Scoring All round
This tournament had a unique format this year which had the top 8 players from the yearly point list being seeded into the tournament into the round of 16. I was one of the fortunate 8 players who didn't have to go through the 20 games of qualifying plus another round of 5 games of qualifying and two matches of the best of 7 games. The lanes were oiled using a modified 'D' pattern. Most of the players with the higher scores were playing an inside line around the 5th arrow. There were a few players scoring OK playing outside of the 2nd arrow and between the 2nd and 4th arrows. After the 2 matches, the top 5 qualifiers were all eliminated. As the top seeded seed I was to play against the lowest qualifier who survived the two matches. That was Dale Traber who had qualified 28th. Dale is a very good player who bowls on the National tour a couple of times a year, usually with good results. Dale has 30 regional titles along with a 2nd at the 1994 PBA National.
I started my match with Dale playing around 11-12 at the arrows with a particle ball
(#0183). I bowled a very good first game, but had trouble getting strikes as I left four 10 pins, 2 solid 8's, and the 4-6-7-10 on my only missed pocket shot. Dale had back to back opens in the middle of the game when he left the 1-2-4-10 and the 6-7-10. He came back with a 5 bagger to win the first game 215-182. I changed balls for the 2nd game to a more reactive ball (#4543) No Photo. Fortunately I started striking and had the front 7 strikes before leaving a solid 10 pin. Dale had opened in the 4th frame with a 1-2-4-10 washout after a double. He had a turkey, but I won the 2nd game 279-210.
In the 3rd game Dale started with 2 doubles while I had a double with a couple of 10 pins. Dale chopped the 3-6-10 in the 6th while I managed a 5 bagger to win the 3rd game 246-210.
The 4th game was all mine as I strung 12 strikes in a row helped by a tripped 4-7-10 in the middle of the game. Dale could only get two doubles with the 4-6-7-10 split in the middle. I won the 4th game 300-202 to advance to the round of 8.
In the round of 16 match I had 32 strikes out of 46 shots. I had one strike when I missed the pocket, a tripped 4-7-10 in the 4th game. I missed the pocket 2 times.
My strike percentage on pocket shots was 31 out of 44 shots or 70%.
I had 1 open, a 4-6-7-10 split in the first game.
In the round of 16 match Dale Traber had 23 strikes out of 45 shots. I think he had two strikes when he missed the pocket, I think that he had a couple of tripped 4-7-10 in the first 2 games. He missed the pocket 9 times. His strike percentage on pocket shots was about 21 out of 36 shots or 57%.
He had 5 opens, 2 splits (6-7-10, 4-6-7-10), 2 washouts (both were 1-2-4-10's) and a chopped 3-6-10.
My round of 8 match was against Ryan Shafer. Ryan bowled very well in his round of 16 match and I figured that Ryan would be tough to beat. I started the match playing farther to the right (around 7-8) with more arc using the same reactive ball (#4543) that I used to finish the match against Dale Traber. I threw a bad shot in the 2nd frame leaving just the 3-6 for a spare. Ryan left 10 pins in the 2nd and 3rd frames with another one in the 7th frame while I had 7 strikes in a row. Ryan went light in the 9th frame to leave the 2-5 for a spare. I won the first game 258-226 after leaving a couple of 10 pins in the 10th frame.
In the 2nd game I left a solid 8 pin in the 2nd frame followed by a bucket (2-4-5-8) which I spared. Ryan started with a 10 pin and then 6 strikes in a row before leaving another 10 pin. I left a 10 pin in the 6th frame and struck in the rest of the other frames to shoot 245. Ryan needed a mark with count in the 10th frame and struck for a double to win the 2nd game 257-245.
In the 3rd game I started to get tapped quite a bit while Ryan started to have trouble hitting the pocket. I left four 10 pins, a 4 pin and a solid 8 in my first 7 frames of the 3rd game while Ryan missed a 4-6-7-10 in the 4th frame. Ryan also missed the pocket 5 other times in the game and was unable to get a double. I struck out from the 8th frame to win 226-178.
In the 4th game I again left some taps early in the game, but not as many as I left two 10 pins and another solid 8 pin in the first 4 games. Ryan missed the 3-6-7-10 split in the 3rd frame followed by a double. I threw a turkey in the 5th to 7th frames while Ryan picked up a 3-6-10 in the 6th. I left another 10 pin in the 8th frame as Ryan double in the 7th and 8th before leaving a 2-4 for a spare in the 9th. I struck out to win the game 237-201 and the match 3 - 1.
