By BILL SNIER
CANTON — The Shennanigans-Hit Dem Pockets Mixed league at Eastbury Bowling Center now has three 800 series shot this season.
Two of them came from the same man — and in back-to-back weeks.
The other came early in the season, with the bowler hitting the milestone on the nose to add to his career total.
Here is a look at both 800 runs by Salem’s Dustin Eckman and Alliance’s Chris Miller, a pair of right-handers.
GOING BACK-TO-BACK
Bowling is about one thing for the 40-year-old Eckman.
Having a good time.
“If I drink a few beers, it keeps my mind off of bowling,” the Salem truck driver said. “But if I start paying attention too much, it doesn’t go well for me.”
For a two-week period in the mixed league, things went well for Eckman, who bowls in four leagues overall, including three at Salem’s Hunt Club Lanes.
“Doing this back-to-back is just amazing,” said Eckman, who has just three career 800s, with his last one coming two years ago at Hunt Club. He also has three 300 games.
His first 800 included games of 277, 279 and 248 for 804. He then followed that the next week with 286, 249 and 278 for 813.
The 286 in the second set was the lone game that made him nervous.
“I knew I was going for 300 and I got nervous for some reason,” said Eckman, who had the first 10 strikes in the game. “I should have pulled up and reset. But I didn’t and just went with it and left a six-count (bucket) on the left side.
But both times, everything was just going right for me. I thought I could do it again that second week, but I really wasn’t paying attention until late.”
Eckman used a Storm Absolute Power for his first 800, but used a Roto Grip X-Cell on his second one.
“I threw the Absolute in practice for the second one, but I didn’t like the way it went,” said Eckman, who plays a deep inside line and swings the ball to the right. “I threw one practice ball with the X-Cell and stayed with it.”
He admittedly had not done the math during his first 800, thinking he had missed his opportunity.
“I thought I had blown my chance at it. I was asking (teammate Richard) Stoffer about it, and he thought I had missed it also,” Eckman said. “But Chris (Mahaffey) came down and told me I had it.”
During the day of the first one, Eckman had come after celebrating “Friendsgiving.”
“I really wasn’t thinking about it at all,” said Eckman, who needed the first two strikes in the 10th of his first 800 in Game 3 to clinch the number.
The second one, after the failed 300 attempt, was different.
“I was just zoned in. I wasn’t paying attention to the scores,” Eckman said. “Just going up, throwing my ball, coming back and grabbing my beer. That’s all I was doing.”
Eckman becomes the seventh area player with multiple 800s this season, with Brian Ball and Jason Corrin each posting three.
ON THE NUMBER
Chris Miller was trying to do the math for his 800 earlier in the season, but was unsure what he needed to get to the milestone.
“I left the 3-5-8 in the sixth frame and I wasn’t sure,” said Miller, a 44-year-old Alliance righty who is employed by Allen Aircraft. “I asked Chase (Barstow), who was subbing that night, if I could still get it. He told me I could, and was going to tell me what I needed, but I didn’t want to know.”
Miller then ran strikes until his final ball in the 10th frame. Then, he knew what he had to do.
“OK, cool, all I had to do was hit the pocket,” said Miller, who owns 24 800 series and over 500 300 games. “But I threw it a little slow and went through the face.”
But it was good enough for a seven-count and a 274 to give Miller the 800, including games of 279 and 247.
Miller’s last 800 came two years ago at Elks Club Lanes in Alliance. This time, he used a Storm Lightning Blackout for the milestone.
“When I threw that last shot, it was like, ‘Oh, no,’ ” Miller said. “But I got the seven count I needed.”