At one end of King Pin Lanes on Sunday, Lisa Timm rode to her second Florence Scott Women’s 600 Club Round the Town Tournament title.
In the center of the bowling center, Tom Adcock’s 4-7-10 split on his last ball gave David Bartlett a one-pin win in the Elmer C. Fischer Men’s 700 Club Round the Town. Bartlett, of Bloomington, went into the 18-game final over three days with a nine-pin lead over Adcock, of Decatur.
Exciting finish
Paired with four other bowlers at Lanes 19-20, Bartlett hit on 10 of 12 chances in the final game, including the last six in a row, finishing with a 259.
Meanwhile, Adcock went reserve strike-spare to start the final before merging attacks from the fourth frame to the second ball of the 10th frame. Several score watchers in the crowd gathered behind the pair of lanes, muttering updates as Adcock performed for his final three throws of the game.
“If he knocks, he wins” before the score was noted and someone else correctly said, “A count of nine wins; eight draw.”
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Another spectator – a bowler himself – said with great confidence that the match belonged to Adcock.
Apparently Bartlett and Adcock were the only two people at King Pin who weren’t paying attention at the time.
“I had no idea what the scores were; I had never looked at the magazine,” Adcock said.
Bartlett said, “I never looked at the scoreboard all week. I didn’t look at the scoreboard until after it was over.”
But both bowlers also heard the rumble of the growing crowd. Adcock felt the excitement behind him, while Bartlett really heard what it took.
“I had no idea until I heard someone behind me say ‘Nine for the win,'” Bartlett said. “And I thought well, I’ve bowled with Tommy long enough. I thought, ‘Well, he’s going to get a nine or better.’ I mean, he did a great job.”
Adcock not. After hitting a shot he called “firm” for his eighth straight attack, he wanted to make sure he avoided that. But he corrected too much and left the split instead.
Bartlett won his first Round the Town title 4,437-4,436 and with a 62-pin lead over third-place finisher Jimmy Young. Gabe Howell was fourth with a 4.334 while Matt Burdick was fifth with 4.295.
“It’s great,” Bartlett said. “I mean, if you look at the names on the trophy and the history of the event, I mean, go back to Gene Vincent, Wade Smith, Craig Rhodes, you know, I mean, just the names go on, and on and beyond. I’ve had the privilege of bowling against all those guys in my career. And to do this, it’s just a little bit special.”
Bartlett’s fiancée, Ashley Gargano, won the Women’s Round the Town the last time it was held – in 2020.
It takes a long time for Timm
Timm, who has lived in Auburn for the past six years after living in Springfield all his life, won for the first time since 2007.
The 600 Club president bowled while helping run the event with the added pressure of good bowling. Which she did, with her lowest game in the 15-game tournament a 211 — and that was her first game in the opening round at Showtime Lanes in Virden.
“Phenomenal, absolutely amazing,” said Timm of the win. “I threw the ball well, so I hoped it would come again. And it did, it worked.”
Timm’s average of 244.80 would have made her third in the men’s field, behind Bartlett’s 246.50 and Adcock’s 246.44 and Young’s 243.06.
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Timm took the lead from leader Laura Stone in the first round on Saturday with a score of 1,200 five games at AMF Strike ‘N Spare Lanes. She only had two opens in the second round.
Timm came in on Sunday with a 146-pin lead over Chelsie Finch.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work lately,” Timm said. “In the summer I practiced three days a week, I compete three nights a week and I play tournaments on the weekends. So I played a lot of matches during the week.
“And I now have a fantastic coach. So it all came together.”
That “fantastic” coach is her fiancé, Bob Manker.
Timm continued her scorching pace with games of 235, 248 and 268 before carding a game of 299. She finished the tournament with a 236. She only had four games under 230: 211, two 215s and a 226.
Tammy Walsh came in sixth on Sunday, but her high score of 1,232 in three laps pulled her into second – 227 pins behind Timm.
“I hadn’t bowled well the first day of Round the Town, so my goal was just to get there and bowl like I know I can, which I felt like I was doing,” said Walsh. “I’ve been battling a shoulder injury. So I just relaxed and decided to just do what I could do.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 857-246-9756, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.