Mason goes 7-1 to lead Day 1 at 2023 PWBA Regional Showdown
WINTER PARK, Fla. - The first day of the 2023 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Regional Showdown is in the books at Aloma Bowl, and Gazmine Mason of Cranston, Rhode Island, is in the lead after eight games of match play.
Competition started Friday with 68 competitors bowling for eight spots to join the eight winners during this year’s PWBA Regional season that accepted an automatic bid into match play. Mason qualified sixth during the eight-game block to get in with a 1,699 total, while Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Florida, averaged just over 225 to be the top qualifier.
Galante’s lowest game during qualifying was in Game 1 with 191, before she went on a tear over the next seven games to lead the block with an 1,805 total.
“The biggest thing that I wanted to accomplish was to stay true to myself, not deviating from the process and just go one shot at a time,” Galante said.
With pinfall dropping at the start of round-robin match play for the 16 advancers, Galante started strong, going 3-1-1 for her first five matches before ending the day with a 4-3-1 record and 1,776 total to sit in sixth place. Mason made her run to the top of the leaderboard by posting a 7-1 mark in match play for a 1,916 total.
Mason used a big 279 game to start qualifying Friday morning, before getting caught in some transition. Using her higher rev rate, the talented right-hander moved left of the breakdown and was able to shoot 206, 218 and 237 in her last three games to move onto match play.
Mason signed up only days before the start of the 2023 Regional Showdown, after taking some time off from the end of the National Tour season to recharge and travel with her family.
“I’m using this event to get myself back into the training routine after the National Tour season was over,” Mason said.
Her first two games of match play did not meet her expectations, shooting 190 and 147 to start off 1-1 in the round-robin format. Mason used that 147 game as a learning moment, and won six straight matches while averaging over 228, highlighted by a 280 in Game 7.
“With more of us on the pairs during qualifying, they broke down faster, but then in match play, they felt almost cliffed and you couldn’t necessarily miss too far right too early,” said Mason, a two-time PWBA Regional champion. “I really focused on keeping the ball in front of me, and it definitely helped me during match play.
“I changed my mindset up a little, going from thinking I’m playing against the competitor, but it’s really me versus the lane and seeing what the lane is asking me what to do. You don’t want to force things that aren’t really there.”
Mason has previous experience with the Regional Showdown, having qualified for the only other edition of the event in 2019. She finished as the runner-up to her former University of Nebraska teammate, Julia Bond.
“It’s cool to have another good showing so far at this event, and I really like this longer format, putting my mind and body to the test, as well as being able to have a chance to recover from a bad game, like I did,” Mason said.
She hopes to avoid any early game struggles during the second block of match play Saturday by making sure she takes her time while starting off with slower ball speed, again referencing what she has learned not only today, but from the past few years on the PWBA Tour.
“You start to see patterns over time and how things break down, and making a change for tomorrow’s first few games should give me another option to try,” Mason said.
Mason is followed in the standings after eight games by 2023 PWBA Rookie of the Year Hope Gramly of Aubrey, Texas (1,888), Taylor Bulthuis of New Port Richey, Florida (1,835), and Ashley Rucker of Bartlesville, Oklahoma (1,822).
The top four after a final eight games of match play, starting Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern, will advance to the event’s stepladder finals at 3 p.m. Eastern live on BowlTV.com. The winner of the 2023 Regional Showdown will take home the $4,000 top prize and also have their 2024 PWBA National Tour entry fees entirely covered.
The four finalists will be determined by total pinfall, including 30 bonus pins for each victory in match play, for their 16-game totals. The final game of match play Saturday will be a position round.
The 2023 PWBA Regional Tour season will conclude with this week’s event at Aloma Bowl. Nine events were contested across the country during the year leading up to the Regional Showdown, with the champion at each tournament earning an invitation to compete this week.
