By JILL WINTERS
PBA communications
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After 32 games in three days at the Johnny Petraglia BVL PBA50 Tournament of Champions presented by Pleasant Day Schools, Chris Barnes has increased his lead.
The nine-time PBA50 title holder started his Friday shooting 1,833 in the Advancers Round. As the final tournament of the year headed into Round 1 of match play, Barnes lost the first game 223-162 against John Janawicz.
Barnes quickly rebounded to take the lead back with 222, 238, 197, 259, 269, 233 and 217. He credited Joey Krzywonos, Storm tour manager, with suggesting he go to a bigger ball. That change then allowed Barnes to see the right picture.
“It has been a little of everything. This morning was pretty good for a while. Got off to a fast start then JJ (Janawicz) roared back the rest of the day. It has been fun bowling head-to-head with him all day long,” the Hall of Fame right-hander said. “Obviously, after match play started, we separated out and Troy Lint took over. The last four games I regained form a little bit, winning the last four matches.”
With a 5-3 record, Barnes is at 7,510 total pinfall with bonus pins. He is 125 pins ahead of left-hander Troy Lint. Lint continued his incredible bowling since Day 2 of qualifying, shooting 1,867 in the Advancers Round and 1,806 in match play. He even held the lead at one point. He has the best record at 6-2, adding 180 valuable bonus pins to his overall score of 7,385.
Mika Koivuniemi started his day in ninth place. He rolled a perfect game in the Advancers Round to get to seventh place. He then posted the highest block in match play with 1,857 to end his day in third place at 7,304.
Janawicz, the defending champion, had 1,871 in the Advancers Round yet struggled putting up 1,585 in match play. He is in fourth at 7,237 only six pins ahead of Brad Angelo in fifth. Angelo had 1,821 in the Advancers Round then 1,768 in match play.
With only eight games of match play left in the season, Barnes is ready to give it his best shot.
“It is micro-goal setting again. Getting off to a good start. Identify if I throw cleaner weaker balls or go back and throw stronger balls,” Barnes said. “Identify that early and get into the right thing faster than I did. Keep bowling good scores and the matches will take care of themselves. Finish games when I get a chance.”
The Player of the Year race comes down to the final day of the season. Tom Hess leads the way with 28,765 points. Koivuniemi is second with 26,120 points. Barnes and Tom Daugherty are tied for third with 24,125 points. The winner of this event receives 7,500 points. Amleto Monacelli is leading the PBA60 Player of the Year race.
“In an ideal world, I would bowl Mika for the title, and the winner would end up Player of the Year. If I was going to draw it up, that is what I would hope for,” Barnes said of his roommate. “Mika said he led one, I led one, he led one, so it was my turn.”
John Marsala was the cut to the top 16 for match play with 5,141, finishing nine pins ahead of Jeffrey Ripic. Lewis Center’s Dan Higgins finished 28th overall.
The final round of match play starts at 11 a.m. Saturday to then determine the top five for the stepladder finals, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. only on BowlTV.com. The winner will receive $15,000 and a prestigious major title to close out the season.
Top 10: PBA50 Tournament of Champions (with bonus pins):
- Chris Barnes, 7,510 total pinfall (+1,110)
- Troy Lint, 7,385 (+985)
- Mika Koivuniemi, 7,304 (+904)
- John Janawicz, 7,237 (+837)
- Brad Angelo, 7,231 (+831)
- Andy Neuer, 7,223 (+823)
- Michael Haggitt, 7,201 (+801)
- Tom Daugherty, 7,182 (+782)
- Parker Bohn III, 7,125 (+725)
- Tom Hess, 7,100 (+700)
See complete scores here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=69a8dc0efc8c27dd1b82bdff