By BILL SNIER
CANTON — As Adam Webb was closing in on a personal milestone, the 33-year-old Orrville right-hander came to a realization.
Bowling relies on a lot of luck.
“I’ve been close so many times,” the former Perry High School standout and 2025 Stark County High School Bowling Conference Hall of Fame enshrinee said. “What I realized last week is truly how much luck is involved.
“I carried a lot of stuff that I usually leave … tripped some stuff and got away with some stuff. I guess, overall, maybe it is a luck thing.”
Webb, bowling in the Todd Marion Memorial league at Eastbury Bowling Center on Oct. 23, had games of 275, 268 and 278 for an 821 series — his first career 800 to go along with 12 300 games. His last 300 came in the 2026 Stark County USBC Open Championships.
“That was the most nervous I’ve ever been. I’ve always prided myself on not getting too high or too low,” said Webb, who bowled in the OHSAA Division I State Championships with Perry. “When you’re going for a 300, you get up there the last few shots and you can’t help it.
“But times that 100 on the nerves that night.”
Using his Hammer Black Widow Mania — “I love anything Black Widow,” Webb said — he started Game 1 with the front six strikes before a 2-4-5-8 spare ended his run. It was one of only two multi-pin spares on the night. He then left nine on his final ball.
Game 2 was more of the same as he ran the front seven strikes before leaving a 4-pin, with another spare on his 11th ball in the 10th frame. Game 3, the 4-7 spare came in the third frame before he ran strikes the rest of the way.
“All those shots were just a little high,” Webb said. “But I barely moved one board all night. The ball just stayed there for me.
“In Game 3 when I left that 4-7, that’s when I started getting a little nervous. After that, I struck again and I tried not to think about it. But you really can’t avoid it. I just started squeezing the ball a little bit more as we went along. You feel like you’re going to fall down at some point and throw it in the ditch.”
In fact, going into the 10th frame, he thought he needed a mark to clinch the 800 when, in reality, he was already there. His teammates kept quiet about it also.
“I thought I needed the mark. My knees were really knocking after the first (strike) and I really launched the second one on the lane more,” Webb said. “After that, I was sure I had it.”
Adam’s father, Roger Webb, a SCHSBC and Stark County USBC Hall of Famer, is on another team in the league and finished early enough to capture the moment on video. Roger owns 23 800 series to go along with 30 300 games.
“I’m sure he was as nervous as I was. It was really a proud moment for him and me,” Webb said.
Adam Webb bowls full-time in three leagues this season, with averages between 235 and 221, and subs in another. His low average is at Eastbury while his two highest are at Ballerz Sports Club in Wooster.
“That was really the surprise … that it came at Eastbury,” Adam said. “Neither me nor my dad thought it would come here.”
After high school, Adam bowled one year at the University of Toledo before coming home and bowling local leagues for two years. Then, he decided to give it up.
”I just fell out of love with it. I bowled for six or seven years in summer leagues, but stayed away from winter leagues,” Webb said. “But then three years ago, I went out and got all new (equipment) and found the love for it again.
“The skill was still there, but the love wasn’t. Right now, I feel like my bowling game is the best it’s ever been all-around … the way I’m throwing it, my knowledge of the game … it has all come around. I want to see how far it can take me.”
He is hoping participation in Professional Bowlers Association regional events is in his future, but the PBA has yet to announce where it will go with its PBA ELITE regional program in 2027.
Meanwhile, Webb will continue to work on his game.
“Before, I think I was out there just because I was good at it,” Webb said. “Now, the love has returned and I want to be out there.”