By BILL SNIER
PARMA — Although Lisa Chapman Osborne and Jeremie Grund have bowled on teams together in the past, they had never taken the lanes as a doubles combo.
“Lisa had always bowled with Chris (Osborne) in doubles,” said Grund, a 39-year-old Ravenna right-hander. “I did bowl with Chris in doubles during the Derby tournament in Louisville (Ky.), but he wasn’t too happy with me.”
But Chris Osborne, operator of Perfect Fit Pro Shop inside Spins Bowl Akron and Chapman Osborne’s husband, had knee surgery on Tuesday and was unable to bowl. So Jeremie, who also works part-time at the pro shop, stepped in.
It was a pairing built for a $1,300 victory.
Chapman Osborne finished with 716 and Grund shot 713 as the pair combined for 1,429 total pinfall to top a 53-team field during Friday’s Hit Dem Pockets Mixed Doubles Shootout at Rollhouse Parma.
The event served as the kickoff to this weekend’s two-day HDP Queens scratch tournament and was bowled on the same oil pattern that will be used during the event.
But Chapman Osborne, the lone woman to shoot 700 Friday, won’t be bowling this weekend.
“Our nephew turned five (today) and the birthday party is (Saturday),” the 46-year-old Bedford right-hander said. “Family comes first.”
But her skills were on display Friday as the L&M Tool and Industrial Supply accounting manager had games of 234, 257 and 225 to top the women’s field.
“The lanes were very playable, but you couldn’t get it right. You had to be nice to it,” said Chapman Osborne, who used a Brunswick Ethos all three games.
“If you grabbed a mittfull of one, you had no idea what it was going to do. Your angles had to be straighter. There was no opening up the lane.”
Grund, a database administrator for PartsSource in addition to his pro shop duties, started with 245 and 253 before running into some problems in Game 3.
“We followed some people who opened up the lanes pretty good for us,” Grund said. “We were fortunate there and Game 2 was really good.”
But after using his Ebonite GB5 the first two games, in Game 3 “the GB5 started to get a little lazy.”
“His look kind of went away,” Chapman Osborne added.
So on the advice of his “coach,” Chris Osborne, Grund transitioned to the Track Theorem — and ran off four strikes in a row.
“You had to keep the angles close at first. Luckily, there was a lot of friction and pretty good back ends,” Grund said. “I was able to control the pattern and had a great look with the GB5.
“But I only had two strikes early in Game 3. I’m not going to say we were feeling nervous, but we needed to put some numbers up there.”
After the pair shot 498 in Game 2 to build a 73-pin lead, Grund was able to finish with 215 to give the pair a 76-pin win over second-place Charmaine Allen and Ryan Liederbach (1,353), with Liederbach and Brittany Holben finishing third (1,333).
“We were a little bit fortunate there with the crosses,” Grund said, “but we also both had great looks and made some pretty good shots.”
NOTEBOOK: There were 32 teams in the scratch event, but that number increased to 53 with the crossover option available (bowlers could choose different partners for an additional $20 fee). … Teams bowled three scratch games, moving pairs after each game, on the Kegel Challenge Beaten Path oil pattern. … The top 10 teams cashed, with the cut for cashing being at 1,264. The teams of Briabba Schmansky-Bryce Oliver and Brenda Tuck-Christian Harris tied for the final cash spot, finishing just two pins ahead of Allen and Teroy Wade (1,262). … Oliver turned in the high men’s individual series with 806, including a tourney-high 290 in Game 2. … Oliver was not in the side men’s singles pot, with Liederbach topping that list with 758 after starting the night with 212. ….Chapman Osborne did top the women’s side singles with her 716. Tuck had the next high series with 659. … The Queens event begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with the first four-game block. After a break and re-oiling, the full field will return for four more qualifying games before the field is cut to the top 16 for four more games at 10 a.m. Sunday. After that, the field is cut to the top eight for two-game match play before a final cut to the top four for the stepladder finals.
HDP MIXED DOUBLES SHOOTOUT
(Friday, at Rollhouise Parma, Parma)
Final standings
(After three qualifying games)
1, Lisa Chapman Osborne-Jeremie Grund 1429 total pinfall, $1,300 earnings; 2, Charmaine Allen-Ryan Liederbach 1,353, $600; 3, Brittany Holben-Ryan Liederbach 1,333, $300; 4, Abbie Leiendecker-Hayden Tarris 1,317, $240; 5, Katie Hull-Vincent Ludwig 1,312, $230; 6, Amanda Morrow-Josh Truman 1,301, $220; 7, Katie Hull-Mitch Miller 1,300, $210; 8, Kendra Mathis-Dell Ray 1,291, $200; 9, Charmaine Allen-Dell Ray 1,265, $190; 10, (tie) Brianna Schmansky-Bryce Oliver and Brenda Tuck-Christian Harris 1,264, $180.
Men’s singles side: 1, Ryan Liederbach 758; 2, Jeremie Grund 713; 3, Eric James 703
Women’s singles side: 1, Lisa Chapman Osborne 718; 2, Katey Hull 657; 3, Amanda Morrow 637.