By BILL SNIER
CANTON — After battling the AMF Hall of Fame Lanes for two weeks during the Stark County USBC annual Open Tournament, Brian Ball had low expectations Saturday.
“Honestly, I was just hoping to cash,” the 52-year-old Massillon right-hander said. “Obviously, I bowled so bad the last two weeks in that thing … all last week it was awful.
“My (ball) reaction was so poor it was ridiculous.”
But Saturday was a new day during the College Bowl Tournaments singles season finale on the house oil pattern — and a new game plan for Ball.
“I went out to the shed this morning and pulled out the (Storm) Phaze II Pearl,” Ball said. “When I threw it in practice, the first shot didn’t hook as much as the other stuff did all week.
“So I decided to stick with it, stay as far right as I could and hit it as hard as I could.”
The strategy worked as for the second time in three years, Ball emerged with the win among 28 players in the finale field. He stopped Canton right-hander Troy Workman 234-224 in the title match.
“We worked on throwing it straight more and it worked all season,” Ball said. “But all week, it just didn’t work and I have no idea why.”
After his struggles in the Stark USBC event, Ball opened the four-game qualifying round Saturday with 277 to take the Game 1 lead.
“I have no idea where that came from to be honest,” said Ball, who also won this event in 2024 at Eastbury Bowling Center, but finished 10th a year ago behind winner Chase Barstow.
Using a combination of the Phaze II and the Storm Ion Pro Solid throughout the day, Ball rallied after shooting just 205 in Game 2 to finish with 258 and 269 to earn the No. 1 seed as the qualifying leader with 1,009 total pinfall (a 252.2 average). He finished 39 pins ahead of two-handed righty Cooper Smith (970) and 40 ahead of Derrick Simon (969), who shot 300s and 800 (Simon) during the Stark USBC event.
MATCH PLAY
Ball stopped No, 8 seed J.D. Jones, who went to a two-handed delivery this season due to an injury to his right hand, in his opening match, winning 227-205 as the latter split in the 10th frame.
In the semifinals, Ball stayed clean, throwing five strikes in a row at one point, en route to a 244-204 win over Simon, a 30-year-old right-hander who was hurt by a 2-8-10 split in the second frame and a missed 10-pin spare in the ninth. It came after Simon rolled 277 in his opening match in stopping left-hander Jim Fellows (220).
Workman, who reached match play in a CBT singles event for the first time, was the No. 4 seed with 967 (241.75 average).
He opened match play with a 248-207 win over right-hander Ryan Suter before throwing 10 strikes in a row during the semifinals to top 58-year-old Tallmadge right-hander John Randolph 277-214.
TITLE MATCH
In the final match on Lanes 15 and 16, Ball started with a double before leaving a 4-7-10 split in the third frame.
“I have no idea what happened on that shot. I thought it was good off my hand, but it just sort of jack-knifed,” Ball said.
In the fourth, Ball again went high and left a 4-7 spare.
“After I got that first one going right and it split, I said I wasn’t going to do that again. Then I moved parallel to the left on the next shot and it hooked again. So I guess we were going to throw knuckleballs,” Ball said.
He missed just once the rest of the way — leaving a stoned 8-pin spare in the eighth frame.
“That’s just me I guess … that’s how it goes. I have to make it interesting,” Ball said.
Workman, using a Roto Grip RST Hyperdrive all day, failed to strike on the right lane on his first two shots before finally running off four strikes in a row from the fifth through eighth frames.
“I was just trying to stay underneath the ball a little bit and give it time to roll,” said Workman, a 35-year-old Canton right-hander who is employed in industrial restroom cleanup. “The first few shots, I just didn’t feel like I was hitting it hard enough.”
Workman’s run ended when he left a 2-6-10 spare leave in the ninth. But with a chance to pull out the match with a double in the 10th frame, he left a 10-pin on his opening shot.
“That shot was very lackadaisical, like the first two I had on that lane. I just didn’t get lucky on that one,” said Workman, who carried a pair of light hits during his four-strike string. “I didn’t execute it as well as I would have liked … I was hoping one more pin would fall.
“I put the ball in the spot I wanted, but I really didn’t get it at the bottom. I was stuck trying to put it in one place and wrap something, or keep letting the light carry work. But when I needed it, it wasn’t there.”
Ball, a Carter Lumber employee, will now take the summer off as he turns his attention to golf.
“I’m going to be on No. 1 at The Legends North in two hours. That’s it until September,” Ball said. “But it’s been a decent year overall. I just pick and choose my fights now and, hopefully, win what we’re in.”
The fact he still can compete with “the kids” as a senior player surprises him in some ways.
“It’s really kind of stupid right now,” Ball added. “I just throw it and hope for the best.”
NOTEBOOK: Three senior players — Ball, Randolph and Fellows — reached the top eight in the season finale to the CBT’s eighth season overall. It will resume again in September. … Only 28 of the 39 players eligible to participate competed Saturday. The field was limited to bowlers who had participated in at least four of the eight regular CBT events throughout the 2025-26 season. … Jones earned the final spot for match play with 910 (227.5 average), finishing seven pins ahead of Brandon Clifford and eight in front of another senior player, right-hander Mark Herdlick. … Fellows had the high qualifying game with 279 in Game 3. … With added money taken out of entry fees throughout the season, the finale payed 14 places overall, with defending finale champion Barstow earning the final cash spot with 866 (216.5 average), just three pins ahead of Jordan Blair. … Ball also claimed a singles win in March at Strike Zone Lanes in the Senior Singles Event, defeating Joe Altimore III.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS SINGLES FINALE
(Saturday, at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes, Canton)
Quarterfinals
(Single-game match play; losers each receive $200; seeds in parenthesis)
- Brian Ball d. (8) J.D. Jones 227-205; (3) Derrick Simon d. (6) Jim Fellows 277-220; (4) Troy Workman d. (5) Ryan Suter 248-207; (7) John Randolph d. (2) Cooper Smith 246-223
Semifinals
(Single-game elimination; losers each receive $300)
Ball d. Simon 244-204; Workman d. Randolph 277-214
Championship
(Single-game elimination; winner receives $800; loser receives $450)
Ball d. Workman 234-224
Other cashers
(With four-game qualifying pinfalls; all receive $100)
9, Brandon Clifford 903; 10, Mark Herdlick 902; 11, Eric Long 890; 12, Troy Wilt 885; 13, Vincent Ludwig 872; 14, Chase Barstow 866
