By BILL SNIER
AKRON — Jeffery Scott and Scott Hawkins have bowled together before in doubles and trio events.
But there was no plan to bowl together Friday in the Akron Open doubles sweeper at Station 300. Until tournament promotor Jody Boyd brought them together
“I didn’t even have the opportunity to find a partner when Jody said, ‘I’ve got a partner for you. Do you want to bowl?’” Hawkins, a 37-year-old Pikeville, Ky., left-hander said. “I asked who, and he said Jeffery. I said I’m in.”
“We’ve bowled trio events together and we both needed a partner,” said Scott, a 27-year-old Delaware two-handed left-hander. “He was a lefty and I’m a lefty. It just worked.”
It worked well enough to top the 90-team field during the pre-tournament event, with Scott and Hawkins combining for 1,997 total pinfall to finish 66 pins ahead of second-place Ryan Liederbach and Vicktor Varner (1,931).
The remainder of the top five included Eli Cox-Simon Mote (1,874); Charles Easton and defending Akron Open singles champion Cassidy Schaub (1,873); and Marcus Bell-Quentin Collins (1,865).
“It was really just communication. We really stayed on the moves and just trusted each other and communicated well the entire night,” said Hawkins, who shot 935 using a combination of the Hammer Scorpion Low Flare and the Ebonite GB4 Hybrid.
“Each pair was a little bit different for us. But we trusted what we saw and just went with it.”
The pair came out strong in Game 1 at the high end of the center with 515 to sit fourth. But the surge came in Game 2 when Scott had one of four 300 games thrown on the night to go with Hawkins’ 268 for a tourney-high 568 game.
“We started on (Lanes) 41 and 42 and they seemed to hook more,” said Scott, who finished with 1,062 (a 265.50 average) and shot 803 over his first three games. “But then we moved down to (Lanes) 5 and 6 and we could play our A games and just play up the lanes. We shoot 300-268 and I’ll take that all day.”
Because of a lane breakdown, the pair had to bowl their third game on the end pair (Lanes 47 and 48).
“After the second game, we knew we had to be in the top two or three. We just tried to keep our foot on the gas pedal,” Hawkins said. “When we hit that end pair, we didn’t know what we were getting into. But we grinded it out the best we could and still shot 440. It felt like we threw it better than that, but then we came back down here (29-30) and grinded it out for 470.”
“That end pair hooked significantly more,” Scott said after the team shot their tourney-low 440 on that pair. “With one less game in transition and the wall right there …”
Hawkins thought about a ball change the final game, but because of their position, he thought better of the move.
“We figured we were still up there, so we just decided to fight it out,” said Hawkins.
They never looked at the standings to determine their exact placement at the end, even though they held an 89-pin lead heading into the final game.
ANOTHER SECOND
Liederbach, a 27-year-old two-handed lefty, and Varner, a 44-year-old left-hander, were runners-up for the second straight year.
“Maybe we just have to throw some higher games. That’s the only thing we can do,” said Liederbach, who has been on an incredible singles surge with four Professional Bowlers Association Central Region titles and an Midwest Scratch Bowling Series win (at Station 300) over the past seven weeks.
“But to be fair, a 568 is really hard to catch. We went 548 for our best game and they went 568. It was that kind of night.”
Liederbach, using a new Ebonite GB5 right out of the box, shot 300 his final game to finish with 1,072 overall, including 805 his final three games. Varner, who struggled to 172 in Game 2, had 859 overall.
“We bowl a lot of stuff together when we are able,” Varner said. “We just mesh really well. He has always been my partner and we talk. It’s just chemistry … just like brothers.”
Liederbach’s last win at a regional in Grove City was the most unexpected of his streak. He tied for the final cut spot to match play and had to endure a one-game rolloff to advance. Then, he trailed his opening match 1-0 before throwing a double in the 10th frame to win Game 3 and advance.
