By By STEVE MORRISON / Dowagiac Daily News
NILES – Records are made to be broken.
Rick Haase's 816 series at AA Timberlanes on the night of Monday, Oct. 27, was just that kind of a remarkable performance.
Haase rolled games of 258, 279 and 279 to earn a place in the record books for the longtime bowling alley, located on Second Street in Niles.
Hasse's achievement was just 10 pins shy of tying the city record for a three game series set by A.J. Gaideski, with an 826, at Joey Armadillo's last year.
At the beginning of the set, Haase had no idea that he was going to accomplish anything so extraordinary.
In the first frame of the first game the veteran bowler knocked down seven pins, leaving the 1-2-4 pins standing and left the four pin standing on his spare attempt. That would be his first and last open frame of the evening.
"I cut my finger at work that day," recalls Haase, indicating the ring finger on his right hand. "I had a lot of band-aids on it, and then I took the band-aids off and started striking," he chuckled.
He finished off the first game with a 258.
To start the second game, Haase strung the first five frames together with strikes. He had a nine count (leaving the 10 pin standing), on the first ball in the sixth frame, which he converted to a spare. Six more consecutive strikes to close out the game yielded Haase a 279 finish.
"I had six in a row" Haase described as he recounted the outset of the third game. "Then I left the 10 pin (in the seventh frame). It was my favorite pin that night!" he joked.
Haase picked up the spare and struck out with five more aces to match his 279 score for the second set.
"It was just like any other night" Haase modestly reviewed. "I was real happy. I didn't think it (the series) was that high. Then they said it was a record!"
Haase believes a friend, Bill Reeves, Jr., shot an identical score to his 816 five years ago. Craig Kizer owner of AA Timberlanes for 33 years suggested that the previous high series was an 807, shot by Hugh Hatcher years ago.
Haase is a veteran bowler, estimating that he began at the age of seven. He considers Timberlanes his "home turf", recalling that he bowled there often during his youth.
His average for the year was a 203 before the record-setter. His highest series prior to this was a 760. He had finally reached the coveted 300 game earlier this year in a summer league at Chippewa bowl in South Bend, where he shot a 299 nearly a month later. His average for that league ended up at 219.
A Niles native, Haase is employed by Communications Test Design Company. He and his wife, Sandy, are the parents of two grown children, Brad and Dana, who reside in the area.