In the round of 8 match I had 31 strikes out of 47 shots. I had no strikes when I missed the pocket. I missed the pocket 2 times.
My strike percentage on pocket shots was 31 out of 45 shots or 69%.
I had no opens. I picked up the 2-4-5-8 in the 2nd game.
In the round of 8 match Ryan Shafer had 24 strikes out of 45 shots. I don't think he had any strikes when he missed the pocket. He missed the pocket 14 times.
His strike percentage on pocket shots was 24 out of 31 shots or 77%.
He had 2 opens, 2 splits (4-6-7, 3-6-7-10).
On the TV finals I bowled Pete Weber in the first semi final game of the TV finals. The other semi final game had Parker Bohn III against Brian Kretzer. I started the match against Pete using the same ball I used against Ryan Shafer (#4543) using a similar line as I did in that match playing around 8 and 9 at the arrows out to around 4 or 5. We both started with a strike while I went very light in the 2nd frame leaving only the 5-8 after the 2-4 fell down for a spare. Pete went a pinch high in the 2nd frame leaving a 4 pin and struck in the 3rd. I left a solid 9 pin in the 3rd frame followed by a strike. Pete left another 4 pin in the 4th frame with a solid 10 in the 5th. I left a weak 10 pin in the 5th frame with a strike in the 6th. Pete moved in about 4 boards after the commercial break and struck in the 6th frame with another solid 10 pin in the 7th. I managed to get strikes in the 7th and 8th frames for a turkey. Pete went light in the 8th frame and almost left the rip 7-10 with the 10 pin finally falling at the last second. Pete struck in the 9th frame to set up the 10th. I tugged the ball in the 9th frame and left a 4 pin. In the 10th frame I went a bit light and left a weak 10. I struck on the fill ball to shoot 217. This meant that Pete needed all 3 strikes in the 10th frame to beat me by 1 pin. He threw a great first shot for a strike, but didn't quite release his 2nd one the way he wanted and ended up leaving a weak 10 pin to shoot 207.
Brian Kretzer beat Parker Bohn 248-222 to get to the championship match against me. I decided to move a few boards left into 12 - 13 and slow down a pinch to see if I could get a slightly better reaction. We both started with a strike with me leaving a 10 pin in the 2nd. Brian went light in the 2nd frame and left a 2 pin for a spare followed by a strike. I doubled in the 3rd and 4th frames. During the commercial break, someone working for ESPN turned on a spotlight which had the ESPN logo on the approach. It didn't bother Brian as he added 2 more strikes for a turkey. I don't know if walking through the spotlight bothered me, but it was probably a case of not concentrating enough as I threw the shot wide for a 2 pin spare. I left a solid 10 pin in the 6th frame. Brian was a pinch light in the pocket in the 6th frame and left a rip 7-10 split for an open. Brian left a solid 10 pin in the 7th frame. I went a bit light in the 7th frame and left a weak 10. I had another light hit in the 8th frame which looked like it was going to be another weak 10, but the head pin slowly rolled over and knocked it over. Brian came back with a strike very similar to mine in the 8th frame, but went high in the 9th frame leaving the 3-6-10 for a spare. I had a chance to lock up the win if I could strike on my next 2 shots. I threw great shots as I struck in the 9th and the first shot in the 10th before leaving a 10 pin to win 226-205.
In the TV matches I had 12 strikes out of 22 shots. I had no strikes when I missed the pocket. I missed the pocket 2 times.
My strike percentage on pocket shots was 12 out of 20 shots or 60%.
I had no opens.
In the TV matches my opponents had 11 strikes out of 22 shots. They had no strikes when they missed the pocket. They missed the pocket 3 times.
Their strike percentage on pocket shots was 11 out of 19 shots or 58%.
They had 1 open, a rip 7-10 split.
This was an unbelievable finish to an unbelievable year. I do feel like I bowled very well, but to make as many TV finals as I did you need to get some good breaks which I did. Also to win 2 of the 4 majors and finish 2nd in the other one was also something else. Everybody keeps asking when I think I will get to 41 titles. I think it will be at 3 or 4 years assuming that I can continue to bowl well, but if I can have another unbelievable year you never know.
Walter Ray