By BILL SNIER
DOVER — Joe Phillis said he has one more goal he would like to reach during his bowling career.
He came close in late March, but had to settle for another milestone instead.
Phillis, just completing his first year at Carrollton High School boys head bowling coach after sharing Stark County High School Bowling Conference division coach of the year honors, had games of 299, 260 and 267 for an 826 series — his 11th career 800 to go along with 15 300 games in the Zoar Village Golf Course Doubles league at Wabash Lanes.
But Game 1 — the 299, which was ruined by a 10-pin leave on his final ball — was the one that got away.
“If I get that 300, it means I have 300s in five different decades,” said Phyllis, a 66-year-old Carrollton right-hander. “That’s the only goal I have left in bowling. I’ve had two 299s since I turned 60.”
Using his Hammer Pure Envy, which he purchased during a ball demo day at Wabash, Phillis followed his 299 with three more strikes before leaving his only open frame of the night — a 4-6-7-9 split. He struck out the rest of the way.
Then, in Game 3, he again started with the first three strikes before going high on a shot and leaving a 6-10 spare. He then struck to the 10th frame before leaving another 10-pin.
“The funny thing is I was trying not to do the math in my head. I knew I was getting close. When I struck in the ninth the last game, I thought that might have been the one,” said Phillis, who retired earlier this year from IVZ Enterprises. “I wasn’t sure if I needed one more.
“My doubles partner (Todd Hawkins) told me I needed one more to get there. So I got the first one in the 10th and I turn around and he’s laughing. He told me then I didn’t need it.”
Phillis admits the Pure Envy has helped him to average 230 in the short time with the new ball. He bowls in two leagues, also participating in an every-other week mixed league at Wabash.
“This was just awesome. But 800s have never made me as nervous as going for a 300,” Phillis said. “The 300s really mean more to me … it’s just the fact that its perfection. Maybe that’s why I have as many 800s as 300s.”
Taking over for current Carrollton Local Schools superintendent Dave Davis as head boys coach this season was a work in progress. He served as assistant girls coach under his daughter, Wendy Russell, during the Warriors’ run to state the last several years.
But this was different.
“It was rough at first because you have to build confidence with the kids,” said Phillis, who also had Tom Thompson as his assistant. “We sat down to talk with them about halfway through the season. My assistant probably knows more about bowling than I do.
“They all finally got on board and we won the EBC (Eastern Buckeye Conference) and Stark County (American Division). We just had to get their confidence, but I knew that was going to be that way the first year.”
Will he return for a second season?
“Probably,” Phillis said. “My granddaughter (former Division II individual champion Kaylee Russell) will be a senior and I want to see her through.”
But there was one thing that Wabash owner Aaron Shanklin mentioned to Phillis following his milestone.
“He said the league just wanted to thank me for not getting into any brackets,” Phillis said, laughing.
The next bracket he would like to see is the final eight during the OHSAA State Championships in 2026 for the Warriors.