A quick review of last week’s scores in all of the bowling leagues at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes shows the pins were definitely in control with only a few exceptions.
John Helm was heads and shoulders above everyone. In the Wednesday night Fraternal league, John fashioned a fantastic 760 three-game series. John started out with a beautiful 265 game, and he followed that up with an even bigger 279 game. He was definitely “in the zone,” having demolished the pins in his first two games with more than 20 strikes. When you’re bowling that well, it’s almost like an out-of-body feeling, you just can’t miss! Going into his third and final game of the session with 544 pins, we were all thinking John could get that rare, nearly unattainable, magical 800 series. His ball was absolutely crushing the pins, ten in the pit just about every time. Boom, boom, boom, strike after strike and nary a 10-pin tap. It’s a beautiful sight when your ball makes all ten of those pins literally jump off the deck without hesitation from any of them, that’s when you know you’re rolling the ball well. Well, that third-game transition when the oil goes awry on the lanes made it more difficult to get strikes. So, John settled for a 216 in his last game. Nevertheless, his 760 is the highest series recorded at Orchard Lanes this season.
So, how did he do it and why was he so much better than everyone else in league action last week? Good questions. Well, first of all, John is an outstanding bowler. He averaged 207 last season. His style, his game is down and in with speed and a modest hook that takes care of business. And with experience, which John has, it’s repeatable. That is an excellent formula for success. In essence, John was hot on this night, everything was working for him. Maybe the planets had lined up? Who knows! Great bowling John!
Here are the top team standings and match results from last week’s leagues at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes:
Monday Night Industrial league:
1. Pat’s Pro Shop, 77 points
2. OL’7-10, 74 points
3. Clear Cutters, 71.5 points
4. Randy’s Painting, 70 points
Pat’s Pro Shop (Joey Sheirbon, John Mayfield, Patrick Olson and Jenna Hert) wiped Orchard Lanes 24-1 (Joey Sheirbon led the pro shop with a 235 game, while Aron Asai had 206 and Nancy Asai had 201 games for the lanes crew).
Clear Cutters toppled Triple T’s 21.5-3.5 (Rod Pratt had 227 and 204 games plus a 606 series and George (THE) Buck stops here rolled a 204 game for the cutters).
Randy’s Painting trounced Hood River Supply 19-6 (Albert Frelix had back-to-back 202 games for the painters). OL’7-10 lost to Mt. Hood BBQ 17-8 (John Riggleman shot 245 and Mike Bosse had 216 games for the BBQ-ers, while Lynn Spellman had a 202 game for OL’7-10). The Crew beat The Rollers 17-8; and Decavo squeaked by MTS 13-12 (Mac Proffitt had a 201 game for MTS).
High scores:
Men: John Riggleman, 245 game; Rod Pratt, 606 series
Women: Nancy Asai, 201 game and 548 series
Bowler of the week: John Mayfield, 145 pins over average
Tuesday Nite Mixed league:
1. Team Nishi, 11.5 wins
2. The New Team, 11 wins
3. Gutter Dawgs, 10 wins
Gutter Dawgs blanked CPR 4-0. Mad Skilz swept Double A Orchards 4-0 (Bob Mason had a 211 game for Mad Skilz and Nancy Asai had a 204 game for Double A). Hood River Supply topped Who Gives a Split 3-1 (Woody Eskildsen had a 200 game for Supply), and Taco Tuesday beat Split Faced 3-1.
Take Ten thumped Are You Splitting Me 3-1 (Ken Espersen had a 235 game for Take Ten); Team Nishi (Jeff Hasegawa, Janet Kawachi, Stuart Kawachi and Joey Sheirbon) split 2-2 with New Team (Stuart Kawachi had a 202 game for Team Nishi).
High Scores:
Men: Ken Espersen, 235 game and 593 series
Women: Nancy Asai, 204 game and 546 series
Wednesday afternoon senior Colts & Fillies league:
1. Rolling Pins, 20 wins
2. Cousins, 18 wins
3. Awesome, 18 wins
4. Pins in Low Places, 18 wins
Cousins and Rolling Pins (Patsy Busick, Ed Busick and Matt Phillips) swept their matches 4-0. Rolling Pins pounded Gutt-er Done (Matt Phillips had a 206 game for Rolling Pins whereas Rod Pratt rolled a 223 game for Gutt-er Done). Cousins blanked Skamaniacs (Paul Dethman had a 213 game for Cousins); Pins in Low Places topped We Tried 3-1; and Awesome 3 beat Jessie’s Team 3-1.
High scores:
Men: Rod Pratt, 223 game and 553 series
Women: Ann Brady, 193 game and 528 series
Wednesday night Fraternal league:
1. Hood River Athletic Club, 117 points
2. The Bowling Stones, 107.5 points
3. Mt. Hood BBQ, 101 points
Tres Psicos thumped Bloom Auto Body 23-2 (Skip Whitley rolled 224 and 210 games plus a 614 series for Tres Psicos, whereas Jeremy Bloom stroked 217 and 204 games plus a 617 series for the auto body crew). In a battle of the barbequers, Mt. Hood BBQ whipped Get Hu’sum BBQ 22-3 (Court Barker had 227 & 207 games for the Mt. Hood grillers whereas Stan Pratnicki fired a 226 game for the Husum trio). Hood River Athletic Club (Jesse Orr, Ken Kramer, and Josh Worth) thrashed Orchard Lanes 20-5 (Josh Worth blasted 236,221,220 games for a 677 series and Jesse Orr added 202 & 200 games for the clubbers whereas Jeff Brittle cranked out 244, 232 and 215 games for a 691 series and Mike Parke contributed a 203 game for the lanes threesome); the Bowling Stones edged The Red Rockets 14-11 (Chad Mason racked up 215, 204 and 204 games for a 623 series and Bill Morrissey added a 223 game for the stones, while James Youtsey notched 224 and 215 games plus a 623 series for the rockets).
Bowler of the week: John Helm, 181 pins over average
Thursday afternoon County league:
1. Blind Bowlers, 10 wins
2. Lady Ballers, 9 wins
3. The Incredibowls, 8 wins
4. Holy Rollers, 8 wins
Lady Ballers smashed Stop, Drop & Bowl 4-0; the Incredibowls blasted The Munsons 4-0 (Yoyo Cervantes logged a 205 game for the incredible crew). Save the Pins waxed The Flu Fighters 4-0.
Blind Bowlers (Andrew Serak, Nate Lain & James Reck) bumped BS-ers 3-1 (Victor Flores tossed a 200 for the BS boys); the Unbowlievables stomped Holy Rollers 3-1, and The Gutter Balls beat Over the Line 3-1.
High scores:
Men: Yoyo Cervantes, 205 game and Victor Flores, 560 series
Women: Regan Steller, 190 game and DeAnna Allen, 438 series

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