By BILL SNIER
COSHOCTON — Larry Verble had a simple game plan as he entered Sunday’s match-play rounds.
“It’s going to be urethane (Sunday). I’m just going to try to keep it in front of me and, hopefully, something develops,” the 60-year-old Mason, Mich., right-hander said.
“If not, it’s grind, grind, grind.”
The former was a given. The latter also turned out to be true at Legacy Lanes and Lounge.
Verble was able to break 200 twice in his final best-of-three match with No. 1 seed Michael Clark Jr. — a rarity on this day — to claim a 2-1 win and his eighth career Professional Bowlers Association regional title during the PBA50 Legacy Lanes Central Open.
More importantly, it gives the super senior and Dilaura Brothers Bowling Supply employee PBA titles over five decades. His last PBA50 win came during the 2023 PBA50-60 Doubles at Park Centre Lanes in North Canton with Dan Herrington.
“It means quite a bit. It shows a lot of perseverance,” said Verble, who bowled seven events on the PBA50 Tour this season and finished 31st in points. “The good Lord has blessed me to be able to compete at a high level.
“I’m just overwhelmed. I just praise God for taking care of me whether I deserve it or not.”
Armed with his Black Pearl Hammer urethane, Verble saw some lane differences from Saturday’s eight-game qualifier, when he finished No. 2 by 159 pins to the top-seeded Clark.
“The back ends seemed a hair tighter, but that happens every tournament when you strip and reoil three or four times. The pattern gets into the lane longer and makes it tighter downlane. That’s what we saw today,” said Verble, who took home $1,700 with the win.
“We didn’t have the recovery area that we did (Saturday). I just wanted to hit the thing closest to me (head pin) as much as possible and leave spares you can make.”
He also navigated the three pairs he hit during match play with speed control.
“Absolutely I held the speed down because the back ends were tighter,” Verble said. “I was trying to make the urethane hook somewhere on the lane — at my toe, at the midlane or on the back end. Slowing the ball speed down gave it the time to to do it enough.”
Verble hit his Hammer urethane with 360 or 400 grit between blocks “just to keep it fresh and give it some teeth.”
Recording sweeps in his first two matches also helped the veteran en route to the title.
“It kept my mind fresh and kept me in a positive frame of mind,” Verble said. “It also gave me a little bit of a break and I was able to come down, practice and just keep loose. It absolutely helped.”
In all, there were only 13 200 games thrown during the 34 total games of match play Sunday on the PBA Marshall Holman 38-foot oil pattern — five by Verble.
SEMIFINAL BATTLES
Verble started match play with a 3-0 sweep of 59-year-old Kettering right-hander Eddie Graham, recording 200 and 210 his final two games while the latter did not have a game over 182.
Then, despite shooting just 163 in Game 1 of his best-of-three semifinal match against 60-year-old Gross Ile, Mich., right-hander Steve Kenyon, he was able to complete another 2-0 sweep with 214 in Game 2.
Kenyon, who shot 278 Saturday to jump up to the No. 3 seed and also had 267 in Game 4 of his quarterfinal match against Vermillion right-hander John Shreve Jr., enroute to a 3-2 win, shot just 145 and 154, respectively, during the semifinals.
“Against John, we were both inside and we able to get some push down of the oil to the middle. That created a shot for both of us,” said Kenyon, an internal auditor for AAA Auto Club who had three 200s in that match. “But in the semifinals, Larry was throwing urethane on the outside so it was all on me to try to get some carry down.”
Instead, Kenyon added, “the ball hooked at 38 feet and was uncontrollable.”
“There was nothing for me outside either. I really didn’t have any kind of partner,” Kenyon said. “I didn’t have any answers on the lanes, in the bag or even at home. I have to figure out something for the next time I get this far. There was no play for me inside at all.”
Clark had to go to a fourth-game tiebreaker against No. 8 seed Chuck Lupica III after both shot 237. The former carried a Brooklyn strike on his second ball in the 10th frame and left a 10-pin on his final ball while the latter failed to convert a 4-pin spare to produce the tie.
Clark struck on his shot in the one-ball rolloff while Lupica, who was coming off his first PBA regional win in West Virginia, left a 4-pin to lose 10-9 as Clark advanced.
Higgins, a 50-year-old Lewis Center right-hander and Ohio State University Weiner Medical Center senior application developer in his “rookie” season as a PBA50 participant, stopped Jeremy Symonds 3-2 in the quarterfinals by starting with a pair of 200 games.
But he was unable to duplicate the performance against Clark, winning Game 1 180-167 before dropping the next two.
“I just wasn’t matching up and, physically, I wasn’t great,” said Higgins, who now has three top four PBA50 performances. “I went in with a different game plan (for the second match) because the lanes had sat longer.
“It looked OK, but it wasn’t great playing the gutter. I didn’t think I could win there but, in hindsight, I probably should have stayed there because nobody shot anything.
