Neiman and Rathburn Win Can-Am Baker Doubles Wednesday, 11/15/2006 By Darrin Hill/Motor City Bowling News WAYNE, MI. -- Forget about the shootout at the O.K. Corral. On Saturday, there was a shootout at Wayne Bowl between two teams of young gunslingers. The teams of Jason Neiman/Rich Rathburn and Bill Kandilian/Jason Francis had earned quite a bit of money last season bowling in the Can-Am Baker Doubles Classic. Out of 13 events, Team Neiman/Rathburn won once and cashed five times, while Team Kandilian/Francis also won once and cashed eight times. Even though both teams showcased talent that will continue to improve, on this day, only one team can win. In the end, it was Team Neiman/Rathburn adding another victory to their resume. They defeated Team Kandilian/Francis in the finals by five pins, 226-221. "Me and Jason (Neiman) have won a couple of these tournaments now, and this one was by far the most rewarding," said Rathburn. "We got some breaks to go our way. We got lucky. We were clutch went we needed it." Team Neiman/Rathburn was the high qualifier going into match play. Their 8-game qualifying block of 1,816 was good enough to lead the field. Their final game of the block was their high game of 278. It propelled Team Neiman/Rathburn into the top seed, only three pins better than the team of Craig Nidiffer/Jeff Hicks. Their road to the championship match included games of: 215, 224, 202, 168, 214, and 186. In their fourth game, two pins was the difference between them moving on or being eliminated by the team of Pat Barter/Jon Kennedy. Team Neiman/Rathburn also barely survived the final game of match play. The team of Kevin Scott and Ken Rogers were like a couple black juggernauts rolling toward the championship match averaging 233.8 through five games of match play. But, a 149 final game dashed all hopes of a big payday. These two gentlemen will be a force to be dealt with in future events. Team Kandilian/Francis was tied for the eighth seed with the team of Darin Kolb/Aaron Staples going into match play with an 8-game qualifying block of 1,733. Team Kandilian/Francis posted a high game of 243 and a low game of 183. Their road to the championship match included games of: 217, 235, 198, 189, 224, and 237. Team Neiman/Rathburn started the championship match like a house on fire striking in their first four frames. Team Kandilian/Francis struggled to keep pace. After a spare in the first frame, an open in the second by Kandilian really put his team in a hole. Team Kandilian/Francis did manage a double in the third and fourth frames. Neiman ended the string of strikes in the fifth frame with a light pocket hit leaving the 2-8. He converted the spare. By this time, Team Neiman/Rathburn was up by thirty pins. They continued the assault by doubling in the in the sixth and seventh frames. Team Kandilian/Francis could only answer with spares in their sixth and seventh frames. Then, disaster reared its ugly head. Working on a double, Rich Rathburn fouled on his first shot in the eighth frame. He did spare in that frame. But, the foul did cost Team Neiman/Rathburn some precious pin count. "I got to the line, I stuck a little bit and went over the foul line," said Rathburn. "I knew we had the match in hand. I was just trying to keep it in the pocket. And it ended up being a foul. It put us in a jam. We were golden up till then." "There're no words to explain what I was feeling after that happened," said Neiman. "We were winners until that foul happened. Now, we had to perform in the ninth and tenth to win this thing outright." Team Kandilian/Francis tried to take advantage of a huge mistake the only way they could, by striking right off the sheet. Team Kandilian/Francis finished the match with five straight strikes for a 221 game. That forced Team Neiman/Rathburn to mark in the tenth. With thoughts of fouling on his last shot fresh in his head, Rich Rathburn threw a shot that almost left a 7-10 split. A sigh of relief was heard through out Wayne Bowl when the 7 pin fell, leaving the 10 pin standing. Rathburn converted the single pin spare. To secure victory, all Rathburn had to do was stay behind the foul line and knock down 4 pins. He got 8 pins. Team Neiman/Rathburn celebrated a hard fought win. Jason Neiman/Rich Rathburn credits their victory to the helpful guidance from the guys at Hi Tech Pro Shop inside Pampa Lanes in Warren, and Discount Pro Shop inside Rosebowl Lanes in Fraser. In their ball arsenals, Neiman used a No Mercy and Rathburn used a Black Widow. The team of Jason Neiman/Rich Rathburn received a first place check worth $1,200. The team of Bill Kandilian/Jason Francis received second place check for $700.       Eleven teams out of the 43 that competed in this event qualified for match play. Grabbing the final seed was the team of Stefano Filiccia/Chris Filiccia with a 1,695 8-game qualifying block, 18 pins ahead of the team of Joe Couchman/Rob Sandecki. Team Couchman/Sandecki had the high game of the tournament with a 299. It happened in their first game of qualifying. There were no baker 300 games bowled during this tournament. The remaining Can-Am Baker Doubles Classic tournaments on the 2006 schedule include: November 25 at Sterling Lanes in Sterling Heights and December 16 at Bonanza Lanes in Warren. For more information on the Can-Am Baker Doubles Classic tournaments, you can check out their website at: http://www.can-am-baker.com. Or Motor City Bowling News, the official media outlet for the Can-Am Baker Doubles Classic.   FINAL STANDINGS Jason Neiman, Warren/Rich Rathburn, New Baltimore: $1,200 Bill Kandilian, Macomb Township/Jason Francis, Macomb Township: $700 Kevin Scott, Ferndale/Ken Rogers, Southfield: $500 Terry Haines, Westland/Branden Dale, Eastpointe: $400  Pat Barter, Westland/Jon Kennedy, Warren: $280 Jim Lauricella, Sterling Heights/Nunzio Marino, Livonia: $180 Stefano Filiccia, Warren/Chris Filiccia, Warren: $180 Gregg Riedel, Macomb Township/Dennis Lasater, Clinton Township: $140 Bob Rozycki, Allen Park/Ken Wyatt, Sterling Heights: $140 Darin Kolb, Inkster/Aaron Staples, Westland: $120 Craig Nidiffer, Trenton/Jeff Hicks, Taylor: $120