By BILL SNIER
AKRON — Zack McSwain knew what kind of roll he was on this weekend at Station 300.
“I told (tournament promotor) Jody Boyd earlier when it’s your day, it’s your day,” the 28-year-old Cowpens, S.C., right-hander said.
McSwain, who led the opening qualifying block Saturday by 60 pins, the Cashers’ Round by 40 and the Round of 24 by 70, completed his journey Sunday by capturing the Akron Open scratch singles title with a 235-223 win over No. 2 seed and overall qualifying leader Bryce Frantz.
“It was just great getting comfortable here,” said McSwain, who closed the opening Cashers’ Round of 55 finalists with a 300 game. “Usually, when I get comfortable, I can throw a lot of strikes.
“I was comfortable (Saturday) and really comfortable today.”
McSwain, who averaged 255 during the six-game qualifying round, averaged 265.2 — including his 300 — during the Cashers’ Round and 245.6 during the final five-game Round of 24 on the Station 300 house oil pattern en route to the No. 1 seed.
It came just eight days after McSwain, a landscaper who also works for a chassis company, had captured his first Professional Bowlers Association regional title in Asheville, N.C.
“Everything just seems to be going my way the last couple of months. I’m not sure if it’s the best I’ve ever thrown it, but it’s just going my way,” said McSwain, who took home $5,000 with his win.
FRANTZ RALLIES
Frantz, a 25-year-old Louisville, Ky., two-handed righty, led Saturday’s qualifying rounds by averaging 258.3 over six games. He and McSwain were 1-2 through both the Cashers’ Round and five-game Round of 24 Sunday, with the former finishing 92 pins out of the top spot after 16 total games.
“I’m just super excited and thankful for what everyone did,” said Frantz, a rehabilitation assistant at Louisville Jewish hospital who was making his first Akron appearance. “I like the bowling center and everything ran perfect. I have no complaints.”
His semifinal match came against 42-year-old Massillon right-hander Frank Testa, the No. 3 seed.
After starting with the first six strikes, Frantz left a 2-pin spare in the seventh, a 3-6-7-10 split in the eighth and a 3-6 spare in the ninth. He covered the split — which turned out to be key.
“I got lazy toward the end of Game 1, but I tried to stick with the game plan and not ruin anything,” Frantz said.
Testa, who left a solid 8-pin spare in the second and a 6-pin spare in the fourth, ran five strikes in a row through the ninth frame. But he suffered a tough break in leaving a solid 9-pin on his first ball in the 10th frame.
Frantz was able to reset himself and throw a double in the 10th en route to a 248-239 win to advance to the title match.
TITLE MATCH
Neither McSwain nor Frantz came out of the gate strong in their championship battle. McSwain started with a pair of 7-pin spares while Frantz nearly left a 7-10 split on his first ball, only to cover a 10-pin spare. But he followed that with a 4-8-10 split for his lone open.
McSwain followed his two spares with a double before leaving another 6-10 spare in the fifth. But Frantz had just one strike through the first five frames.
“I think the early friction started coming into play from the urethane going down lane,” said Frantz, referring to the use of urethane by fourth-place finisher Tuna Boncu during his first two matches.
“I felt I needed to make a change and address myself. But I threw a couple too far right, leaked it out and paid for it.”
Both players then were able to run four-strike streaks from the sixth through ninth frames, with McSwain getting a huge break on a late trip-10 in the eighth frame.
Frantz extended his strike streak to six with the first one in the 10th. But, on a critical shot, left the 4-8 spare on his second ball.
“They were definitely tightening up. I gave him a run for it but came up a little short,” Frantz said. “That second one in the 10th, I hit that little bit of wiggle area that I hit earlier. I just didn’t get away with what I needed to get away with.”
McSwain noticed the urethane tracks from the first two games and expected a change. It didn’t happen for him.
“I figured it would be a little different, but it really didn’t change much for me,” said McSwain, who used his go-to ball — the Storm Equinox — in the title match. “Usually with one game, it wouldn’t change much, but with two, I kind of expected it. It did tighten up a bit, but not much.”
