By BILL SNIER
NEW PHILADELPHIA — A pair of left-handers cracked this season’s 800 series brigade on the lanes on the same night, at the same center and in the same league.
One more common denominator between the duo: they are both past John Klonowski Memorial Singles champions.
But the latest 800s for the two Perry Township residents didn’t come at Eastbury Bowling Center.
Instead, 57-year-old lefty Jim Fellows and 34-year-old lefty Michael Thewes had their milestones in the Northeast Ohio Travel League at Wabash Lanes.
Does that make it more special?
“The level of competition in the travel league this year is definitely higher,” said Fellows, who is employed by Everhard Products Inc. “The younger kids are definitely a challenge to bowl against. I think that a part of what’s keeping me sharper with my game this season.”
Theses said bowling at different centers is a key.
“You can’t just get used to one place,”said Thewes, a Detroit Diesel employee. “Walking into a place where you haven’t bowled in five or six weeks is kind of nice and makes you work.”
Here’s a look at their Wabash nights.
ONE HOLE FOR THEWES
Thewes, who was bowling toward the high end of the center, finished first that night with 804, his 19th career 800 to go along with 26 300 games. His last 800 came last season at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes in Canton.
He had games of 267, 278 and 259 for his series. His all-time high is 868, which came at the former Sto-Kent Lanes, which closed last season. It was the house record.
Using a six-year-old Radical Bonus solid, Theses started the night with six strikes before leaving a 7-pin in the seventh frame. He missed the spare.
“Just reasons,” is what Thewes said about the miss.
Then, in Game 2, he again ran strikes before another 7-pin stopped that run. This spare he covered and then left a 9-pin on his fill ball in the 10th.
“The last game, I just lost carry a little bit,” Thewes said. “When I got to the 10th, I knew I needed a mark to wrap up the 800 and I leave another 7-pin.
“My immediate thought was, I’m going to miss this one like the one in the first game. But this time, I covered it. I just needed to get pins then.”
Thewes is not one to purchase new equipment. But he did pick up a couple of “new” old balls at the start of the season.
“They were a couple of years old and I was trying them at the beginning, but they just weren’t working well for me,” said Thewes, who averages 227 in the NEOTL — his only league.
“So I went back to what I used to throw and that’s when I shot 800. It still works well. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Bowling just one night per week, Thewes was asked about his game in general.
“Seven-pins suck right now … I’m really struggling with them,” Thewes said. “But, other than that, everything is the same.”
TWO BIG NEOTL SERIES
Fellows, whose last 800 series also came in the NEOTL last season at Wayne Lanes in Wooster, started his night with 237.
“There were a few 7-pins,” Fellows said. “After that game, I just kind of got my focus where I needed to be and things started going my way.”
He followed that clean game with 299 and 279 for 815 for his “between 25th and 30th” 800 series.
“I actually wasn’t thinking about it,” said Fellows, who left a 7-pin on his final ball in Game 2 to deny him a 300 game. “But once I left a 7-pin (in the sixth frame of Game 3), I was like, well, that’s over.
“But in the ninth frame, it me again that, hey, I can strike out and get there. I got the first one and (Matt) Frock was back there. He was like, ‘Jimmy, do it again.’ I had no idea what he was talking about. But I found out if I got that second one, I would finish higher than Thewes for the high series. He had finished with 804. It really didn’t register with me until the last shot, and I didn’t need it anyway.”
Fellows used a new Hammer Effect Pearl. He had just picked it up that week and bowled three games during the Hannon Electric league at Park Centre on Tuesday “shooting a low 700 series.”
“This was the second time with it after Brian Ball drilled it up for me,” Fellows said. “It’s just a great feeling to put three games together for a night like that. I haven’t had any 300s the last couple of years, but just the fact that I can still get an 800 every now and then means a lot.”
Fellows bowls in just two leagues, averaging 233 in the NEOTL.
“Us lefties have to stick together,” Fellows said, smiling.
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