By BILL SNIER
PARMA — Kelsey Cummings admittedly did not have a very good look during Friday’s Hit Dem Pockets Mixed Doubles Shootout.
The 20-year-old Oxford, N.C., right-hander and University of Pikeville (Ky.) graduate student teamed with her boyfriend — Pikeville senior and North Ridgeville right-hander Dylan Mishak — to finish 19th in the 53-team field, shooting just 566, with a 225 her final game.
But returning to Rollhouse Parma on Saturday for the opening round of the second annual HDP Queens, Cummings came in with a different game plan.
“I started last night with my (900 Global) Harsh Reality and it really was too big a ball for the condition,” Cummings said. “So I wanted to start farther right today with my (Storm) Axiom, and it ended up I just stayed in the same spot the entire day around the tracer (board) and it worked.”
Cummings shot 250 out of the gate and finished with 936 to hold the lead after the opening four-game block by just two pins over former Canton resident and PWBA right-hander Jen Higgins, who shot 245 the final game to jump to second (934).
The remainder of the top five are defending champion and Columbus left-hander Trisha Reid (931), who led after the first two games, Tabitha Schlupe (912) and Janet Hill (884).
The full 40-player field will return for four more qualifying games after a re-oil at 2:30 p.m. before the field is cut to the top 12 for four more games beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday. After 12 total games, the field will be cut again to the top six for two-game match play by seed, with the three winners moving on to a traditional stepladder finals format
Cummings, who didn’t bowl in last year’s event, found out about it from Mishak. She expects changes in the afternoon session.
“I expect it to be tighter with the machine laying the pattern for the second time today,” Cummings said. “We’re going to resurface my stuff to the same as this morning and hopefully go with the same game plan.”
TURNOUT DOESN’T SATISFY D.J.
Although there were six more entries (40-34) than a year ago, tournament director Demetrius (D.J.) Johnson wasn’t satisfied.
“You’re never happy with the turnout,” Johnson said. “We put it out there based on 80 ladies and it seems like we’re always getting half the field. We’re a few more up this year and, hopefully, we can continue to grow.”
Johnson pointed to competing Queens events in Cincinnati and Michigan as well as a 600-700 Club event in Ohio for contributing to the turnout.
There also has been a lot of social media chatter about the inclusion of a transgender person in the USBC-sanctioned women’s event. He has such a bowler in the field.
“Personally, I don’t think it is a problem. All of the ladies here are scratch bowlers, the cream of the crop so to speak, so I don’t think it plays a factor,” Johnson said. “I realize it can be intimidating as times for lower end ladies who may have wanted to give this a shot. But I don’t think it hurt us.”
Johnson was forced to move the event from North Woods Lanes in Macedonia to Parma due to staffing problems.
“The owner was on vacation this week and his head mechanic was out, so we felt it was better to keep it here then try to look for another place at the last minute,” Johnson said. “But if everything goes as planned, we’ll be right back at North Woods next year. That’s our home.”
NOTEBOOK: There were 32 teams in Friday’s Mixed Doubles Shootout, won by Lisa Chapman Osborne and Jeremie Grund with 1,429. Osborne was the only woman to shoot 700 (716), but was unable to bowl Saturday due to family commitments. … Reid recorded the high game of 267 in Game 1 of the morning session. … The 12th spot going into the final four games was at 820, with Angel West and Jillian Treska sharing that spot. … Three women — Cummings (723), Reid (719) and Schlupe (706) — shot 700 for the first three games Saturday.
