Kegler's Corner
By Jeff Olson
as published weekly in the Hood River News Sports Section
John Helm 717
TEAM of the WEEK:
1. John Helm717
2. Jeremy Bloom716
3. Patrick Olson699
4. AJ Perdue694
5. Rod Pratt675
Total pins 3,501
LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS:
Industrial (Monday 7:00 pm):
Patrick Olson: 279, 699
Woody Eskildsen: 257
Randy Nieto 246
Lynn Spellman: 236
As round 2 begins in the Industrial 6 teams started strongly last week: Clear Cutters won 19.5 points;3 Fingers Deep got 18.5 points; Pat’s Pro Shop took 18 points; The Rollers picked up 18 points; Randy’s Painting grabbed 17 points; and Hood River Supply captured 16.5 points.
Here are some scoring highlights in the Industrial last week. In the what else is new department, proprietor Patrick Olson led everyone in scoring in the Industrial last week with a 699 series (Team of the Week) which was highlighted by an eleven strike 279 game. Pat and his Pat’s Pro Shop teammate Joey Sheirbon, who chipped in a 615 set himself were instrumental in the 18-7 win for their team over MTS.
Lynn Spellman had a good night on the lanes as he rolled a solid 640 series for OL’7-10 which raised his league average to 200 but their opponents, the Clear Cutters took them down 19.5 to 5.5. This was another one of those matches that was fraught with razor thin margins, but Clear Cutters squeaked by, winning 6.5 points in the third game even though they only won total by 11 pins, and they also won 4 points for total pins for the entire three games by only 22 pins. Those final wins garnered 10.5 points for Clear Cutters which could have easily gone to OL’7-10. Had that happened the outcome would have been reversed with OL’7-10 winning 16-9. Tough loss for OL’7-10.
Sponsor Randy Nieto’s down and in slants once again found the 1-3 pocket with striking regularity as he rolled a fine 623 series to lead his Randy’s Painting trio to a 17-8 point win over Mt. Hood BBQ
Here’s a good one! How about Hood River Supply’s main man Woody Eskildsen. His two teammates were absent but that didn’t faze the wood man one bit. Woody tossed a 601 series which included a big 257 game. Basically, he single handedly won 16.5 points for Supply against Team #2.
Tuesday Nite Mixed (Tuesday 7:00 pm):
Nancy Asai: 223,206, 617
Carl Casey: 243
Patrick Olson: 235
With just two weeks to go in the first half of the Mixed, Hood River Supply (Lynn Davis, Cy Cannon, Gary Bond, Sue Eskildsen, and Woody Eskildsen) have a 3 game lead in first place. Last Week the top four teams all swept their opponents 4-0. First place Hood River Supply blanked Team Kawachi; second place Team Nishi swept Are You Splitting Me; third place Double A Orchards did the same thing to Split Faced; and fourth place Mad Skilz took the broom to Who Gives A Split. These four teams are only separated by 5 games in the win column which means any one of them can take the first half. This week’s key match involves Supply against Mad Skilz and the following week Team Nishi bowls Mad Skilz. The outcome of those two key matches could be the deciding factor on who wins the first half.
Individual scoring was challenging in the Mixed last week as Who Gives a Split’s big gun, Patrick Olson led everybody with a 641 series in a losing cause against Mad Skilz. Bob Mason’s new-found strike power carried Mad Skilz in their blanking of Who Gives A Split as he rolled a fine 621 series which was his second straight 600 set. Bob beat his average by 132 pins last week which was the best individual performance by all league bowlers at Orchard Lanes, an outstanding effort!
Nancy Asai led all women in the Mixed with a 617
set which most certainly propelled her Double A
Orchards foursome to their sweep of Split Faced.
Senior Colts and Fillies (Wednesday 1:30 pm):
Lynn Spellman: 207
Ken Kramer: 201
2 Pair (Linda Green, Jim Green, Michael Ross, and Vicki Ross) jumped into first place with 29 wins by sweeping Rolling Pins 4-0. Gutter Gals did the same to Skamaniacs which moved them up to second place with 26.5 wins. There are still 4 weeks to go in the first half of the season so the revolving door for first place is still up for grabs by just about every team in the league.
Fraternal (Wednesday 7:30 pm):
John Helm: 279, 717
Jeremy Bloom: 256, 716
AJ Perdue: 247,246, 694
Ciena Brittle: 246,201, 621
Rob Miller: 244
Patrick Olson: 238
Mike Parke: 237
Josh Worth: 235
Bernie Keys: 211
Round 2 in the Fraternal also began last week. 4 teams got out of the gate running: Bloom Auto Body won 21.5 points, The MD’s got 21 points, Hood River Athletic Club also took 21 points and Orchard Lanes earned 20 points.
