Local Scratch Team and Lebanon PA Handicap Team Wins 3-Person Team Tournament

The PJBT continued its 19th season with a famous team event we started a couple of years ago.  On this day, we had a 3-Person Team Tournament.  Bowlers made teams of 3 and compete by adding their scores together for scholarships.  Each game is based on a 600 score.

This year’s event saw 33 teams or 99 bowlers take to the lanes!  We had 12 Scratch Teams and 21 Handicap Teams.  All competitors competed on the Kegel Stone Street Pattern.  The pattern produced some high scoring action.  Format was 5 team games…..and the top 40% in each division advance to 3 additional games of qualifying.  After 8 games, the top 3 teams advanced to our stepladder team finals.

In Scratch, the team of Kurtis Stidd, Carlton Cummings, and Eric Erb brought home the victory.  The win was Stidd’s 10th career PJBT title, Cummings’ 1st title, and Eric Erb’s 12th career PJBT title.  Stidd/Cummings/Erb shot solid games of qualifying.  They shot 675, 730, 701, 669, and 624.  After 5 games, they stood at +399 or 3399.  They were seeded 2nd of 12 teams.  Qualifying round cut (6th place) was +279!  In Round 2, Stidd/Cummings/Erb shot 662, 698, and 707.  They stood at +666….yes +666….after 8 games.  They were seeded 2nd in the finals.  They only trailed tournament leaders Sam Bortnick/Francis Vitelli & Ryan Carlisi.  In the finals, #2 Stidd/Cummings/Erb faced off against #3 seed Daniel Althouse/Joey Ocello/Tom Hankey.  Stidd/Cummings/Erb defeated Althouse/Ocello/Hankey 675-625.  This advanced them to the title match vs Bortnick/Vitelli/Carlisi.  The final match was close into the later frames….but in the end….Stidd/Cummings/Erb outlasted Bortnick/Vitelli/Carlisi 652-603.  The win earned Stidd/Cummings/Erb a $450 scholarship and trophies.

In Handicap, a team from Lebanon, PA, of Cole Reigel/Aliza Shirk/Bryce Lentz were victorious.  All bowlers on this team earned their first PJBT title.   Reigel/Shirk/Lentz entered the event with a team average of 553 and 42 pins handicap per game.  They shot scratch qualifying games of 642, 636, 630, 611, and 531.  After 5 games, they stood in 2nd place of 21 teams at +260 or 3260.  After qualifying, 10th place cut score for 5 games was +59.  In Round 2, Reigel/Shirk/Lentz moved to the top of the leaderboard.  They shot 673, 616, and 506 scratch to stand at +381 or 5181.  They were the tournament leaders entering the stepladder team finals.  The title match saw Reigel/Shirk/Lentz take on #2 seed Desmond Brown/Colby Homrighausen/Cameron Bias.  This match was epic!  Both teams went shot for shot and it came down to the 10th frame last bowler for each team!  In the end,  Reigel/Shirk/Lentz squeaked out a 619-616 win.  The victory gave Cole Reigel/Aliza Shirk/Bryce Lentz a $600 team scholarship and trophies.

Congrats also to Ryan Graham perfect 300 Game during qualifying ….earning him $30 300 Pot.  We also congratulate Tony Lutz, who shot 11 in a row 297 during Round 2.

Next Week:  PJBT returns to Rose Bowl in Allentown for our 8th major event of the season.  Sun Mar 11 at 12Noon Start.  Extra Payouts and Top Girls for Majors in this event.  Guauranteed TOP Prize $300 scholarship in each division.