by Jerry Schneider

PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., finished the championship match of the PBA50 Miller High Life Classic presented by Columbia 300 with six consecutive strikes to win his first PBA50 Tour title Wednesday at George Pappas’ Victory Lanes.

Overcoming a 4-6-7-8-10 split and open in the third frame, Bohn defeated fellow Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., 232-229, in the championship match. With Weber finishing the match first, Bohn needed a double and eight pins in the 10th frame to win but threw three solid strikes to pull out the victory.

“It was a good example of never giving up,” said Bohn, who ranks sixth on the PBA Tour career titles list with 33 wins. “I trailed the whole game until the last ball. All you can ask for is an opportunity and I was able to take advantage of it.

“For the fans, that’s what they come to see,” the two-time PBA Player of the Year continued. “In a match that comes down to the last shot for the title, you can’t ask for much more than that.”

Early in the match, Bohn was wrestling with two issues, struggling with the shot on the left lane and getting a clean release from the ball he was using.

“I was going back and forth between the two balls I had but finally I just had to go with the one that would release off my hand the best,” he said.

Bohn’s win came after fifth and fourth-place finishes in the first two tournaments of the season. He is also the third consecutive Hall of Famer to win a PBA50 Tour tournament with Amleto Monacelli winning the season opening Pasco County (Fla.) Open and Norm Duke winning last week’s UnitedHealthcare Sun Bowl In The Villages.

In the semifinals, Bohn defeated three-time PBA50 Tour winner Harry Sullins 247-224 to advance to the title match. Weber, who dominated qualifying, beat Hall of Famer and four-time PBA50 Player of the Year Tom Baker, 189-161.

“With the competition out here the way it is, I didn’t imagine it would happen this early,” Bohn said. “Whenever you bowl another Hall of Famer you have to bring it all to the table and that’s what I had to do tonight.”

The PBA50 Tour takes a four-week break before returning for the tour’s two majors in Las Vegas.

The Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Dexter will be conducted June 1-6 at the Suncoast Bowling Center to be followed by the USBC Senior Masters June 8-13 at the South Point Bowling Center.