17-year-old Smith posts sizzling 298 game

It’s always exciting to bowl your first 300 game, and this week’s top story is just that as 17-year-old Peyton “TY” Smith put forth the effort but was left, like so many before him, waiting for the next opportunity.

Smith fell in love with the sport a few years back when he was undergoing treatments for an illness that left him too weak to do much more than watch and absorb.

As his health improved, so did his game, and before long, the two-hander was posting some pretty good games. This brings us to the last outing of the TBird Legends league where Peyton enthusiastically walked into the office at Thunderbird Lanes and proclaimed that he was about to shoot a 300 game.

It was a bold but confident statement that got a lot of attention. When asked to clarify if he was about to shoot a 300 game or if he already had, the young Mr. Smith said, “I’m about to! I have the front nine!”

From that point on, all eyes were on this young superstar as he put the first two strikes in the tenth up on the board without any problem. But that last shot, well, it kind of got away from him a little bit and didn’t quite make the turn, leaving him with the 4-8 on the deck and an 11 in a row, 298 as consolation.

I am happy to report that Peyton will receive an award from USBC to mark this accomplishment. After sandwiching the 298 between games of 213 and 223, Smith ended up with a 734 for series.

Since we are on the youth bowling topic, Jake Croft was also in the zone, posting games of 246, 227, and 230 for a career-high 703.

Bowling in the U12 HotShots, nine-year-old Lee Perry put a 501 series in the books on games of 176, 138, and 187. And in the bumper assist MiniShots league, Emma Gagne started her day with a nice 120 game.

Halstead Rolls 290

Andrea Halstead added another honor to her list of achievements, a list that began several years ago when she was a youth league bowler. Andrea, who holds the state and local record for high series, added a 290 to her take this week. But it was a case that appeared that most of her strikes for the night were in that 11 in a row, as she had a 147 to start and a 192 to end a night of ups and downs.

Andrea was bowling in the Suburban league where Tim Lundquist ended with the night’s high set of 741 on games of 195, 279, and 267. Jeff Janssen followed with a 738 that went 245, 268, and 225, and John Henderson settled into the top three with games of 221, 246, and 239 for a 706.

The week’s high series came from the Friday Night Mixed Rollers where Chris Dickerson had games of 278, 200, and 279 for a 757.

Amanda Price led on the ladies’ chart for series with 245, 245, and 222 for a 712. Price was bowling in the TNT league when she set the pace, followed in this league by Mark Hill with a 702 on games of 258, 235, and 209.

Dale Perry topped the Early Birds high rollers list with games of 205, 247, and 247 for a 711, followed by Robert Copeland who ended his set with a 277 to sum up a 704.

Janssen was back at it in the His and Hers’ league where a slow start left him with a 710 that included a 268 game for game two and a 263 for game three.

Alan Cardenaz was the Tuesday Night Mixed bowler of the week with a 707 on games of 232, 236, and 239, followed by Lundquist who double-dipped in the 700 club last week with 700 on the money after scoring 236, 248, and 216.

No-Tap News

Sam Bowman rolled no-tap games of 278, 276, and 275 for an 862 handicap total to take first place in the men’s division of the Senior No-Tap Colorama at Thunderbird Lanes in the Nov. 22nd edition of the weekly event. Randy Travis placed second with 727, and JP Nauman rolled 244, 300, and 236 for a third place series of 825.

Peggy Towne, who posted a 298 in game two, took first place for the ladies with an 817.

Scratch singles winners were Sam Bowman, 829, JP Nauman, 780, and Rick Olson, with a 290, for a 742 for third.

Honorable mention goes to Mike Peckinpaugh for a no-tap 300 rolled in game two.

Mystery Doubles winners were JP Nauman/Randy Travis with 562, Peggy Towne (298)/Mike Peckinpaugh (300) with 655, and Robert Lansberry/Sam Bowman with 596.

Strike pot winners were Tony Faustner, Lee Brown, JP Nauman, Cleo Travis, Roy Johnson, and Rick Olson. There were no winners in the Special Challenge Shots.

This event is held every Friday afternoon at 1 PM at Thunderbird Lanes and is open to all senior bowlers aged 50 and above with a verifiable average.