Blair/Ciufo Walk the Ladder while Gilbert/Rinda Dominate in Doubles Wins at Parkway

The PJBT continued its 19th Season with a trip back to Parkway Lanes for our 1st 21 & Under Doubles Event of the year.  Our doubles event allows any two bowlers to team up and bowl as a team.  Format for the event is 5 games qualifying….top 40% of teams bowl an additional 3 games.  After 8 games, the top 5 teams in each division advance to the baker format stepladder final.  This year’s event saw 44 teams compete – 21 scratch teams and 23 handicap teams.

In Scratch, Gene Blair & Joey Ciufo of Maryland….captured the victory.  They won the hard way!  They started out with solid team games in qualifying.  They came out of the gate big with a 501 doubles game.  They followed it up with 403, 399, 413, and 482.  This allowed them to be near the top of the leaderboard.  They advanced to Round 2 as the field was cut from 21 teams to 10.  In Round 2, they shot games of 461, 401, and 438 to be at 3498 (+298).  This seeded them as the #5 seed team of 5 entering the finals.  Then their run to victory began.  They walked the entire stepladder to victory!  First, they defeated Francis Vitelli/Sam Bortnick in Game 1 211-196.  Secondly, they squeaked out a win in Game 2 vs Emily Breidegam/Ambrose Shirk 218-214.  Next, they shot their highest baker game of 258 and beat Joey Ocello/Drew Esposito 258-221.  This advanced them to the title match to take on tournament leaders Anthony Neuer/Brian Kennedy.  This match came down to some late clutch strikes….but in the end, Blair/Ciufo defeated Neuer/Kennedy 238-208 to take home the title.  Each bowler won a $200 scholarship and plaque for their win.

In Handicap, Jacob Gilbert & Corey Rinda continued to stay HOT!!  After both of them were part of the winning Team in last week’s team tourn at Parkway….this week they won the Doubles Handicap Title.  Gilbert/Rinda entered the event with a 333 Team Average and 60 pins handicap.  They shot scratch games of 400, 355, 446, 471, and 482 to set the pace of the field.  The 23 teams were trimmed to 10 for Round 2.  In Round 2, they shot scratch games of 396, 327, and 379.  Gilbert/Rinda led the entire way, putting on a dominate performance.  They entered the stepladder final as the top seed.  In the title match, they took on #2 seed team Tyler Mitchell-Epperson & Aaron Bey.  This match was a battle.  In the end, Gilbert/Rinda defeated Mitchell-Epperson/Bey 196-177 to take home the title.  Jacob Gilbert & Corey Rinda each won a $200 scholarship and plaque for their win.

We had no honor scores bowled on this day.

Next event:  Adult Junior #2 of the Year at Limerick Bowl, Limerick PA.  Sunday 11/19 at 10:30am.