By BILL SNIER
AKRON — Cassidy Schaub has bowled in five of the six versions of the rejuvenated Akron Open.
He has yet to miss the stepladder finals, finishing fourth, third and — the last two seasons — first.
What is it about Station 300 (formerly Stonehedge Family Fun Center) that drives the 40-year-old parole officer from Greenwich, near Ashland?
“I’ve been bowling up here since the mid- to late-2000s. I just feel comfortable here,” said Schaub, a former member of Team USA. “I bowled JTBAs here. My Team USA coach, Jeri Edwards, is down at the other end of the center (she was working with a student).
“In this building I kind of know what I might and might not see. I’m real comfortable seeing the picture.”
This picture included plenty of strikes.
Despite a couple of glitches in the title match, Schaub earned his second straight title in the event by staying clean for a 215-212 victory over top-seeded Brandon White.
This came after Schaub, the No. 4 seed entering the stepladder finals, ran over three opponents by shooting 781 — with a low game of 247. Those three games included 27 strikes.
“We also bowled on this pair last year in the stepladder,” Schaub said. “I knows it’s new lane surfaces, but it seemed to play the same as far as the right lane wanted to cliff and the left lane didn’t, so you could find a way to match up.”
Schaub had gone with the Hammer Purple during the first and second cashers’ rounds, starting the day in third place overall, dropping to as low as ninth, and then recovering to reach the top five by averaging 244.06 over 16 games.
But he decided to switch to a Brunswick Attitude Control for the stepladder finals while consulting with friend Charles Easton.
“We discussed making a ball change if we got past the first match,” Schaub said. “But, honestly, the ball reaction got better and better.
“We went to the bigger ball with the bigger core and it helped see the transition. It caught it sooner and that’s why my left misses hit and stopped instead of hitting it and keeping going.”
The pair had considered going to the Black Hammer for the final match because of what they saw late in the match against No. 2 seed Patrick Dombrowski.
“Toward the end, you could see the ball push a little farther and farther,” Schaub said.
But Schaub and Easton made a choice at that point.
“We chose to trap it and move a little bit left and kind of try to throw it harder and play up so it didn’t want to stop,” Schaub said of staying with the Attitude Control.
Schaub opened the title match with a double, but White, the qualifying leader after the opening six games Saturday by averaging 254.16, struck on his first three shots.
Then, disaster struck.
White, who averaged 247.8 over 16 games, left a 2-7 “baby” split in the fourth, but failed to convert.
“Honestly, it was the worst game I bowled all weekend execution-wise,” said White, a 34-year-old Cleveland right-hander and truck driver. “The nerves just got to me.”
White, who admittedly had not been in a stepladder finals “in quite awhile” then struck on three of his next four shots, but the latter pair were light carries.
Schaub converted 3-pin and 3-5-6 spares before matching White with a double in the seventh and eighth.
But while Schaub left a 9-pin spare in the ninth, White left a 2-8 spare to lose pin count. The latter then led a 3-pin spare on his first ball in the 10th and a nine-count on his final ball.
Schaub, needing nine or better on his first ball, a spare and big count to win, struck on his first shot and added an 8-pin spare for the final total.
“This was the tightest I had seen the lanes all weekend,” White said. “I tried to bump it off the friction a little bit earlier to the right. But with the field we had for this event, I’m absolutely pleased with the results.
“There really wasn’t any difference from Saturday to Sunday except there were less bowlers on the lanes.”
For Schaub, it was about “clearing the fronts and avoiding the bounce.”
Players remarked about balls bouncing on lane heads all weekend.
“You almost had to play for it. And if it doesn’t happen, it’s a miracle because they were so bouncy,” said Schaub of Station 300’s new lane surfaces and approaches. “You just had to take it into consideration, but everyone had to bowl on it. But some pairs were better than others.”
En route to the title, Schaub topped two-handed lefty and No. 5 seed AJ Rice (258-225), two-handed lefty No. 3 seed Simon Mote (276-195) and right-hander Dombrowski (247-206).
Next week, Schaub is going fishing in Michigan. But he vows to make more tournament appearances this season.
But it will be hard to beat his run at Station 300.
“When you feel comfortable,” Schaub said, “it makes a difference.”
2024 AKRON OPEN SINGLES
(Sunday, at Station 300, Akron)
Championship round
Match 1: Cassidy Schaub d. AJ Rice 258-225; Rice wins $1,000
Match 2: Schaub d. Simon Mote 276-195; Mote wins $1,500
Match 3: Schaub d. Patrick Dombrowski 247-206; Dombrowski wins $2,000
Championship: Schaub d. Brandon White 215-212; Schaub wins $4,000, White wins $2,500
Second cashers’ round
(With 16-game pinfalls)
6, Ryan Liederbach 3,792, $800; 7, Quentin Collins 3,781, $800; 8, Bryce Oliver 3,752, $800; 9, Branden McVicker 3,751, $700; 10, Daniel Bright 3,735, $700; 11, Connor Pickford 3,732, $700; 12, Charles Easton 3,725, $599; 13, Paul Brown 3,717, $599; 14, Zack McSwain 3,713, $599; 15, Jeffery Scott 3,699, $599; 16, Trent Marner 3,663, $500; 17, Steve Pennington 3,641, $500; 18, Justin Knowles 3,630, $500; 19, Caden Millisor 3,671, $500; 20, Tim Jones 3,605, $500; 21, Andrew Smith 3,602, $500; 22, Hayden Tarris 3,592, $500; 23, Jackson Stiles 3,582, $500; 24, Nick Christy 3,564, $500
First cashers’ round
(With 11-game pinfalls)
25, Michael Mossbarger 2,514, $400; 26, Don Hipkiss 2,510, $400; 27, Tirus Page 2,506, $400; 28, Scott Kramer III 2,503, $350; 29, Chris Corbin 2,490, $350; 30, Steve Waters 2,488, $350; 31, Bobby Shultz 2,476, $350; 32, Michael Menge 2,463, $350; 33 (tie), Adam Barta and Caleb Salyer 2,461, $300; 35, Michael Kitrell 2,459, $300; 36, Dan Higgins 2,453, $300; 37 (tie), Sam Dewitt and Larry DeNoon Jr. 2,452, $300; 39, AJ Bigelow 2,451, $260; 40, Ricky Zenone 2,443, $260; 41, Timothy Voytko 2,442, $260; 42, Mike Thewes 2,431, $260; 43, Trent Pektas 2,389, $260; 44, Anthony Wright 2,366, $260; 45, Anthony Whitehead 2,360, $260; 46, Keith Schooler 2,356, $260; 47, Kenny Flanagan 2,349, $260; 48, Eric Selzer 2,320, $260; 49, Brian Green 2,298, $260.