By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — It took Ryan Liederbach four years to earn his second Professional Bowlers Association regional victory in Wyoming, Mich.
But it took less than a week for the 27-year-old Northfield two-handed left-hander to earn his third at the center famous in the bowling world for hosting champions.
The Ace Mitchell Bowlers Mart employee, eighth-seeded following qualifying, stopped No. 7 seed Jean Perez 194-158 Saturday to claim his third career title during the Bowler-PBA Central Open at AMF Riviera Lanes.
“It’s something that you just can’t replicate. It’s one of those moments that you dream about … bowling for a title,” said Liedebach, whose first two PBA victories came with match-play total pins formats. “This was my first time actually bowling for a title compared to the other two which were round-robin total pins match play.
“It’s a whole different place, going from winning by 400 pins last week to having to bowl one-on-one for a title.”
Liderbach, who averaged 217.25 during the eight-game qualifying round, had to stop No. 9 seed and non-member Andrew Baker (2-0) and then No 1 seed Cody Shoemaker (2-1) in best-of-three matches to earn a spot in the single-elimination semifinals.
There he faced Goshen, Ind., right-hander Michael Schlabach, the No. 5 seed, for the right to bowl for the title. Schlabach took the early lead with three strikes, but then left back-to-back 10-pin spares. After that, he left a pocket 7-10 split in the sixth frame and a 1-2-4-10 washout in the eighth, producing his only open frames.
But Liederbach’s big moment came in the 10th frame. After leaving a 2-4-6-10 split on his first shot, the two-hander covered the spare and got eight pins on his final shot to shut out Schlabach, who is a past winner of the Wabash Lanes Member-Non-Member PBA event in New Philadelphia, 212-189.
OTHER SEMIFINAL
Perez, who captured the MEGA Singles event in June at HP Lanes in Columbus by throwing 300 in the title match, averaged the same as Liederbach during qualifying as the two tied for the seventh spot. The former got the higher seed by throwing the higher individual game.
The 45-year-old Indianapolis left-hander and native of Puerto Rico swept past right-hander Ryan Lakota in his opening match before meeting 19-year-old North Ridgeville two-handed righty Josh Maslanich, making his first PBA appearance, in his second match.
Maslanich, a University of Pikeville (Ky.) sophomore who teamed with Brian Scott Esterle to finish second at the July 18 Sunday Doubles Sweeper at Spins Bowl Akron, was the No. 2 seed after averaging 229 in his first PBA outing. He stopped No. 15 seed Evan Genz 2-0 in his opening match. But Perez earned a 2-0 win to advance.
“It just went amazing for the first one. I came in here not knowing what to expect. My goal was to just cash,” said Maslanich, who used his Teen Masters Skill ball and a Storm Journey during the tournament. “I would say I exceeded that goal.”
But his carry lacked in his match with Perez.
“The first game (of qualifying) I had to get out some of the nerves, but then I just made a couple of bad shots,” added Maslanich, who finished that game with 210 and plans to also bowl regionals in Coldwater and Grove City before returning to college. “But I was able to sneak it out and I just didn’t look back.
“That second game (against Perez) I had all nines. I hoped a couple would carry, but they were all close.”
Perez had no problem in the semifinal despite finishing with just five strikes against No. 11 seed and Franklin two-handed righty Nolan White, who captured the Wabash member-nonmember event with JT Cherpeski in May.
After starting with a 1-2-4-10 washout in the first frame, White added three more opens as Perez advanced with a 191-157 win.
But Perez felt he was in trouble.
TITLE MATCH
While Liederbach started with a double in the title match, Perez failed to convert a 3-6-9-10 spare in the first and left a 4-6-10 split in the fifth while recording just one strike through five frames.
“It was just me … I just got tired. My body just shut down,” said Perez, who didn’t get to his hotel until 3 a.m. in preparation for the 8 a.m. start in Fairlawn. “I really couldn’t tell if the lanes were different or not since I only threw about two our three good shots.”
Perez used his Storm IQ 78U as his primary ball, but used a Roto Grip Idol Cosmos in practice also to help burn an area to work with. “I just tried to burn something,” he added, “but it didn’t work on that pair.”
