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Ladies Bowling: Odd Balls pull ahead

BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO What do you want from me? Amber Williams at the American Legion lanes.
BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO What do you want from me? Amber Williams at the American Legion lanes.

BY MISSY KINGPIN

Bowling at the Legion can be so much fun you might forget how to keep score.

Either a crazy night on the lanes or a post-Thanksgiving stupor might explain the dicey scorekeeping as the Odd Balls met Mama P’s Chicks. The Chicks went home thinking they won the match. But erroneous scoring of spares inflated the Chicks’ score and held down the Odd Balls’ tally. Once corrected, the Odds swept the Chicks and stretched their lead in the standings.

The week’s first match between Louie’s Shear Delights and the Fabulous Five featured the highest game score we’ve seen in a long time. In the second game, Linda Springer of the Delights got into that magical zone where the pins scatter before almost every ball. After a modest spare on frame 1, she bagged a turkey with three strikes in a row on frames 3 through 5 and then took aim at an emu, closing out the game with four strikes in a row. Her final score: a 220. That’s one for the record books.

That match began with solid performances by Phyllis Power and Pam Jackson of the Delights. Both opened game one with spares, and Phyllis added six more for a 148. Pam mixed spares and strikes for a 145. In the Fabs’ lane, Donna Cass scored six spares and Jackie Brewer closed six frames as well, two with strikes. No hot-shots in this game, but the Fabs won, 643 to 635.

Everyone bowled better in game two, but no one could touch Linda and her 220 game. The Fabs’ Jackie and Donna gave it a go, picking up four spares and throwing three strikes each. Jackie’s strikes were delivered as a game ending turkey, giving her a 168 score. Donna posted a 163, and teammate Essie Simovich made six marks for a solid 133. For the Delights, Pam and Phyllis both made six marks, scoring 146 and 150, respectively. Those scores plus Linda’s sky-high pin count added up to a win for the Delights.

The magic spell didn’t last into game three. The highest score was Essie’s 148 game, featuring two strikes and four spares. Jackie contributed two strikes and three spares, and rookie Denise Clausey added four spares in her over-average game. Linda still led for the Delights with a 144, with Phyllis posting a 134 thanks to double strikes on frame 10. The Fabs finished on top in game three. The final match score is an interesting one: both teams’ scored a total 2082 pins, and the Delights’ game two win was the high game score. That calculates to 6 ½ match points for the Fabulous ones, and 4 ½ for the Delights.

In the second match, Stephanie Tybaert led the way for the Odd Balls and once again claimed the bowler of the week crown. Stephanie got to work right away, following a spare on 1 with a strike and picking up another three spares mid-game. The spares kept coming on frames 8 and 9, building up to a strike on 10 plus a bonus spare for a 170 score. Kelly Michalak picked up three spares before finding the sweet spot and throwing a strike on frame 5. She closed with another strike and a bonus spare on 10.

Three Chicks started the game and all contributed at least four marks, but these were not enough, and the Odd Balls won.

Ellie Labrozzi joined the Chicks for game two and rolled two spares and a strike right away. She nailed two more strikes mid-game and then followed with a spare on 9 with a strike and bonus spare on 10 for a 163. Her teammates couldn’t break three digits. In the other lane, Kelly scored more strikes than spares in her 141 game. Stephanie added just three marks, but with the blind scores from absent players, the Odds won by six pins.

Game three saw more good balls from Ellie including four strikes in her 160 game. Jules Best was at her best scoring a 135, but the other Chicks scratched out low scores. The Odd Balls took game three on the strength of Stephanie’s four-strike 157 game, and swept all 11 match points.

The Odd Balls have a nice lead, but also the bye as we go into week 9.

Week 8 Standings
Team    Won    Lost    Total Pins
Odd Balls    46    31    14563
Fabulous Five    38.5    38.5    14370
Louie’s Shear Delights    33.5    32.5    12286
Guttersnipes    33    33    12282
Mama P’s Chicks    25    41    12007