Team of the week
1. Patrick Olson 743
2. Lynn Spellman 725
3. Levi Phelps 684
4. Rob Miller 667
5. Nancy Asai 664
3,485 total pins
Rob Miller joins our fearsome fivesome for the first time. He’s a newcomer to league action at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes, so we want to take this opportunity to send him a hearty welcome. We are always pleased to see new bowlers join our leagues. Rob is a right-handed flame thrower from White Salmon. He throws his bowling ball hard and when the smoke settled after he turned the pins into smoldering piles of sawdust in the Fraternal league last week, that speedy sphere of his racked up a nifty scratch 667 three-game series. We are rather good at spotting ten-pin talent so even though this is Rob’s first time on the vaunted Team of the Week, we expect he will be there many more times to come. By the way, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Team of the Week honors, it’s a compilation of bowlers who rolled the five highest series scores at Orchard Lanes in the previous week’s leagues. We chose a five bowler team because historically, top bowling teams were comprised of five people. And, no, the bowlers on our Team of the Week do not necessarily bowl together in league on the same team.
Our other Fab Fivers this week are top notch regulars who show up in the headlines so often they have become household names around here. You know who they are. One thing is really special though, and that is to see all-star Nancy Asai on the team for the second week in a row. Without a doubt, it’s a big deal to see a woman bowl big numbers like these. Granted, Nancy is a heck of a bowler who has a glittering resume of awesome bowling scores but, more importantly, she regularly shows another reason why bowling is such a great game. Women can and do beat men. You cannot say that about very many other sporting activities, period. So, ladies, pay attention, you have no excuses, don’t be afraid, go bowling and enjoy the feeling of obliterating those formidable 3 pound, 6 ounce pins.
Now, let’s check out a few tidbits from league play. In the Industrial which features both head-to-head and team matches with 25 points available each week, MTS (Mighty Tough Shooters!) increased their league lead, to 10 points ahead of Pat’s Pro Shop because MTS demolished Randy’s Painting 21-4 while Pat’s Pro Shop lost ground even though they dismantled Hood River Supply 17-8. It was definitely a week of lopsided results in the Industrial as Mid-Columbia Diesel ran over Orchard Lanes 23-2 thanks to ramblin’ Rod Pratt’s cool 658 three game series; OL’7-10 took the polish off Lustre Kings 22-3; and the Cereal Bowlers found the lucky charm in their box of Kix, topping Kingpinz 16-9.
In the Mixed league which has a traditional 4-point scoring system for games and total pins won, past champs Are You Splitting Me leap frogged into first place after a 4-0 sweep of Ten Pinnies. Kristyn Fix found all the answers as she starred for the splitters, rolling a beautiful scratch 225 game which was 89 pins over her average! No wonder Ten Pinnies lost, it’s hard to beat an outstanding performance like that. Take Ten is in second place, just 1 point back. Smooth Ken Espersen’s 659 paced Take Ten’s 3-1 win over last year’s champs, Are You Splitting Me. Just about every team in the league is still in the race though, as only 4 points separate the top 9 teams. Kudos to Torey Schmidt who rolled a nice 203 game that keyed their 3-1 win over Gutter Dawgs. Stalwart Stuart Kawachi’s 652 and Mr. 216 average Joey Sheirbon’s 642 were mighty good for Team Nishi, but it wasn’t enough as Mad Skilz beat them 3-1. And, finally, the aforementioned big shooter Nancy Asai’s glitzy 664 set propelled Double A Orchards to a 3-1 win over Hood River Supply.
Only three points separate the top five teams in the Senior Colts and Fillies league which also features the traditional 4-point system. The Awesome 3 leapt into first place after a 4-0 sweep of Skamaniacs. The Outsiders waxed powerhouse Go Granny Gone 4-0; and the big match of the week that pitted all-star Bernie Keys Team Marcus against twins Mick and Dick Sherrell’s Jesse’s Team ended up in a 2-2 draw as Bernie rolled a solid 212 game and the hands down star in the league last week, Mick Sherrell scattered the sticks to the tune of a gaudy 639 series that included 226 and 214 games.
