By BILL SNIER
NORTH CANTON — After taking nearly a year away from bowling following the birth of her now 8-month-old daughter, Massillon’s Ashlee Gonzales was just excited to bowl in a state event.
By virtue of her first-place finish in all-events scratch during the Stark County USBC’s 91st annual Women’s Handicap Tournament at Park Centre Lanes, Gonzales earned a berth in the Buckeye All-Events tournament June 1 at HP Lanes in Columbus.
The tourney is open to handicap and scratch winners, both in the open and women’s tournaments, in any Ohio State USBC-affiliated local association where both events are contested.
Gonzales topped the local event with 1,999 total pinfall for her nine games. She also finished second in the handicap division to Louisville’s Sarah Edwards (2,082) with 2,047.
“I really didn’t know there was an all-events scratch division,” the 33-year-old Massillon right-hander said. “I felt very privileged and it was so cool to be there.
“I just wanted to have a good time and focus on the task at hand. I had my blinders on and had my support team with me (husband, Jesse, and her daughter) and I just went out there and did it.”
“Did it” for sure as Gonzales had games of 226, 232, 246 and 222 for a 926 total to capture the scratch division by nine pins over Cincinnati’s Sophia Fisher. Strongsville’s Jason Bowles captured the men’s scratch division with 1,015, 20 pins ahead of South Gate’s Jeremy Saccone.
“I just focused on every shot and didn’t put too much pressure on myself,” said Gonzales, who threw the Hammer Effect all four games staying consistently in the 12 (board) to eight area while standing at 23 on the approach.
“In Game 2, I had the left lane playing a little different so I moved about three more boards right. Other than that, I stayed pretty much in the middle and very tight. I did have some miss room on the outside if I slowed my speed down.”
Gonzales had stopped bowling about 15 or 16 weeks into her pregnancy. She didn’t return until about six weeks after giving birth to her first child — taking nearly a year off.
“It was very weird when I first came back. There obviously were a lot of body changes, mostly in the hips for me, and my center of gravity was off,” Gonzales said. “But when you’ve been bowling as long as I have, you have the muscle memory, so the more you do it with practice, the better you feel.
“I had to adjust the way I had to tilt my hips and move my feet a little slower. I went from four to five steps to get myself back in a groove before going back. I have to focus on some things, but I’m pretty much back to normal at this point.”
After bowling in the USBC Queens in 2022, Gonzales also has bowled in one Professional Women’s Bowling Association event this season and plans to bowl the regional in Parma.
“It just gives me confidence to know I can go against the best,” Gonzales said. “Bowling on those patterns helps improve my mental game. I think I showed that I deserve to be out there.”
After returning to work for two months, Gonzales now is a stay-at-home mom.
“I just couldn’t do it,” Gonzales said about returning to work at Key Bank. “I would be working to afford day care for someone else to raise her when I would rather do it myself.”
But she will continue to bowl, with her daughter as one of her top supporters.
“I’m in there, set and ready. I don’t have to think about if it will hurt and when I throw, if the ball is too heavy,” Gonzales said. “My body is feeling like everything is back in place.”
See the complete Buckeye All-Events results here:
UPCOMING EVENTS
MEGA SINGLES: The $10,000 HP Lanes MEGA event is set for Saturday and Sunday at HP Lanes. The event, with a $300 entry fee, will be contested on a modified oil pattern with two eight-game qualifying shifts available at 9 a.m. or 4 p.m. Saturday. The entire field then will be cut to the top one in five following eight games to Sunday’s Cashers’ Round, which begins at 10 a.m. Bowlers bowl six more games in the cashers round, with pins carrying over, before the field is then again cut to the top eight for a modified stepladder finals. Northfield’s Ryan Liederbach is the defending champion.
HDP MIXED SHOOTOUT, QUEENS: An HDP Scratch Mixed Shootout is at 7 p.m. June 28 at Rollhouse Parma in Parma. Entry fee is $120, with teams bowling three games. It is the precursor to the main event, the HDP Queens, which is June 29 and 30 also at Rollhouse Parma. Entry fee is $105, with first place being worth $2,500, ifs paid by June 8. Trisha Reid is the defending champion. Bowlers will bowl four games Saturday morning and four more Saturday afternoon before the field is cut to the top 16 for four more games Sunday, with pins from Saturday carrying over. After those four games, the field will be cut to the top eight for two-game match play by seed. Those winners will then bowl a stepladder finals. For information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/HitDemPockets
OHIO MASTERS: The 2024 Bowler X Ohio Masters will be held Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at Eastbury Bowling Center in Canton. The event is open only to adult bowlers sanctioned in Ohio. No youth bowlers are permitted to enter. Entry fee is $100. Bowlers will bowl five qualifying games beginning at 11 a.m. Aug. 31. The field then will be cut to the top 50 percent of the field, which will bowl five additional games at 5:30 p.m. with pins from the early block carrying over. The field then will be cut again to the top 32 (based on 120 entries) for single-elimination, two-game match play by seed until a champion is declared. The field is limited to 128 players. Ric McCormick is the defending champion.For information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/events/806542027970521
AKRON OPEN: The 2024 Akron Open is set for Aug. 24 and 25 at Station 300 in Akron. Station 300 currently is installing new lane surfaces and a new scoring system that will be operational in time for this event. Entry fee is $130, with bowlers having 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. six-game squads available on a house oil pattern. Following six games, the field will be cut to the top one-in-five for Aug. 25 9 a.m. cashers’ round, with pins carrying over. The field then will be cut to the top 24, with pins carry over, to bowl five more games before the field is cut to the top five for the stepladder finals. For information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/events/602080075460035
AKRON DOUBLES SWEEPER: A scratch doubles sweeper will be held at 4 p.m. June 30 at Spins Bowl Akron. Entry fee is $110, with teams bowling four games. The field will then be cut to the top four for the stepladder finals. For information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/events/7771763512882185/?ref=newsfeed
IRON SHARPENS IRON: This week’s sweeper will be on the PBA Wolf oil pattern. It will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Roseland Lanes. Entry fee is $50, with players bowling four games before the cut for the finals. For information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/443415548248593
YOUTH EVENTS
STRIKE FOR SCHOLARSHIPS: The Rollhouse Parma Youth Classic will be held at 10 a.m. June 15 at Rollhouse Parma. Entry fee is $25, with bowlers rolling a three-game qualifier before the cut too the top eight in both the boys and girls divisions for single-game elimination match play. Each entrant also will be entered in drawings for five $100 scholarships. Call 304-694-4617 for information.