Bourget & Fenicle Win PJBT Xmas Tournament Classic Event – Amazing Triple Digit Scratch Field Competes In This Year’s Event (101)

The PJBT continued its 18th Season with our Annual Christmas Tournament.  Our Traditional Christmas Tournament is always the Day After Christmas.  This year that was on Monday, December 26.  We have always had a day long event in which we bowl as college bowlers come into town.  Many of the college bowlers come into town early and compete in our event….as the Collegiate College Tournament is the 2 days following our event.  This year’s event was once again sponsored by Rotogrip and Our Family’s Pro Shop.

The format for this year’s Xmas Tournament was that each division bowls at different times.  We essentially have two tournaments.  Early in the morning the handicap division bowls at 10am and after that tournament is over….the Scratch Bowlers begin approximately 2:30pm.  This event is a major for PJBT…..so the format is 6 games, top 40% of field bowls 3 additional match play games.  After 9 Games, the top 4 bowlers advance to our single elimination finals 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3.  Winners then bowl each other for the title.  In each division, payouts are based on entries.  This event was conducted on a MYSTERY UNANNOUNCED PATTERN.  The pattern was announced after the event – the 2013 USBC Masters Pattern.  This year we had a total of 130 entries.

The Scratch Event reminded me of one of the largest single PJBT events we EVER had.  It was an awesome event.  Most weeks at PJBT events we get anywhere from 20-50 bowlers per division.  On a great day, we get 50+ in each division and have over 100 bowlers competing.  On this day, our Xmas Scratch Event had 101 bowlers competing in their own division!!  This meant 40 bowlers advanced to match play and 18 bowlers earned scholarships.  We haven’t had an event in a long time where 18 people cashed in one division.  It was great competition and really showed the strength of youth/college bowling in our area.

Bryan Bourget, a bowler at Robert Morris University, captured his 2nd PJBT title with a victory over the large size field.  This was Bourget’s first singles win in a PJBT….as his other title came in our team championship with teammates in 2013.  Bourget shot qualifying games of 201, 257, 219, 203, 210, and 177 for 1267 (+67).  This placed Bourget on the leaderboard in 2nd place, trailing on tournament leader….and teammate Michael Martell. The 40th place first cut for the event was -112.  The pattern was tough as only 8 bowlers were plus out of 101 after qualifying and the 9th place bowler (Bradley Crouse) was even.  In Match Play, Bourget went 2-1 and took over the lead the tournament entering the bracket final.  Bourget was the leader, Christopher Radliff was the 2nd seed, Martell was the 3rd seed, and Jarrett Defalco rounded out our 4 finalists.  In the semifinal matches, #1 Bourget defeated #4 Defalco 190-168.  In the other match, #3 Martell defeated #2 Radliff 224-190.  In the title match, it was teammates Bourget vs Martell.  In the end, Bourget defeated Martell in the title match 192-174 to take home the major title.  Bourget won a $300 scholarship and glass trophy for his major title.  We had 18 bowlers take home a total of $1,580 in scholarships. In addition, the top 2 girls…Alexis Neuer & Kaitlyn Heckman took home bonus scholarships. With sidepots, we paid out over $2,000 in scholarships in just the Scratch Event.  Thanks to all who came out and made this a almost record-setting event.

Earlier in the morning, we held our Handicap Division Tournament.  29 Bowlers competed in this year’s Handicap Event.  Sarah Fenicle captured her 2nd title of the year and 4th career title.  Fenicle entered the event with a 158 entering average and 38 pins a game.  She shot scratch qualifying games of 155, 185, 156, 172, 188, and 168.  She shot 1024 scratch for 6 games and with handicap 1246 (+46).  She stood in 2nd place entering after qualifying….trailing only tournament leader John Banfield.  In Match Play, Fenicle maintained her position as the 2nd seed, winning 2 of her 3 matches.  Entering the finals, John Banfield was the leader, Sarah Fenicle was 2nd, Jennifer Williams was 3rd, and Breanne Hood was 4th.  In the livestreaming semi-finals, #1 Banfield defeated #4 Hood 182-146.  In the other match, #2 Fenicle defeated #3 Williams 207-202 in a close match.  This set up the title match between Banfield and Fenicle.  This match came down to the last shot!  In the end, Fenicle squeaked out the win 164-160 over Banfield.  Sarah Fenicle won the $300 top prize and glass bowling pin trophy for a major title.

Thanks to all 130 who came out and Merry Christmas from the PJBT.  Next PJBT Event is on New Year’s Eve Day at Strike Zone Alleys.