Like his father and grandfather, Trent Augenstein is a farmer. When he is not tending to the corn and soybeans growing on much of his 150 acres of land around Ostrander, Augenstein travels across the nation — and at times across the ocean — playing pinball.

Yes, pinball.

Augenstein is currently ranked the sixth best pinball player on the globe, according to the World Pinball Player Rankings.

That’s something his father and grandfather couldn’t claim.

Augenstein will be heading to Buckinghamshire, England for the World Pinball Championship taking place at the end of July. The invitation-only event consists of three days of intense head-to-head matches; the 64 pinball players invited represent the best from all over the world. They will be vying for bragging rights and a prize package of more than $14,000.

With stiff competition looming, how does Augenstein feel about his chances?

“You never can tell. It depends how you’re feeling that weekend,” he said. “You have to get used to the machines.”

Augenstein, who finished eighth at the International Flipper Pinball Association’s world championship last year in Las Vegas, describes himself as a “competitive person” but said he ultimately just likes playing games. Board games, video games, sports, any game will do, he said. But it is pinball that has impacted him most.

He has been playing pinball all his life. When he was very young, his father worked as a sales representative for a seed company, which led to Augenstein’s introduction to the world of pinball games.

“We traveled a lot and they always had arcades at hotels,” Augenstein said. “Back when I started, that’s all there was (to play). There weren’t any video games yet.”

He continued to play pinball as he grew older, and bought his first coin-op machine, Phantom of the Opera, after graduating from Ohio State University.

Augenstein now owns roughly 150 pinball machines, plus a variety of other arcade games. He has imported thousands of machines located by his contacts in Europe, South America and various locales.

“I repair them, fix them up, sell them,” he said. “Of course I hold on to some.”

One of his favorite games to play is the 1996-issued pinball machine Attack From Mars. It sports a sensory overload of flashing lights, a ’50s-style flying saucer in the center and little green aliens scattered about. It beeps, blips and emits screams of panic from bewildered humans.

Augenstein likes it for these reasons, but he also likes the way it plays. The open-space design makes for clean shots and quick ball movement.

Attack From Mars sits in the showroom of his gymnasium-sized barn. The newly-constructed locale houses his many games and, in a separate space, farm equipment.

Many tournaments, including the World Pinball Championship, require players to compete on a variety of machines as well as different vintages.

Having experience playing on many types of pinball tables is advantageous, Augenstein said.

“The most important thing is know the rules and what to shoot at,” he said. “Each game has its own rules, its own feel.”

More people have started to take interest in pinball over the last decade, according to Augenstein.

“The Internet made it a lot easier for people to get in touch with each other to get games, fix games,” he said.

When he entered his first pinball tournament in 1994, there were only four or five pinball tournaments or shows out there, Augenstein said. There is now around ten times that amount, he said.

Augenstein was in Maine for a tournament last weekend; he heads to California for another this weekend.

“I am just trying to play as much as I can,” in preparation for the world championship starting July 31, he said.

bbullock@delgazette.com