Kegler's Corner: Industrial Rules

2 Jeff Miller694

3. Stan Pratnicki692

4. Dustin Ticknor677

5. John Riggleman661

3,422 total pins

In addition to the Olson and Miller show, who seem to make our vaunted big five just about every week, including this one, three of our finest regulars joined them on it this time. Kudos to fire-balling Stan Pratnicki, smooth Dustin Ticknor and steady John Riggleman, who bowled up a storm at good old Orchard Lanes last week.

Mr. Pratnicki’s legendary, nearly airborne missile that he fires down and in around the 5-board, busted up a ton of sticks in the Fraternal. Stan got off to a slow start in his first game but then he went from night-to-day racking up strikes like he was Pete (Who do you think you are, I am!) Weber to notch big 265 and 252 games on his way to a mighty fine 692 series for the night. We’re not kidding about Stan’s ball speed.

When it comes to MPH, he would be getting ticketed for exceeding the speed limit every time he throws the ball. Watching Stan bowl, you would swear his ball never touches the lane from the foul line to the head pin 60 feet away. Well, it works pretty darn good because the proof is in the pudding, Stan is currently carrying a nifty 200 average, which is the mark of an exceptionally good bowler.

You want to see smooth? You want to see the most perfect, textbook approach, foot work and balance in town? Well, check out Dustin Ticknor in a pin spilling session sometime. He’s got it all and it’s actually quite distracting because you just can’t stop watching his incredible fluidity behind the foul line.

When he’s doing his thing, it’s hard to concentrate on your own game. He makes it look so easy, which, as we all know, it’s not. For many of us, it’s a challenge to put one foot in front of the other, one, two, three, four, include an arm swing and wow, it gets complicated.

Last week Dustin punched the pins like he seems to do every time he laces up with a solid 677 set in the Industrial. Oh, and by the way, here’s that indicator of talent again, Dustin is carrying a cool 207 average. You would be smart to emulate Dustin’s style, he knows what he’s doing and he’s darn good at it.

Anchoring our Fab Five this time is renowned Washington state orchardist John Riggleman, who grows beautiful and tasty apples. John is one of those guys who kind of sneaks up on you. He’s so low-key, you almost don’t even know he’s there. But, when the dust settles and you ask who bowled well, John is usually right in the thick of things. He’s a heck of a bowler and his game is plain solid. He plays the lanes almost down the middle using medium speed and he imparts just enough revs on his ball so that he seems to control it like a yo-yo on a string.

It’s beautiful to watch. He doesn’t muscle it up with speed and he doesn’t crank it up twisting into a corkscrew like so many guys do, trying to put something extra on the ball. He’s smooth and easy, he lets the ball do the work. And, you better believe this, it does work! John played super sub in the Industrial last week, rolling a nifty 671 series and he also notched a nice 640 set in the Fraternal. John is having a great season and is now carrying a sharp 206 average. Again, that’s all you need to know, John is a mighty fine bowler and fair warning, he’s a darn good golfer too!

In addition to our extremely talented team of the week stars, there was a notable scoring increase in the Industrial. Kyle Van Cleave, one of the many gifted bowlers from The Dalles who join us for league twice a week, trundled a fine 663 set which raised his average to that magical 200 level; Carl Casey turned up a neat 642 series, sparking his rejuvenated game this season that has seen him return to the sharp 190 average level; Ken Thornton found his “A” game again with a smart 641 set; Joey Sheirbon, who continues to steadily improve and is knocking on the door of a 200 average, shot 639; Chris Huff, showed he’s got plenty of bowling moxie as he cuffed a slick 620 set that was 110 pins better than his average; and Hood River Supply’s main man, Woody Eskildsen, joined in on the scoring festivities with a 619 series.

Woody has seen his game rise a meteoric dozen pins this season, mainly due to him playing the lanes just off the right gutter which gives his sharp breaking hook ball the ultimate angle of entry into the 1-3 pocket. That increased entry angle is critically important because it results in a definite increase in strikes.

What do you say, let’s go bowling everyone!

HIGH LEAGUE GAMES AND SERIES LAST WEEK:

Monday night Industrial:

Jeff Miller: 257, 237, 694

Dustin Ticknor: 253, 677

John Riggleman: 258, 671

Kyle Van Cleave: 663

Nancy Asai: 208, 201, 601

Lynn Spellman: 235

Wednesday afternoon senior Colts and Fillies:

Lynn Spellman: 257, 210, 658

Ken Kramer: 223, 203

Mike Parke: 223

Dick Sherrell: 210, 200

Wednesday night Fraternal:

Patrick Olson: 266, 698

Stan Pratnicki: 265, 252, 692

Jeff Miller: 246, 677

Jeremy Bloom: 238, 664

Bernie Keys: 214, 200, 613

Bryan Mason: 243

Levi Phelps: 238

Jeff Brittle: 235

Ciena Brittle: 208, 200