Scoring all round
On TV Pete Weber bowled Mika Koivuniemi in the first match of the step-ladder finals. Pete had quite a bit of trouble hitting the pocket, but managed 2 cross over strikes to take a lead as Mika had splits when he missed the pocket. Mika rallied at the end of the game as Pete struggled and had a chance to win the game in the 10th frame, but didn't strike out leaving the door open for Pete. Pete needed a mark with good decent count in the 10th frame to win the match and even though he had been missing the pocket most of the game threw a great shot in the 10th to win the game 233-220.
Pete advanced to bowl Michael Haugen, Jr. Michael bowled most of the tournament using an inside line around the 5th arrow, but went with a straight shot up around 6-7 for the TV finals. Their match was pretty close as Pete started with a double and then chopped the 5 off of the 9 pin while Michael made his spare. They both doubled in the 4th and 5th frames and then Pete left a rip 7-10 and then picked up the 2-4-10. Michael stayed clean the rest of the game and tripped a 4 pin in the 10th to lock up the game for the 206-202 win and advance to bowl me for the title.
I used the same ball I used for most of the week, a dull particle (#0183)
and started the match playing 14 on the right lane. Michael started with a nice strike and I went high leaving the 4-7-10 which I missed. I moved into 15 for the rest of the game and struck in the 2nd. Michael went through the nose for a strike when he pushed the 10 pin over. He made it a turkey with another nice strike in the 3rd. I made a better shot in the 3rd after the adjustment for a double and then pulled the ball in the 4th frame for a cross over strike and a turkey. Michael threw a great shot in the 4th frame only to leave a solid 7. He went a pinch high in the 5th to leave a wiggling 9 pin after tripping the 4 out. I threw another great shot in the 5th for a solid strike to even the match. Another great shot in the 6th gave me a 5 bagger. Michael then tugged the ball in the 6th frame for a 4-6-7 split for an open. Michael came back with a weak 10 in the 7th frame for a spare. I had a very high tripped 4 pin in the 7th frame for a 6 bagger and a 34 pin lead. I left a weak 10 in the 8th frame to keep my 33 pin lead. Michael tripped the 4 pin in the 8th frame and flushed the strike in the 9th to cut my lead to 23. I tripped another 4 pin in the 9th frame and left another weak 10 in the 10th. I made the spare and needed to get 8 pins to lock up the win. I went very high and tripped out the 10 and the 6 pin leaving only the 3 pin to win the match 236-198. It was very satisfying to bowl a great tournament after the start I had in the first round. After the 2nd place finish to Bryon Smith a couple of weeks ago it was nice to get another major win. In the match against Michael Haugen I had 7 strikes out of 11 shots. I had at 1 strike when I missed the pocket, a cross over in the 4th frame with a couple of trip 4's. I missed the pocket 3 times.
My strike % on pocket shots was 6 out of 8 pocket shots or 75%.
I had 1 open the 4-7-10 split in the 1st frame.
In the TV match against me, Michael Haugen, Jr. had 5 strikes out of 10 shots. He had 1 strike when he missed the pocket, a nose shot in the 2nd frame. He missed the pocket 3 times.
His strike % on pocket shots was 4 out of 7 pocket shots or 57%.
He had 2 opens, the 4-6-7 splits in the 6th frame and the missed bucket (2-4-5-8) in the 10th frame when the game was already decided.
Michael bowled a good game considering the conditions, but I had a couple more breaks than he did in getting my strikes in a row and my split being in the 1st frame while his was in the middle of the game. I also had 2 trip 4's while he had one and a 9 pin on the other one. He also left a solid 7 pin on a turkey. We both had a very lucky strike in the middle of our strings.
Walter Ray