By BILL SNIER
AKRON — Melissa Voytko couldn’t recall the last time she had two wins in one day.
“I might have done it one other time,” the 36-year-old Brunswick left-hander said. “I don’t really bowl as much as I used to.
“But if I’m bowling something in the day and I do really well, if I can find a sweeper to bowl that night, I’m going to because I just want to ride the wave.”
After claiming the Hit Dem Pockets Queens scratch title in the afternoon at Rollhouse Parma, she teamed up with her husband, Tim Voytko, to roll through the field and capture Sunday’s scratch doubles sweeper at Spins Bowl Akron with a resounding 435-373 win over Sean and Dave Mach.
The pair dominated the four-game qualifying round, with Melissa shooting 793 during her opening three games and Tim adding 773 on the house oil pattern. Overall, the former had 1,039 while her husband, a 44-year-old right-hander who throws without his thumb in the ball, finished with 1,032.
They were the only players in the 38-player field to shoot 1,000, finishing with 2,070 total pinfall — 208 pins ahead of their closest competitors.
“I threw it really well this morning,” Melissa said, “and I kept on throwing it really well this evening.”
The two almost didn’t bowl.
“We talked about it last night and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do,” Tim said. “But this morning, she decided she wanted to bowl when were literally walking out the door to head to Parma.
“We had to drive back home to get my equipment, take care of the dog and then get here. It was a timing issue.”
ALL ABOUT FAMILY
Only the top four teams advanced to the stepladder finals, with Massillon’s Cooper Smith and Canton’s Zach McCutchan earning the final qualifying spot with 1,755, just 11 pins ahead of Tabitha Schlupe and Derrick Simon after trailing by 12 pins heading into the final game.
The pair shot 463 the final game to earn the spot.
Waiting for them in the first match was Smith’s stepfather, Frank Testa, along with Tyler Meredith, former winners of the event. It was announced Monday that Testa has accepted a position as Great Lakes region product specialist with Brunswick, with Smith assuming control of Ten Back Pro Shop at Park Centre Lanes in North Canton.
After shooting 420 in Game 3, Testa and Meredith combined for 474 in Game 4 to gain the third spot with 1,801.
McCutcheon, a two-handed right-hander, stole the show in the opening match, shooting 268 after throwing seven strikes in.a row at one point. Smith, who also struck on seven of his final nine shots, had 233 as the pair recorded their highest game of the night to win 501-446.
Testa, a Massillon right-hander, started with four strikes in a row en route to 237. But Meredith, a Cuyahoga Falls righty, left three pocket 7-10 splits around a string of five strikes for 209.
But the lane looks for both McCutchan and Smith in the semifinals against the father and son Seven Hills team of Dave and Sean Mach changed.
FAMILY LEFTIES
The Machs, making their first appearance in the event although Sean had bowled at Spins Bowl Akron in his college years at the University of Akron, were there just to have the chance to bowl together.
Sean, a 24-year-old two-handed lefty, and his father, Dave, a 55-year-old left-hander, are both employed as engineers and were just looking to have some fun after bowling mostly team events over the years. They got more than they expected.
The Machs finished with 1,862 to earn the No. 2 seed, as Sean finished with 934, including a 286 in Game 2, and Dave had 928.
“We’ve just been waiting to bowl a scratch tournament together for a while,” Dave said. “But to have the opportunity to bowl with my son … I got a thrill out of that.”
Smith struggled from the start in the semifinals, not recording a strike until the sixth frame and finishing with two along with three splits (one he converted) for 155. McCutchan missed a 4-pin spare in the fourth frame and failed to convert a 2-7 split in the seventh en route to 176.
The pair combined for only six strikes in the match as opposed to 16 in the opener.
“That’s bowling,” McCutchan said later.
As for the Machs, Sean started with a 3-7-9 split, but stayed clean the rest of the way with a pair of doubles for 205. Dave had splits in the fourth and sixth frames, but ran off four strikes from the eighth into the 10th for 195 to give the pair a 400-331 win.
“Putting together good shots and stringing strikes was big for me. I was in the same ball (Storm Hy-Road) and was able to play the same part of the lane,” Sean said. “I only moved a couple of boards either way and it was just working.”
