Kegler's Corner: Rob Miller rolls 724, leads Team of the Week

2. Jeremy Bloom, 706

3. Skip Whitley, 693

4. Josh Worth, 668

5. Farra & Pratnicki, 664

3,455 total pins

Rob Miller led everyone in scoring at Hood River’s venerable Orchard Lanes last week as he rolled a superb 724 three game series in the Fraternal league.

This is Rob’s first season of intense ten-pin action in the fast paced and high scoring Fraternal league, and he’s fit right in. This was Rob’s second 700 of the season and it nudged him to just a stick below the milestone 200 average mark. Attaining a 200 average in bowling is a big deal; it denotes outstanding proficiency and kind of separates the men from the boys, so to speak.

We are convinced that by the end of this season, Rob will continue his pin busting ways and is a shoo-in to join the list of talented 200 average bowlers in town.

Jeremy Bloom is one of the best bowlers in town and he’s maintained that impressive level for many years. Last week, Jeremy’s syrupy smooth slants upended another pile of pins in the Tuesday Nite Mixed league as he fashioned a cool 706 series. That was also Jeremy’s second 700 of this season. He’s logged so many 700s in his career on the lanes it’s almost a ho-hum event for him. He’s gone way higher in the past, tossing several perfect 300 games and huge, pro-like 800 series. The right hander with the unusual staccato step style in his approach footwork is currently carrying an all-star like 216 average.

Skip Whitley has done it! Skip attained that special 200 average mark last week after he notched a nifty 693 series in the hot-shot Fraternal league. This is the gregarious Mr. Whitley’s first gambit in league play at Orchard Lanes. The Fraternal is THE most competitive league in the Gorge so to be a successful team you better be tough. Skip’s high scoring ten-pin exploits made him an integral member and solidified his Tres Psicos team in the league. Skip, along with teammates James Klugel, who is also new to the league wars this season, and the inimitable past Oregon State No-Tap Champ George (the) Buck stops here are a formidable trio who can confidently take on any of the other powerhouse teams in the Fraternal. The Tres Psicos crew has a solid 581 team average which equates to nearly 194 pins per man. That’s extremely competitive in any league.

Josh Worth continues to do yeoman’s heavy lifting, week in and week out for his Hood River Athletic Club team. This past week he lifted that heavy sphere that he fires with beaucoup speed in the Fraternal to a solid 668 series. Of course, that’s barely average for the long-time Orchard Lanes staffer who is carrying a heady all-star 215 average. His latest master class on the lanes steered his crew to a 17-8 win over the powerful first place Bloom Auto Body team. The HR Athletic Club is now in second place in the second round of the league, only a mere 4.5 points behind the leaders. Next week will feature a donnybrook position round that will pit these two teams in a critical final match which will ultimately decide the winner of the round. This will be big stuff, well worth (no pun intended!) watching, so come on up to the heights and join in on the fun.

Zach Farra and Stan Pratnicki both notched mighty fine 664 series in the Fraternal last week. Zach is totally new to us as this was his first week in league action. We know that Zach is in the military and will be with us for about three months. He is a highly motivated bowler, throws the ball right handed and puts lots on the ball. In his first session, he warmed up slowly in his new experience bowling on the friendly synthetics at Orchard Lanes but he sure put it all together in his third game of the night. Zach strung the first 10 strikes, needing just two more for a perfect 300 game. Well, his 11th toss went just a bit high on the head pin, leaving the 6-10 pins. He settled for a huge 288 game. That is one heck of an impressive start. We suspect Zach will give us oodles of thrills on the lanes in the weeks to come. He’s got talent.

Mr. Pratnicki, the fireballer from across the river, is renowned for hucking that heavy ball of his at what seems nearly like the speed of sound and we’re not kidding. Stan plays the lanes just off the right corner and his ball hooks sharply into the pins causing all kinds of devastation. That far right angle he employs when delivering his speedy ball, which almost appears to be airborne from the foul line to the pins 60 feet away down the lane, maximizes the entry angle into them which results in more strikes than Carter’s got pills. Stan is hard on those poor pins but he is simply amazing to watch in a pin spilling session. He is having a tremendous season and is currently carrying a spiffy 209 average.

In addition to the big outings from our Team of the Week stars, here are the leaders in the most pins over average department which usually result in big wins:

Klayton Benefield led everyone last week as he topped his average by 142 pins in the Industrial league. Klayton boosted his GB team to a 23-2 point trouncing of Kingpinz.

Rob Miller was next in the Fraternal. His classy 724 series was 133 pins over his average which along with his buddy Stan Pratnicki, crushed the BB’s 22-3. It’s pretty hard to beat the numbers those two posted last week.

Deanna Allen and Britt Lee showed their worth in the County league last week. Deanna beat her average by 106 pins which boosted her Gutter Girls team to a 3-1 win over the Lady Ballers. And finally, Britt Lee topped her average by 102 sticks which keyed her BowLeeAnders trio to a 4-0 sweep of the Helions. That was an quite an auspicious beginning of the second half of the County league for The BowLeeAnders as they are now in first place!

Great bowling everyone, and don’t forget to support our fabulous team sponsors!

League reports

Industrial (Monday, 7 p.m.): Lynn Spellman: 258, 658; Nancy Asai: 221,201, 607; James Klugel: 246; Patrick Olson: 239

Tuesday Nite Mixed (7 p.m.): Jeremy Bloom: 245, 237, 706; Chad Mason: 235; Ciena Brittle: 233; Nancy Asai: 212

Senior Colts and Fillies (Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.): Lynn Spellman: 216, 206, 200, 622; Ed Busick: 200

Fraternal (Wednesday. 7:30 p.m.): Rob Miller: 257, 242, 724; Skip Whitley: 246, 693; Josh Worth: 244,237, 668; Zach Farra: 288, 664; Stan Pratnicki: 278, 664; Ciena Brittle: 246, 215, 640; Matt Hodges: 253; Jeremy Bloom: 244; John Riggleman: 242; James Klugel: 238; Patrick Olson: 235

County League (Thursday, 5 p.m.): Rod Pratt: 224, 212, 608; Melissa Workheiser: 229; James Klugel: 225