This past weekend, Scott Norton and I bowled the PCB Mixed Doubles event at Yorba Linda Bowl. The weekend definitely turned out to be one weekend of bowling that I will never forget!
On Saturday, we bowled the qualifying portion of the event, bowling nine straight games. The field was then cut to the top 12 teams for Sunday's competition, in which we then bowled 12 games of round-robin matchplay.
I started out the tournament using the new 900 Global OMG! ball. It was working great, but then the oil pushed down the lane and I needed a ball with a little more backend, so I switched to my newly drilled Eagle by 900 Global. That was the best decision of the day, as I threw this ball the entire time.
Scott and I started out the tournament bowling well. Our first game we shot 473 - Scott shot 248 and I shot 225. The second game we both bowled steady, shooting a 469 - I shot 233 and Scott shot 236. Our third game, I shot 266 and Scott shot 214 for a 480 game total.
Then, during the fourth game, that's when the weekend craziness began. Both Scott and I starting stringing strikes. Before I knew it, we both had the first 9 strikes and we were in the 10th frame! I just couldn't believe it! I went up first and threw the first two shots in the 10th really well, striking in both. Then got up for my final shot and packed another strike, shooting a perfect 300 game! The entire bowling center had stopped bowling and were behind our pair. Scott and I high-fived, the crowd was screaming and Scott turns to me and says "I'm nervous!" (Mind you Scott has shot over 40 - 300 games in his career.) And I looked at him and said back, "No, you're fine!" And then he replied. "No, seriously, I'm really nervous right now! More nervous than I was bowling on the TV show!"
Scott handled himself, as he usually does in pressure situations, and packed the first two strikes flush in the pocket. Now, he was only one shot away from shooting a perfect 300, thus giving us a perfect 600 team score. He went up and packed the last shot for a strike and the entire bowling center went nuts! It was unbelievable! We later found out that it was only the 4th time in history that a mixed doubles team shot a 600 game! Absolutely insane!
I was still using my 900 Global Eagle and Scott was using a Loaded Revolver to shoot our perfect 600 score.
The day continued to go well (at least for Scott), as I had some trouble towards the end of the block. Scott ended up turning his 300 game into an 805 series, as he followed that game up with a 248 and 257. We ended the day at +672 overall, which put us in 1st place, barely edging out Alisha Hill and Joe Staton. Scott shot +420, averaging 246.6 and I shot +252, averaging 228 for the nine games.
On Sunday, we then bowled 12 games of round robin matchplay, with each individual game win earning a 10 pin bonus and each team game win earning a 30 pin bonus, for a total of 50 possible bonus pins per game. Therefore, winning matches was definitely the key to success!
The lanes played a little different on Sunday, which is pretty typical for any tournament, but Scott and I had a bit of trouble getting lined up to start. We shot 185 and 213 for a 398 total and got swept for the bonus pins. This quickly dropped us from 1st place down to 3rd! We then continued to get swept the next game with a 464 team game.
In game three, we finally said enough is enough and started winning the ever important bonus pins. We won 40 bonus pins the next 3 games, shooting scores of 493, 472 and 473. In game 6, Scott won his point shooting 227, but we failed to win any more bonus pins.
However, things really started to heat up in game 7. I shot 256 and Scott shot 258 for a team 514 game and we swept all 50 bonus pins. Then in game 8, I shot another perfect 300 game! It was absolutely incredible! We shot a team game of 505 and won 40 bonus pins. Then in game 9, I shot 257 and Scott shot 234 for a 491 game and we swept all of the bonus pins in that game as well. For those three games, I shot 256, 300 and 257 for an 813 series! I was using my 900 Global Maniac all three of those games, and for most of the day.
By the position round game, we were in first place by 200 pins. I shot 190 the last game and Scott shot 242 and we won 40 bonus pins and won the tournament by over 300 pins.
It was one incredible weekend that I definitely won't forget!
Check out the videos of my last ball to shoot 300 and Scott's last ball to shoot 300 for our perfect team 600 game!
Til next time...
