By BILL SNIER
CANTON — The Storm team needed to get hot fast during the final league rolloff last week at Park Centre Lanes.
Down by 9 1/2 points to Ace Mitchell in the National East division of the Northeast Ohio Travel League, the team of captain Jeff Mowls, Troy Workman and Michael Thewes needed to stop their opponent from taking four points in the Baker System position round.
“After losing the first two games, we ran the table the rest of the way to get here,” said Workman, after Storm finished 15-2 on the night to reach Thursday’s NEOTL championship rolloff at Strike Zone Lanes.
Eight division half champions — four each from the American and National divisions — reached the rolloff, which was a best-of-five Baker System format.
Storm and North Canton Collision reached the final round, with the former earning a 3-0 sweep for the title — the first in longtime team captain Jeff Mowls’ NEOTL run.
“This really feels good because it’s going to be my last year,” the 59-year-old Plain Township left-hander said. “I still have a job, and with some of the places we have to go to … I’m not getting home until 1 or 1:20 in the morning and have to get up at 6. I’m not young any more.”
Workman and Thewes weren’t aware of Mowls’ decision to leave the league until last week.
“I told him, ‘We need to go out and win it then,’ ” said Workman, a Canton right-hander. “He just said to go out and have fun. Well I told him that winning would be fun … and here we are.”
It was a long road back for the team, which Mowls felt was snakebit over the last several weeks of the regular season.
“It seemed like we were going against teams who would would shoot 500 the week before they faced us and then shoot 800 against us,” said Mowls of the trio league. “It happened all year long to us and it was rough.”
“But when we needed to put it together, we did,” Workman said.
For Mowls, it was just his second time having a team reach the NEOTL title match.
To reach the finale, Storm topped RJ Flooring 3-1 in the opening round, shooting 278 and 257 in the middle two games.
The semifinal went five games, with Storm stopping Diehl Auto Group 3-2, winning the final game 205-199.
NORTH CANTON’S RUN TO FINAL
The North Canton Collision team of captain Tony Confalone, Jordan Norris and Rob Weary emerged out of the American East division. Confalone and Norris were paired up for the second year in a row, making the rolloff a year ago but being eliminated in the first round.
“At least we got to the final this year,” said Confalone, who had Weary replacing John Randolph this season. “We bonded really well over the season. We had an open line communication that was really good and you have to have that.
“We kind of got hot the last six or seven weeks just to get past (first-half champ) Eastbury and staying ahead of Mr. (Jim) Fellows team (the defending NEOTL champion). I think our bracket was the toughest to be in this season. But we all came together at the right time.”
North Canton Collision had to go five games to win its opening match 3-2 against 900 Global, winning Game 5 257-235.
In the semifinals, they tied Roto Grip 279-279 in Game 1, and then the two teams split the remaining four games, with Roto Grip taking Game 5 248-209 to force a two-frame rolloff to reach the final.
Norris, a two-handed righty, faced Roto Grip’s Justin McIlvain in the rolloff, with the former throwing three strikes while the latter left a 6-pin in the second frame.
“Jordan just totally nailed it to get us here,” Confalone said about advancing to the title match.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Storm started Game 1 of the championship match with four strikes. North Canton Collision left a 2-7 split in the fifth for its lone open as Storm took the game 228-197.
Storm then went on a striking rampage, shooting 279 in Game 2 and 257 in Game 3 to earn the sweep to North Canton Collision’s 258 and 245, respectively.
Thewes, bowling as the leadoff for Storm, failed to strike on only one shot — the first ball in Game 3, a 10-pin, which completely turned around but refused to fall.
“I matched up really well. We were back on fresh oil for that match and I was able to go right back to wear I was on the first pair we bowled on,” said Thewes, a Perry Township lefty.
Workman, who shot 300 earlier this season at Strike Zone in the NEOTL, converted a 2-7 split and 7-pin spare in Game 1, but also didn’t miss the rest of the way.
“I was pretty much like Mike. The backends were a little crispy, so they were coming off the spot a little harder,” said Workman, a Canton right-hander. “But all I had to do was get a little more firm with the shot and I was fine.”
Mowls, who kidded “I’m left-handed … so just throw it anywhere,” left a 4-6-7-8-10 split in Game 1 and failed to convert a 7-pin spare in Game 3. They were the only open frames for Storm in the final.
“My thumb got stuck in the ball a bit on the first one, but missing the 7-pin is rough for me,” said Mowls, also Lake High School’s head bowling coach.
Carry was the issue for North Canton Collision, with Weary, another right-hander, leaving a pair of solid 9-pin spares to go with eight first-ball 9-counts.
“We bowled really well,” said Confalone, a Perry High School assistant coach. “Carry issues were really the only problem.”
But not for Storm on this night … and Mowls will leave the NEOTL with a title.
NOTEBOOK: Dietz Auto Group and Ten Back Pro Shop each shot 300 in Game 2 of their opening match, with Dietz eventually winning 3 1/2-2 1/2. … The rolloff started on fresh oil, bowled the semifinals on the burn after a blind draw, and then returned to a fresh pair, Lanes 7-8, for the finale. … The NEOTL’s annual draft is set for May 16, with a site yet to be announced. There is a $10 application fee, with the league featuring 16 teams and starting times between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Thursdays as centers in Stark, Summit, Wayne and Portage counties. See an application here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdro0ftjmc0l4XR76ZiW1DZCHH6YhzlAw9qU_AVYV2-Qc7QRg/viewform?fbclid=IwY2xjawRYdDBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeWxXlv0zIaHKa-ywJdNrEYm-6-4gsBR3WaKuQLXmWD5HE6TWyDoXb9q4Zf5s_aem_eBButZsKguv7dV9aF-E2pA or go the NEOTL’s Facebook page.
NEOTL CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
(Thursday, at Strike Zone Lanes, Canton)
Quarterfinals
(Best-of-five Baker System)
American Division
Roto Grip (262-245-220-257) d. Eastbury Bowling Center (223-238-266-246) 3-1
North Canton Collision (259-247-229-216-257) d. 900 Global (231-268-244-230-235) 3-2
National Division
Storm (220-278-257-216) d. RJ Flooring (259-226-206-213) 3-1
Diehl Auto Group (279-300-225-244-244) d. Ten Back Pro Shop (268-300-257-201-232) 3 1/2-2 1/2
Semifinals
Storm (245-227-205-247-205) d. Diehl Auto Group (203-258-245-234-199) 3-2
North Canton Collision (279-192-257-225-209) d. Roto Grip (279-241-235-1281-248) 2 1/2-2 1/2 (won in two-frame rolloff)
Finals
Storm (228-279-257) d. North Canton Collision (197-258-245) 3-0