Kegler's Corner: Pat’s and 6th St. win

2. Jeff Miller, 725

3. Patrick Olson, 723

4. Jeremy Bloom, 704

5. Kyle Van Cleave, 703

3,583 total pins

Old Man Winter gave us enough of a break last week so we could resume league bowling at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes. Scoring was excellent. Our Team of the Week, who all shot 700s, is comprised of a familiar five names that regularly shine in the bowling limelight around here. They are all fine bowlers who get plenty of ink, so we won’t elaborate further on their many achievements in this great game. You know who they are.

Instead, let’s focus on John Mayfield and Aaron Troxel in the Industrial league. They are two success stories.

John is relatively new to league action. He subbed a few times last season and like most newcomers, he had a lot to learn. He is big and strong, so he had no trouble firing that heavy bowing ball of his with great speed. Good speed is necessary in the modern game of bowling but too much of it can be detrimental. Speed without revs causes the ball to deflect off the pins which leads to poor strike action and splits. Speed is also a good thing to make spares, but it must be under control to be accurate.

Accuracy is necessary in bowling. This season John joined the Pat’s Pro Shop team in the Industrial league. He started out with a 148 average and has improved every week. He rolled his first ever 600 series at the end of November, a fine 645. Last week he rolled another one, a 641 set that was 141 pins over his average. That outing raised his average to 170, which means he has improved a whopping 22 pins per game this season! It’s hard to beat that action.

As a result, John has become an integral member of the Pat’s Pro Shop team, who have already clinched round 2 in the Industrial league, even though there is still one more week to go in the round. The Pro Shop crew are ahead by a huge 42-point margin which is insurmountable because only 25 points are available to win each week. Congratulations to the Pat’s Pro Shop trio, Joey Sheirbon, John Mayfield, Patrick Olson and their super sub, Jenna Hert.

Now, about Aaron Troxel. Aaron’s style is unique and it’s a bit unorthodox, but it works for him. He doesn’t put his thumb in the ball. He only puts his two middle fingers in the finger holes and cradles the ball in his hand as he swings it with his right arm during his approach. When he gets to the foul line, he releases his ball out over it and because his thumb isn’t in it, his two fingers impart buzzsaw-like counterclockwise revs on it. That leads to a powerful pin busting hook and strikes galore.

Aaron has been a long-time league regular who has steadily improved. He’s really found “the zone” this season. Last week he racked up a mighty fine 653 series and raised his average to 195 pins per game. We believe Aaron will soon be cracking that gold standard for bowlers, a 200 average.

Congratulations to the 6th Street Bistro team in the hot-shot Fraternal league, who also clinched an early win in their second round even though there is still one more week to go in it. The Bistro trio, Jeremy (Mr. Smooth) Bloom and two postal guys who deliver the goods with-out fail, Mark Chabotte and Bryan Mason, have been “En Fuego” of late and have a commanding 27-point lead with only 25 points available to win each week.

Nice going guys! Let’s go bowling everybody!

League high scratch games and series

Monday night Industrial:

Patrick Olson: 269, 247, 723

Jeff Miller: 253, 246, 661

Aaron Troxel: 247, 653

Kevin Harris: 253

Rod Pratt: 246

John Mayfield: 244

Kyle Van Cleave: 240

Matt Hodges: 236

Dustin Ticknor: 235

Tuesday Nite Mixed:

Nancy Asai: 228, 623

Jeremy Bloom: 267

Wynn Winfield: 245

Carl Casey: 243

Patrick Olson: 238

Ciena Brittle: 222, 201

Wednesday afternoon senior Colts and Fillies:

Dave Baumsteiger: 224

Lynn Spellman: 214, 211

Dick Sherrell: 205, 205

Tony Teschner: 200

Wednesday night Fraternal:

Lynn Spellman: 265, 258, 728

Jeff Miller: 279, 237, 725

Jeremy Bloom: 245, 236, 704

Kyle Van Cleave: 265, 703

Levi Phelps: 245, 235, 693

Dustin Ticknor: 243, 683

John Riggleman: 247, 675

Josh Worth: 236, 655

Bryan Mason: 237