2015 King Pin Scratch Open: Richey takes home title

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 26, 2015 1:48 PM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

You only get one chance to make a good first impression.

Chuck Richey certainly did Sunday afternoon.

A Charlotte-area resident, Richey turned in a memorable performance during his first-ever appearance in the 10th annual King Pin Scratch Open. He exited as the champion.

Ritchey recovered from a middle-frame hiccup, bowled three consecutive strikes in the 10th and upended South Carolina's Randy Weiss, 222-215, on the AMF Boulevard Lanes. Richey pocketed $2,000 and continued the Open's unique tradition of no repeat winners.

But the trophy remains in the Old North State for the third consecutive year.

"I've missed most of the (Opens) because normally around in January, I have family stuff going on and this is actually the first time I've had a chance to come bowl it," said the fourth-seeded Richey.

"I'm speechless. I beat a lot of really good bowlers this weekend. I was fortunate to make it to where I got. I felt I bowled pretty well ... a couple of breaks here and there, and it could have gone either way."

It went Richey's way.

He eliminated former Open champ and Goldsboro resident Dave Douglas in the round of 16 and knocked out Rocky Mount's Chris Hans, who won the tournament a year ago.

In the semifinals against eighth-seeded Lee Vanderhoff, the 10-pin rocked ever so gently after getting knicked by the 9-pin and eventually tumbled over to complete a 10th-frame strike.

It was Richey's seventh consecutive strike in the match.

"I threw it really well and the ball checked a little too early, and it went through the pins ... fortunate to get that trip on the nine-pin," Richey said. "I felt like I threw it good."

Weiss bounced another Goldsboro bowler, Kevin Griffith, in the round of 16 and followed that up with a monstrous two-game triumph over seventh-seeded Chris Johnson. His eventual semifinal-round opponent, Virginia's Tom Sorce, took out 11th-seeded Chris Acaro and third-seeded Mike McDonnell.

Weiss defeated Sorce, 227-198, to set up his title match against Richey.

As a small crowd gathered behind the two bowlers, they each launched the finals with a strike on their respective frames. They eventually combined for 15 strikes, including four in the decisive 10th.

But the match turned dramatic in the seventh.

Richey faced a difficult three-pin spare and eventually left the frame open. Weiss followed with a strike and added another strike in the eighth.

"I knew I had a good look and if I hit my mark it was good. The left-hand pin I missed early in the game made a difference, but I was very fortunate," Richey said. "(After that), I knew I had the look and if I made the shots, the pins were going to fall."

Fall they did.

Richey picked up a spare in the eighth, threw a strike in the ninth and the pressure was on Weiss. He cleaned up a 3-6-10 spare in the ninth, but couldn't keep the momentum on his final frame and shook Richey's hand.

"I made a lot of good shots, could have made the one in the ninth frame a little better," said Weiss, who left the 10 pin, but knocked it down with his second ball.

"The luck in a one-game match can go either way. All of us who have bowled all the time, we've been on both sides of that where we've gotten the luck, or the other guy gets the luck."

Goldsboro's Dillan Newman fell to seventh-seeded Chris Johnson in the round of 16.

"You do the best you can with it and hope you hit a couple (of good shots)," said Douglas, who has thrown nine perfect games (300) on the AMF Lanes. "I've made the cut in five of eight (Opens). Yesterday (Saturday), I could get a good look, but I couldn't today."

R.A. Jeffrey's Distributing and Deacon Jones served as the title sponsors for the 10th installment of the KPSO. Other sponsors included the Goldsboro News-Argus, Ditto Dog, Bake My Day, The Little Bank, Wireless Express, Carolina Mini Storage and Texas Roadhouse.