Bacaardi Singles (Day 2)

The Sprat PACK headed to Freeway Lanes early Sunday morning to bowl the quarter-final round of five games in the Bacardi Singles tournament.

I was completely lost and struggling all morning.  I went through five balls in my bag with no carry.  I was feeling confident and throwing the ball well but could find nothing.  My five games were: 202 - 192 - 198 - 226 - 208.  (+358) Not a good bracket session, but I was just hoping to make the next cut to the top 12.  Thirteenth place was the last cash spot.

Michelle bowled well: 256 - 223 - 198 - 225 - 213 (+240) which moved her up in the standings.

Vicki was bowling her heart out in order to make the next cut.  She fired games of: 204 - 191 - 258 - 204 - 300 (!) It was very exciting to watch my little sister throw all 12!  Her 300 pushed her ahead of me in the standings.

Vicki was 8th and I was 11th heading into the Semi-finals.  The 12th spot was +350.  Whew! I barely made it but was only 50 pins from the top 5.  Still in striking distance for a repeat!  Michelle finished somewhere in the top 24 but missed the cash spot.

Vicki and I bowled another four games.  She started with a 251 and finished with a 213 - 213 - 227.  I started off with my Roto-Grip Cell and began to lose carry in the second game.  My last four games were: 236 - 205 - 163 - 202.  Vicki finished 7th and I finished 10th.

All in all it was a good weekend for the Sprat PACK.  We came back to Jersey with a couple extra bucks, a couple more 300s, and more determination for the next tournament.

The Spratford Sisters head to CLE (Day 1)

The Spratford Sisters headed to Cleveland, OH this past weekend to bowl in the 51st Annual Bacardi Singles. It is a prestigious tournament hosted by the TNBA at Freeway Lanes in Wickliffe. I was hoping to defend my title. Qualifying consisted of two-5 game blocks on Saturday. The top half returned on Sunday morning to bowl another five games. The field was then cut to the top 12 to bowl another four games. The top five after 19 games bowl the stepladder finals.

Michelle and Vicki arrived early on Friday to bowl the practice session and check out the Hammer demo day. They were scheduled to bowl squad A early Saturday morning. I chose to bowl squad B so I didn't have to bowl on the fresh or cross my sisters in the many brackets that they have to offer.

Michelle started off slow, undecided on which ball to use. Her first set consisted of: 189 - 160 - 245 - 227 - 193 (+14)

Vicki was consistent, using her Ebonite Lane Breaker and Magic Action. Her first five games: 205 - 255 - 203 - 221 - 231 (+115)

The lanes were not dressed between the squads, so I got to bowl on the broken down lanes, where I am more comfortable. I used my Columbia Freeze that I recently got drilled by Jo Ann Foti of Ten in the Pit Shop at North Arlington Lanes. My first set consisted of: 208 - 220 - 236 - 215 - 258 (+137). I missed two easy spares in game four. I had a couple of other opens that were splits.

The pattern was definitely more playable than last year. If I remember crrectly, only one person was plus on day one. Rumor has it that we were bowling on the "White" sport pattern this year, as were the Seniors. The Men were bowling on the "Red" pattern. +225 was leading for the women after five games! The scores were very high; not typical for a "sport" pattern.

Michelle and Vicki headed back to the lanes to start their second set at 4:00 pm on the fresh again. Michelle settled on her original Storm Dimension and shot: 220 - 212 - 205 - 215 - 259. She was + 125 after 10 games.

Vicki started her second set low, but bounced back the next four games. She added 158 - 216 - 217 - 258 - 248 for +220.

I returned to the lanes at 8:00 pm to bowl my second set. I was still using my Freeze but switched to my Ebonite Clash in the middle. I finished with my Freeze as I was getting a little carry down. My next five games: 201 - 225 - 234 - 235 - 300 (!). I was the last lane to finish, even after someone had shot 299. I was a little nervouse but focused on my breathing and pre-shot routine that I had learned earlier in the year during my trip to the Kegel Training Center.  This was my 7th 300 game and very exciting. I finished my two blocks with +332.

After the ten games, I was in 4th, Vicki was in 13th, and Michelle was 24th. Leading was +411! We were all safely in the cut and bowling early the next morning.

After bowling, I headed to the Tournament Office to drop off my 300 paperwork and ran into Eric Kearney, husband of Kim Terrell, an elite bowler and Assistant Team USA Coach.  Eric works for USBC and was checking out this year's tournament.  He told me he was going to have one of his weriters call me to talk about the tournament.  During the phone interview, I couldn't help but mention the Sprat PACK blog.


http://www.bowl.com/news/xmlburner.jsp?xa=./webapps/ROOT/news/main/data/021410TNBA1.xml

Michelle is named Queen at the Monmouth County Tournament

Two-thirds of the pack, Michelle and Vicki, headed to Howell Lanes for the Monmouth County Queens Tournament on January 17, 2010.

After five games of the qualifying, Michelle was in fourth with a 1037 five-game total. She added a 608 series for a 1645 total to stay in fourth for the step-ladder finals.

In her first match, Michelle defeated the 2009 Queens Champion Cara Lukosius 213-192. She won her next two matches against Annie Orbano (239 - 156) and Jessica Worsley (244 - 203) to make it to the Championship Round. She defeated the tournament elader, Sandy Davis 202-186.

Michelle won a the top prize and an entry into the 2010 USBC Queens Tournament held in El Paso, TX.


The Sprat PACK will be heading to Texas at the end of April to compete at the Queens.

Check out Michelle's picture on the front of the January 20 - 26, 2010 issue of the Sports Reporter!