By BILL SNIER
AKRON — T.J. Charles admits he is on a mission this season.
After claiming the 2022-23 Northeast Ohio Travel League championship with Track team captain Joe Altimore III and Kevin Schott, he and Altimore have come up short the past two seasons.
“We have unfinished business this season,” the 42-year-old Jackson Township right-hander said of the team that now includes left-handed two-hander Jaden Hunter as its third player. “We want to get Joe to the finals one more time before he checks out.”
But to get there, the team has to pile up victories in its NEOTL division race.
Charles helped the team earn some points Oct. 9 when he threw the only NEOTL 800 series of the season so far with an 802 at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes. He had games of 268, 299 and 235 to earn his 33rd career 800 series to go along with nearly 60 300 games.
And he did it with a new Track ball right out of the box on fresh oil — an unusual situation for the second-shift NEOTL which usually bowls following first-shift leagues.
“I have been throwing a ball all season that has the pin down,” said Charles of his two Stealth Modes. “This one has the pin up, and I just decided to try it that night.
“I played in a little further than normal, but if I got it out, it would come back nice and smooth and would hold. If I tugged it, it also would hold. I didn’t move a single board all night.”
Charles, who operates Kreative Touch Property Services and also works for Xerox, threw 19 strikes in a row at one point between games 1 and 2. It came after he started Game 1 with a strike and then a pair of 9-count spares.
In Game 2, a 9-pin in the 10th frame denied him another 300.
“It wasn’t a solid 9-pin … it came in a bit high and I just kicked out the 4-pin,” Charles said.
But he knew what was required to reach another 800.
“I knew that before I even finished up Game 2,” Charles said, laughing.
He started Game 3 with four strikes before leaving a spare. But in the sixth frame, he missed a 10-pin spare for his lone open frame of the night.
But then he jumped back on at the strike train, needing just a mark in the 10th frame to secure his latest milestone.
Charles admitted the 2024-25 season was an off year as he finished 10 pins below his previous year’s average of 237, which led to him being named both the NEOTL’s player and sportsman of the year — the first player to earn both honors in the same season.
“I was just a little less focused last year,” said Charles, who also battled knee problems. “I didn’t know if I was going to need surgery or not for my MCL and my meniscus. I had to go through physical therapy for six months almost and it could have taken its toll.
“But I’m not going to blame that.”
But Charles, who had just seen his doctor the day of this interview, said “everything is good” at this point. In fact, he is leading the NEOTL in average at 234 and also is averaging 233 in his Monday league at Spins Bowl Akron.
“I have no idea why I’m averaging more traveling than on Mondays,” Charles said. “But we’re going to start hitting the gym again and we’ll see if (the knee) is better.”
Leading up to his AMF Hall of Fame performance, Charles also led the NEOTL the previous week at Spins Bowl-Kent, shooting 300 en route to a league-high series of 768.
In addition, the night of Charles’ 800, Frank Testa and Michael Thewes also recorded 300 games at AMF Hall of Fame.
Individual accomplishments are great, but team goals mean more.
“Like I said,” Charles said, “unfinished business.”