Individual scoring in the Fraternal was excellent last week. Sponsor Jeremy Bloom was terrific as usual as he racked up a 716 series (Team of the Week) to lead his Bloom Auto Body team to a 21.5-3.5 win over Mt. Hood BBQ.
All-star Ciena Brittle found the range with her smooth, nearly automatic down and in game as she posted a sweet 621 set for the tough Bowling Stones in their match against the MD’s. Ciena’s 621 series ended up being the high series of the week for all women league bowlers at Orchard Lanes. But it wasn’t good enough to beat the MD’s who won this match 21-4.
Similarly, Rob Miller notched a keen 644 set for his Get Hu-sum BBQ squad, but they lost big to HR Athletic Club 21-4. These two examples show the value of perseverance and as Jimmy V said in his famous last speech, “never ever give up”!
We had two other notable outings in the Fraternal. Team Ten in the Pit new-comer John Helm fired his first 700 series of the season, a nifty 717 (Team of the Week). John was 108 pins over his average and his 717 set was the highest three game series bowled at Orchard Lanes last week. His pin punishing teammate AJ Perdue blasted a 694 set (Team of the Week). This is becoming like a broken record for AJ as he seems to make our fab five just about every week. When we look at the stats it’s really not all that surprising as AJ’s speedy, sharp breaking power ball is a legitimate pin buster that easily enables him to carry a glitzy 224 average in the Fraternal which is the highest in the league. AJ’s 224 average is also the fourth highest in the city right now. The race for high average in the city this season is going to be a donnybrook! We definitely have some mighty good bowlers around here.
Thursday County League:
Rod Pratt: 266,209,200, 675
Yoto Cervantes: 223,209
Thomas Houle: 205
Jason Borton: 204
Melissa Werkheiser: 203
The Incredibowls (Rod Pratt, Yoyo Cervantes, and Matt Stoneberg) extended their first place lead last week to 3 games over The Munsons and Over the Line as Rod rocked the sticks with a cracking 675 series (Team of the Week) and Yoyo fired 223 and 209 games as they crushed The BowLeeAnders 3-1.
Thomas Houle topped everyone in the most pins over average department in the County league as he posted a nice 204 game and finished his nights work 111 pins over his average. There are still 4 weeks to go in the first half of the County league so at least 6 teams are still in it.
Let’s GO BOWLING everyone!
Star of the Week: Jason Borton
The scores from last week’s bowling leagues at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes indicate those sturdy 3 lb. 6 oz. pins did not fall easily. Up until now there has been a virtual onslaught of lofty numbers in league action including two perfect 300 games. Here’s the thing about bowling, even if the sticks weren’t falling so well last week, it’s still rewarding to overcome a tough outing and grind things out the best you can. Make those spares. It’s kind of like life. Hang in there and take care of the little things, after all, aren’t they all little things?
So, let’s start with our mythical five person Team of the Week which is comprised of bowlers from all of the leagues who rolled the top five scratch three game series scores last week. Please understand, they do not bowl together on the same team. We decided to make this a five person team because that is the traditional team size from the glory days of bowling, and, by the way, it still is at the USBC National tournament in which we are all eligible to compete. This season, Nationals will be held at the South Point Casino lanes in Las Vegas, NV. This is the biggest bowling tournament in the world, so get your reservation in ASAP because it’s filling up fast even though it runs from February through June next year. And here’s a tip for you serious bowlers: in the past, 5 person teams were the norm, but we’ve gotten away from that recently with 3 and 4 person teams. For those of you going to bowl Nationals, it would behoove you to do some 5 person practice sessions because the pace of play with 5 person teams is so much slower than with 3 and 4 person teams, it can significantly alter your rhythm and momentum. OK, here is your current Fab Five plus one:
TEAM of the WEEK:
- John Riggleman 693
- AJ Perdue 693
- John Helm 687
- Steve Silva 664
- Borton & Mason 654
Total pins 3,391
John Riggleman and AJ Perdue rolled their 693 sets in the Wednesday night Fraternal league. John is a deadly accurate finesse bowler who has been pummeling the pins with us for years. Last week he beat his average by 114 pins. Not only is he a heck of a bowler, but John is also an accomplished golfer, who has been a frequent winner of our affiliated golf leagues. John is a big-time orchardist from across the river in Washington state who specializes in apples.
