By BILL SNIER
COLUMBUS — Rootstown, which had to sweat out the cut during its first state tourney appearance in 2024, was in a similar position Friday.
The Rovers had just a 49-pin lead on Fort Recovery and 57 pins on Northeast District champion Fairport Harbor Harding after three regular games during the OHSAA Division II Girls State Bowling Championships at HP Lanes.
“I was asking a few coaches what the Baker scores were,” said Rootstown coach Andy Day, who led his team to its second straight state appearance.
Despite shooting 144 its final Baker game, the Rovers did make the cut to match play, taking the No. 7 seed — one better than a year ago — to earn a spot in match play.
But facing No. 2 seed Bryan, the Rovers were unable to advance from the quarterfinal round, falling 3-1 in the best-of-five Baker System match. After winning Game 2 193-169 to even the match, Rootstown dropped the final two games, 179-168 and 187-151.
“You need experience when you get to this level, and we lacked it. You could see it the last few Baker games,” Day said. “We missed some easy spares, some low counts on spares … it all adds up.
“But they stayed positive all day. If they missed something,, they would forget about it and throw a good shot the next ball. We did better from sectional to district and they surprised me today.”
Spare shooting was stronger for the Rovers, Day added.
“They did better in that area … more like we were at the beginning of the year,” said Day, whose team won the Division II Kickoff Classic at HP Lanes in November. “We hope to get back here next year, but getting to the top four so we don’t have to do that scoreboard watching.”
Rootstown senior Emma Day capped her high school career by finishing 12th overall with a 602 series to earn honorable mention All-Ohio.
“I was a little shy of my goal. I wanted to beat my high series of 615, but I bowled a lot better than last year and I’m pretty proud of myself for that,” Day said.
She started with 210 and 212, but finished with 180.
“I lined up pretty well. Games 1 and 2 were pretty close to each other, but the third game, they broke down and it was kind of all over the place,” Day said. “I just couldn’t find a happy medium.”
Day, who plans to attend and bowl at Kent State in the fall, felt open frames were the Rovers’ problem.
“One bad ball led to another and that brought the whole team down,” Day said. “But the fact that we got here two years in a row is really awesome and I’m so proud of my teammates. We have worked so hard for this.”
Senior Cassie Egli added 553 for the Rovers, and junior Kaitlyn Hammerschmidt had 539. The Rovers lose just Day and Egli to graduation.
“This was very much a learning experience for our younger kids,” Day said. “But they got it done today.”
COMING UP SHORT
Carrollton, making its eighth straight state appearance, sat at the cut spot after Game 1, but fell back the remainder of the day. The Warriors finished 13th overall with 3,235, 169 pins out of the cut.
“Obviously, we came here expecting a tougher shot, but it was a lot different than last year,” Carrollton coach Wendy Russell said. “Last year, the shot seemed to hold up for three games, but this year, not so much.
“Honestly, we ultimately missed too many spares, which has always been my pet peeve. The transition from games one to two was a struggle, but two to three, they bowled a little better. But it comes down to spares, and you have to make them.”
Senior Ivy Slutz led the Warriors with 541 and senior Hailee Ulman had 528. Defending state individual champion, junior Kaylee Russell, had just 509, with a high game of 185.
“She left a lot of 4-pins today,” Russell said of her daughter.
The Warriors will return three girls from this state team.
“We have some promising eighth-graders coming also,” Russell said. “You have to be proud just to have them get here. Not everyone makes it this far. Enjoy the experience, work hard in the offseason, and come back next year.”
Struthers had four seniors on this state team, its seventh overall while making its fourth straight trip.
“We started out pretty good, but then we made the turn and it was just a completely different ball reaction from what we came off,” Struthers coach Bob Eisenbraun Jr. said after his team shot 948 to sit third after Game 1, but tumbled from there.
“The girls struggled, we had a lot of splits, and we just lost the confidence we had, That was pretty much it.”
Sophomore Angelina Donorfrio led the Wildcats with 536 and senior Sophia Previte had 491.
Struthers finished 11th overall with 3,286, 118 pins out of the cut.
Another Northeast District state qualifier, Elyria Open Door Christian, also missed the cut, finishing 10th with 3,336, 68 pins short of the eighth spot.
Senior Anna Koglman led the Patriots with a 576 series to finish 19th overall. Junior Abby Hopkins added 529 for Open Door, which was making its first state appearance.