By BILL SNIER
CUYAHOGA FALLS — Dino Castillo has a catch phrase he likes to use with doubles partners and team members.
“One for me” is what the 54-year-old Highland Village, Texas, right-hander likes to say.
“It’s kind of a thing with me to get them focused — one for me or you’re the one,” Castillo said. “I use it all the time to keep them going. I need them to know they have to hold me up.”
Castillo said the phrase a few times to 20-year-old Edmond, Okla., two-handed lefty Eric Jones on Sunday during the title match of the PBA-PBA50 Doubles Clutch Lanes Central Open at Clutch Lanes and Sports Center.
“There were a few times I just could’t spare. I tried to find the right thumb (insert) to clear it, but I fought it last week and (Saturday),” Castillo said. “I think I went through three thumbs until I got one close and we’ll see how it goes.
“But Eric stepped up and did his job.”
The duo, who finished as the No. 1 seeds following Saturday’s eight-game qualifying round, finished their title quest with a three-game sweep during the best-of-five Baker System match play finals.
It also didn’t hurt that their opponents — Sean Lavery-Spahr and Randy Weiss — also were having their problems on the title pair of Lanes 13 and 14.
“They just played much flatter. There was little bit of hook left and I was able to create some hold,” said Jones, the lone lefty on the pair. “But I ended up just trying to jam it in there. I was able to create something through the fronts, but they just seemed flat.”
Castillo and Jones swept the three games 197-183, 193-176 and 225-213, with each earning his eighth regional title overall. The former’s lone PB50 title came during the 2022 Senior Masters.
The pair reached the finale with a three-game sweep of defending champions Graham Fach and Michael Haggitt in the semifinals when they shot 739, including a 242-192 win in Game 3.
But the title pair, fresh oil that had sat since the beginning of the match play at 8 a.m., was more difficult.
“The fronts just hooked more, and the more left I went, the worse I threw it,” Castillo said. “I just couldn’t feel confident throwing the ball. I got a couple of shots in there that counted and Eric was able to clean up my mess.”
In the opening game of the title match, it was Jones who left a pair of splits. But the team was able to string together four strikes. Meanwhile, Weiss was unable to strike at all in Game 1 and failed to convert a 4-7 spare in the first frame.
“Fresh all weekend for me was not good,” said Weiss, a 51-year-old Columbia, S.C., right-hander with 13 regional titles who was making his first appearance in this event. “I just tried to survive for a minute and then they got better for me every time.”
Lavery-Sparh, a 34-ytear-old Pasadena, Texas, right-hander, had finished third individually during qualifying Saturday by averaging 229.38. The pair, both on Motiv’s staff, had agreed to bowl this event during the Players Championship.
But after the duo had shot 752 during their final three games in a 3-1 semifinal win over No. 2 seed Dave Wodka and Dom Barrett, Lavery-Spahr also saw a big change.
“I think because they sat all day, they just played a little flatter. We developed them the best that we could in practice, but they were a little tighter,” said Lavery-Spahr, who owns five regional titles. “If you played them to the right, they just played pretty flat. We were able to move to the middle and make some shots down the stretch. But none of them really struck.”
Weiss never got his first strike until the fifth frame of Game 2 for a double, but Lavery-Spahr then left a 3-4-6-7 split, getting three pins. The former struck just once more in the game.
After Castillo and Jones doubled to start the game, Castillo lost a ball wide right and threw it into the gutter. He got nine on his second ball before the pair again had a double.
But a huge shot came in the ninth when Castillo converted a 3-6-7-10 split and later started Game 3 by converting the same split again.
“I guess I was getting good at it,” Castillo said, laughing.
“Those were really big at the time,” Jones said.
But while Jones and Castillo finished the three games with 22 strikes, including five in a row to close Game 3, Weiss and Lavery-Spahr struck only 12 times, with six of those coming in Game 3.
“They were tough when I bowled here a couple of years ago with Pete (McCordic). After Game 1, we were able to get into a groove and it transitioned a bit,” Lavery-Spahr said. “It kind of depended on how you broke them down and who you followed.
“But in this situation, they were going to get tougher and flatter.”
Weiss and Lavery-Spahr had pulled ahead in Game 3 after their lone three-strike run of the day to open the game. But after Castillo failed o convert a 3-6-10 spare in the seventh, Jones struck on all four of his next shots around a strike by his partner in the ninth while Weiss failed to convert a 3-10 split in the ninth to open the door.
In that final game, the Lavery-Spahr and Weiss left four straight 9-pin spares, including three 10-pins, from the fourth through seventh frames.
Always, there was that little phrase — “get one for me” — from Castillo.
“It’s kind of a heat of the moment thing when he says that,” said Jones, who along with Weiss and Lavery-Spahr will bowl in Monday’s pre-tournament qualifier for the PBA Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn.
“He kind of changes the story a bit to just me feeling a bit of guilt. It’s supposed to be for him, but it puts a different kind of pressure on me that I really need to get this one.”
Castillo, a Brunswick ball rep, normally would have been in Michigan for Sunday’s stepladder finals of the Players Championship. But a co-worker convinced him to bowl here.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t intently watching the overhead TV screen as the Players finals started while the doubles finals were going on.
“I was just watching our guys. I don’t think it really distracts me,” Castillo said. “I think it takes my mind off of focusing so hard on my game. I’ve bowled with Sean for years, and he really doesn’t do anything to a pair and neither does Randy. They were just a little different.”
But different ended up being good for Castillo and Jones on this day.
AREA PAIR REACHES QUARTERFINALS
The area pair of Willowick’s Dean Vargo and Mentor’s Bob Bures were able to win their opening match 4-2 in a best-of-seven Baker match against Frank Cole and Hayden Stippich before falling to Wodka and Barrett 4-2 in the quarterfinals. After a 264 in Game 3 of that match, the pair was unable to shoot above 200 the final three games.
“I just got a bit confused trying to make the ball do a couple of things,” said Vargo, a 26-year-old right-hander who earned a cash spot during the Players Championship and also will be participating in Monday’s PTQ at AMF Riviera.
“I never really got lined up with the lanes and I couldn’t seem to get the ball cleanly off my hand.”
This was the second appearance in the event for the pair, who also cashed a year ago and bowl together at Wickliffe Lanes.
“They started transitioning and I didn’t make the right moves and made some bad shots,” said Bures, a 68-year-old right-hander. “They were a good team and you can’t afford that against quality players.
“It was a real grind. He carried me the first day and I just tried not to hurt him too much. I got to even and I was happy with that.”
NOTEBOOK: The final cash spot in 15th place went to Vermillion’s John Shreve Jr. and Chagrin Falls’ Vincent Bellar, who finished with 3,285 total pinfall, The cut for the top 12 for match play was at 4,260. … Castillo and Jones earned $4,000 for their victory. … All four of the top seeds advanced to the semifinal round. … The opening two rounds of matches were best-of-seven Baker while the semifinals and finals were best-of-five. … This marks the 27th overall regional tournament conducted at the center, which has gone through three owners and name changes. … Parker Bohn III is the lone bowler to own three titles in the doubles with two different partners. Haggitt and Fach have won twice the past three years. … Tom Daugherty, one -half of the 2023 title team (with Tom Hess), bowled with Shawn Maldonado and reached the quarterfinals before falling to Castillo and Jones 4-2. … There were no 300s thrown during the event, with Jones having the high game of 289. … Mitch Beasley and Nate Purches had the high Baker game of 279 in the opening round. … The tourney used the PBA Hardwick 44 oil pattern. Each match Sunday was bowled on fresh oil.