By BILL SNIER
AKRON — After 15 qualifying games and four stepladder matches in each division, it came down to the final two frames of Game 3 to determine champions.
Cuyahoga Falls boys and Boardman’s girls ended up taking home the champions’ hardware during Sunday’s second annual Super Bowl Baker Bash at Spins Bowl-Akron.
Fifteen boys teams and 14 girls teams rolled 15 Baker System qualifying games before the respective divisions were cut to the top five for a stepladder finals. Each stepladder match was a best-of-three Baker affair.
Teams bowled on the 2025 OHSAA sectional-district oil pattern.
BOYS GO DOWN TO FINAL FRAME
The Black Tigers had to bowl just one match to claim the title after putting on a surge over the final two qualifying games to earn the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals.
“I think they just finally figured out what to do and what line to play on this shot,” Cuyahoga Falls coach Lakota Zrelak said. “They seemed to like it more as the day went on.”
The Black Tigers, who trailed Highland most of the day in qualifying, shot 232 in Game 12 and then added 254 and 253 their final two games to finish with 2,886 total pinfall (192.4 average), 108 pins ahead of the Hornets.
Highland, the No. 2 seed, was able to stop No. 5 seed Green in the semifinals 2-1, holding off the Bulldogs 150-141 in Game 3. Green finished with five open frames in that game.
It came after the Hornets rallied from a Game 1 loss, when Green shot 231, to take Game 2 194-151, with only one split while the Bulldogs had four open frames.
In the finals, the Black Tigers took Game 1 192-170 with just one open frame while the Hornets had two opens.
But Highland went big in Game 2, running off four strikes in a row twice en route to a 242-211 win. Cuyahoga Falls also had a string of five strikes in a row in that game.
But Highland started Game 3 with three open frames, including a 4-6-7 split in the first frame.
“That was the kind of day it was for us. We shot 250 earlier in qualifying and came back with 150,” Highland coach Brian Esterle said. “We had a 300 a couple of weeks ago at the Copley tournament and came back with 170 the next game, so it’s not uncommon for us.
“We started out bad the last game, but Falls missed some spares and had splits and gave it back to us.”
Cuyahoga Falls finished the game with three open frames and was unable to put the game away by striking out in the 10th frame.
Highland had a chance to steal the win by striking out in the 10th frame, but left a 10-pin spare on the second ball for a 167-161 loss in Game 3.
“The shot was al little inside and didn’t quite have the back end to carry,” Esterle said. “I’m happy with the performance. They battled all day. We struggled at the end of qualifying (175-151 the last two games) and we were leading until then.
“But Falls shoots a couple of 250 games. Whey get going like that, they are tough to beat.”
Zrelak said his team could see its chance at the title slipping away with some mistakes in Game 3.
“But they were able to hold it together. They kept their emotions high and the energy was there,” Zrelak said. “We kept it going even though we missed some spares. We work on that, but we still end up missing them.
“We just have to move on to the next frame when we do miss them and put it behind us. We just let them do what they do, and they held it together themselves.”
SPARTANS HOLD ON
As with the boys division, the girls title came down to another battle between the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds.
Boardman, the defending Division I state champion, led the field from the start, finishing with 2,722 (181.46 average), finishing 128 pins ahead of second-place Green (2,894).
The Bulldogs faced No. 3 seed Nordonia in the semifinals, sweeping past the 2023 Division I state champion Knights 2-0 with wins of 195-156 and 170-167 to each the finale.
The Spartans ran off three strikes in a row at one point and had just one open frame en route to a 211-201 win in Game 1 after the Bulldogs started with four strikes during their first six frames.
But in Game 2, Green rallied with four strikes in a row en route to a 208-176 win as the Spartans left a 4-10 split in the 10th frame.
Game 3 went down to the 10th frame, with Marissa Funk striking in the ninth for the Spartans. Kaitlyn Greenaway then followed with another strike in the 10th to give Boardman the double it needed.
A critical shot for the Spartans came in the first frame, when their leadoff player converted a 4-5 split.
“I knew we couldn’t make a lot of mistakes. I was a little nervous with the opens we had that they were going to walk right in,” Boardman coach Justine Cullen said. “When you open the door, (Green) is one of those teams that can do that.
“I’m really glad that in the first frame our leadoff converted that split. I said this is going to be good. As usual, Marissa and Kaitlyn went back to back strikes. When you need it, they always seem to do that.”
Green, on the other hand had open frames from the seventh through the ninth frames, including a 4-6-7 split in the ninth.
“We need to find a way to finish a tournament. Right now, we seem to be getting into the same spot over and over again,” Green coach Alex Snowberger said. “We have to be ready for the big ones come up.
“In the middle of the day, the girls seem to get tired and a little lackadaisical. We need to focus for an entire day.”
Spare shooting was a problem for the Bulldogs, who had three misses in Game 3 alone.
“It’s my responsibility to find a better way to practice spares so we get better at it,” Snowberger said. “It costs us week in and week out.
“We do seem to start quickly and end well. So the sectional format of three games and six Bakers should help us.”
Cullen feels a win the week before the Division I sectional also will be beneficial.
“That’s why we do this tournament. It’s similar to Struthers, but it’s nice to keep them in a competitive mindset,” Cullen said. “Every weekend, we’re grinding and it’s nice to see that shot again, which is really important.”
Now, it is on to the Division I postseason next weekend.
NOTEBOOK: Green earned the final boys stepladder spot with 2,731 (182 average), finishing 124 pins ahed of Jackson. … The Bulldogs had four straight 200 games, with a high of 231, en route to a three-game win over No. 4 GlenOak and a sweep of No. 3 Kent Roosevelt with games of 221 and 216. … GlenOak earned the No. 5 seed in the girls division, finishing with 2,258 (150.5), finishing 45 pins ahead of sixth-place Akron Hoban. The Eagles went three games before falling to No. 4 Tallmadge. No. 3 Nordonia topped the Blue Devils, also in three games, during the semifinals.
SECOND ANNUAL SUPER BOWL BAKER BASH
(Sunday, at Spins Bowl-Akron, Akron)
Stepladder finals
Boys
Match 1: 5 Green (194-181-211) d. 4 GlenOak (177-214-176) 2-1
Match 2: 5 Green (221-216) d. 3 Kent Roosevelt (130-164) 2-0
Match 3: 2 Highland (na-194-150) d. 5 Green (231-151-141) 2-1
Championship: 1 Cuyahoga Falls (192-211-167) d. 2 Highland (170-242-161) 2-1
Girls
Match 1: 4 Tallmadge (165-124-191) d. 5 GlenOak (135-151-177) 2-1
Match 2: 3 Nordonia (135-209-169) d. 4 Tallmadge (177-180-163) 2-1
Match 3: 2 Green (195-170) d. 3 Nordonia (167-170) 2-0
Championship: 1 Boardman (211-176-175) d. 2 Green (201-208-169) 2-1
