Lazarchick Becomes First 4 Time Winner of Season while Swavely Walks the Ladder for his 1st Ever PJBT Title

The PJBT continued its 18th season with a trip to our Western Most Point of Pennsylvania!  The PJBT rolled into ABC West Lanes in Mechanisburg, PA, for a regular season singles event.  The event saw 42 athletes take to the lanes.  We had 19 bowlers in Scratch and 23 in Handicap.  Format for the event was our normal PJBT Singles Format.

In Scratch, Andrew Lazarchick became our First 4-Time Winner of the Season.  Lazarchick bowled strong all day.  He started qualifying with a 277 game.  He followed it up with games of 211, 278, 247, and 256.  After 5 games of qualifying, Lazarchick led the field at +269 for 5 games.  The first cut for 10th place was at +67 after 5 games.  In Match Play, Lazarchick maintained his lead by going 2-1 in 3 games.  He shot scratch games of 279, 247, and 218.  He stood at +473 after 8 games and was the leader entering the stepladder final.  In the final match, Lazarchick took on #3 seed Eric Erb.  Erb was entering the title match after capturing 2 victories.  Erb defeated Ryan Mitskavich in Game 2 of the finals 223-213 and won the semi-final match over Kurtis Stidd 256-245.  The title match saw lots of strikes….but in the end….Lazarchick outlasted Erb 259-233 to take home the title.  Lazarchick won the $200 top scholarship prize and plaque for his victory.

In Handicap, David Swavely captured his first ever PJBT title.  Swavely was coming off a 2nd place finish last week at the Doubles Event.  At the event last week, Swavely walked the ladder from the bottom to the top….and only lost the title match to finish 2nd.  On this day, he walked the ladder all the way to the top!  Swavely entered the event with a 171 average and 26 pins handicap per game.  Swavely had scratch games during qualifying of 180, 161, 179, 167, and 182.  With his handicap, he was -1 after 5 games and was seeded barely in the cut.  He was 9th of 10 bowlers.  10th place first cut was -5.  Swavely turned it on in match play!  He went 3-0 with games of 224, 195, and 174.  The 3 wins propelled Swavely into the 4th seed position entering the finals.  Then it was time for the long road up the ladder.  Swavely defeated Nathan Bonawitz in Match 1 242-201.  Swavely then advanced to Match 2 vs Doug Conaway….Swavely beat Conaway 177-127.  Swavely then took on Tom Burns Jr in the semi-final match.  Swavely got the lead and never looked back.  He defeated Burns Jr 205-168.  That win put Swavely in the same spot as last week….the title match.  He took on tournament leader Annika Conrey.  This match was close to the end but Swavely finally broke thru and won the match 202-166.  For Swavely’s win, he received a $200 scholarship and first place plaque.

There was no honor scores on this day so the 300 Pot carries over to next week.

Next Week:  The PJBT makes its final visit to Bowl-O-Rama in Reading, PA for our Easter Saturday Classic Tournament.  Bowl-O-Rama will be closing at the end of the month….and this event will mark our final event in the center.  Bowl-O-Rama has been a host to PJBT events since our inception in 1999.  Event is Saturday April 15 at 2:30pm.  Don’t miss it!