PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Luci Mixed Doubles

This past week, I competed alongside my best friend Scott Norton in the Striking Against Breast Cancer Luci Bonneau Mixed Doubles event at Palace Lanes in Houston, Texas.

This tournament is by far one of my favorite events of the year, not only because I get to bowl with my best friend, but also because it supports a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. The conditions are always demanding, the field is always top notch and the tournament is so prestigious that entries need to be in ASAP or you will not get a spot into the tournament.

This year, the tournament expanded to 4 squads to accommodate the high demand. The field was comprised of 152 mixed doubles teams over 2 separate days of qualifying. 

Since Scott and I didn't bowl on Friday, Clara Guerrero and I took the opportunity to hold a clinic that day at 300 Bowl in Conroe, Texas. Thank you to Donnie Daniels for setting this event up! We had a great turnout and everyone said they learned a lot and had a great time. 

Scott and I bowled on C squad. Each squad bowled 8 games of qualifying and the top 38 teams would then advance to the cashers round on Sunday.

I started out rough, catching a few bad breaks for pocket splits and then wasn’t able to double and shot 159. Scott held me up shooting 203. After game 3, we were collectively -73 (I was -79) and in dire straights of needing a few solid games.

So we dug our heels in and grinded. I switched to my New Hammer Rebel and Track Paradox Pearl and shot 209, 214, 197 and 226. Scott shot games of 208, 214, 173 and 199 using his New Track Heat Xtreme, Cyborg and Black Legion.

Going into the last game, we were -33 and in need of a big finish to make the cut.  We put our game faces on and bowled really well! I had a strike in the 9^th and got the first strike in the 10^th frame to shoot 231. Scott threw all three strikes in the 10^th frame to shoot 216 for a team game of 447, which put us at +14 overall. I managed to climb my way back to -2 and Scott shot steady all day for +16.  We squeezed our way into the top 38 cut, which ended up taking -6. 

The next day, we only had four games to try and make our way to the top 8 teams. With roughly 135 pins to catch up, we knew we had our work cut out for us, but we were determined to try our best.

We started out strong shooting 214 and 235 for 449. We bowled really well the next 2 games, but couldn’t seem to find the carry fairy and shot 393 both games. Sitting at +49 going into the final game, we knew we needed a massive last game to have a chance at the top 8. We again put our game faces on, but unfortunately didn’t carry enough and shot 236 and 204 for 440 and +89 overall, which was not enough to advance.

We ended up finishing in 16^th place overall.

Congratulations to Hammer staffer Bill O’Neill and Team USA Teammate Shannon O’Keefe on winning back-to-back titles.

HUGE thank you to Donna Conners, Jim Welch, Dino Castillo and the entire staff of Palace Lanes for running another excellent event. The best part is that through this tournament over $90,000 was raised for breast cancer awareness!

Can’t wait until next year!

Now it’s on to the US Open in Addison, IL. Be sure to follow along all week to www.xtraframe.tv

Until then!