With each round of match play being bowled on fresh oil, Perez finished with just two strikes, and added a 4-6-7-10 split in the 10th.
Liederbach left a 3-7 split in the third, but stayed clean the rest of the way.
“It happens at this end of the house. The right lanes hook just a little more in the fronts than on the lower side,” said Liederbach, who used his Black Hammer most of the day except for switch to a Radical Rattler Solid for his win over Shoemaker.
“I encountered that after the first frame. I thought I needed to get the ball out a little farther … that I had to loft it a bit … but it was not the right move. But I caught enough breaks that all I had were spares off strikes so I didn’t lose any count.”
He finished with just four strikes.
“We also had two left-handers playing in almost the same spot with a lot of surface on stuff,” Liederbach said. “Eventually, that’s going to lead to ugliness for the left side.”
After his Friday practice session, Liederbach came in with a game plan.
“It was either going to be one (board) or none,” Liederbach said. “I had to get the ball there or it was nothing.”
What has changed the past two weeks for the two-handed lefty?
Bowling more. A lot more.
“It has given me a lot more time to work on my reps. I’m bowling whenever and wherever I can,” said Liederbach, who bowled 12 shifts (36 games) over two weekends during the Hit Dem Pockets Christmas in July event at North Woods Lanes in Macedonia, plus Monday sweepers and the Iron Sharpens Iron Friday events at Roseland Lanes.
And that continues Sunday as Liederbach will bowl in the Midwest Scratch Bowling Series at Station 300 in Akron. That will be followed the next several weeks by regionals in Minster, Coldwater and Grove City, the Akron Open and a tournament in Pittsburgh.
“I’m still trying to get in as many throws as possible,” Liederbach added.
And it is paying off.
“I can’t think of a better high,” he added, “than not winning one for four years to two in six days. I still have a lot of other stuff to make up for.”
ABBOTT HITS FIRST PBA EVENT
Maslanich was not the only area player making his first PBA appearance.
Lake High School senior-to-be Zachary Abbott, a 17-year-old two-handed righty, also was entered in Saturday’s field.
Abbott found himself within the cut line heading into the final qualifying game, but shot just 185 to fall back to 18th — missing the cut by 20 pins, but earning money for his SMART account.
“It was fun. At first, I was pretty nervous, but as the day went on the scores kept getting higher for me,” said Abbott, who averaged 208.38 during qualifying. “The first game was pretty rough (174), but other than that, I kept going and battled through it.”
Abbott learned two key things: he needed urethane equipment and he had to make adjustments on the fly.
“I really need to drill a urethane for this,” said Abbott. “Not having that and everyone else throwing one, I will definitely take how the day went.
“You need to make moves fast and you have to stay ahead of the moves. It can happen randomly, even between shots.”
He shot 185 the final game to fall back after getting up to 14th after seven games.
“I was a little nervous that I was in the cut and I just wasn’t throwing it well,” Abbott said. “I had two washouts early and made them and then a 3-6-10 and made that. But after a double, I thought I made a good shot and it went light. I needed to go left and slow it down. I made the move left and had two strikes in the 10th, but it was too late.”
Abbott now prepares to kick off the Junior Tournament Bowlers Association (JTBA) season next weekend in Columbus.
NOTEBOOK: The one-day new event drew a 165-player field. … Schlabach turned in the lone 300, shooting it in Game 1. … Shoemaker , who was third after Game 1, took the lead in Game 2 and stayed on top the remainder of qualifying, averaging 238.38 and finishing 55 pins ahead of Maslanich. … All rounds of match play were bowled on fresh oil, with the PBA 41-foot V2 pattern being used. … The cut for the top 16 was at 1,687 total pinfall, with Genz and Patrick Dombrowski tying at that number. Urbana left-hander Graham Fach, the last Central Region player to win two events in a row, missed the cut by just three pins (1,684), followed by Abbott. … Among the cashers in the top 21 was Doylestown’s Joe Bailey (20th, 1,645), with Justin Knowles tying Andre Halvorson for the final cash spot with 1,632. … Perez and Liederbach were the only two left-handers making the cut. There were also eight right-handers and six two-handed righties. … The PBA50 Tour will be at AMF Riviera from Aug. 11 through 14 for the PBA50 Tournament of Champions. See details at pba.com.