At Team USA Trials in 2011, a high schooler asked Diandra Asbaty for a picture and an autograph. Asbaty noticed the teenager’s dad wearing the logo of an Indiana tournament series that she bowled as a kid, but didn’t catch the kid’s name.
After the day’s qualifying, Asbaty looked at the standings. She didn’t recognize the men’s leader and asked a friend to point them out. They pointed to the same teenager who she had just taken a photo with.
“Wait, should I be asking you for your autograph?” Asbaty said to the high schooler.
This time, she made sure to learn his name. It was EJ Tackett.
As the final ball of the 2022 Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles Tournament rolled down the lane, Asbaty made sense of the surrounding madness.
“We won?!” Asbaty exclaimed while looking towards her teammate.
“I think we did,” said Tackett, grinning from ear to ear while triple-checking the math in his head.
Amid a chaotic finish, Tackett and Asbaty prevailed with a final score of 9,287 (+1,287). Four teams finished within 50 pins of first place.
Entering the position round, each of those teams had an opportunity to win the title. And entering the final frame, three teams still had a chance — none of whom were the preceding leaders.
The win notched back-to-back SABC Mixed Doubles titles for Tackett, who won in 2021 with Danielle McEwan, and three wins in the last four events.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the concurrent Devil’s Lair Tasmania tournament in Australia have resulted in a revolving door of teammates for Tackett in recent years. He bowled with Liz Johnson for the 2018 title.
“Who knows what’s in store for next year,” he said laughing.
Tackett also won the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles title with Marshall Kent earlier this season, marking three consecutive PBA doubles titles for the 29-year-old.
While Tackett has grown accustomed to winning this event, Asbaty broke a pair of title droughts.
The win ended a 20-year hiatus since her last SABC Mixed Doubles title. She also closed the door on a 10-year dry spell between PWBA titles, last winning the 2012 USBC Queens.
“I can die knowing that (my kids) were there for at least one title,” she said.
Asbaty said she has come close to winning this tournament several times over the years, finishing as the runner-up three times with Jason Belmonte. She nearly experienced the same heartbreak this year.
JULY 31, 2022 NOLAN HUGHES – Full story at www.pba.com