By BILL SNIER
NORTH CANTON — Coming off their worst game of the day with 374 after shooting 417 in Game 2, Dean Billings and Michael Clark Jr. had a little talk.
“We know when we need to get in each other’s ear and start getting one of us moving,” said Clark, a 52-year-old North Olmsted right-hander.
“Basically, it was an f-off to each other,” added Billings, a 60-year-old Rootstown right-hander.
The discussion worked as the Ohio duo earned the qualifying lead during the PBA50-PBA60 Doubles Park Centre Lanes Central Open on Saturday at Park Centre Lanes.
The duo, who had been no lower than seventh all day, shot 380 in Game 8 to finish with 3,564 total pinfall to top the 18-team field. Clark finished fifth individually, averaging 223.7 while Billings was eighth, averaging 221.7 — with just 16 pins separating the players.
“We had just come off our worst game and we weren’t carrying,” said Clark, who came off of winning an Ohio Matchplay Tournament title last weekend in Columbus. “We were throwing the ball decent, but the pins just weren’t going.
“Then, we started to bowl. We got into the right areas and the right shapes.”
Clark and Billings, who each own one regional title, agreed the lanes were a little tighter than expected early. The latter practiced for about 45 minutes on the Carmen Salvino 44-foot oil pattern Friday; Clark did not.
“I love this place … it’s a beautiful center, but it’s tough to get a 10 out here,” said Billings, who has bowled many events at Park Centre while Clark was making his first appearance inside the center. “If the ball has to cover too much of the lane, it’s not going to carry.”
Billings and Clark, who bowl on the same team during the USBC Open Championships, agreed on another item.
Earning a first-round bye also was a key.
SUNDAY FORMAT
The top six teams following Saturday’s eight-game qualifier advanced to Sunday’s Baker System match-play rounds.
The top two teams — Clark and Billings along with qualifying runners-up Tom Adcock and Michael Haggitt (3,559) — will have a bye during the opening round.
The other four teams — No. 3 Dave Johnson-John Shreve Jr. (3,503), No. 4 Glenn W. Smith-Donald Hogue (3,496), No. 5 Ray Edwards-Rick Graham (3,467) and No. 6 Dale Csuhta- Charles “Butch” Ferrell (3,460) — will battle in opening-round, best-of-seven Baker matches to earn the right to face the top two seeds. After those two matches, the final two teams will meet for the title in another best-of-seven Baker match.
Adcock, a 62-ear-old Forsyth, Ill., right-hander who opened the tournament with one of three 300 games shot on the day, led individuals with 1,866, an average of 233.25. Haggitt, a 54-year-old Springfield left-hander, averaged 211.6.
“Getting the bye was all that matters,” said Haggitt, who asked Adcock a year ago to be his partner for this event.
The pair has been on a recent tear in PBA50 events, finishing 1-2 in last week’s Central-Midwest region event in Jasper, Ind., with Adcock on top. Haggitt also had a win in Charleston, W.Va., and also teamed up with Northfield’s Ryan Liederbach to earn a top-two doubles finish in Virginia.
“I’ve changed my pitches and span in the last month and a half and went to grips,” said Haggitt when asked the reason for his recent run. “I did all of that after the U.S. Open.”
Adcock said being healthier overall has been the key for his play.
“Overall, I had a lot of aches and pains the last few years. But my stamina is holding up and I’m able to sustain longer runs, which helps,” said Adcock, who has battled through back, foot and shoulder issues the past two seasons. “If it wasn’t one thing, it was something else. I’m just happy to be somewhat healthy.”
Adcock added the lanes “played great for us today … I just had to keep chasing it until I got to the point where I had to get out a certain ball and, after that, it was OK.”
And his big day came despite opens in the 10th frame of three games.
“My spare shooting is not the best right now … I missed three or four makeables and that’s just horrible,” said Adcock, who cashed in 14 of 17 PBA50 Tour events this season. “So he’s blaming me right now … we could have been leading. But I’ve got big shoulders.”
Haggitt wants more of the same in the Baker match play.
“He throws a lot of strikes and I throw them 50 percent of the time,” said Haggitt, laughing. “As long as he does what he’s been doing on both sides of me, we’ll be fine.”
RACE FOR SIXTH
Going into the final game, four teams were within 49 pins of the sixth spot. But it was one that was more than 70 back that made the big run.
Ferrell and Csuhta, who were ninth After Game 7, shot 531 the final game to leap into the sixth spot by 33 pins over Rick Zakrajsek and Troy Stus.
“I’m not going to say we knew what we needed, but we knew we needed a big game,” said Ferrell, a Painesville right-hander who teamed with Wadsworth Super Senior Csuhta after being contacted by Shreve when Csuhta’s partner, Brian Kretzer, pulled out due to knee problems. Csuhta is scheduled to have arthroscopic knee surgery in two weeks.
“It gives us a chance to win now,” Csuhta said.
“I think we had zero luck today until at least Game 5,” Ferrell said. “If we were able to carry earlier, we could have given the bye a run. But we just never gave up.”
Also out of the cut heading into the final game were Smith and Hogue. But the pair shot 448 in Game 8 to advance. Smith, another Super Senior (age 60 and older), finished second to Adcock overall with 1,819, a 227.3 average.
Now it comes down to Sunday’s finals.
“No matter what we did,” Ferrell said, “we just needed to be sixth.”
And those six are all that remain.
NOTEBOOK: Other 300 games in the tourney came from Shreve and Neil Kassel — both in Game 3. Former North Canton resident Tim Elsass, now of Ellington, Conn., had 299 in Game 7. … Shreve also finished as the top senior individual, averaging 225. … Elsass and Hartville’s Mark Herdlick were in the cut heading into the final game, but shot just 354 and finished eighth (3,421). Also dropping out the final game were Jay Boyle and Andrew Rettig, who were sixth heading into Game 8. They shot just 331 and finished 12th. .. Sunday’s match play begins at 9 a.m. and there is no admission charge. … Adcock finished second two years ago with Brad Angelo has his partner. … Defending champions Larry Verble and Don Herrington did not participate as Verble is recovering from injury. Csuhta was the 2023 runner-up with Kretzer. … Herdlick was the lone nonmember in the field, finishing 22nd individually with a 209.3 average. … Eight of the 12 finalists are Ohioans.