By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Craig Martinez has rolled three 800 series in a season before, so getting his second of the 2024-25 season was not a HUGE deal.
But how he accomplished the task in the Precision Auto Body Senior Traveling League recently at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes was a first for the 61-year-old North Canton right-hander and Timken Co. retiree.
He rolled the first game, a 279, along with the first four frames — all strikes — of Game 2 on Lanes 33 and 34. Then, due to a lane breakdown, the two teams had to move to Lanes 35 and 36.
“I was watching everyone else after we moved,” said Martinez, who bowls last on his four-man team. “Everyone seemed to be playing their same lines, so it didn’t seem like there was a change between the pairs, which was my biggest fear.”
Martinez then picked up right where he left off, running strikes in Game 2 until leaving a 10-pin on his final ball in the 10th frame for 299. He then finished with 256 for an 834 series — his second of the season after an 814 in the Honeymoon Grille league at Park Centre Lanes.
It also was just the second 800 reported this season at AMF Hall of Fame.
“It’s just always a pleasure to bowl with family and friends. The Stark County bowling community … there’s nothing like it,” said Martinez, who bowls with his 84-year-old father Nat in the traveling league and at Park Centre along with his two sons. “Everyone just looks out for everybody else … it doesn’t matter who.
“Everyone came up and congratulated me. There’s nothing like it.”
Only a 9-pin on his first ball in the 10th frame of Game 1 and the last ball in Game 2 denied Martinez of his second 300 in three weeks. He owns 13 career 800 series along with 14 300 games.
Both the 300, which was bowled also in the traveling league at Eastbury Bowling Center, and the 800 came with a new ball he had just purchased three weeks prior to the milestone series — a 900 Global Origin.
“I have to thank Chris Osborne (Perfect Fit Pro Shop at Spins Bowl Akron). I had my last 800 with my (Storm) Absolute Power, but I told him, with my ball speed, I needed something with more finish,” said Martinez, who usually hits between 16 and 18 mph. “He thought this would be a good ball for me.
“I’m real happy with the way the ball rolls. It’s the first time I’ve gone with the 900 Global brand after staying with Storm in the past. When I first got it, I shot 680 out of the box, then had 770 at Eastbury with the 300 and then the 800.”
But Martinez felt he was his own worst enemy on a few shots.
“I just got a little too pumped up and threw it a little harder than I should have,” said Martinez, who left a pair of 10-pins and a 7-count spare in Game 3. “Jose (Rante) told me I was at 16, and then went up to 17 and then 18. I felt I had a shot at my all-time high (838). I also wanted a shot at (son) Thomas’ 845, but he’s still got me.
“The best memory of 800s for me is when I shot 802 and my dad had 801 on the same team, on the same pair, back at 77 Colonial. It had been a while since him and I have bowled well together.”
Martinez’s line did not change, standing two boards right of center and playing between 10 and eight board on both pairs.
But, the 2017 Greater Canton Bowling Association Hall of Famer, who joined his father in the Hall at that time, knows there’s more bowling to come.
“I can still get to three,” Martinez said. “There’s still some time yet.”