By BILL SNIER
PARMA HEIGHTS — At a center where she has enjoyed success before, Jordan (Richard) Snodgrass had to deal with bouts of frustration the past four days.
Sometimes, a talk with Mom can help aid the recovery process.
The 29-year-old Adrian, Mich., right-hander and former Ohio resident found her groove early Sunday to climb to the top of the leaderboard during the opening qualifying round of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Rock ’n’ Roll Open.
After shooting just 217 in Game 1, Snodgrass found new life using a 900 Global Zen Soul she had drilled first for the PWBA season opener in Topeka, Kan.
“I had real good ball reaction from the start and it was just easier to get comfortable,” said Snodgrass, the 2023 PWBA Player of the Year who counted the Cleveland Open at Yorktown Lanes as one of her three titles that season.
“I had a couple of iffy shots the first game, but once we switched to the low end (of the center), it was easy to get into a groove.”
It was made easier when Snodgrass shot 300 in Game 2 — one of two 300s in the opening round after seven were shot during qualifying for the PWBA BowlTV Open, the second of three events during the PWBA Summer Series — Cleveland.
From there, Snodgrass finished with 1,524 total pinfall for six games, tying for the sixth highest six-game block in the PWBA’s 10-year history with Singapore’s Cherie Tan’s effort in Stockton, Calif. Ironically, four of the top 10 six-game blocks have come at Yorktown Lanes.
She holds a 53-pin lead over Ukraine’s Dasha Kovalova (1,471). The remainder of the top five include Saturday’s PWBA BowlTV Open champion Hui Fen New (1,439), 40-year-old Middletown, Del., right-hander Elysia Current (1,425) and 22-year-old Tallmadge right-hander Kirsten Moore (1,419).
But Snodgrass has been in this position before during the Summer Series. She led after Round 1 of qualifying in the opening event, the PWBA Cleveland Open, with 1,376. But over the final six qualifying games of the night block, she averaged just 195.3 and plummeted to 22nd overall, missing the cut to match play by 22 pins.
“In the second round, I felt my ball reaction wasn’t great and I kind of checked myself out. It’s not meant to be that way,” Snodgrass said. “I was frustrated and I really didn’t have a plan B when I should have.
“But you learn from it, and I’m hoping that will not be the case (Sunday night). I got some information with a couple of different balls. In this format of bracket match play, all the pins go away anyhow. All you have to be is in the top 16.”
Snodgrass’ other frustrating moment came Saturday night after reaching the stepladder finals of the PWBA BowlTV Open as the No. 5 seed. She was in a tight match with Dayton left-hander Shannon Pluhowsky, but had the lead entering the 10th frame.
But on her first ball in the 10th, needing a mark to advance, Snodgrass left a 2-10 split following four strikes in a row to fall 225-213.
“I really just had to separate myself from that. This is a whole new tournament and if I want to sit here and dwell on what happened in the 10th frame, then I can just not bowl,” Snodgrass said.
“There was no point in bringing it in today and try and fight my way through it. I had to get over it.”
A conversation with her mother Saturday night helped.
“We talked a lot about it. You work so hard to put yourself in those situations that when you execute like crap, it just sucks,” Snodgrass said. “But I have to learn from that.”
The goal for the second shift Sunday is “make good shots and pick up my spares.”
“It’s to get into the top 16 and start over again tomorrow,” Snodgrass said. “I hope my ball reaction is there to be able to do what I did in the beginning today.
“I know it’s going to go away faster … that’s been a common theme the first two second blocks. I’ve had the last two blocks to prepare. But I have a plan B if that doesn’t work.”
NOTEBOOK: The final Summer Series event had a full field of 95 players bowling on the 44-foot Rock ’n’ Roll Open oil pattern. The cut at 16 for match play is at 2,570, with Diana Zavjalova holding that position by just 12 pins. … Poland’s Daria Pajak had the other 300 of the shift in Game 5 to vault up the leaderboard into 11th place. … Stow’s Jillian Martin, who missed the cut during the BowlTV Open, is 13th with 1,375. … Stephanie Zavala, who won the Cleveland Open for the first victory of the week, is 22nd, 23 pins out of the cut. … Only two players have made the cut in both events so far. Union, N.J., right-hander Kelly Kulick, who reached the stepladder finals in both events, finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, is 41st after the first session, 86 pins out of the cut. Colombia right-hander Rosio Restrepo, now living in Kent, finished ninth and sixth, respectively in the first two events. She currently is 50th, 107 pins out of the cut after finishing the morning shift with a 157. … The final qualifying round begins at 5 p.m. with six more games. … Monday’s bracket match play will consist of best-of-five matches in the opening round by seed at 9 a.m. The second round, consisting of the eight winners, also will be best-of-five matches beginning at 2 p.m. The final four will then bowl single-elimination matches, with the final two bowling for the title. … Tickets at $15 are available at the door both Sunday and Monday.