Dave admitted his son helps him read the lanes, and was able to adjust after no strikes through the first six frames in the semifinals.
“The line was there, but I had to be able to make adjustments and change balls at the right time,” said Dave, who used a Roto Grip Hustle M+M as his primary ball. “I got a lot of good carries.
“He told me to move right, trust the shot and throw it a little harder. It found the pocket and I got a few strikes when we needed them.”
TITLE MATCH
Melissa Voytko was watching the semifinal, and it prompted her to make a change.
“I was watching the match and they were throwing shiny stuff and it was hooking for them, getting a lot of under-over,” said Melissa, a technical sales support trainer for Universal Windows Direct. “So I decided to switch from the (900 Global) Zen to the Zen Master. The area was more predictable and it worked out.”
Tim Voytko stayed with his Storm IQ Tour, but had to adjust after the duo had hit the title pair during Game 2 of qualifying.
“I had to move about 15 (boards) with my feet and about 10 left at the arrows,” said Tim, a logistics manager for Priority Dispatch. “There was a lot of righty traffic.”
Melissa continued her strong night, striking on five of her first six shots, leaving only a 10-pin spare in the second. Tim left a 4-9 split in the first before a double.
“The shot was pretty similar to earlier,” Melissa said. “The only real adjustment was the ball change, but I really didn’t have to move.”
The right lane proved to be a problem for Tim, who struck just once on the lane during the match.
“It had more hook in the middle and I had to just try to keep getting left,” Tim said. “The 3-6-10 (fifth frame) was just a bad shot. But I finally was able to do that. I was just trying to stay clean with the way she was going.”
Sean Mach was able to put together a run of four strikes at one point. But it came after back-to-back 3-7 and 2-4-7-10 splits. Dave Mach had just two strikes through five frames and left three splits through the first six.
“I just wanted to throw the best shots I could and try to put together a few strikes and get some marks on the board to give him confidence,” said Sean, who finished with 203 to his father’s 170.
Melissa shot at just three spares (only one multiple pins) in the game en route to 247 while Tim finished with 188.
Sometimes, teams or individuals advancing to the finals will decide to “split” the final-match prize money between the two rather than the traditional first and second place earnings. Tim had broached the subject with his wife prior to the final match with the Machs.
Melissa nixed the idea.
“I was kind of out for blood I guess. I was throwing it really well and I was watching the last match to see if anyone was pulling away,” Melissa said. “There wasn’t anything I saw so I figured if I could control my look on the left side, no one was going to touch us.”
It proved to be the theme during qualifying — and also in the finals.
NOTEBOOK: The sweeper attracted 19 teams, with tournament director Frank Dallas announcing the next sweeper will be at 4 p.m. July 21 also at Spins Bowl Akron. … Sean Mach recorded the high game with 286, with Tim Voytko shooting 279 and Melissa Voytko having 268 and 267. …The Voytkos recorded the high team game with 546 in Game 3. There were only five 500 team games on the night — three by the Voytkos. The other during qualifying came from the Machs (512) and Smith and McCutchan had 501 in the opening stepladder match. … Melissa Voytko averaged 257 for all five games at night and 246 during her seven-game run earlier in the day en route to the HDP Queens title on a Kegel Challenge oil pattern. … First place paid $816, with the top four teams cashing. … The sweeper started at 4 p.m. rather than the traditional 6 p.m.
SUNDAY DOUBLES SCRATCH SWEEPER
(Sunday, at Spins Bowl Akron, Akron)
Quarterfinals: Cooper Smith (233)-Zach McCutchan (268) d. Frank Testa (237)-Tyler Meredith (209) 501-446; Testa-Meredith wins $140
Semifinals: Sean Mach (205)-Dave Mach (195) d. Smith (155)-McCutchan (176) 400-331; Smith-McCutchan wins $220
Championship: Melissa Voytko (247)-Tim Voytko (188) d. Sean Mach (203)-Dave Mach (170) 435-373; Voytko-Voytko wins $816, Mach-Mach wins $420.
