
“I made the ball change and threw some really good shots. I got away with one — thankful that all the guys before me threw a whole bunch of surface over there to the right.”
The match all but ended when Angelo, who was clean with a double, left a 3-6-7-10 split for an open in the seventh frame, though Hess didn’t clinch it until a ninth frame strike.
Hess is the first two-time winner of the 2024 PBA50 Tour, making him the early leader for what would be his second Player of the Year crown.
Hess led by 61 pins after the first round and 97 after the second round, then hung on to edge Janawicz for the top seed 4,187-4,178 for 18 games after Wednesday’s advancers round.
In the opening stepladder match, John Janawicz cruised past James Campbell 236-190, taking the lead when Campbell left the 3-4-6-7 split in the third, made a great spare shot but left the 7 standing.
Campbell opened again in the ninth on a 3-6-10 and didn’t double until a meaningless three strikes in the 10th, while Janawicz stayed clean with a double and two 3-baggers.
Paul Koehler then knocked off Janawicz 227-193 in a match that was tied through five frames as both bowlers had a double and were clean. Koehler took the lead with a 3-bagger starting in the sixth to Janawicz’s spare and double, and the match turned when Janawicz left a 2-10 split for an open in the ninth.
Koehler left a light 7 he converted in the ninth and rolled a flush strike in the 10th to lock up the match.
Angelo then routed Koehler 230-202 as Koehler started with a double, but could never double again and opened on a 2-4-8-10 split in the eighth, while Angelo had a double and a pair of 3-baggers sandwiching a light pocket 7-10 for an open in the seventh frame.