This is my report of the third day of the PBA Baby Ruth Real Deal Classic held at St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights, Illinois. My round of 16 match was against left hander Peter Hernandez. Peter has been bowling pretty well this season and isn't almost locked into the top 50 points. I started the match using a dull low particle ball (#0319) playing up 6 with decent speed and very little swing. Peter started out of the gate with a 6 bagger with the help of a tripped 3-9 in the 5th frame and won the 1st game 248-212 despite a ball in the channel in the 10th frame. I had a couple of bad shots early in game 2 with one being a 4-6-7-9-10 for an open. Peter let me back into the match in the 8th frame when he didn't convert the 3-6-7-9 split, but I wasn't able to strike out for the tie and Peter won game two 208-196. In the 3rd game we both had a lot more strikes and I finished first for a 259. Peter left a solid 7 in the 10th frame to come up short with a very nice game of 256. In the 4th game I left the door open when I went high in the 9th frame leaving a 3-6. Peter struck out for a 234 and then I left a solid 8 on my first shot of the 10th to lose with a 224. In game 5, I started with a turkey thanks to a cross over strike. Peter tripped the 3 pin in the 7th frame for a strike but went high in the 9th frame leaving the 2-4-7 to give me an opening. I took advantage of it as I had a late 5 bagger winning 257-236. Peter missed a 7 pin in the 3rd frame and I missed the 6-7-10 in the 5th frame. We both had a couple of doubles before the 10th frame, but Peter's solid 8 in the 9th frame was costly to him. I threw a strike in the 10th frame to make my double a turkey and win the game 211-206 even though I split on my 2nd shot of the 10th. In the 7th and deciding game, Peter was really light in the 4th frame and missed the 6-7-9 split to give me a 24 pin lead. I closed out the game with a 5 bagger to win the game 258-212 while Peter left a couple of solid 7's in the 7th and 8th frames plus a solid 8 in the 10th. I definitely got some breaks in my match to beat Peter. During the match I moved into 7 in the 2nd game on both lanes and into 8 in the 3rd game. All of sudden in the 5th game the left lane developed a hook spot and I moved into 9 and started to belly the ball a bit. At the end of the 6th game I moved left again on the left lane. I wasn't at all comfortable how that lane was playing. I did manage to hit the pocket the rest of the match, but I was never sure where the ball was going to go until it got down to the pins. In the round of 16 match I had 53 strikes out of 80 shots. I missed the pocket 14 times and had one strike while missing the pocket, a cross over strike in the 2nd frame of the 5th game. I had 52 pocket strikes on 66 pocket shots or a pocket strike percentage of 79. I had 3 opens, all 3 were splits (4-9, 4-6-7-9-10, 6-7-10). I made two 3-6-10's, 2-4-5-8, 6-10, 3-6, nine 10's, two 4's, 3, 7, 6, and an 8. In the round of 16 match Peter Hernandez had 50 strikes out of 79 shots. He missed the pocket 10 times and had two strikes while missing the pocket, a tripped 3-9 in the 5th frame of the 1st game and a tripped 3 in the 7th frame of the 5th game. He had 48 pocket strikes on 69 pocket shots or a pocket strike percentage of 70. He had 3 opens, 2 splits (3-6-7-9, 6-7-9) and a missed 7 pin. He made the full rack, nine 7's, five 6's, three 8's, two 10's, three 2-4-7's, and 6-10. In the round of 8 my opponent was Jason Couch. Jason bowled very well in qualifying and his previous two matches. So I figured that I would have to really step it up to beat him. I thought that I should probably play a bit more aggressively. So I decided to play a hook out to the channel as opposed to going straighter up the lane. I started the match using a dull particle ball (#0319) playing 4 at the arrows going out to about 2. Jason opened in the 5th and 8th frames when he left the 3-7-9 and the 7-9 in the as he tripped the 3 out. I had left a weak 10 and light 7 in the 4th and 5th frames and with a comfortable lead in the 8th frame I left a rip 7-10 followed by a weak 10 in the 10th. Jason struck out in the 10th frame to beat me 231-224. I wasn't very happy as I had never missed the pocket while Jason was never tapped. In the 2nd I continued to hit the pocket, but still had a bit of trouble getting all 10 pins to fall on the first shot on the right lane which seemed to not want to hook up as much. Jason won the 2nd game 258-225. I started the 3rd game with another rip 7-10 on the right lane and decided to use a polished reactive ball on the right lane moving into 5 at the arrows. Jason opened in the 2nd frame when he went light again and left the 3-7-9 split. He left back to back solid 8's in the 4th and 5th frames while I started stringing strikes. When Jason left a light 10 pin in the 8th frame, it helped me win the 3rd game 248-203. In the 4th game I started with the 4-9 split, but made the spare. Jason started with a 4 bagger before going light again for a 3-7 split which he missed. I started striking in the 3rd frame and when Jason left a light 10 and a solid 7 in the 7th and 8th frames, my 7 bagger helped me win 258-235. In the 5th game I started the game with an open when I missed the 3-6-9-10. Jason threw a couple of bad shots and had an open in the 5th frame when he again left the 3-7-9 split. He ripped the 7-10 in the 8th frame to basically give me another game as I struck out to win 279-189. In the 6th game we both started striking and it looked like we might tie with 300, but in the 8th frame Jason went high leaving the 2-4-6-7-8-10 split which he missed. I ended up leaving a solid 10 in the 9th frame to end my string. Jason struck out to shoot 260 and force me to mark in the 10th which I did by striking out to win with a 279. In games 3 to 5 I used two different balls to the reaction I was looking for and in the 6th game I completely used the reactive ball on both lanes. Jason bowled a very good match, but a few of the times he missed the pocket he was left with nasty splits. Since I was able to throw 19 strikes in a row I ended having a pocket strike percentage equal to him. I felt like it was one of the best matches I have bowled in the couple of years we have been having these matches. I only missed the pocket twice and one of those was in the 10th frame when I was trying the reactive ball to see how I should play the lane with it. I did have one really light strike and a high tripped 4 during my 19 bagger. In the round of 8 match I had 52 strikes out of 68 shots. I missed the pocket 2 times and had no strikes while missing the pocket. I had 52 pocket strikes on 66 pocket shots or a pocket strike percentage of 79. I had 3 opens, 2 were splits (two rip 7-10's) and the missed 3-6-9-10. I made the 4-9 split, eight 10's, two 4's, and a 7. In the round of 8 match Jason Couch had 49 strikes out of 70 shots. He missed the pocket 9 times and had one strike while missing the pocket, the tripped 6-9 in the 6th frame of game 4. He had 48 pocket strikes on 61 pocket shots or a pocket strike percentage of 79. He had 7 opens, all 7 were splits (three 3-7-9's, 7-9, 3-7, rip 7-10, 2-4-6-7-8-10). He made five 7's, three 8's, three 10's, and a 6 pin. Walter Ray