TRES PSICOS WINS FRATERNAL

KEGLER’S CORNER By Jeff Olson

Here are the bowling highlights from last week’s playoff action in the Industrial and Fraternal leagues at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes:

Wednesday evening Fraternal league:

The Fraternal league had a position round last week in which the powerhouse Bloom Auto Body team dominated to win round 3. Since they also won round 2, that put them in an exclusive roll-off for the league championship with the winners of round 1, Tres Psicos.

Normally the league championship roll-off includes 3 different round winners plus a wild card team that won the most points but didn’t win a round.

The roll-off for the league championship between Bloom Auto Body and Tres Psicos was held early last Friday. It was a 3 game team total pin match, and it was a remarkable nail biter.

Despite the awesome efforts of Bloom Auto Body anchorman Bryan Mason who fired a great 709 series and Jeremy Bloom himself who stroked a 652 set, Tres Psicos beat Bloom Auto Body by 3 pins, 2,077 to 2,074! Congratulations to the underdog Fraternal league champions for 2023-24, TRES PSICOS (Skip Whitley, George (the “buck” stops here) Buck, and Jesse Orr.

The Fraternal league is well known as the best, most competitive top scoring league in the Gorge with the best bowlers around. The position round saw impressive scores that were posted by the talented bowlers in the league:

John Helm finished his initial season at Orchard Lanes in spectacular fashion. The hard throwing righty from The Dalles punched out back to back 279 games as he racked up a huge 772 series. Those 279 games are made by rolling 11 out of 12 strikes in each game. that means John had 22 strikes out of 24 attempts in those two games. That’s simply incredible!

Jeremy Bloom is without a doubt the hottest bowler in the Gorge right now and the smooth, staccato stepping all-star pin buster from Parkdale continued his assault on the poor, defenseless 3 lb. 6 oz. pins with a glitzy 767 series that was highlighted by big 278 and 266 games.

Since the Fraternal league has concluded here are the individual high scores that were recorded in the 2023-24 season:

High average: men, tie, Jeremy Bloom 217, Patrick Olson 217, and Chad Mason 217; women: Ciena Brittle 183; High series, men: John Helm 772; women, Ciena Brittle, 684; High game: men, tie, Jeremy Bloom 300, Chad Mason 300; women, Ciena Brittle 268. Most individual match points won: John Helm 57.

We want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for bowling in the Fraternal league. We miss you already and hope you will return to bowl this great league next season.

In the meantime, don’t be strangers, drop on in to say high, bowl a few games to stay sharp over the break and seriously consider trying our special challenge events that will be held this summer. These challenge events will have a different look on the lanes with some easy and difficult oil patterns that will test your bowling skills. Can you handle conditions that are different from the easy house shot that you tore up every Wednesday?

Monday evening Industrial league:

Last week the “elite eight” matches were conducted in the unique bracket tournament that the Industrial league features to decide it’s championship. The format for the matches was total pins for each team, including handicap for 3 games.

All matches were remarkably close, with margins ranging from 88 to 27 pins. Here are the results:

The Rollers (No. 1 seed) beat The Crew (No. 8 seed), 1,981 pins to 1,908 pins. Kevin Harris led his Rollers trio to victory with a 238 game and 634 series.

Orchard Lanes (No. 7 seed) beat 3 Fingers Deep (No. 2 seed), 2,039 pins to 1,990 pins. Orchard Lanes win was paced by all-star Nancy Asai with a 236 game. James Youtsey did everything he could to keep his 3 Fingers squad in the match by rolling a big 268 game and 679 series, but good as it was, it just wasn’t enough.

Pat’s Pro Shop (No. 3 seed) beat Clear Cutters (No. 6 seed), 1,892 pins to 1,865 pins. Proprietor Patrick Olson keyed his Pro Shop to the win with a 247 game and 679 series.

MTS (No. 5 seed) beat Randy’s Painting (No. 4 seed), 2,101 pins to 2,013 pins. Steve Byers was the big man for his MTS gang in their win as he tossed a 246 game and 649 series. Randy Nieto primed his painters in the match with a solid 234 game and 636 series, but MTS was just too good.

Next up, this week will feature the following “final four” matches:

The Rollers (No. 1 seed) against Orchard Lanes (No. 7 seed). This should be a close match as both teams are essentially even in the handicap department. The outcome is going to depend on who can produce in crunch time.

Pat’s Pro Shop (No. 3 seed) against MTS (No. 5 seed). This match features the 800 pound elephant in the room, otherwise known as Pat’s Pro Shop, who has the lowest handicap of 66 pins per game vs. MTS with 112. That works out to a 56 pin advantage for MTS but better bowlers, i.e., teams with lower handicaps, usually win. So, it’s going to be a big challenge for MTS to overcome. Nevertheless, MTS is a past league champion so they have proven they can do it. We’ll see who rises to the challenge.

Let’s GO BOWLING everyone!