Ocello/Hankey & Moore/Ruth Capture Doubles Titles at Trindle

The PJBT continued its 19th Season with our 3rd 21&Under Doubles Event of the Season.  This time our athletes took on the Stonehedge Pattern at Trindle Bowl in Mechanisburg, PA.  This event saw 106 athletes (53 teams) take to the lanes.  The format was 5 games….top 40% of teams bowl 3 additional games.  The top 5 teams in each division advance to the baker format stepladder final.

In Scratch, Joey Ocello continued his run at Player of the Year with his 9th career PJBT title and 6th title of this season.  His partner, Tom Hankey, captured his 3rd career PJBT title and 2nd title of the year.  Ocello/Hankey were near the top of the leaderboard all day.  They began qualifying with scratch team games of 429, 516, 509, 493, and 482.  In Round 2, they started slow with team games of 364 and 364.  However, they finished the block with a strong team game of 479.  Ocello/Hankey stood at +436 for 9 games…and was seeded 2nd out of 5 for the finals.  They only trailed tournament leaders Brian Kennedy and Anthony Neuer.  Kennedy shot a perfect 300 Game during the day’s competition.  In the finals, Ocello/Hankey took on #5 seed Emily Tull/Jarett Defalco in the semi-final match.  Ocello//Hankey defeated Tull/Defalco 214-200.  This set up the title match #2 vs #1.  Ocello/Hankey never gave Kennedy/Neuer a chance!  Ocello/Hankey shot a baker team game of 278 to take home the title!  Final match Ocello/Hankey over Kennedy/Neuer 278-223.  Joey Ocello & Tom Hankey each won a $200 scholarship and plaque for their win.

In Handicap, Eryn Moore and Bradley Ruth brought home the title.  Moore won her 2nd PJBT event of the year and Bradley Ruth won his 1st title.  They entered the event with a 300 team average and 90 pins per game.  They bowled scratch team games of 334, 338, 326, 324, 289.  This had them at the top of the leaderboard entering Round 2.  Round 2 they shot games of 352, 312, and 355.  After game 8, they stood at +150 and were seeded 2nd entering the finals.  They only trailed tournament leaders Logan Visneski & Damian Napierkowski.  This final went similar to the scratch side.  Moore/Ruth entered the finals in the semi-final match vs #4 seed Tyler Mitchell-Epperson & Aaron Bey.  In an exciting final shot match, Moore/Ruth squeaked out a 188-183 victory.  This advanced Moore/Ruth into the title match vs Visneski & Napierkowski.  In the title match, Moore/Ruth shot 202 to take home the win over Visneski/Napierkowski’s 182.  Eryn Moore & Bradley Ruth each won a $200 scholarship and plaque for their win.

Congrats also to Brian Kennedy who won the 300 Pot for his perfect 300 Game!  Antonio Reyes also shot a 299 during qualifying to earn an honor score for the day.

Next week:  PJBT returns to Hanover Bowling Centre for a PJBT regular season singles event on Sunday 1/28 at 10:30am.