Our event this weekend was at AMF McRay lanes and had a pretty good turnout for our two-squad event considering that there were so many other tournaments going on this weekend. We would see 124 total entries (84 qualifying and 40 economy parlays) with 32 total cashers, a 1 in 3.7 cash ratio and paid out over $7,900.00 in main and side event prize funds. The players bowled on the very tough 41ft 2021 USBC Nationals Team oil pattern. This pattern played a bit tricky with bowlers being able to play a variety of angles. It seemed that the bowlers who were able to repeat their shots and leave makeable spares would see the most success. The cut for the day would be around +45-50 so bowlers needed to shoot about 5-10 pins over their average per game to advance.
As always, we would like to welcome our newest members to the SFT AHT family. We want to welcome Robert Sanders, Daniel Abernathy, Ryan Herron, Julie Schwarberg, Brent Andrew and Steve Sanderson who all participated in their first ever SFT AHT event this Sunday. This would probably be the first in a while that we didn’t have any Parlay Power Players. Congrats to Harold St. Lawrence, Kyle Fritz, Don Stone and Jacob Ellis for making their very first quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in quite a while. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track High Performance ball for $85.00, was Jacob Ellis.
Since this event was only 2 squads there would be no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in some lower scores with the standings being very tight as bowlers needed to bowl at least their average with one or two good games to make the cut. We had 26 quarterfinalists and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio, from the quarterfinals to the semi-final round, we would cut to the Top 2 bowlers in the A Division while the B and C Divisions would cut to the Top 3 bowlers.
The A Division see Eric Flick (+56) as the #1 seed, and he would have to take on your current 2022 Player of the Year points leader Tim Eichhorn (+49). The B Division #1 seed would be 2021 Player of the Year Ron Gonzales (+76) and he would have to face off against Brian Jackson (+32) and Justin Surat (+18). In the C Division we would see relative newcomer Jacob Ellis (+72) emerge as the #1 seed and he would be matched up against Kyle Fritz (+58) and Marcus Haley (+23)
The A Division semi-finals would be an all-lefty match that would go back and forth between Eric Flick and Tim Eichhorn. It would all come down to the final couple of frames as Tim would leave the left baby split (2-7) that he wouldn’t convert while Eric would split in the ninth (4-6-10) that he wouldn’t convert as well. Eric would be up first and would punch out all three strikes to finish at 217 to shut Tim out. Tim would split in the tenth and wouldn’t convert to finish at 183.
The B Division semi-finals would be close as Brian Jackson would jump out to an early lead. Ron Gonzales would struggle a bit trying to figure out how to carry the pocket and Justin Surat would have the same issues. Ron would get going late in the match as Brian would struggle with transition. Ron would punch out in the eighth, ninth and tenth frames to win the match with a score of 241. Brian Jackson would come in second with a score of 213 and Justin Surat would come in third with a 203.
The C Division would be a nail biter as it would come down to the ninth and tenth frames to decide our advancer. Kyle Fritz would struggle with both lanes and would finish up with a score of 189. Marcus Haley would open in the ninth frame by missing a nine-pin. Jacob Ellis would mark by picking up his ten-pin to set up the tenth frame with both bowlers tied. Marcus would finish up first and needed to put pressure on Jacob to match his count. Marcus’ first ball would go a bit high and crossover leaving the 3-6-10 which he would pick up. Marcus’ fill ball would go a bit high through the nose for eight to finish at 234. Jacob could be up next and his first shot in the tenth would go a bit high leaving the six-pin. Jacob would pick up the spare and then strike on his fill ball to win the match by 2-pins with a score of 236.
Going into the Finals we would see Jacob Ellis looking at winning his first AHT SFT title in his first title match. Unfortunately for Jacob he was not in the progressive pot. That would mean that wherever he finished in the Finals, the progressive pot payout would be redistributed to everyone that made the quarterfinals that was in the progressive pot and with first place projected to pay $1,200.00 you know who became the favorite among the bowlers remaining to watch the Finals. Ron Gonzales was looking to add another title to the current SFT record of 10 titles that he already holds and looking to add some much-needed points to his season point total. Eric Flick was looking to win his fourth title and had been bowling well all day.
The Finals would start off with all three bowlers struggling with the lane transition. This would be the tenth game of the day on the pair, and you could tell there was some over-under on the pair. Ron and Eric would struggle with the right lane for the early part of the match. Jacob would jump out to an early lead, as the only righty on the pair, opening on the first frame but would double in the second and third frames to take full advantage of the handicap difference. Ron looked to get things going in the third frame with a strike and Eric would strike as well. Ron would split on the right lane (4-6-7-10) and would not convert. Eric would miss a bit outside leaving the 3-6-10 which he would pick up. Jacob would open in the fourth frame by missing a 7-pin. Jacob would try to make up for his open by striking in the fifth frame while Ron and Eric would 9-spare in the fifth.
Midway through the match and it looked like Jacob just needed to stay clean to win the match. Ron would open in the sixth by splitting again on the right lane leaving the 4-6-10 while Eric would also open by chopping the 2-4-7-8. Jacob would miss a 4-pin in the seventh to give Ron and Eric a slim chance to get back into the match. Ron would strike in the seventh and eight frames to give himself a fighting chance. Eric would continue to struggle with carry as he would mark in the seventh and eighth frames. Jacob would strike in the eighth but would leave the baby split (3-10) in the ninth. Ron would need to strike to keep up with Jacob in the ninth but would see the 6-pin slide over near the 5-pin spot for nine in the ninth. Ron would pick up his spare as Eric would strike in the ninth. Jacob would finish up in the tenth with an eight-spare and nine on his fill to finish at 207. Ron would need all three in the tenth to win the match by 1 pin. Ron’s first ball in the tenth would go a bit high in the pocket leaving the 2-4-7 which he would convert. Ron would strike on his fill ball in the tenth to finish at 195. Eric would finish up with a six-spare and eight on his fill for a score of 185 for third place.
This would give Jacob Ellis his first AHT SFT title and $600.00 first place prize. Since Jacob was not in the progressive pot then the other $600.00 that he would’ve won would be redistributed to all the other bowlers that made the quarterfinals that were in the progressive pot. Congrats to Ron Gonzales for 2nd place and $800.00 and congrats to Eric Flick on 3rd place and $550.00!
Thank you to everyone that came out this Sunday. We know that there were a lot of other events going on and we appreciate you all. We will be back for our 3-day Memorial Day Major at the end of the month. We hope you all have a great week, and we’ll see you all in a few weeks!
AMF McRay Finals - Eric Flick vs. Ron Gonzales vs. Jacob Ellis