Needing only a mark in the 10th to close out Frantz, McSwain came in high and barely tripped out the 10-pin to break up a possible 4-7-10 split. He covered the 4-7 spare for the win.
“Luckily, I just needed a mark,” McSwain said. “I didn’t throw my best shot, but it all worked out well.”
In the other matches, Boncu began the stepladder with a 265-225 win over two-hander Austin Robison, the lone lefty in the stepladder finals. Testa then missed just once in the quarterfinals en route a 280-243 win over Boncu, the 18-year-old Turkish two-handed righty.
As for McSwain, it’s time for some well-deserved vacation time — a tough thing to do when you are on a hot streak.
“I’ve got a couple of regionals down South and then some weekend tournaments coming up that I usually do,” McSwain said. “Just keep on bowling.”
Something that has been very profitable for the South Carolina righty with the hard straight-up style over the summer months.
AKRON OPEN SCRATCH SINGLES
(Sunday, at Station 300, Akron)
Stepladder finals
Match 1: Tuna Boncu (Fort Wayne, Ind.) d. Austin Richeson (Fort Wayne, Ind.) 265-235; Richeson wins $1,000
Match 2: Frank Testa (Massillon) d. Boncu 280-243; Boncu wins $1,500
Match 3: Bryce Frantz (Louisville, Ky.) d. Testa 248-239; Testa wins $2,000
Championship: Zack McSwain (Cowpens, S.C.) d. Frantz 235-223; McSwain wins $5,000, Frantz wins $2,500
Round of 24
(With 16-game pinfalls, earnings)
6, Dell Ray Jr. 3,854, $800; 7, Josh Curtiss 3,816, $800; 8, Robert Bumgarger 3,793, $800; 9, Zachary Abbott 3,791, $700; 10, Jackson Stiles 3,783, $700; 11, Chad Roberts 3,771, $700; 12, Joe Lipan 3,758, $700; 13, Ryan Ashby 3,751, $599; 14, Bryce Oliver 3,742, $599; 15, Kyle Bacher 3,738, $599; 16, Quentin Collins 3,731, $599; 17, Charles Brown II 3,721, $599; 18, Jordan Nunn 3,714, $599; 19, Cassidy Schaub 3,712, $500; 20, Andre Gonzales 3,658, $500; 21, Jeffery Scott 3,657, $500; 22, Roger Adams 3,651, $500; 23, Dom Pugh 3,615, $500; 24, Jason Bowles 3,548, $500
Cashers’ Round
(With 11-game pinfalls, earnings)
25, (tie) Johnny Priest, Al Petrosino, Dan Higgins 2,563, $400; 28, Mike Thewes 2,556, $400; 29, (tie) Jalen Mosley, George Gohagan III 2,555, $400; 31, Trent Marner 2,554, $400; 32, Clinton Lyons 2,547, $400; 33, Jimmy Cook 2,545, $350; 34, T.J. Charles 2,544, $350; 35, Don Hipkiss 2,541, $350; 36, Kyle King 2,540, $350; 37, (tie) Caden Millisor, Tony Carson 2,536, $350; 39, AJ Rice 2,530, $350; 40, Patrick Adolph 2,526, $350; 41, Don Hogue 2,505, $300; 42, Brandon White 2,501, $300; 43, Drew Damron 2,499, $300; 44, Jonathan Nixon 2,497, $300; 45, Ty McKinney 2,486, $300; 46, Eric Burris 2,485, $300; 47, Michael Mossbarger 2,471, $300; 48, Jacob Johnson 2,468, $260; 49, Zach Howman 2,464, 4260; 50, Vincent Ludwig 2,460, $260; 51, Ian Carpenter 2,446, $260; 52, Anthony Wright 2,430, $260; 53, Jesse Hawkins 2,419, $260; 54, Kyle Brooks 2,395, $260; 55, Reginald Petty 2,381, $260