Cue up The Raconteurs “Steady As She Goes”. Chris Harris and Joey Hutchinson proved that on Sunday, Februrary 17th at the Doubles Knockout at Metro Bowl. As the saying goes, it doesn’t matter where you finish, just get in. Chris and Joey did very well on this day. Chris opened up on the day with a 616 total, and Joey chimed in with a 630 after their five string qualifying round.
Worrying about “just getting in”, their 1246 total got them into the top 24, sitting in 20th place overall. Once they made the knockout round, that’s where they made their noise. There first round match you ask? Jeff Surette and Dave Barber. A match that came down to the wire, Jeff and Dave threw 138 and 125 respectively, for a 263 total. Edging them by 8 pins, Joey’s 142 and Chris’ 129 were enough, and the 271 allowed them to move onto round 2.
Round 2 featured another tall task as they faced Maria Mazzarella and Brandon Marks. “Brando” started out great on this day – 178 and 157, 335 for two! He finished with 704 on the day so this match wasn’t going to be any easier than their first round match. Another gut wrenching battle that came down to the last few boxes before being decided. Joey duplicated his first round score with another 142, and Chris finished with a nice 125 string. Their total of 267 was enough to topple Maria and Brandon by 12 pins! Brandon threw an awesome 150 string, but it ended up not being enough and Joey and Chris moved onward and upward.
Joey and Chris charged into the quarter-finals facing another top qualifier in Jim Miner and Brian Mayer. Brian tore it up earlier in the day with a 687 and Jim chipped in greatly finishing with 626. Their 1313 placed them as the five seed overall. Round three is where Joey and Chris caught fire – as if a 271 and 267 weren’t fiery enough. Joey threw another crusher score with 137; not to be outdone, Chris tossed a 146 string. Their total ended up being more than enough as Jim and Brian weren’t able to break up the pins, or carry the extra one (such is life on lane 21-22 at Metro), and they were defeated by 69 and lost 283-211. After three knockout rounds Joey was sitting at 421 (140.3 avg.) and he was followed closely by his partner at an even 400 (130.3 avg.).
The semi-finals featured yet another tough match-up as they faced Rich Cocchi and Ed Woodside. Rich and Ed were rocking and rolling all day as they were taking names and numbers in the qualifying round as well as the knockout. Not to be denied, Joey and Chris were able to take advantage of their breaks and used them incredibly effectively in order to do what it took to make it to the finals. It was clear that throughout the knockout it appeared that Joey and Chris were the team to beat.
It was the battle of David versus Goliath as the young upstarts in Joey and Chris were facing two legends in Dave “Cookie” Richards and Peter Flynn who have won more awards and more tournaments that most people can even remember! It was a hard fought match from beginning to end, with Joey and Chris prevailing on this day! Good job to all the opponents that faced Joey and Chris, and good job Joey and Chris with your first Pro Series wins!