Our event this weekend would be at Bowlero Via Linda. With all the other events going on throughout the Valley, we would have a nice turnout for our 2-squad event! We would see 82 total entries (54 qualifying and 28 parlays), 24 cashers, 1 in 3.5 cash ratio and paid out over $4,100.00 in main and side event prize funds! The players bowled on a very tricky 39ft PBA Chameleon oil pattern. Many bowlers would think that since there was more oil volume that it would play similar to a modified house shot, but with all the oil in the front and outside portion of the lanes it made it very hard to swing the ball. Because the pattern was not very long or very short, it allowed players to attack it from a variety of angles. The cut scores were pretty low with bowlers only needing to bowl a few pins over their average to advance to the quarterfinal round. The main key for the day was to leave a makeable spares and pick them up.
We would like to welcome Andrew Prince and Chris Naude to the SFT family. We hope you both had a good time and hope to see you again. We also had some Parlay Power Players this weekend in Alec Johnson and Cayden Matherly! Both bowlers made it to the quarterfinals off of their $30.00 Economy Parlay entry! We also want to congratulate Jeff Bandes for making his first quarterfinals in quite a while. We are would have no one win the Momma’s Mystery Pot this weekend, so that money will roll over to our first squad at Bowlero Gilbert in a couple of weeks. Your winner of the free plastic ball raffle, with an option to upgrade to any Track high performance ball for $95.00, was Tracy Lee.
Since this event was only 2 squads, there was no re-oil before the quarterfinals. This resulted in some medium to high scores with the standings being very, very tight. We would have 17 quarterfinalists and with our 1 in 3 cut ratio from the quarterfinals to the semi-final round, we would cut to the Top 2 in the B & C Division while the A Division would cut to the Top bowler. The A Division would see Jeff Bandes (+127) emerge as your #1 seed and he would advance straight into the Finals. The B Division would see Curtis Spence (+81) lead the division and he would take on SFT veteran James Roethle (+73) who was our #2 seed. The C Division would have another SFT veteran in Darwin Hicks (+22) as the #1 seed and he would take on Maddisen Rook (+2).
The B Division semi-final would be a really close match as it would come down to the tenth frame to determine the winner. Both bowlers would punch out in the tenth to finish at 215 to force a ninth-tenth frame roll-off! The rules to the roll-off would see each bowler’s handicap divided by 5, with the decimal playing in the event of another tie. Curtis would receive 4.8 pins of handicap while James would get 6.6.
Curtis would start the ninth frame with a crushing pocket hit only to leave the 10-pin, which he would pick up. James would be up next for his ninth frame and would see his ball crush the pocket for a strike. James next ball in the tenth would trip out the 7-pin late for another strike to take the lead. James would go on to strike and get 5 on his fill to finish with a score of 61.6 and advance. Curtis would finish up his tenth frame with a score of 40.8 for 2nd place in the Division.
The C Division semi-final would also be another close match as it would go back and forth between Darwin Hicks and Maddisen Rook. It would all come down to the tenth frame as Darwin would be up first. Darwin’s first shot in the tenth would be a much-needed strike and he would go on to fill the frame to finish at 233. Maddisen would get up needing a mark and good count to advance. Maddisen’s first ball would get seven, which she would convert her spare. In her fill frame, she needed 8 to win or 7 to tie. Maddisen’s shot in her fill frame would come up light leaving the light bucket (2-4-5-8) for six, giving her a score of 232 for second place in the Division.
Going into the Finals it looked like it was going to be a close match as both semi-final matches were nail biters. Darwin Hicks was looking to win his very 1st AHT SFT title and the $760.00 first place prize. James Roethle was looking to win his 3rd AHT SFT title and was looking to make it the trifecta of winning a title in each Division. Jeff Bandes was also looking to take home his first title in his first title match. Jeff had been bowling well for most of the day and put up some huge scores, so if he could get lined up, he would be tough to beat.
The Finals started off with Jeff crushing the right lane pocket for a strike. Darwin and James would spare as they looked to get lined up. Darwin would spare in the second frame as his ball would hit the pocket a bit high. Jeff would also spare as he would leave a flat 10-pin. James would round out the second frame with an open frame as he was unable to convert his spare. The difference in handicap was only about 20 pins between all three bowlers. Darwin would split and open to start off the third frame. Jeff would leave another 10-pin as he looked to stay clean with a spare conversion. James would go Brooklyn for a strike to make up some pins from the open frame. Fourth frame would see Darwin miss the pocket a bit left and would go on to pick up the spare. Jeff would see his ball start up a bit early and go a bit high through the pocket to leave the 6-10, which he would spare. James would see his ball go a bit long as he would leave the 1-2-4-10, which he would not convert.
Midway through the match and all three bowlers were pretty close in score. Darwin would continue to make his spares as Jeff and James would both open in the fifth. Darwin would open in the sixth frame to open the door for Jeff and James, and they would both spare to make up a bit of ground. Darwin would strike in the seventh to try and make up for his open frame. Jeff would spare while James would strike to finish the seventh. Darwin would open in the eighth with a split as Jeff would spare and James would double with a strike. Ninth frame would see Darwin get a much-needed strike as he tried to stay in front of Jeff and James. Jeff would chop the 3-6-10 for an open frame while James would pick up the stone 8-pin to stay in the match.
It would all come down to the tenth frame as all three bowlers were within a few pins of each other. Darwin would start off the tenth with a huge strike to double up. Darwin’s next shot would go a bit high leaving the 5-9, which he would chop for a score of 207. Jeff and James would need to strike on the first ball to have a chance to pass Darwin for the win. Jeff’s first ball in the tenth would look good off his hand but would leave a weak 10-pin. Jeff would spare the 10-pin and strike on his fill shot to finish with a score of 187. James would see his ball go a bit long and take out the 3-pin, leaving the 1-2-6-10 split which he would convert. James’ fill shot would strike and he would finish with a score of 203. This would give Darwin his first AHT SFT title and $760.00! Congrats to James Roethle on second place for $400.00 and also congrats to Jeff Bandes on third place for $250.00!
Thank you to everyone who came out this busy weekend. Thanks to Jay Poelman and the staff at Bowlero Via Linda for having us out this weekend and for the great customer service they provided. Thanks to Michael Dragon for all the work he does to help keep these events running. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks for a tournament at Bowlero Gilbert where we will close out the 2024 Summer Quarterly Circuit (July – September).
Hope to see you all there and have a great week!
Bowlero Via Linda Finals - Jeff Bandes vs. James Roethle vs. Darwin Hicks