“But that’s not my A game and I was trying to stay out of trouble. In hindsight, I probably should have brought a couple of different balls. It wouldn’t have been magical, but it would have helped. I could have bowled better … it definitely was not my best.”
That set up the title match between the top two seeds.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Clark, a 53-year-old North Olmsted right-hander, had dominated the field Saturday, shooting 730 over his first three games on a day when just two players (Verble was the other) averaged 200 or better. He finished the day averaging 222.85.
But he quickly learned Sunday was a new day.
“Whatever was out there yesterday was not there for me today,” said the Midland Hardware employee and high school basketball referee who was seeking his third PBA regional title. “There were a bit more games in the other matches to try to build it up, but in the last match I couldn’t build it up quickly enough.
“There was less urethane and more hook on the lanes. You just have to adapt with what they give you.”
Clark started the title match with two strikes to take the lead early, but Verble added a pair of doubles to take it back in the eighth. But the latter then left back-to-back 2-10 “baby” splits in the ninth and 10th frame and failed to convert both while Clark stayed clean for a 206-193 win.
Things began to change in Game 2 as Verble started with strikes on four of his first five shots while Clark finished with five strikes overall, including just one double.
“There just seemed to be more transition on that pair so I threw a different ball than I did earlier in the tournament just to keep it on line more,” said Clark, who now has four total regional runner-up finishes, including two this season. “But that tightened up. I probably should have gone to the (900 Global) Origin sooner.”
Clark failed to convert a 2-8 spare in the fifth and a 1-2-10 washout in the eighth as Verble earned a 215-182 win despite missing his third 2-10 split.
Game 3 was all Verble.
The veteran started with four strikes before leaving back-to-back 10-pin spares. He stayed clean until missing a 3-6-9-10 spare in the 10th.
Clark started with a 3-6-7-9-10 “Greek church” split in the first fame and never recovered, finishing with five strikes and not recording a double until the 10th frame for a 210-164 loss. He left an 8-10 split in the ninth.
“I really thought the scores were going to be higher, but they were much lower than (Saturday),” Clark said. “I just have to throw it better.
“It’s disappointing because you don’t get a lot of opportunities to win out here and when you do, you have to take advantage of it. But there’s nothing wrong with being a runner-up once in a while.”
Verble noticed early the changes in the title pair from his previous match pairs.
“There just seemed to be more reaction down lane. I don’t know if the friction on the pair (Lanes 19-20) was from either sitting or its characteristics,” said Verble, who tweaked his hip in the sixth frame of the final game. “But that’s the biggest move I made all day … I had to move about four boards by the end of the match.”
Verble had taken a break following the end of the PBA50 Tour. This was his first return to action since early August, except for a couple of practice sessions.
“I needed to take a break both for my body and mind,” Verble said. “Our (DiLauras) ownership takes such great care of me and allows me to play professional bowler in the summertime.”
And that is a role that has fit Verble well over now five decades.
NOTEBOOK: McWane Ductile was the primary responsible for the second annual event. General manager Steve Gentile announced the event will be returning for its third year Sept. 11 to 13 in 2026. … Akron’s Don Hogue tied for the final cash spot with Michael Llanwza at 1,541, missing the cut by 21 pins. Llaneza, also a super senior, earned $275, while Hogue received $237.50. … Other $275 super senior checks went o Steve Easterday (12th) and Rick Zakrajsek (13th). … Kenyon had the high match play game of 269. … Clark, along with Dean Billings, is the defending champion in the PBA50-60 Park Centre Doubles, which returns Oct. 17 through 19 at Park Centre Lanes in North Canton. … Next up for the PBA50 players is the PBA50 RPI Central Classic at Poelking Woodman lanes in Kettering beginning Sept. 27.
PBA50 LEGACY LANES CENTRAL OPEN
(Sunday, at Legacy Lanes and Lounge, Coshocton)
Bracket match play
Quarterfinals
(Best-of-five matches, losers each receive $700)
1 Michael Clark Jr. (150-182-224-237) d. 8 Charles Lupica III (205-151-196-237) 3-1 (Clark wins Game 4 tiebreaker 10-9)
4 Dan Higgins Jr. (201-219-173-155-196) d. 5 Jeremy Symonds (167-178-185-188-190) 3-2
3 Steve Kenyon (204-190-191-267-202) d. 6 John Shreve Jr. (194-215-209-187-176) 3-2
2 Larry Verble (184-200-210) d. 7 Eddie Graham (172-173-182) 3-0
Semifinals
(Best-of-three matches; losers each receive $850)
Clark (167-192-178) d. Higgins (180-168-145) 2-1
Verble (163-214) d. Kenyon (145-154) 2-0
Championship
(Best-of-three match; winner receives $1,700, loser receives $1,150)
Verble (192-215-210) d. Clark (206-182-164) 2-1
See complete final standings here:
https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=685ab30218dbb9353b1aa3a2