Kegler’s Corner: Eskildsen Repeats

Court Barker, +124 (778)

Ken Espersen, +114 (768)

Bryan Brady, +111 (750)

Mike Parke, +107 (760)

For the second time in just a couple of weeks, Woody Eskildsen emerged as the No. 1 bowler of the week in league action at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes. Bowling in the high-scoring Wednesday night Fraternal league, Woody finished the session in style, racking up a fine scratch 236 game that powered him to a solid scratch 624 series. That effort put him 159 pins over his average — tops at the lanes last week – which spurred his Your Rental Center team to a big win over the powerful Montavon’s Berries trio.

Close behind in the same session was power player Court Barker, who fired scratch 200 games at will, topping out with a 240 that pushed him to a mighty fine scratch 682 series. The youngster, who graduated from the junior program at Orchard Lanes, ended his night’s work 124 pins over his average.

Bowling is such a great game because there are so many ways to knock down those 3 pound, 6 ounce sticks. You don’t have to fire the rock 90 miles an hour, and you don’t have to put so much spin on it that your shoulder comes out of its socket. Ken Espersen is the proof in the pudding. Ken is the ultimate finesse player and he sure had the pins in control in the Tuesday Nite Mixed league, where he amassed a scratch 687 series that was capped by a scratch 256 game. Ken has been an outstanding bowler for a long time around here, and for this outing he was 114 pins over his average, good enough to get the third spot on the latest Team of the Week.

Next, we have newcomer Bryan Brady, who shined in the Tuesday Nite Mixed. Bryan played the giant-killer role for his team, Radcomp Industries, which faced the powerful and experienced Got Sand quartet comprised of four of the best bowlers in town. It can be a scary and intimidating at 111 pins over his average for the session. That’s the way to take on the big guys: just hang in there and give it your best shot.

We want to give a warm welcome back to our anchorman on the Team of the Week, Mike Parke. We have missed Mike and it’s good to see him back in action. Mike doesn’t really need much of an introduction — the smooth lefty from The Dalles is one of the best bowlers in the Northwest. Mike has been out of action for a while, but he’s back now and in his latest session in the Fraternal he notched a scratch 234 game and 643 series which was 107 pins over his average. That’s going to be just the tip of the iceberg for Mike; we expect huge scores from him in no time, as he has a resume of more award winning scores than you can shake a stick at.

Great bowling everybody!