By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — The drive for five will continue.
But there’s also that matter of eight to consider.
The five finalists have been determined for Thursday’s stepladder finals of the PBA50 Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes.
Tom Hess, the 54-year-old Granger, Iowa, right-hander who has four victories this season, will be the top seed for the finals, which begin at 6 p.m. Hess, who threw the tourney’s third 300 in Game 6 of Thursday’s second match-play round, finished with a tourney-best 12-4 match-play mark and 9,400 total pins.
Hess, who is coming off a win during the PBA-PWBA-PBA50 Trio event in Jonesboro, Ark., averaged 226 over his 40 games to top the field by 322 pins in a dominating performance. He is seeking to tie John Janawicz with his fifth title of the season.
Janawicz didn’t make the cut to the Advancers’ Round at Riviera.
During Thursday’s match play, Hess averaged 233 and never lost his big advantage.
The remainder of the top five was shuffled during the final position-round matches.
Finland right-hander Mika Koivuniemi, now living in Traverse City, Mich., made his eighth consecutive PBA50 finals and will be the No. 2 seed.
Koivuniemi, who hasn’t recorded a win this season, was sixth entering the day and fourth entering the position-round matches. He stopped 60-year-old Plano, Texas, right-hander Chris Warren 225-212 in his final match to jump up to second with 9,078.
Warren remained third (9,047) as the only super senior (age 60 and older) in the top five despite being the only bowler below .500 in match play (7-9).
The opening match will feature Lockport, N.Y., right-hander Brad Angelo (9,017), who finished fourth after entering the position round 49 pins out of the cut. He will face Dade City, Fla., righty Dan Knowlton (9,016), who has one title this season. Angelo has cashed in 12 of 14 events this season.
The odd man out was Lewisburg, Pa., left-hander Andrew Neuer, the lone lefty in the original 65-player field to reach match play.
Neuer, who was second entering his final match, had two splits and just one strike through nine frames en route to a 170 and a loss to Hess, who shot 247. Neuer, seeking his second career stepladder finals appearance, fell six pins short (9,010) to finish sixth.
All-time wins leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. shot 231 in his final match with a win to finish just 27 pins short of the finals.
NOTEBOOK: Lanes 7-8 were taken out of play after Game 3 in match play Thursday morning. Bowlers were moved to Lanes 3-4, which was a practice pair before the start of the shift. … The top 10 finishers in the event will receive a free entry into next year’s TOC. … First place Thursday will pay $15,000. … One of Hess’ four titles this season came with a win over Angelo in Fort Meyers, Fla.