By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — Brandon White was simply looking for more of a challenge.
The 35-year-old Cleveland right-hander,, who works as a certified public accountant doing tax work, bowls league play at Rollhouse Parma and Wickliffe Lanes.
“But the local stuff just wasn’t fun anymore,” said White, who has bowled in seven Professional Bowlers Association Central Region events over the past five years.
“I was just looking for more competition and I like the style of play.”
After being seven-for seven in cashes during his brief PBA appearances, White took it one step further Saturday at AMF Riviera Lanes — the home of the PBA Tournament of Champions.
White was able to put together three strikes in a row late to stop Kyle Cook 194-160 and claim his first PBA win in the PBA Lucky Strike-Fairlawn Central Open.
“It just feels great … it’s surreal,” White said. “I’ve cashed in every event I’ve bowled but never even finished second before.”
White didn’t have an easy road to reach match play during the eight-game qualifying round, finishing with 191 and 184 in games 7 and 8 for 1,636 total pinfall (204.5 average). He finished 14th to earn a match-play spot by just 13 pins.
“I didn’t catch the transition those last two games well and I didn’t chase it far enough left,” White said. “Once I got far enough into it and got it in the air a little bit more, I did better.
“I just never got in there quick enough.”
But rolling games of 168, 193 and 211, White was able to win his opening match 3-1 over No. 2 seed Robert Oakleaf after dropping Game 1 173-168.
He than stopped No. 7 Ryan Speer 2-0 in the semifinals as the latter shot just 179 and 124 while White had 197 and 168.
But White found his stride on the difficult PBA Scorpion 44 oil pattern (re-oiled before the start of match play), shooting a clean game to stop 20-year-old Elwood, Ind., two-handed righty Gage Blackford 223-131 to reach the finale.
COOK’S DAY
Cook, a 30-year-old Centerville right-hander with two PBA regional titles, finished fifth after qualifying with 1,693 (211.65 average). His run included a 269 in Game 5, but he finished with just 167 to close out the round.
He started match play with a 2-1 victory over No. 12 seed Brayden Alfred, winning Game 3 191-155. He then followed up with a 2-0 win over No. 13 Scott McIntire of Parma, owner-operator of Strike More Pro Shop, rolling 193 and 186 to advance.
But, as White did during his semifinal match, Cook was able to stay clean during his semifinal match against 43-year-old Doylestown right-hander Joe Bailey. Bailey, the No. 8 seed, had an open frame in the third and then a split in the fifth en route to a 217-177 loss.
TITLE MATCH
Things went wrong for Cook right at the start in the title match when he left a 1-2-4-10 washout in the first frame and failed to convert.
“I shot 160 on that pair (Lanes 33-34) earlier (in qualifying). There was something with my ball roll on that pair that just didn’t match up real great apparently,” Cook said.
“I was at the higher end of the house for the finals and the pattern kept getting flatter and flatter. I felt like there was a box down lane I had to throw it into and I didn’t throw it into it enough times.”
White, after starting with two spares and a strike, left a 1-2-4 in the fourth, but failed to convert the spare.
But Cook, after a strike in the third, left a 6-7 split and then failed to convert a 4-pin spare in the fifth frame to give White the advantage he never lost. Cook also failed to convert a 6-pin spare in the seventh.
‘I’ll take second place with how my execution was today,” said Cook, who uses loft as part of his game. “It’s been a hot minute since I laid a ball down on the lane.
“My execution wasn’t the best, but I was able to match up when I needed to for the most part. I’ll take it and move on.”
White stayed clean from the sixth frame on, striking on four of five shots through the ninth frame and converting a 10-pin spare in the sixth.
“I just tried to keep the ball around the head pin. I tried to keep my angles nice and straight through the middle of the lane and not give away the pocket,” said White, who earned $2,200 for his first PBA title.
And winning always is more fun.
NOTEBOOK: The tourney drew a 76-player field, with the top 16 reaching match play following the eight-game qualifying round. … Ryan Lakota finished with 636 over his final three games to earn the final qualifying spot with 1,622, just two pins ahead of Bailey Mavrick, who shot 235 his final game. … Willowick’s Dean Vargo, who defended his title last week in the Furbay Electric Supply Open at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes in Canton, was the top qualifier with 1,787 (223.3 average), finishing 38 pins ahead of Oakleaf. Vargo fell in the quarterfinals to Bailey 2-1, losing Game 3 203-162. … Scott Crow earned the final cash spot in 25th place with 1,584, three pins ahead of Tommy Parker III. … Urbana left-hander Graham Fach, who remains alive in the tape-delayed PBA Playoffs, fell in the Round of 8 to Blackford 2-1, with the latter winning Game 3 208-197. … Northfield’s Ryan Liederbach also made the cut, falling 2-0 to Fach in his opening match in a battle of the the only two lefties to make the cut. … The Central Region is back in action May 16 and 17 at Rebman Recreation in Lorain for the Ohio Lottery-Baldo Campana & Dave D’Entremont Memorial Central Open. A pro-am is set for 6:30 p.m. May 16, with adult, junior and special needs divisions and a $25 entry fee. Contact Rebman Recreation for details. The tournament begins with a 9 a.m. qualifier May 17 followed by bracket match play. Admission is free.
See complete final results of the AMF Riviera Lanes event here:
https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=6808fede4d00e45141828df6