McKinney posts 297 with 11-in-a-row

Blaine McKinney achieved a memorable milestone as our bowler of the week, posting his first career “11 in a row”, an accomplishment he was proud to record, despite a near miss at perfection.

McKinney began his night with the Early Birds league at Thunderbird Lanes, delivering nine impressive strikes to start his game. However, according to McKinney himself, none of the strikes in the tenth frame were particularly solid. Still, he managed to nail the first two strikes in the tenth frame to earn the “11 in a row” honor. On his final throw, things took a challenging turn when the ball came off his hand with all the force of a missile, albeit a misguided one. It missed the one-three pocket, and even the one-two pocket, ruling out the chance for a Brooklyn strike. Instead, McKinney left the 1-3-6 standing, finishing with an impressive score of 297.

This moment marked a long-awaited return to the spotlight, as McKinney’s last honor, a perfect 300 game, was achieved back in May 2013, a dozen years prior. Understandably, nerves likely played a role in the outcome. After the high of his 297 game, McKinney completed the series with games of 150 and 205, totaling 652.

Mark Hill led the association for high series with an impressive 773 in the TNT league at Thunderbird Lanes. He started strong with back-to-back games of 247. In the third game, Hill came heartbreaking-ly close to perfection, falling just one seven-pin short in the fourth frame. He closed out the game with a score of 279, capping off the outstanding series.

Other highs include Tim Lundquist of the Tuesday Night Mixed with games of 269, 234 and 214 for a 717 and Bill Kaplan a close second with a 702 that went 211, 233 and 258.

And bowling in the His and Hers’, Camden Sublet posted 223, 242 and 238 for a 703 league high for the night.

Croft tops youth charts with 730 set

Jake Croft led on the youth front with an impressive 730 series from the TBird Legends league. Croft started the day with the 279 that included a spare in frame one and a spare in the tenth with nothing but strikes to tie the two ends together. Game two was a 225, followed by a 226 to make up the set.

Lee Perry had the best set in the HotShots U12 division, posting a 398 on games of 126, 126 and 146 and Henry Keithley rolled his third 100 game of the season of a 109 while bowling in the TBird MiniShots with bumper assist.

No-Tap News

Here are the results from the March 14 Senior No-Tap Colorama at Thunderbird Lanes:

Men’s Handicap Series: Gary Webster (263-232-263) 839, Armour Brown (211-300-255) 836, John Fortner (242-264-242) 826, Sam Bowman (252-275-253) 813.

Women’s Handicap Series: Melissa Whitehead (207-186-209) 827.

Scratch Singles: Bruce Flack (300-243-253) 796, Sam Bowman 780, Shawn Thomas (234-240-300) 774.

Mystery Doubles Winners:

Game 1: Bruce Flack and Dave Yett, 576.

Game 2: Armour Brown and Scott Brenke, 595.

Game 3: Gene Augustine and John Fortner, 544.

Strike Pot winners included Melissa Whitehead, Armour Brown, John Fortner, Roy Johnson.

There were a couple of new Challenge Shots up for grabs last week but it looks like the challenges were too easy for this crowd.

One particular special shot added, named the “Chop-Chop”, required the bowler to pick the 6 pin off the 10 for a righty and the 4 pin off the 7 for a lefty, depending on the player drawn.

Right hander John Fortner made short work to include the added attempt at a clean pick, meaning not even a wiggle from the 10-pin as he hit the 4-pin dead center and sent it straight to the pit.

Join in next week for exciting opportunities to score big on a nine-count, win a doubles pot with a mys-tery partner, or be drawn for unique challenges. The event is open to all senior bowlers aged 50 and above with a verifiable average and takes place every Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Thunderbird Lanes.

Not too Late for State

We have received word that there is still time to enter the Oklahoma State Open Tournament that is being held at “The Lanes at Coffee Creek”, in Owasso.

Tournament dates are March 29-30, Apr 5-6 and Apr 12-13.

The portal is closed but you can enter the tournament by calling Rett at 580-916-1026 or Mark at 580-380-1851. You can also email Rett at [email protected].

Tournament rules and more information can be found on their website at: bowloklahoma.org.