The hot shot Fraternal league, which also has a 25-point head-to-head scoring system, saw some jumping jack action too as Mt. Hood Barbeque flew into first place after they put the fire out of the Dragon boys with a 24-1 grilling. This drubbing was clearly due to the Barbecue’s Tyson Trout, who is another talented newcomer to league action at Orchard Lanes this season. Tyson racked up 235 and 221 games in his first 600, a fine 642. The 3 Genius’s defused the Red Rockets 19.5-5.5 as Rob Miller rocked the sticks with the previously noted 667 set; Hood River Athletic Club out muscled Orchard Lanes 17-8 and Tres Psicos (3 Psychos) did the same thing to the BB’s. Mr. 206 average Ted Rosenberg maintained that pace with a 619 set for the BB’s which wasn’t enough but it’s notable because Ted is bowling like a new man after his recent hand surgery. Last year Ted averaged 176 which means he has improved a whopping 30 pins a game this season! Ted, that is simply spectacular.
This week we welcome back the fun-loving County league which also has a traditional 4-point system. In their first week of action Save the Pins swept Yogi’s 4-0; and Split Happens topped The Unbowlievables 3-1 as Cy Cannon’s barrage led the win with a big 224 game. Cy stayed hot for Split Happens in their second week of action, rolling a 202 game but it wasn’t enough as Save the Pins bested the Splitters 3-1. Also, in their second week, Pins in Low Places blanked the Lady Ballers 4-0 as dynamo Gordon Pillon keyed the win with a 202 game; The Incredibowls, who won three points in the first week, continued their torrid pace blitzing The Hellions 4-0 as Rod Pratt and Matt Stoneberg crushed the sticks. Rod powered three 200s, 224, 211 and 201 for a cool 639 series while Matt fired a big 237 game. It’s hard to beat scores like those and, yes, the Incredibowls are in first place, tied with Save the Pins with 7-1 records.
In the most pins over average department seven of our hot shot bowlers beat their average by 100 pins or more: Gordon Pillon led everyone as he topped his average by 139 pins in the County league; Mike Schroeder was next after beating his average by 135 sticks in the County league; Tyson Trout exceeded his average by 123 pins in the Fraternal; Rod Pratt beat his average by 121 pins in the Industrial; Lynn Spellman topped his average by 107 sticks in the Fraternal; Kristyn Fix beat her average by 101 pins in the Mixed league; and Rob Miller topped his average by 100 pins in the Fraternal.
Great bowling everyone!
League reports
Industrial (Monday 7 p.m.): Patrick Olson: 278, 246, 743; Lynn Spellman: 265,253, 725; Rod Pratt: 658; Jeff Miller: 255; Steve Byers: 235; Nancy Asai: 230
Tuesday Nite Mixed (7 p.m.): Nancy Asai: 268, 210, 664; Ken Espersen: 241, 659; Stuart Kawachi: 235, 652; Joey Sheirbon: 279; Oliver Buddendeck: 257; Brandon Kawachi: 249; Jeremy Bloom: 243; Woody Eskildsen: 236; Patrick Olson: 236; Kristyn Fix: 225; Ciena Brittle: 202
Senior Colts and Fillies (Wednesday 1:30 p.m.): Mick Sherrell: 226,214, 639; Bernie Keys: 212
Fraternal (Wednesday 7:30 p.m.): Levi Phelps: 252, 684; Rob Miller: 254, 237, 667; Patrick Olson: 253, 667; Tyson Trout: 235; Bernie Keys: 221; Ciena Brittle: 203
County (Thursday 5 p.m.): Rod Pratt: 224, 211,201, 636; Matt Stoneberg: 237; Cy Cannon: 224; Gordon Pillon: 202
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