Ladies bowling: Season ends with sweeps

BY CARA LORIZ

The teams at the top and bottom of the standings swept their opponents in the last matches of the 2015/2016 Ladies Bowling League, leaving the final standings unchanged.

Paint by Numbers iced the cake of their championship season by winning three tight games against the Odd Balls, the only team with a shot at improving their standings. With their second place spot secured weeks ago, Mama P’s Chicks fell to the tenacious Guttersnipes, last year’s champs but this season’s cellar dwellers. That rout brought us our Bowler of the Week: Snipe Robin Anderson scored her third crown this year with the most over average series of the week. What a nice way to end a rookie season.

The Paints top bowler, Phyllis Power, was back in action this week and led off game one with a spare followed by a strike. She closed three more frames before picking up the spare on 10, and throwing a bonus strike for a 144 game. Ginny Gibbs had a nice run of marks in frames 2 to 5: a pair each of strikes and spares.

The Odd Balls’ Bev Pelletier delivered her team’s best score, two strikes and three spares for a 134. Kelly Michalak picked up spares and a strike, and Linda McCarthy built a nice foundation with a spare on frame 8, a strike on 9 and a spare and bonus pins on 10.

The Paints came out on top by 10 points.

Kelly found the sweet spot in game two, throwing   four strikes and three spares for the week’s best score, a 165. But her teammates couldn’t match her finesse, and the Paints took advantage. Linda Springer bowled her best game of the night, a 155, and borrowed Phyllis’s flair with a bonus strike in the final frame. JoAnn LoBue and Ginny each closed four frames and the Paints won this game by just 9 points.

Phyllis revived her winning ways in game three, scoring a strike and three spares before her big finish: a strike on 9 followed by another strike and a bonus spare on 10. Ginny picked up five spares and celebrated the season with a strike on the final frame.

Linda kept pace, closing five frames. Meanwhile for the Odds, Stephanie Tybaert decided to finish the season in style with strikes on 7 and 8, a spare on 9 and another strike on 10. Kelly picked up five spares, but the other Odds could not make their averages and the Paints won game three by 12 points. The Paints also earned the best team scores of the week, and Kelly topped the stats in every individual bowler category except most over average series.

Game one between the Chicks and the Snipes highlighted each team’s top performers, but also some scores in the gutter. Mary Dudley led the way for the Snipes and picked up spares on three of the first four frames. She added another spare on 7 and then bagged a turkey with a strike on 9 and two more on 10 for a 156.

Her teammates added two spares each to the count, but couldn’t break three digits. The Chicks’ Sharon Wicks and Jules Best strung nice sets of spares for solid scores, but the Snipes edged them out, winning the game by just three points, 700 to 697.

The game two score sheet was lacking in black squares and triangles; neither team got in the zone. Sharon scored the best game, a 134, and Robin picked up three spares in a row in her over average game. The Snipes score was boosted by adding the average of an absent Cathy Driscoll, and they won the game by more than a dozen points.

The final game was nearly a replay with Robin carrying the day for the Snipes, but with Jules as the Chicks top scorer. The final game score: Snipes 677, Chicks 666. Robin’s improved play made the difference as she scored the most over average series of the week.

That’s a wrap on the ladies bowling season. The Paints stayed on top from week four on, and the Chicks’ claim to second place was solidified before spring. The Fab Five, who had the bye this week, fended off the Odd Balls for third place, and the Guttersnipes enjoyed a rebuilding year, sweeping any ambitions for a repeat championship into the gutter.

If you are not yet ready to face the world of Shelter Island sports without your bowling fix, fear not. We will report all the entertaining action from fun matches pitting equally ranked teams, men’s versus ladies, at the end of the month.

WEEK 25 STANDINGS
Team    Won    Lost    Total Pins
Paint by Numbers     143.5.5    76.5    42133
Mama P’s Chicks    114    106    41421
Fabulous Five    105    115    40007
Odd Balls    97    123    41587
Guttersnipes    90.5    129.5    41699