Our event this weekend was at AMF McRay and we had a great turnout. We had 100 total entries (69 qualifying & 31 economy parlay) for 3 squads, with 27 prize winners and a 1 in 3.7 cash ratio. We paid out over $5,300 in main and side event prize funds. The players bowled on the 38ft Alcatraz oil pattern that was a very difficult pattern to play. Players had trouble playing on the outside of the lane and there wasn’t a lot of margin of error when playing inside. The key to doing well was leaving makeable spares and picking up spares. Pair to pair there were some differences with oil carry down, but once the oil pattern started to break down in the 3rd squad, then scores increased a little with the average cut being around +40.
We want to welcome Ron Cross, Steven Gentry, Sam Hsu, Jeff Cochran, David Ball and Matthew Martin to the SFT AHT family! We hope you guys all had a good time in your first SFT AHT event. Congrats to Daniel Austin, James Newell and Ron Cross on being this weekend’s parlay power players! Daniel took it the furthest turning his $25 into a $1,000 first place finish! Also congrats to David Ball, John Verbil, Ron Cross, Jason Tunay, Ted McKay, James Newell, Dishawn Byrd and Chad Clapp for making their first quarterfinals or who were returning to the quarterfinals in a while. Your winner of the free Track plastic bowling ball, with an option to upgrade to a high performance ball for $85, was Dan Lanious!
The quarterfinals were on fresh conditions and the scores were pretty low, but those that made it to the next round were able to figure out the pattern and pick up their spares. Your leader in the A Division was Justin Song and he would have to face #2 seed John Verbil. The B Division semi-final match would have #1 seed Dishawn Byrd taking on Andre Murillo, and the C Division semi-final would pit #1 seed Daniel Austin vs Chad Clapp. The A Division semi-final would see John Verbil start off with a three bagger to jump out to an early lead, which he would keep, and knock off #1 seed Justin Song, 223 to 188. The B Division semi-final match saw Andre Murillo able to stay clean and pick up spares to defeat Dishawn Byrd, 199 to 166. The C Division semi-final match was not close as Daniel Austin caught fire to defeat Chad Clapp, 253 to 179.
Going into the final match we had two bowlers, Daniel Austin and John Verbil, making their first appearance in the Finals. Andre Murillo was looking for his 2nd title, in his 2nd title match, and would have to be considered the favorite with his previous experience. The Final match would start off fast with both John and Daniel crushing the pocket for strikes. Andre started the match missing the pocket and leaving a tough spare, but was able to pick it up and get himself lined up quickly. Andre would strike in the next four frames. Daniel jumped out to a quick lead throwing a three bagger before leaving a 3-6 spare, which he would pick up in the fourth frame. John would strike in three of the first four frames of the match before transition hit. He would leave a washout (1-2-4-10) in the fifth frame, which he wasn’t able to convert.
As quickly as the match had started, the lanes began to transition and the bowlers had to quickly adjust. After the washout in the fifth, John was able to double before leaving the 1-2-4 in the eighth and wasn’t able to convert as he chopped the 2-4, leaving the headpin. Daniel was able to spare in the sixth, but also left a split (6-7-10) in the seventh, in which he was only able to pick up the 6-10. This gave Andre an opportunity to take a lead as he had thrown a Brooklyn strike in the fifth and was able to pick up a spare in the sixth frame. That opportunity quick evaporated as Andre chopped a 4-7 spare in the seventh. This would set up the match to come down to the final few frames and see who would take advantage to win. John would strike in the ninth and all three strikes in the tenth frame to finish at 220. Daniel was up next and chopped the 2-8 spare attempt in the ninth. He would strike on his first ball in the tenth and chop his spare on his fill shot to finish at 228. Andre would have an opportunity to win the match, as he had a tough split in the ninth to put him one pin behind Daniel, going into the tenth frame. All Andre needed was a mark and a nine count on his fill to win. His first ball in the tenth went a little high leaving the 6-10. His spare attempt looked good off his hand, but hooked a little down the lane to chop the 6 and leave the 10 pin standing, giving him a score of 218, giving Daniel Austin his first AHT SFT title and $1,000.00!! Congrats to John Verbil for 2nd Place and Andre Murillo for 3rd Place!
Thank you to everyone that came out to support the event! We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event at Brunswick Desert Sky on Saturday, October 27th! Hope you all have a great week!
