By BILL SNIER
NORTH CANTON — After a slow honor-score start to the 2025-26 fall-winter bowing season, the big scores returned Sept. 23 at Park Centre Lanes.
And it was the man dubbed “Mr. Park Centre” who led the way with the center’s first 800 of the new season.
Canton 20-year-old two-handed right-hander Zach McCutchan, who recorded five 800 series and nine 300 games a season ago spread over his two regular leagues and occasional substitute roles, put up games of 253, 300 and 247 for 800 on the nose — his first 800 and second 300 of the season — in the 26-team Hannan Electric league.
It’s the first time the Park Centre employee needed to run three strikes in the 10th frame to reach the 800 milestone — his sixth overall to go with 12 sanctioned 300s.
“The past couple of weeks, I’ve been struggling a bit. Early, I was trying to use different balls to see different reactions,” said McCutchan, who owns a high career series of 824 with this being the second time he has had a 300 involved an 800 series.
“I was having problems keeping the ball on the right side of the head pin. Then, for a couple of weeks, I worked on staying more behind the ball and getting less on the back end, but it still picked up early. The shot is really nothing new; it’s more about it being still hot outside and the humidity in the air.”
This milestone came just one week to the day when McCutchan faced a similar situation in the same league — needing a double in the 10th frame to clinch his first 800 of the season.
That night, he left a 4-pin on his first ball in the 10th frame.
“I was a little frustrated because I thought it was a really good shot off my hand,” said McCutchan, who is averaging 242 the league this season.
Did it give him more resolve heading into his second shot at the 800 milestone?
“Not really. I just took this as another week to try to hit my average or do a little better,” McCutchan said.
He started the night throwing his Roto Grip Attention Star. But, the ball surface wasn’t quite the same as the previous week.
“I really didn’t like how much polish it had so, on Monday, I hit with a 3,000 pad I had in my bag to get the shine off of it a bit … get it to pick up a little earlier,” McCutchan said. “It didn’t go as sharp on the back end and it blended things out better and rolled smoother.”
But he also felt the surface was not helping late in Game 1.
“I was worried about leaving flat-10s a bit, so I went to a different ball on the fill ball (DV8 Dark Side) to see if I could get better ball reaction,” McCutchan said. “I shot pretty well at the end of last year with that ball even though I didn’t have any honor scores.”
That changed in Game 2 when he hit for 300 to set up his Game 3 run.
McCutchan started with a spare and had a small string of strikes early. The frustrating shot came in the eighth frame when he left a solid 9-pin.
“That was my first one of the night and I was kind of frustrated there,” said McCutchan, who did not have an open frame. “But I knew if I spared there and threw the next four, I would still be there.”
After his strike in the ninth, he opened the 10th with another strike — leading to a small, side fist pump after what had happened the previous week.
“Usually, when I get in that situation, I will move a little right because my ball speed goes up with my blood pressure going up,” McCutchan said.
The second ball was the break he needed. The shot barely hit the head pin, with the last three pins to fall being the 2-7-8 — all falling forward.
“I actually thought it was a pretty good shot off my hand, but there must have been little carry down (of the oil), “ McCutchan said. “As soon as I let it go, I knew I was a tad right and I might have been a little quick which just came from the pressure of the moment.
“I was like, ‘What the heck was that?’ I had to calm myself down a little. When they all fell on the last shot, I didn’t take it for granted after what happened last week. That made up for finishing with that 788. I knew I had to finish on a good note.”
McCutchan decided not to attend college after graduating as an OHSAA Division I state qualifier at Canton McKinley High School.
“I’d would love to bowl and travel in college to big tournaments, but school is just not for me,” he added.
Instead, he hopes to bowl more area events and a few more within driving distance — if time allows along with three leagues this season while still subbing in another — all at Park Centre. Is there such a thing as a season encore?
“The only thing I can say is to aim higher,” said McCutchan, who carried a personal-high average of 240 last season. “That’s really all I can do.”
MORE 300s
In addition to McCutchan’s 300 in the league that night, three others joined him — two coming in Game 2.
Senior right-hander Don Ondecker started the night with 300 in Game 1, with McCutchan and Nate Huscusson — another right-hander rolling only his ninth sanctioned league game — hitting milestones in Game 2.
In Game 3, McCutchan’s teammate, left-hander Max Shankle, hit 300 after the former completed his 800 run.
Then, on Wednesday in the Pizza Oven Classic league at Park Centre, Wooster right-hander Karlie Way rolled her fourth career 300.
“I think I was as nervous for that one as I was for my first one,” Way said.