On December 15, the Rams’ bowling team competed in their first ever tournament. Coach Joel Logan’s team played in the annual Snow Roller tournament; this year, Leisure Lanes in Lancaster hosted this event.

In this tournament, 52 teams competed. Leisure Lanes is a 50 lane house where two lanes stood reserved in case of a breakdown; therefore, some teams had to come in before the original start time of 12:30.

The tournament itself had two parts, a normal match of three games and then three baker games.

A baker game is when a five person team play as if they were one person.

Therefore, whoever the first bowler would usually be in a normal game would bowl the first and sixth frame in a baker game. The second bowler would bowl the second and seventh frame. The third bowler would bowl the third and eighth frame. The fourth bowler bowls the fourth and ninth frame, and the fifth bowler bowls the fifth and tenth frame.

The top six team scores moved on to the next round. Those scores were from the standard games and the baker games combined.

Coming into the Rams’ first tournament, Logan said: “Honestly, I wanted my players to gain the experience of a big tournament: experience excellent youth bowling to set personal goals for each player. I wanted them to experience how the lanes play differently when the typical house pattern is not applied, and I wanted to make sure we did not finish dead last.”

Logan kind of got his wish, not finishing dead last, however, the Rams finished second to last.

In tournaments, different oil patterns are applied to the lanes, making the competition more of a challenge.

In the first round of the tournament, the Rams’ played against Bellefonte High School.

Logan’s lineup was: junior Takoda Stike, junior Michael Zabkowski, sophomore Jordyn Bruening, sophomore Colt Merrifield, and senior David Drake. The only alternate that was available was junior Karen Burns.

In the first of three games against Bellefonte, Stike scored 121, Zabkowski threw a 110, Bruening bowled a 120, Merrifield accounted for 107, and Drake threw a 226.

Bellefonte’s bowlers ended up with 214, 122, 112, 172, and 160. The Rams bowled for a total of 684, but it wasn’t enough to beat Bellefonte as they totaled for 780.

However, in tournaments wins don’t matter, it’s the team’s final score after three games that counts.

In the second game, Logan substituted Burns in for Merrifield.

As a result, in the second game, Stike bowled a 143, Zabkowski threw a 137, Bruening scored 102, Burns threw a 137, and Drake accounted for 208.  

Bellefonte bowled for 203, 126, 135, 159, and 153. Bellefonte had a grand total of 776, and the Rams held a 727.

In the third game of standard format, Merrifield came back in for Bruening.

The Rams beat Bellefonte in their third and last standard game. The Rams’ grand total was 748, and Bellefonte’s was 728.

In that third game, Stike bowled a 135, Zabkowski thew a 101, Burns scored 122, Merrifield’s total was 178, and Drake accounted for 212. Bellefonte’s bowlers scored 157, 80, 123, 146, and 222.

Shortly after the standard matches, the three baker games took place.

“I placed the strongest three players in the first, fourth and fifth positions to set us up for a possible triple and four bagger in the 4th, 5th, and 6th frames and the 9th and 10th frames,” Logan said.

In the first game, the Rams scored for a total of 108 in that first game. Bellefonte totaled up for a 187.

“We struggled in the Baker format. It seemed like that part of the tournament was the most nerve-wrecking for players,” said Logan.

In the second baker game, the Rams scored a total of 119, making a slight  improvement from their first effort. Bellefonte’s team bowled a 149 in that second baker game.

Finally, the Rams bowled a 130 in the third game, but it was no match for the 166 put up by Bellefonte’s bowlers.

Merrifield thought that the team did very well considering it was the team’s first tournament, not to mention it was a big tournament, and the different oil pattern on the lanes.

The Rams did not qualify to go to next round. The top six teams that did advance were: Berwick, Northern Lebanon, Danville, Conestoga Valley, Penn Manor, and Cocalico.

On December 22, the Rams will take on York Tech at 3:30 p.m. at Suburban Bowlerama. Also, in January, the Rams will participate in a tournament that is pure baker games, so that is something that the team will be working on and preparing for.

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