"Junior/Senior"DOUBLES
West Lane Bowl - Stockton
January 24
We had a great turnout last Sunday for our 3rd Annual Junior/Senior Doubles, with 34 teams taking to the lanes for some spirited competition.
The bowlers were in a good mood, possibly because of Kelly Kulick. A couple of hours before we started, Kulick became the first woman in history to win a national PBA event. And she won in style, tossing 11 consecutive pocket hits to defeat Chris Barnes by 70 pins in the PBA Tournament of Champions. Interestingly, Kulick's victory came almost 10 years to the day after she was named Amateur Bowler of the Year. And she's only gotten better in that decade.
The other big story of the day concerned football. Both the NFC and AFC playoff games were on the TV monitors above the approaches, allowing bowlers to keep an eye on the football action. It was quite a day, with the Indianapolis Colts beating the New York Jets, and the New Orleans Saints managing an upset overtime win over the Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings.
As to our tournament, scores were pretty high. Three players tossed 300 games: congratulations to Noel Vasquez, Freddy Irvin and Carlie Medina. Marty Deh came close, opening the day with a 297. (This after bowling 16 games over two tournaments in two cities the day before.)
In "Junior" (under age 45) side pot singles action, Carlie Medina III took home the crown on the strength of a 2,028 total over the eight-game route...a nice 253 average. He banked $125 - not bad for a $20 side pot entry. He was followed in the cash line by Mike Richards (1,993), Danny Lew (1,979) and Harry Fong (1,924).
In Senior side pot singles, it was Marty Deh at the top with 1,989; Deh had a $125 payday. He was followed to the bank by Bob Roak (1,926), Michael Clark (1,896), Alan Taylor (1,885) and Marc Nelson (1,845). It should be noted that Nelson was somewhat of a celebrity at the tournament, recognized in the pre-event meeting as the winner of the first PRO tournament, back in 1983.
But the marquee event of the day was the 3rd Annual Junior/Senior Doubles. Defending champions "Junior" Scott Vanderlick and partner Bob Roak gave notice of their intent to notch back-to-back wins by starting the day with a 543 total. Roak opened with nine strikes, leaving a 10th frame 10-pin and finishing with a 279; Vanderlick was no slouch, tossing an eight-bagger en route to a 264.
But it was not to be for Roak/Vanderlick. Although the two men continued their torrid scoring pace, the team of Marty Deh and Chris Hillman had the hotter hands. At the end of the competition, Deh/Hillman finished at the top of the pack with a 3,812 total - a 238 team average - splitting the top prize of $1,350.
The team of Lee Patterson and Carlie Medina III weren't too far behind. Their 3,769 total - a 235 average - meant a second-place finish, and $750.
And so it went. Down the line, the top teams after Patterson/Medina were Roak/Vanderlick (3,763), Larry Dyson/Danny Lew (3,752), Rory Peterson/Austin Kircher (3,721), Joe Hart/Mike Richards (3,704), Paul Herrera/Freddy Irvin (3,673), Bill Lautenschlager/Harry Fong (3,672), Michael Clark/Tom Mazzula (3,637), John Curtis/Kevin Harlin (3,617), Curtis Cole/Anthony Thompson (3,615), and Marc Nelson/Nate Johnson (3,600).
Other cashers on the day included Sam Carter, Greg Thompson, Jr., Gary Lee, Kioni Sodario, Mike Ascunsion, Joe Petrovich, Craig Miller, Keith Pridgeon, Milo Coronado, Dave Milichichi, Pat Brock, Tony Tsui, Jackie Hilliard, and Chris Rose.
All in all, we had our largest payout ever - $7,120 - and hope to top that total in our 4th Annual Junior/Senior Doubles in January, 2011.
Our thanks to all those bowlers who competed, to our crowd of spectators, and to West Lane Bowl manager Diane Marciano and her fine staff. We'll see you next year.
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