He didn’t lose another game, stopping No. 1 seed Ric McCormick along the way.
“I have gotten very fortunate and very lucky to be where I’m at right now,” said Liederbach, who leads the PBA Central Region points race. “There were so many things that went against me at Grove City, I probably shouldn’t have won.”
The pair combined for 548 the final game to jump from 10th to second.
“Tonight we had one game (430) that hurt us. Last year, we had a similar game that contributed to not winning,” Varner said. “We have to get that one game out and then that’s a win. We’re always just 30 or 60 pins out and that’s just a couple of strikes. But we have to give them all the props in the world for that 568.”
The pair also had to endure about a 30-minute delay in Game 1 due to a mechanical problem with a lane.
“We were on a 530 pace,” Varner said after the pair finished with 492. “When I threw the first ball after the break, it just hurt so bad.”
Today, more than 240 players will begin the battle for the Akron Open Singles title. But on the house oil pattern, with new lane surfaces and approaches, anything can happen.
“You are going to be looking for hold,” Varner said. “The friction is there early. The front part of the lanes are not settled and you’re seeing some bouncing that affects the roll of the ball. Add to that it is humid in here.”
“People are technically trying to figure out how to play these lanes for the first time,” Liederbach said. “It was not a house shot for the MSBS tournament so it’s different.”
Let the games begin.
NOTEBOOK: In addition to Scott and Liederbach, Mote and Tyrus Page had 300s in Game 1 while Kyle Brooks shot 290 in Game 3. … The sweeper featured four games straight out with no stepladder finals. … Today’s two Akron Open Singles qualifying rounds are at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., with bowlers rolling six games. The top one-fifth of the field overall for the combined squads will move on to Sunday’s five-game cashers’ round at 9 a.m. After that, the field will be cut to the top 24 for another cashers’ round, with the top five than bowling the stepladder finals. Pinfalls do carry over. … The top 18 in the doubles field cashed, with the final cash spot going to Vincent Ludwig and Scott McIntire, who shot 445 their final game to finish with 1,765 — just one pin ahead of Scott Kramer III and Sean Martin II and three pins ahead of Doug Robinson and Reginald Hawthorne. … Mote-Cox and Easton-Schaub were tied for the lead after Game 1 with 523 before Scott and Hawkins took over the remainder of the event. …. Entry fee for the event was $200 per team. … Defending champions Darrel Ratliff and Nick Christy finished seventh (1,850). … Lanes 19-20 broke down during Game 1, forcing teams to skip that pair and go to Lanes 47-48 instead for their lane crosses.
AKRON OPEN DOUBLES SWEEPER
(Friday, at Station 300, Akron)
Final standings (after four games): 1, Jeffery Scott-Jesse Hawkins 1,997 total pinfall, $2,200 earnings; 2, Ryan Liederbach-Vicktor Varner 1,931, $1,600; 3, Eli Cox-Simon Mote 1,874, $1,400; 4, Charles Easton-Cassidy Schaub 1,873, $1,200; 5, Marcus Bell-Quentin Collins 1,865, $1,000; 6, Brent Shroyer-Hayden Tarris 1,856, $1,000; 7, Darrel Ratliff-Nick Christy 1,850, $800; 8, Mason Brantley-Anthony Wright 1,831, $800; 9, AJ Rice-Andre Gonzales 1,822, $700; 10, Andrew Smith-Jesse Smith 1,810, $700; 11, Russell Duck Jr.-Brian Zook 1,809, $600; 12, Eli Mayberry-Bryce Oliver 1,783, $600; 13, (tie) Ronald Bradley-LeAndre Thomas and Jalen Mosely-Jeremy Saccone 1,780, $550; 15, Roger Adams-Randy Hudnall 1,774, $500; 16, Alex Horton-Tyler Ring 1,772, $400; 17, Chris Hankins-Joshua Jones 1,771, $400; 18, Vincent Ludwig-Scott McIntire 1,765, $400.
