By BILL SNIER
COLUMBUS — Jean F. Perez takes a break on the lanes before delivering a shot, putting his foot up on the ball return and looking straight down the lanes.
“I just breathe and think about what I’m going to do,” the 44-year-old Indianapolis resident and Puerto Rico native said. “I just take my time there … in my mind, I’m seeing the shot.”
Sunday, during the title match of the sixth HP Lanes MEGA Singles event at HP Lanes, Perez didn’t have to make many of those pauses before accomplishing his goal.
Perez shot the third 300 of the two-day event, reserving it for the title match, in earning the win with a 300-194 win over top-seeded Cameron Crowe.
“I really don’t remember my last win,” said Perez, who owns one PBA regional singles title and a doubles regional win with Jalen Mosely at Wabash Lanes in New Philadelphia.
“But I’m always in there contending. This was a good win for me … I was looking for it.”
After sitting fifth overall following the eight-game qualifying round Saturday, Perez said at the time that he made a mistake putting surface on his urethane balls to start the shift.
He adjusted that strategy on Sunday.
“I only surfaced one ball and left every other ball in my bag light after we got done (Saturday),” said Perez, who was the oldest player in the final 28 contending during Sunday’s six-game cashers’ round to determine the eight stepladder finalists.
“As the lanes got tighter, I was able to move left and felt more comfortable.”
Perez shot the third-high total of 1,426 during the cashers’ round, a 237.6 average, as he moved up from fifth to second overall to reach the stepladder round.
SEMIFINAL BATTLE
After places fourth through eighth had to be sorted out with a pair of three-way, single-game matches (more on that later), Perez faced off against 33-year-old Okemos, Mich., two-handed lefty Justin Knowles, the No. 3 seed.
It was a hint of things to come.
Perez, using his Storm Fast Pitch, ran off the front eight strikes before leaving a 7-pin in the ninth frame en route to a 267-174 win.
“Buzzsaw is putting it nicely. I felt like I needed to be steeper and get the ball to the left faster,” said Knowles, who owns three PBA regional titles. “But the black urethane I struck with on the last two shots in practice kind of gave me a false sense of confidence.
“After I started with two strikes I realized I had to get it to the left faster. But when I did that, the ball just wouldn’t come up off of it.”
Knowles left a 10-pin spare in the third and then a 4-6-10 split in the fourth as Perez continued his run.
“Jean is just so good. I realized in the fifth frame that I was in deep trouble,” said Knowles, who started with the Black Hammer 78 instead of his Pink Widow. “I’ve been bowling really well the last couple of weeks. I started a new mental approach where I’m calming down and more chilled out … taking it as it comes and not getting angry when I get bad breaks.
“It has freed up my arm swing and gave me more confidence. It’s all come together the last few weeks.”
TITLE MATCH
Awaiting Perez in the title match was Crowe, a two-time Team USA member and Orland Park, Ill., two-handed lefty who led the entire tournament by averaging 258 over the first eight games, including a 300.
The 23-year-old Crowe, who won this event in 2021, said Perez took a similar route to what he did in earning his win.
“I qualified around the top 10 and got really hot at the right time and found good ball reaction,” Crowe said. “This year, it was more smooth sailing rather than having to go out and get it.
“I think I had the right mentality and the same everything, but things just didn’t fall my way, and that’s going to happen.”
After starting the match with a strike, Crowe left 2- and 6-pin spares in the second and third frames. In fact, he struck on just two of his first five shots before a double in the sixth and seventh.
“I could have done a couple of things differently. It’s always upsetting to lose. We’re friends and all, but I want to win everything,” Crowe said. “But overall, it was still a good weekend and I’m proud of the progression I’ve made.”
Crowe felt he made the correct ball choice.
“But the execution just wasn’t there. I could have made it a lot easier on myself in practice, but they looked so nice and someone on my side shot 300,” Crowe added. “Jean is just one of those incredible bowlers and he got hot.”
Despite shooting 267 against Knowles, Perez decided to make a ball change, going to his Storm Pitch Black against Crowe.
“It was a ball I didn’t use all weekend,” said Perez, who played up the outside of the lane. “But it had the same layout as my Fast Pitch, but it rolled a little stronger earlier and that made the difference.”
Crowe finished the match with just five strikes.
“I just have to be better. I’ll go to the bowling alley tonight when I get home and start fixing things I know I have to get better at,” Crowe said. “Right now, I’m just figuring out life … I feel very fortunate and blessed that my family and close friends are there, and I’m very thankful for that circle of support. I’ll just go with the flow and see where life takes us.”
As for Perez, it’s back home after bowling for the past six weeks.
“It’s time to take a break,” said Perez, who pocketed $8,000 for the win, “and everything is good. I just feel old.”
