Our event this weekend was at AMF McRay lanes and had a nice turnout for a two-squad event considering that there was scratch event going on at the same time and also the first Cardinals home game of the year. We had a total of with 68 entries for the event (41 qualifying and 27 economy parlays) and had 22 total cashers, a 1 in 3.1 cash ratio and paid out over $4,000.00 in main and side event prize fund. The players bowled on the very difficult Kegel 40ft Red Square oil pattern. This is Kegel’s version of the original U.S. Open pattern or the more commonly known PBA Bear oil pattern. It is a very flat oil pattern that leaves practically no room for error and puts a premium on shot making and spare shooting. Since it’s not an extremely long or short oil pattern, players could play in many different places on the lane.
As always, we would like to welcome our newest member to the SFT AHT family. Rashaad Mays participated in his first ever SFT AHT this Sunday, and he was even able to make it to the quarterfinals in his first time out. Congrats to our two Parlay Power Players in Xavier Altamirano and David Corcino, who both made it to the quarterfinals on their $25.00 economy parlay entry. Both bowlers even had a chance at the first-place prize, but more on that in a bit. Congrats to Jim Alme, Rashaad Mays and Michael Killgore who all made either first quarterfinals or their first quarterfinals in quite a while. Also, congrats to Rene Villa for winning Momma’s Mystery Pot, with a 172 game, for $450.00! Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track High Performance ball for $85.00, was Ron Gonzales.
Since this event was only 2 squads, there was no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in some very low scores with the standings being very, very tight as bowlers needed to bowl at least one good game to make the cut. With our 1 in 3 cut ratio, from the quarterfinals to the semi-final round, we would cut to the top bowler in the A and B Divisions while the C Division would cut to the top two bowlers. Your leader in the A Division would be Josh Williams (+6) and the B Division would be Xavier Altamirano (+91). Both Division leaders would be seeded directly into the Finals, but first we would have to see who would meet them there.
The C Division #1 seed would be David Corcino (+48) and he would have to face off with Ken Nelson (+21). The C Division Semi-Final would go back and forth with both bowlers struggling with the lanes. Ken would run out of steam while Dave would take advantage of a few spares and timely strikes to win the match 223 to 149.
Going into the Finals we would see Josh Williams looking at winning his 3rd AHT SFT title. David Corcino and Xavier Altamirano were looking at running all the way to first place off their economy parlay entry. Both bowlers were looking at winning their first title and taking home the $600.00 first place prize.
The Finals would start with all three bowlers looking to try and get lined up quickly. The pattern was very tough pair to pair and it seemed like the winner would be who could figure it out first. Dave would struggle with a couple of opens early to dig himself into a small hole. Josh and Xavier would open spare and spare open to remain about even with each other. Then all of a sudden both Josh and Xavier couldn’t miss with Xavier throwing a 4-bagger to try to jump out to a lead. Josh would answer right back throwing 6 in a row to take a lead. Dave would spare for most of the game, but would finish up with three straight splits to finish at 174. Xavier would try to get back into the match, but would leave a 2-7 split, in the eighth, which he was unable to convert. Xavier would try to put some pressure on Josh in the tenth with a strike, but would leave 7 and open on his spare to finish at 226. Josh would just need to get good count and he would finish at 239 to win his 3rd AHT SFT title and $600.00!!! Congrats to Xavier Altamirano for 2nd place and also to David Corcino for 3rd place.
Thank you to everyone that came out this weekend to bowl the event. Also, a BIG thank you to Michael Dragon for stepping in for Tawna this weekend on very short notice. Without his help, we probably would’ve been forced to cancel the tournament. Well, we hope to see you all next Saturday for our 2-squad event at Bowlero Glendale. This is going to be the last tournament of the 2021 Summer Quarterly Circuit. Hope you all have a great week and we’ll see you on Saturday!!!
FINALS - Josh Williams vs. Xavier Altamirano vs. David Corcino
