By BILL SNIER
AKRON — After coming out with 290 in Game 1, Kyle Kalinowski didn’t feel he performed up to his own expectations.
“I kind of went down from there. The urethane down the lane just killed me,” said the 19-year-old Euclid right-handed two-hander, who shot 682 the rest of the way. “I didn’t perform up to my standards.”
But his doubles partner, 21-year-old Ravenna right-hander Hannah Klein felt differently.
“I didn’t have any carry,” Klein said. “My games were bad all day.”
That is, until the final match.
With Klein running off five strikes at the end of the title match, the pair gained their second victory in a Spins Bowl-Akron Sunday Doubles Sweeper by topping Brunswick’s Melissa and Tim Voytko, who also won the event earlier this summer, 428-403.
Klein’s surge, after shooting just 791 during the four-game qualifier, came beginning in the sixth frame and included a crossover strike in the ninth. She had opened during her first two frames of the game, missing a pair of spares — a 6-10 and 2-4-5-7-8.
“I walked up to Kyle and said I don’t have a lot. He was like, just get the ball out farther,” said Klein, who went from her Storm IQ Ruby back to the Global 900 Eternity she had thrown in the opening stepladder match.
“There was some miss room there so I just focused on getting the ball down the lane. The ball would jump on some random shots I did like off my hand.”
OPENING MATCH
As the No. 2 seed with 1,763 total pinfall, the pair opened the stepladder finals against No. 3 seeded Jesse Gonzales, a Massillon two-hander, and Uniontown righty Dave Mramor Jr.
Gonzales had two three-strike strings, but missed a pair of 3-6-10 spares while Mramor missed a 10-pin spare and added a 4-9 split with just three strikes overall.
Klein had one open, but had a three-strike string early while Kalinowski was able to get around 3-6-7-10 and 7-10 splits as the pair survived with a 394-369 win.
“That first match was really tight,” said Kalinowski, who threw his Storm Alpha Crux all night on the house oil condition. “In the second match we knew what we were up against. They are good bowlers.”
TITLE MATCH
The Voytkos earned the No. 1 seed after dropping to fifth following Game 3, shooting 485 with Melissa leading the way with 279.
“After the third game we went from second to fifth even though we threw an even game (401). We knew something had to happen,” Melissa added. “That’s when I woke up and I guess I threw it better.
“I’m good for one game or two I guess.”
Klein decided to “ball down” to start the match, after her Eternity “was jumping during the first match.”
“It was OK on the first ball and went a little high, but I threw it again the second frame and it was not good,” said Klein, who works at both the Kirtland and Chagrin Falls fire departments as she pursues her paramedic license along with being employed at Wickliffe Lanes.
“After I decided to switch back in the third frame it was just the matter of getting the lines again.”
Kalinowski admittedly was battling his break point all night, and the title match was no different.
“I moved the first game and I was playing 25 (board) and I had to go to 42 and was lofting the whole lane by the end,” said Kalinowski, who is employed by MK Contractors and United Parcel Service.
“They were so burnt that I couldn’t control it. I didn’t know if the ball was going to do — dart or not, which surprised me.”
But he was able to stay clean throughout the title match, despite just two doubles, to finish with 213 while Klein produced 215.
Tim Voytko had struggled on the title pair late in qualifying, and had the same problems in the title match.
“I knew I had to keep the angles to get the corners out,” said Tim, who used a Roto Grip Attention Star and Storm IQ Tour. “But I got to the ball out too early and had a pair of splits.”
Melissa, using her 900 Global Zen Master in the finale, left a pair of 7-pin spares early before running off three strikes in a row. She had another three-string run later in the game to finish with 235, but left a pair of 4-7 spares.
“On those two, I just tugged the ball a little bit,” said Melissa, a 36-year-old Brunswick left-hander who has claimed two Queens titles (Ohio and Hit Dem Pockets) and a PWBA regional title so far this year.
“I really didn’t have a problem being the only lefty, but I knew it was going to come down to carry for him. And it kind of sucked because this was the pair (Lanes 9-10) he struggled on the most during qualifying. Having the title match here was a little rough, but you can’t win them all.”
Tim, a 44-year-old righty who throws without his thumb in the ball, had only four strikes in the match and left 3-4-6-7-10 and 4-6 splits within the first five frames en route to 168.
“I needed to get something down the lane early, but it just didn’t work.” Tim said.
Kalinowski and Klein emerged with their second win in three months in the doubles sweeper.
“It’s great to get another win, but …,” Kalinowski said.
“Just leave it at that,” Klein added. “You bowled fine.”
NOTEBOOK: The Sunday Sweeper drew just 11 teams, with the cut being to three teams for the stepladder finals. … Mike Menge had the high game of 299 in Game 4 ahead of Malinowski’s 290 in Game 1. … High game was Klein and Kalinowski with 548 in Game 1 as the former added a 258. … The Voytkos earned the No. 1 seed by 15 pins with 1,778. … Gonzales and Mramor actually tied Kalinowski and Klein for the final stepladder spot at 1,763, with the former team shooting 450 the final game to the champions’ 380. The two teams finished 38 pins ahead of fourth-place Vincent Ludwig and Scott McIntire. … The next sweeper date is to be determined. … Individually, Kalinowski finished with the high series of 972.
