By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Brian Ball had a set game plan when he came to Strike Zone Lanes on Saturday morning.
“I planned on hooking it all day,” the 52-year-old Massillon right-hander said. “No offense, but older guys throw it straight. I figured if I got left of the cliff and stay there, plus still get the ball to go through the pins, I wouldn’t have to move much all day.”
His prediction turned out to be correct — and worth a first-place check.
The Carter Lumber employee averaged 263 during the four-game qualifier en route to the top seed, and then defeated Joe Altimore III 256-207 in the title match of the Senior Singles Event at Strike Zone.
The handicapped event (with handicaps based on 80 percent of 215) was for players ages 50 and older. Bowlers rolled four qualifying games with the top five advancing to the stepladder finals.
“This was the second time I’ve bowled her this year,” said Ball, who earned $700 for his win. “I was here a couple of months ago when (owner) Paul (Kasapis) asked me to check out the shot on Lanes 21 and 22 after he was hearing a few complaints from league bowlers.
“I told him the shot was fine. I bowl six games a week in league and that’s my practice session with maybe a little reward at the end.”
Using his Hammer Black Widow Tour V1 for all five games, Ball had just one pair — Lanes 3 and 4 — where he needed to make adjustments.
“Lane 3 just hooked a ton. I left a 4-pin and went right past it. Then, I went through the face twice on that lane,” Ball said. “Then I made a giant move and was able to get the last six (strikes) for 228.”
Beyond that, Ball had games of 280, 265 and 279 in qualifing with no handicap, finishing 45 pins ahead of second-seeded Altimore, who was receiving 20 pins per game.
But that’s only part of that story.
ALTIMORE’S CHANGES
Altimore, a 55-year-old Furbay Electric employe and Perry High School bowling coach, has been forced to make changes in order to stay active as a player.
A career right-hander, Altimore began the season bowling two leagues left-handed and, within the last five weeks, also is doing the same in the Northeast Ohio Travel League, where he is league president and a team captain.
“With this left-handed thing, there are glimmers of me executing like ‘look, I can do this,’ ” Altimore said. “Then, there’s glimmers of why are you doing this? It’s so bad.”
But during NEOTL play Thursday night at Apollo 3 Lanes, he made a change the final game.
“I got a little more square, a little more aggressive and shot 260s even though I flagged a 7-pin,” Altimore said. “I felt like if I could fix the 7-pin part of it, I was OK with the strike shot.
“I just can’t feel it left-handed like I can right-handed. Right-handed, I can feel when I’m a little quick and I can make an adjustment. I just don’t feel that left-handed.”
The other problem has been with his equipment. All of it is set up to be thrown either right- or left-handed. Altimore made the switch to lefty because of severe elbow pain in his right-arm (he can’t straighten the arm) and left knee problems.
“I just can’t find a happy medium. Right now I have nothing specific to one hand,” Altimore said. “Frank (Testa of Ten Back Pro Shop) keeps telling me we need to fit it and stick with it. I was just trying to be cheap; I didn’t want to buy two of everything for both hands.
“But it really was killing me right-handed. So we redid a bunch of fittings. It’s way better, but it’s not fixing it. And Frank can’t fix the pain in my elbow.”
So Altimore began shooting the 7-pin with a backup ball (hooking right to left) while throwing lefty. He was able to average 231.75 in qualifying, with a high actual game of 279, to earn the No. 2 seed, using his Track Stealth Mode all day.
STEPLADDER OPENERS
Eddie Prowell, a 54-year-old Canton right-hander, earned the No. 5 seed by just six pins over Glen Dillard, who was receiving 20 pins per game. Prowell, who was crossing with Dillard and received just two pins of handicap, shot 237 his final game to secure the spot.
He faced No. 4 seed Zeibbed Freeman, a 59-year-old Canton right-hander, in the opening match. Freeman, a 59-year-old Canton resident, received just one pin of handicap.
