By BILL SNIER
Paul Sanko III held the Stark County USBC’s top men’s league average for the 2022-23 season at 239 and had recorded four 800 series in a one-year period.
His surge continued in that same league recently at Park Centre Lanes — using his same Hammer line of bowling balls.
Meanwhile, Massillon’s Brian Ball keeps rolling along at Eastbury Bowling Center, now having two 800 series in his two leagues this season, with the latest being 823 — again using a familiar ball.
Here are their two stories.
SWITCH PAYS OFF FOR SANKO
Sanko, a 46-year-old Perry Township right-hander, had started his SharpShooters mixed league with a 244 in Game 1 using a relatively new (at least for him) Hammer Hazmat.
“It’s about a two-year old ball in my Hammer line,” said Sanko, a Troyer’s Dutch Market employee. “But I knew in the 10th frame of that first game that my usual down-and-in shot was pretty much gone. So I had to make a change, moved in more and went out and in instead.”
The ball change was to the Hammer Toxic, a nearly 10-year-old ball that has become “old reliable” for Sanko during his string of 800s which now is about five years long.
“Obviously, that line has worked really well for me. Nothing much has changed,” said Sanko, who now owns 10 800 series to go along with 20 300 games. “The shot has been pretty much the same for me. I’m more of a down-and-in shot guy, but if I have to move in and out a little bit, I can do that even though it’s not my preferred shot.”
In Game 1 he left a 7-10 split in the fourth frame. “It just went a little high and I grabbed it too hard,” Sanko said.
After making the ball change in Game 2, he started with a 10-pin spare. But Sanko then ran off strikes until leaving a 10-pin on his final ball for 289.
It was more of the same in Game 3, when he ran off the front eight strikes before a 10-pin again denied him in the ninth frame.
“I knew I needed at least the first one to get there or two,” Sanko said of his 800 run. “I was still a little bit iffy on the math as to if I needed the second one or not. The Toxic just gave me better ball reaction when I made the move.”
Sanko bowls in two leagues at Park Centre, averaging 239 again in the SharpShooters league and 232 on Wednesday in the Pizza Oven Classic.
“Thursday is different because I bowl with different people (his family) and its a mixed league so my shot pretty much stays the same,” Sanko said. “On Wednesday, I do a lot of moving and I think that’s why my average is a little lower.”
BALL’S BIG EARLY SEASON
Ball’s latest 800 stated with a 300 in Game 1 and finished with 268 and 245 again using his familiar Storm Ion Pro in the Las Vegas Trio league at Eastbury.
He also has a pair of 800s in the Liberty Vending league at Eastbury.
“I’ve had eight or 10 in a season back in the two-teens (before 2020) when Colonial still was open. I was bowling league at Colonial and Strike Zone at the time,” Ball said. “It’s fun to strike, but I’m not out there trying to shoot scores in that league. It’s a fun league for me with Tabby (Barnett) and Joyce (McCourry) and my two kids in the league. It’s just a good time and a fun night to hang out.”
But Ball sees the differences between Tuesday and Friday.
“Tuesday has been really good and Friday has been really bad,” Ball said. “On Tuesdays, I using either the Ion Pro or Stealth and Friday I bring in eight different balls,” Ball said. “(Matt) Coffelt was teasing me so much last night about how hard I was throwing it. He said my shoulder would be shot if I kept throwing that hard.”
Ball started the night with a 4-6-7 split in the second game after his 300— “I just grabbed it and it went dead left,” he said — but then ran off six in a row before finishing with 245. He now 846, 823, 819 and 806 this season at Eastbury.
Left-hander Jason Corrin has three 800s — two at Eastbury and one at Park Centre.