AJ Perdue is new to us this season and he’s already made a huge impact, rolling a number of really big scores. He’s a modern power player who utilizes lots of speed and revs. His sharp breaking hook absolutely tears the pins apart. To show he means business, AJ, who is the main man at our local Les Schwab store, is currently carrying a lofty 221 average!
John Helm is another bowler who is new to us this season. John is from The Dalles and he’s another of the cadre who have been fortunate to get bowling tutelage from the legendary Jeff Miller. John is a right hander who aspires to the “tweener” style of bowling, that is, he’s not a big rev power guy and he's not a finesse player. He’s in the middle. We want to welcome John to the renowned bowling battles at Orchard Lanes, he fits right in. John earns the No. 3 slot on the Big Five after notching a fine 687 series in the Fraternal.
Steve Silva gets the clean-up slot on our vaunted crew this week after he tossed a mighty fine 664 series in the Tuesday Nite Mixed league. Steve topped his average by 106 pins last week. He is new to our leagues this season, returning to the Hood River area after being here several decades ago. Welcome back and good pin busting Steve!
Jason Borton and Bryan Mason tied for the anchor spot on the big boy team. Both shot 654 sets. Jason did his in the boisterous Thursday County league. This is a great story on how to achieve success. Jason has been bitten by the bowling bug, so he has been doing a lot of practicing lately. Low, and behold look what happened last week, he beat his average by a whopping 141 pins, the most by anyone in all leagues as he rolled beautiful 238 and 223 games in his big 654 series. That makes him the bowler of the week in addition to making our local big-time Team of the Week. If you’ve noticed by all the big scores posted here every week, there are a plethora of darn good bowlers in Hood River. So, it’s quite a feather in your cap to beat most of them and make the Fab Five! Nice bowling Jason! Practice, practice, practice!
Bryan Mason has been punishing the pins at Orchard Lanes for as long as we can remember with his sharp breaking hook. He’s a top notch bowler who has carried a 200 average for years. You can always count on Bryan to deliver the goods because he is a dependable USPS mail person. He fired his 654 series in the Fraternal.
LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS:
Industrial (Monday 7:00 pm):
John Riggleman: 241
Nancy Asai: 206
With just 2 weeks to go in the first round of the Industrial league, 3 Fingers Deep (Ryan Pratt, Jay Slack, and James Youtsey) is firmly ensconced in first place with a comfortable 25.5 point lead over the second place Clear Cutters. It’s going to be almost impossible to dislodge 3 Fingers Deep from winning the first round. They are the odds on favorite right now although their matches in the next two weeks won’t be easy. The Fingers crew bowls the always dangerous Randy’s Painting and then The Rollers so it’s not all cut and dried yet.
Notable action in last week’s matches saw The Rollers achieve a rarity, they blanked Randy’s Painting 25-0. How did The Rollers accomplish this feat? You don’t see teams get swept very often in this complicated scoring format. This is a 3 game league that has a 25 point scoring system, 1 point for each head-to-head individual match win and 4 points for each team game win, 7 points possible each game plus 4 more points are awarded for the team that wins total pins for the three games. Well, Paul Dethman and Kevin Harris tossed 231 and 225 games respectively for The Rollers and combined, The Rollers beat their averages by a whopping 204 pins whereas Randy’s bowled about right on their averages. That’s a tough hill to climb so they got swept, simple as that; Team #2 lost to Clear Cutters 20-5 although it was a lot closer than it looked as the Cutters only beat Team #2 by a measly 34 pins for the entire 3 game match between all 6 bowlers. That’s razor thin close, certainly not indicative of a 15 point win; Here’s another one, poor OL’7-10 lost to Pat’s Pro Shop 18-7 although Pat’s was only 30 pins better than the 7-10-ers over the entire 3 game match. Joey Sheirbon keyed this win as he shot a 631 series that was 77 pins over his average; Mt. Hood BBQ burned Orchard Lanes 17-8 despite Ken Kramer’s efforts for the Lanes. Ken beat his average by 100 pins for the night’s work and he rolled a big 234 in his last game which still wasn’t enough to top the BBQ boys as their tough anchorman, John Riggleman went even bigger with a 241 game. Some days you simply just can’t win; the final match saw Hood River Supply win a squeaker over MTS 13-12 thanks to Supply anchorman Aaron Troxel who twirled a 641 series.