Both players, bowling a stepladder finals format for the first time, opened in the first frame before Freeman had an early double.
The match remained tight until Prowell, following a double, left a 4-6-9 split in the 10th frame. Freeman was able to throw a strike to pull out a 183-171 win.
Freeman then took on No. 3 seed Greg Wolford, a 55-year-old Anderson, Ind., right-hander, who found out about the tournament via a Facebook post and made the long journey with a friend. Wolford was receiving 10 pins per game in handicap.
Freeman started with three strikes for the early lead, but Wolford then ran off four in a row before leaving a 9-pin spare in the seventh frame. He would strike just once more.
Freeman, after covering a 2-4-5-8 bucket spare in the ninth, threw three strikes in the 10th frame for a 239-232 win. Wolford, off a strike in the ninth, left a 10-pin spare to open the 10th frame.
Freeman got even hotter in the semifinals. The problem was, so did Altimore.
While the former struck on seven of his first nine shots, Altimore left only an 8-pin spare in fourth frame while running off strings of three and seven strikes for a 297-238 win to advance to the title match.
TITLE MATCH
Ball left a 10-pin spare in the first frame and then ran off five strikes in a row before leaving a 7-pin.
Altimore was never able to throw a strike on the right lane of the title pair (Lanes 13-14), while striking every time on the left lane.
“It was just me. I couldn’t get the ball off my thumb. I’ve been running into this when I’m physically hot. The balls just won’t clear,” Altimore said. “I tried Easy Slide, powder off a sliding stone … anything to lather up the back of my thumb to clear. If I take tape out, I’m losing the ball.
“I just couldn’t find a happy medium.”
Atlimore wasn’t even sure he was going to participate until that morning.
“I had a headache Friday and I told Sharon (Liolios) that I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Altimore, whose Panther girls head to Columbus later this week for the Division I state championships. “I didn’t have a headache this morning so I decided to bowl. I figured after four games I’d be done. I’m very pleased with this.”
After the 7-pin in the seventh, Ball ran off three more strikes to clinch the title.
“I really threw it bad Tuesday (in league) and it was not very good last night either,” said Ball, who is averaging in the 240s in both leagues at Eastbury Bowling Center “But outside of three shots in the title match, I think I threw it well all day (Saturday).
“But lately I feel like I’;m bowling in a phone booth at Eastbury. I try to hook it and it either hooks so early or never hooks at all. If I play it straight, it doesn’t go through the pins right. It’s been that way since the Klonowski (Memorial Singles tournament).”
But that was never a problem for Ball on Saturday.
NOTEBOOK: The first senior event at Strike Zone drew 32 players bowling on the house oil pattern. … Rod Taylor posted the high actual game of 288 in Game 1. He led after Game 1 before Ball took over. … Of the players in the field, 16 bowled without any handicap pins… Dillard claimed the final cash spot by four pins over Gary Westfall. Westfall received 35 pins per game in handicap. … The next tourney event at Strike Zone will be a King of the Hill event, set for March 28 with a $75 entry fee. Flyers should be available on the center’s Facebook page Monday. … Our thanks to tournament director Jason Gribble and Dawn Altimore-Eckenrode for their assistance with this report.
SENIOR SINGLES EVENT
(Saturday, at Strike Zone Lanes, Canton)
Stepladder finals
(Handicap is in parenthesis)
Match 1: Zebibbed Freeman d. Eddie Prowell 183 (1)-171 (2); Prowell wins $150
Match 2: Freeman d. Greg Wolford 239 (1)-232 (10); Wolford wins $200
March 3: Joe Altimore III d. Freeman 297 (20)-238 (1); Freeman wins $300
Championship: Brian Ball d. Altimore 256 (0)-207 (20); Ball wins $700; Altimore wins $450
Other cashers
(Based on four-game qualifying pinfall)
6, Glen Dillard (20 handicap) 952, $120 earnings