OTHER STEPLADDER MATCHES
ROUND OF EIGHT
The opening three-way stepladder match featured No. 8 Ryan Burton, a 23-year-old two-handed lefty; Austin Grammar, a two-handed Webber International righty; and PBA veteran left-hander Graham Fach.
It was Grammar, who posted the second-highest series during the cashers’ round, who came out strong with 279, leaving only a 10-pin in the seventh frame.
Fach, who had just three strikes and one split through eight frames, had a key double in the ninth and 10th. Burton, who started with three strikes, left 3-7 and 7-10 splits in the fourth and sixth frames. Needing a strike on his first ball in the 10th to stay ahead of Fach, he left a 2-4-7 spare.
Fach advanced with 198 to Burton’s 194.
ROUND OF SIX
No. 5 seed Chad Roberts joined Fach and Grammar in this round, with the former running off six strikes in seven frames while Grammar struck on nine of his first 10 shots, missing only a 10-pin spare in the fifth.
After running off four strikes late following three spares, Fach left a 10-pin spare in the ninth. He struck on his first ball in the 10th, but left an 8-pin on his second shot for 227. Roberts stayed clean for 238 to advance along with Grammar, who shot 256.
QUARTERFINAL ROUND
No. 4 seed Fero Williams, who won Friday’s doubles event with Zach Wilkins, joined Roberts and Grammar in this round, but fell behind after a 4-6-7 split in the fifth following three straight strikes. He did not strike again until his final ball for 191.
Meanwhile, Roberts and Grammar left one-pin spares in the first and in the fifth. They filled the rest of the frames with strikes — tying with 269 to force a two-frame rolloff to advance.
After both threw four strikes in the first rolloff to tie with 60 each, Grammar was able to double with a 7-pin spare for 49 while Roberts left 10-pin on his first shot and a 4-6 split on his second ball in the 10th for 39. Grammar moved on to face Knowles.
FOURTH-PLACE MATCH
Knowles struck on four of his first five shots and finished with five in a row as Grammar left a 4-6-10 split in the second. Grammar had a run of three strikes going into his first ball in the 10th, but left a 10-pin on his 11th shot to fall short 247-236 — sending Knowles against Perez in the semifinals.
NOTEBOOK: Crowe finished the day as the No. 1 seed after 14 games with 3,454 (246.7 average). … Mikey Tang, who finished 11th overall after being the final cut spot following qualifying, turned in the high series of the cashers’ round with 1,448 (241.3 average). … Burton shot 265 and Fach had 258 in their final games to leapfrog Kyle Cook and Hayden Tarris for the final two stepladder spots. The cut to make the stepladder was 3,239, with Burton finishing 12 pins ahead of Cook. … All rounds of the stepladder finals were bowled on separate, fresh-oil pairs. … Breanna Clemmer, the lone woman in the cashers’ round, finished 27th overall with 2,973. … Ric McCormick had the high game of the cashers’ round with 279, while Tarris had 278. … Our thanks to tournament promotor Jody Boyd, tournament manager Dawn Altimore-Eckenrode and Makenna Boyd for their assistance with these reports.
HP LANES MEGA SINGLES
(Sunday, at HP Lanes, Columbus)
Stepladder rounds
First round (top two advance): Austin Grammar 279, Graham Fach 198, Ryan Burton 194. Burton earns $1,200
Second round (top two advance) Austin Grammar 256, Chad Roberts 238, Graham Fach 227. Fach earns $1,400
Third round (winner advances, other two eliminated): Austin Grammar 269, Chad Roberts 269 (Grammar advances after winning second two-frame rolloff 49-39), Fero Williams 191. Roberts earns $2,000; Williams earns $1,600
Fourth-place match: Justin Knowles d. Grammar 247-236; Grammar earns $2,400
Semifinals: Jean Perez d. Knowles 267-174; Knowles earns $3,000
Championship: Perez d. Cameron Crowe 300-194; Perez earns $8,000, Crowe earns $5,000
Other cashers
(with 14-game pinfalls)
9, Kyle Cook 3,227, $1,000 earnings; 10, Bryce Oliver 3,219, $1,000; 11, Mikey Tang 3,207, $800; 12, Ric McCormick 3,194, $800; 13, Brandon Runk 3,192, $800; 14, Hayden Tarris 3,178, $800; 15, Darren Tang 3,169, $800; 16, Nate Garcia 3,164, $800; 17, Hayden Stippich 3,132, $800; 18, Tyrell Ingalls 3,125, $700; 19, Casey Cohagan 3,102, $700; 20, AJ Rice 3,090, $700; 21, Michael Davidson 3,054, $700; 22, Jesse Koch 3,053, $700; 23, Brian Waliczek 3,051, $700; 24, Jacob Balser 3,036, $599; 25, Zeke Bayt 3,031, $599; 26, Will Vidulich 2,987, $599; 27, Breanna Clemmer 2,973, $599; 28, Zac Gentile 2,958, $599.
