Last week our favorite plumber, Levi Phelps, rolled a 300 game in the Wednesday night Fraternal league at Orchard Lanes. Folks, for those of you who don’t know anything about bowling, 300 is the best score possible in one game; you can’t go any higher.
It takes 12 strikes in a row to shoot 300. Can you even imagine doing 12 straight strikes? It’s hard enough to get a couple of them! A 300 in bowling is known as a perfecto, or a perfect game. It was Levi’s first one. The 33-year-old Mr. Phelps has become the stick that stirs the drink on one of the most successful teams in the Fraternal league. He is the only constant on his team that has lost several key members over the years. That tells you something about how valuable Levi is.
Levi’s team has won the high scoring, tough Fraternal league multiple times, which is amazing because this league is comprised of most of the best bowlers in the area. It’s not easy to beat these guys. Levi can really make those 3 pound, 6 ounce pins dance. His game is quite simple — not much hook, with lots of speed on a direct line to the pins just to the right of center. He’s sure turned a corner in his game this season. His past efforts were nothing to sneer at either. In addition to winning the league so many times, Levi finished up last season with a solid 200 average, right on the nose. That’s darn good bowling in anybody’s book.
It’s even more impressive when you consider that Levi doesn’t practice at all, he simply bowls his three games a week in the Fraternal league. This story gets even better: He hasn’t changed this formula any, but this season, he has raised his average to a heady 215 pins per game. That’s simply awesome because it’s exceedingly difficult to raise an already high average like his. How do you explain it? The experts say top performers are mentally tough. For those of us who must bowl against Levi, we better realize that he is a tough customer — he’s a nice kid, but on the lanes, he turns into a tiger!
Onlookers report that of the 12 strikes in Levi’s 300 game, his 11th toss crossed over, but it carried for what we call a Brooklyn strike. And that’s OK, all of us need a break now and then. Getting that first 300 is a big step; they get easier after the first one. We expect the talented Mr. Phelps will collect a hatful of them in his career on the lanes.
Levi’s 300 capped his night’s work, giving him a mighty fine 741 series after his first two games of 208 and 233. This was the fifth 300 shot at Orchard Lanes this season. Scoring has been excellent.
Team of the Week
1. Dustin Ticknor, 746
2. Levi Phelps, 741
3. Jeremy Bloom, 729
4. Matt Hodges, 725
5. Kyle Van Cleave, 688
3,629 total pins
Dustin Ticknor edged out Mr. Phelps for top honors on the Team of the Week with a classy 746 series that he notched in the Monday night Industrial league. Dustin’s big set was highlighted by a near 300 with a 10 strike 288 game. His Wild Giant Studio team had a field day on the lanes.
In addition to Dustin’s big numbers, teammates Matt Hodges fired a 725 and Kyle Van Cleave notched a 688. Those are imposing numbers. As a team, on this night, this terrific trio averaged 239 per person! It wasn’t too long ago that a team score like that might qualify as one of the best in the nation. All three of these big shooters made our Fab Five due to their bowling prowess and all three of these pin busters hail from The Dalles. We’re sure glad to welcome our good friends from The Dalles and seeing them happily knocking the pins around at Orchard Lanes makes us feel happy.
The only outlier on our big five is none other than Mr. Smooth him-self, Jeremy Bloom, who logged a nice 729 set in the Fraternal. Jeremy is having a great year on the lanes. He shoots big numbers like these often, in fact this season he’s already notched a perfect 300 game and he is the current holder of the highest series at the lanes, a mind boggling huge 822. Jeremy is currently averaging a cool 216 pins per game.
All-Star Nancy Asai just missed making the Team of the Week and led the ladies in scoring last week with a strong 684 series that her machine-like down and in game produced in the Tuesday Nite Mixed league.
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