Tuesday Nite Mixed (Tuesday 7:00 pm):
Steve Silva: 254, 664
Janet Kawachi: 201
The irrepressible Team Nishi (Jeff Hasegawa, Janet Kawachi, Stuart Kawachi and Joey Sheirbon) nosed into first place last week with 17 wins. Hood River Supply is one back with 16 wins. Who Gives A Split and Gutter Dawgs are 3 back. There are still 5 weeks to go in the first half so anything can and probably will happen.
In last week’s matches CPR, Mad Skilz and Taco Tuesday got their brooms out and swept their opponents 4-0. This is a 3 game league that uses a 4 point scoring system, 1 point for each team game win and 1 more point for the series win.
Steve Silva led CPR with his 664 series that swamped Are You Splitting Me; Flo Flemming beat her average by 118 pins to boost her Taco Tuesday foursome over Who Gives a Split; and Mad Skilz blanked Double A Orchards. The other matches all ended up 3-1 with Team Nishi taking Gutter Dawgs; Split Faced topped Hood River Supply; and Team Kawachi took down Take Ten.
Senior Colts and Fillies (Wednesday 1:30 pm):
Tony Teschner: 232
Mick Sherrell: 222
Ken Kramer: 211
Dave Baumsteiger: 211
Sue Spellman: 203
Anne Brady: 201
Leading this league is like being in a revolving door. This week Skamaniacs (Karen Baumsteiger, Janet Harrington, and Dave Baumsteiger) are in first place with 22 wins. Rolling Pins are in second place with 21 wins. We Tried are 3.5 back in third. This is a 3 game league that uses the 4 point scoring system. There are still 7 weeks to go in the first half of the league, so all 9 teams are still in the hunt for first place.
In the key match last week, Skamaniacs rolled into first place after defeating Rolling Pins 3-1. Dave Baumsteiger keyed the win for Skamaniacs with a nice 211 game.
Fraternal (Wednesday 7:30 pm):
John Riggleman: 245, 693
AJ Perdue: 247,245, 693
John Helm: 236,235, 687
Bryan Mason: 654
Stan Pratnicki: 267
Chad Mason: 252
Tyson Trout: 246
Patrick Olson: 243
Luke Renfro: 239
Ciena Brittle: 210
League leading Tres Psicos (Skip Whitley, George Buck, and James Klugel) lost ground last week in their match against the Red Rockets who beat them 18-7 but they still have a 20.5 point lead in first place. This is a 3 game league that uses the 25 point scoring system. The MDs are now in second place. Past champion Bloom Auto Body is in third place. Watch out for the powerful Auto Body crew. There are only 2 weeks to go in round 1 of the league and next week will feature a critical match of Tres Piscos vs. the MD’s. Then there will be a position round in the final week so this could really get interesting. That big 20.5 point lead could evaporate in a heartbeat.
In last week’s matches the MDs absolutely trashed Orchard Lanes 23-2. The MDs were paced by Luke Renfro’s big 239 game and as a team they were 145 pins over their averages plus they beat Orchard Lanes by 265 pins. That is a plain old fashioned shellacking! Team #6 did the same thing to Hood River Athletic Club, winning 23-2. Team #6 was paced by AJ Perdue’s 693 and John Helm’s 687 sets as they trounced the Clubbers by 200 pins! Mt. Hood BBQ roasted Get Hu’sum BBQ 16-9 as Mt. Hood’s John Riggleman’s 693 and Tyson Trout’s 628 series were just a bit too much for the scrappy Hu’sum’s Rob Miller and Stan Pratnicki who put up 621 and 616 sets, respectively. The Hu’sum crew only lost total pins in the match by a slim 32 sticks, or the match could have easily gone in their favor, 13-12. That’s a mighty close match, a lot closer than it looks.
Thursday County League:
Jason Borton: 238,223, 654
Rod Pratt: 226,200
Mark Bakurjian: 215
Victor Flores: 205
The Incredibowls (Rod Pratt, Yoyo Cervantes, and Matt Stoneberg) are still in first place with 11 wins. In second place with 10 wins is Save the Pins, Pins in Low Places and The Unbowlievables. This is a 3 game league that uses the 4 point scoring system.
In the key match last week Save the Pins beat the Incredibowls 3-1. Jason Borton starred for the winners as he notched a career high 654 series which was also his first ever 600. Rod Pratt gave it his best for The Incredibowls with 226 and 200 games, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Save the Pins won team series by 130 pins. There are still 7 weeks to go in the County league, so all teams are still in it to win it.
Let’s GO BOWLING everyone!