Here is my report of the second day of qualifying at the Greater Kansas City Open in Blue Springs, MO.
I was on 'B' squad out of 2 squads. I continued to play up the 2 board, but started using a different ball, a particle ball (#0314) . I bowled a pretty good first game missing the pocket only once leaving the 4-6-10 in the 8th frame after a turkey to shoot a disappointing 203. The 2nd game I missed the pocket twice and shot a 215 thanks to a double and a turkey in the 10th frame. The 3rd game was great as I left two 4 pins, one being on the fill ball for a 278. The 4th game wasn't near as good as I had a rip 7-10 followed by missing the pocket on the next 4 shots when I changed balls to the reactive ball (#0423) I used the first day. The 5th game was much better despite a 4-6-7 split in the 7th. Two 4 baggers helped me to a 246.
I was in 9th place at this time and about ready to try some other balls. But I continued with the same ball just in case. Unfortunately the next game wasn't as kind and I shot a 193 with an opening double and a solid 4-7-9 in the 10th which I missed. The 7th game was a struggled as every time I tugged the ball a pinch I got an open. I left 2 splits which I missed, 4-6-7-10 and the 4-7-10, and two spares, the 3-6-9-10 and the 3-6-10 with one double for a very poor 156. I was now about 40 pins above the cut to the top 32. I struggled a bit in the 8th game as I missed the pocket 3 times in the first 7 frames including a 4-10 split. I managed a turkey starting in the 8th frame to bail out a 202 game.
In the 9th game I picked up a bucket in the 2nd frame and threw a turkey in the 4th to 6th frames. A solid 10, a spared 4-9 were followed by another 4-6-7 in the 9th frame. I left my 4th solid 8 pin of the day on my fill ball. Fortunately I had two games when I was able to get some strikes, but the other 7 games were pretty much a struggle. At least I made the top 32 qualifying in 22nd spot at +185 or a 210.44 average. It took +157 or a 208.72 average to make the top 32. My first match was to be against Wes Malott. Wes won the Regional Players Championship in Las Vegas this last June which earned him a spot in the Tournament of Champions in December. Wes is a big guy at 6'5" tall. He also has an unusual style in that he looks at the foul line or close to it when he delivers his ball.
| 9/ | 8/ | x | 9/ | 81 | x | 9/ | x | x | x81 | 202 |
| 9/ | 6/ | 9/ | x | x | x | 9/ | 8/ | 72 | 8/9 | 197 |
In the 2nd round of qualifying I had 52 strikes out of 100 shots. I had one strike while missing the pocket when I tripped the 6-10 on a cross over shot. I missed the pocket 22 times.
My strike % on pocket shots was 51 out of 78 pocket shots or 65%.
I had 10 opens. 8 were splits (4-6-10, a rip 7-10, 4-6-7, 4-7-9, 4-6-7-10, 4-7-10, 4-10, 4-6-7) and 2 missed spares (3-6-9-10, 3-6-10). I did pick up a bucket and the 4-9, both in the last game.
I had another really bad game in this set, the 7th, and several other games where I didn't get many breaks. Fortunately for me I had enough pins to back into the finals. I like the reaction I have, but I do need to make quality shots.
My first match was against Wes Malott. I decided to practice around the 8th board and as I didn't want to break down the shot up the corner. I started the match playing around 9 going out to about 7 with some pretty good speed using with my reactive ball (#0423). Wes was playing around 15-16 going out to about 8 with good speed. In the first game we both had a turkey in frames 3 through 5 after each of leaving a 2 pin. In the 6th frame we each went high with Wes picking up his 3-6-10 while I missed the 4-6-10. I came back with a turkey, but Wes missed a 4 pin and left another 3-6-10 in between strikes to give me a 20 pin lead. I went light both shots in the 10th frame to win 221-204.
In the next game Wes had 3 taps in frames 2 through 4 while I had taps in the 2nd and 5th frames. Wes started striking in the 5th frame and basically won the game when I was tapped in the 8th and 9th frames. I lost the 2nd game 214-245. In the 3rd game I moved in a bit a started to hook it playing around 11. I left the 6-10 and the 2-8 which I converted surrounding a double. Wes started with 2 weak 10's before having a 5 bagger. I had a 4 bagger up to the 8th frame. Wes then went high in the 8th frame leaving the 4-7-10 which he missed left. I threw a bad shot in the 9th frame leaving a the 3-6-10 which I spared. Wes got up and struck in the 9th and 10th frames before leaving the 4-9 on his 2nd shot and a 230 game. Since I just went high in the 9th frame, I decided to throw the ball firm like I did in the first 2 games. However I went high leaving a 6-10 which I converted. I needed 8 pins to win and decided to go back to hooking the ball and flushed it for a strike and a 233-230 win. I now needed 2 wins to win the match while Wes needed 3 wins.
