By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —Two-time PBA50 Tour winner John Janawicz decided to use a straighter approach at Suburban Lanes on Wednesday.
It paid off in a big way.
Janawicz, who had to take six weeks off this summer due to finger injury, finished with 1,885 total pinfall to take the opening round lead in theJohnny Petraglia BVL PBA50 Tournament of Champions presented by Pleasant Day Schools.
The defending champion in the event has games of 234, 235, 220, 289, 200, 247, 234 and 226. It came after the Bowlers to Veterans Link PBA50 Tour advocate didn’t feel like he had a good look on the fresh 46-foot Petraglia oil pattern during the practice session Tuesday.
So, he developed a different strategy on how to attack the lanes.
“I tried to do a few things to allow me to keep it a little straighter in the ball track. It worked out really well,” Janawicz said. “It took me a little bit to fine-tune the right roll in order to carry. It was a pretty consistent day all the way across.”
The final game, he made a ball change to start his fifth frame, which led to seven out of eight strikes, to bail out a 226 game. He aims to do more of the same looking ahead to Thursday’s final daily of qualifying.
“I might try another couple bowling balls just to see because a couple of the ones I thought might work didn’t,” Janawicz said. “Hopefully, I will have a few other things ready just in case they are slightly a little bit different.”
Behind Janawicz in second is Springfield left-hander Michael Haggitt with 1,852, and PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Chris Barnes in third with 1,835. All of them came off of B squad in the 66-man field.
The leader in this year’s PBA50 Rookie of the Year race, Mike Machuga, led A-squad. He shot 180, 233, 235, 256, 258, 233, 248 and 189 for 1,832. Machuga felt the lanes broke down a little faster than what he anticipated from practice. That led to a couple of bad shots in the first game, which he said he really paid the price for.
“I had it going the rest of the way and then the last game I hung in the ball I was using too long,” Machuga said. “It was also a pair that I had in my notes from the practice day that I especially did not like the left lane.”
Machuga said he grinded out what he could, then left a 7-10 split in the 10th frame. He admits he has mostly been a mental note taker, but he does have a spreadsheet that he has been building for about 15 years.
“It has probably 500 bowling balls in it that I have drilled over the years. I am building on it with some lane play. I have really been building it more for teaching than my individual bowling,” Machuga said. “This environment can be a bit chaotic. I am traveling with 57 bowling balls right now, so I am building a sheet that tells me what I should be looking for if this ball is working well than these other ones should complement it.
“If it didn’t look good in practice, then you can throw out all of these other ones. It just organizes the chaos.”
Overall, Machuga has enjoyed competing this season and feels it has gone well, yet there is still work to be done.
“To me, it is unfinished until there is a title. So, we have got to finish the job on one of these things to make it what I would consider a successful season,” Machuga said. “It has always been about the majors. I am off to a good start, and I could not really ask for more. (I will) take what we learned from this squad and apply it to the next one and hopefully just improve a little each day.”
There were two perfect games thrown on the day by Andy Neuer and Shane Phelps, both on B-squad.
Qualifying continues Thursday with eight more games to determine the top 32 players who will move into the Advancers Round on Friday. B-squad will be on the lanes at 9 a.m. followed by the A-squad at 3:30 p.m. The event can be seen only on BowlTV.com.
Lewis Center’s Dan Higgins Jr. sits 13th overall (1,733). Currently, Randy Weiss is the cut number at 1,655 (+55), four pins ahead of Craig Auerbach and Parker Bohn III.
Top 10 PBA50 Tournament of Champions:
- John Janawicz, 1,885 total pinfall (+285)
- Michael Haggitt, 1,852 (+252)
- Chris Barnes, 1,835 (+235)
- Mike Machuga, 1,832 (+232)
- Pete Weber, 1,814 (+214)
- Andy Neuer, 1,801 (+201)
- Dan Knowlton, 1,785 (+185)
- Tom Daugherty, 1,782 (+182)
- James Campbell, 1,773 (+173)
- Mitch Sacks, 1,769 (+169)
See complete scores here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69a8dc0efc8c27dd1b82bdff
AWARDS RACES COME DOWN TO FINALE
Each of the PBA50 Tour player awards are determined by competition points.
Machuga has placed a stranglehold on the Rookie of the Year race. He ranked ninth overall in points heading into the TOC.
The Player of the Year race, however, is far from over.
Tom Hess leads the field in points heading into the season finale. But Mika Koivuniemi, Tom Daugherty and Chris Barnes each have a chance to surpass Hess in the TOC.
Hess, the 2021 PBA50 Player of the Year, has made a strong case for a second award with a tour-best three titles (28,765 points).
Hess and Koivuniemi (26,120) control their own destiny as each would clinch Player of the Year with a title.
If Hess finished runner-up to Koivuniemi in the TOC, “Major Mika” would finish with a 355-point advantage and earn the award.
Daugherty and Barnes, who enter the TOC tied with 24,125 points, can usurp both players. Each of the two will each need a bit of help in order to bring home Player of the Year honors.
Each player would need a win to surpass Hess’ current point total. Additionally, they would each need Hess to finish in fourth place or worse.
The exact scenario of a Daugherty/Barnes win coupled with a Hess fourth-place finish would result in Daugherty/Barnes winning Player of the Year by a mere 10 points on the season.
Janawicz, who participated in only six of 14 events so far this season due to injuries, sits eighth (12,793).
The battle for PBA60 Player of the Year is even more crowded.
Amleto Monacelli (17,826) holds pole position, but several players are within striking distance, including Jack Jurek (16,330), Pete Weber (16,128) and Brian LeClair (16,045).