By BILL SNIER
NORTH CANTON — Keith Zeigler admittedly had been struggling with 10-pin spares the past few weeks in the Pizza Oven Classic league at Park Centre Lanes.
So with his Park Centre team facing a second-half position round to reach the league rolloff, Zeigler decided to get in some extra practice.
“I came in on Tuesday night since I had the week off from work and just threw a game of shooting nothing but 10-pins,” the 38-year-old Plain Township right-hander, who bowls without his thumb in the ball, said. “Then, I switched to regular bowling.”
During that practice session, the Gulfport Energy Corp. employee, who works as a land man for the company, had games of 279 and 300. His team captain — Bill Reese, who also works as an assistant manager at the center — was kidding with him after that performance.
“He was joking with me that he hoped I didn’t waste it on the lanes that night,” Zeigler said. “But I did figure something out.”
It showed the next night during league play.
After starting with the front 10 strikes in Game 1 en route to 289, Zeigler followed with 238 and 279 for his third career 800 series — an 806. His last 800 came in the Holy Name Mixed league at Park Centre in November 2023.
“The guys we were bowling against all night long were also throwing it great and they gave us a helluva match,” Zeigler said, adding his team needed to just win one game to clinch the second-half title.
But down 2-0 going into Game 3, Zeigler, Reese and Josh Haddad all had the first seven strikes en route to the win and the second-half title.
Using his Storm Nova — which he calls his “go-to ball” and the one he used in his previous 800 — Zeigler ran strikes in Game 1 until leaving a 7-pin on his 11th ball.
“I didn’t like the shot,” said Zeigler, who averages 225 in the Pizza Oven Classic and 235 in the Holy Name Mixed every-other week league. “If you saw it, it was wide right and it slowly worked its way back to the pocket. It sort of glanced off the head pin. I deserved it.”
The 10-pin practice came in handy in Game 2 as Zeigler left 10-pin spares in the first, third, sixth and seventh frames — but converted all of them.
“All of my misses all night were inside,” Zeigler said.
But after the 10-pin in the seventh frame of Game 2, he ran off 14 strikes in a row before leaving a 9-pin on his first ball in the 10th frame of Game 3 in hopes of his fourth career 300 game.
“I think I felt more pressure going for that 300 that the 800,” Zeigler said. “We were in much better shape in the match in that game because we had guys on doubles. I knew I was near it and I just needed to mark to get the 800.”
Zeigler began throwing without a thumb in high school while bowling with friends and the technique stuck.
“If I could have put my thumb in the ball and been able to hook it or go to straight two-handed I would have done it,” Zeigler said. “I’m kind of self-taught. But I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it this way. I don’t think there is a worse way to bowl, but it’s the way I do it.”
Zeigler also filled in on Reese’s team in the Northeast Ohio Travel League over the final four weeks of the season due to Lewis Stansbury’s hand injury and helped the team earn a wild-card spot in the NEOTL playoffs.
“That night,” Zeigler said of his latest 800, “was just a lot of fun.”