We both started with a double with Wes leaving a solid 9 in the 3rd. I went high leaving the 4-6-7-10 which I missed in the 3rd frame. I came back with a 9 pin in the 4th frame. Wes started striking again in the 4th frame. I moved into around 14 and went strike 10 pin. Wes continued to strike. I went strike, 10 pin to stay 40 + pins behind. In the 8th frame Wes added another strike and then left the 3-6-7-10 which he missed. It didn't really matter as I left a 3-6-10 and tried hit the pocket again on the spare only to chop the spare. I decided to play up the gutter in the 10th frame striking and leaving the 2-8 on my 2nd shot. Wes ended up winning the 4th game 231-177 and we were 2 wins a piece. I started with 3 straight strikes before leaving the 4-6-7 when I pinched the ball left. In the 5th frame I moved my feet farther right than I had all week and thought I threw the ball great up the 2nd board only to leave the bucket. Wes started with a 10 pin before starting to strike. I moved left in the 6th frame closer to where Wes was playing around 16 going out to about 8 and started to strike. We both struck up to the 9th frame. Wes finished first leaving a rip 7 pin to lock up the match and shoot 268. I left the 3-6-10 before ripping the 7-10 on my fill to shoot 230. Wes was now leading 3 games to 2.
Wes started the 6th game with a strike. I moved my feet another board left and was now looking at 17 hooking the ball as much as I can with as much speed as I could. I started with a strike and solid 10. Wes went high in the 2nd sparing his 3-6-10 and followed with a strike. I added a double. We then exchanged strikes until the 8th frame when I left the 4 pin. Wes threw a strike in the 8th frame and a solid 10 in the 9th. I needed to strike out to force Wes to strike in the 10th. I struck in the 9th frame and left a ringing 10 after moving my feet ½ left in the 10th. I struck in the fill ball to shoot 239. Wes went a pinch high in the 10th leaving a 4 pin which he spared and struck in his fill to win the game 248-239 and the match 4 games to 2. Wes bowled a very good match while I threw too many bad shots during the first 5 games. I was fortunate to win the 3rd game and gave it a great effort in the 6th game.
| WR | x | 9/ | x | x | x | 72 | x | x | x | 7/9 | 221 |
| WM | 9/ | 9/ | x | x | x | 7/ | 9- | x | 7/ | x9/ | 204 |
| WM | x | 9/ | 9/ | 9/ | x | x | x | x | x | x7/ | 245 |
| WR | x | 9/ | x | x | 9/ | x | x | 9/ | 9/ | 9/8 | 214 |
| WR | 8/ | x | x | 8/ | x | x | x | x | 7/ | 8/x | 233 |
| WM | 9/ | 9/ | x | x | x | x | x | 71 | x | x8/ | 230 |
| WM | x | x | 9/ | x | x | x | x | x | 62 | 9/x | 231 |
| WR | x | x | 62 | 9/ | x | 9/ | x | 9/ | 71 | x8/ | 177 |
| WR | x | x | x | 72 | 6/ | x | x | x | x | 7/8 | 230 |
| WM | 9/ | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | 9/9 | 268 |
| WM | x | 7/ | x | x | x | x | x | x | 9/ | 9/x | 248 |
| WR | x | 9/ | x | x | x | x | x | 9/ | x | 9/x | 239 |
In match against Wes I had 39 strikes out of 66 shots. I had one strike while missing the pocket when I tripped the 4-7-10 in the 1st frame of the 4th. I missed the pocket 16 times.
My strike % on pocket shots was 38 out of 50 pocket shots or 76%.
I had 4 opens. 3 were splits (4-6-7, 4-6-7-10, 4-6-7) and 1 missed spare when I was trying to get more lined up on the 3-6-10 at the end of the 4th game. About the only challenging spare I made was the bucket in the 5th game.
In match against me, Wes had 43 strikes out of 66 shots. He had one strike while missing the pocket when he went really light to start his string in the 2nd game. He missed the pocket 9 times.
His strike % on pocket shots was 42 out of 57 pocket shots or 74%.
Wes had 3 opens. 2 were splits (4-7-10, 3-6-7-10) and a missed 4 pin. He did pick up a several 3-6-10's and the 4-9 on the 2nd shot of the 10th in the 3rd frame.
Wes bowled very well against me and deserved to win the match. I struggled a bit as I missed the pocket more than I would have liked. I was getting some breaks to give me a temporary lead in the match, but Wes got the breaks in the last game to win the match. For some reason Wes didn't quite average 200 in his next match against Amleto in losing. Hopefully I can get it going again next week.
Walter Ray
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