Del Rosa Lanes

champs Devin Bidwell & John Wright; Women's Series champ Lana Lycan

    Devin Bidwell made it two in a row to open up the So Cal season, while John Wright tasted victory for the first time, in exciting JBT So Cal Conference action at Del Rosa Lanes.

    Our exciting 'survivor' format, featuring low-bowler-out action on every pair, and our first time on the PBA's 'Earl Anthony' lane condition, produced thrilling action and demanded expert shotmaking throughout the day.   Eventually the scratch division was carved down to six surviving bowlers.  In that round, Jimmy Hefley eliminated Patrick Smith 175-153, Jamie Ferry did the ladies proud on a JBT Women's Series day with a  226-201 elimination of Kyle King, and Devin Bidwell, the previous day's champion, scored an unlikely win over Justin Lou, as Lou doubled in the tenth, but left a short count on the fill ball to force a rolloff which Devin won.

    With three bowlers left, a three-way match was played, an that game stayed as tight as possible throughout.  In the end, Bidwell's 198 and Hefley's 197 each just edged Ferry's 195, advancing Devin and Jimmy to the title match.

    Bidwell already locked up the free entry to Camp Bakes as the high scratch division points scorer on the weekend, and that seemed to relax him a bit as he looked confident throughout the title match.  Hefley, the defending So Cal Invitational champion, hung in there, but it seemed almost every key shot left a frustrating 9-count, and in teh end Bidwell won the match 212-183 for his second JBT title of the weekend, and 6th of his JBT career.

    The handicap division had eight survivors left alive in round five, and in that round Jordan Cook eliminated Adrian Duke 233-199; Wright ousted Kiana Jansen 221-202; Adam Dubia beat Michael Ma 195-162, and Samantha Meyers beat Eric Torrence 187-175.  Torrence finished 5th in the event as the highest losing seed from that round.

    In semifinal matches, Meyers edged Dubia 199-188, while Wright blasted a 234-197 win over Cook to set up the title match.   Bowling is a game of both mental and physical challenges, and that was definitely the case in the title match, as both bowlers struggled to adapt to the challenging conditions.  In the end, Wright had just enough in the tank for a 173-168 win.  The victory was the 3rd of his career but first in over a year, and the Ebonite ball he won with earned him an extra $100 from our terrific title sponsor.

     Lana Lycan became the second winner of the season in our exciting JBT Women's Series.  She rolled by Brittany Page 234-132 in the title match for the win, which gives her a shot at an extra $500 at the JBT Girls Invitational, to be held in spring 2010.

     Thanks as always to Del Rosa for hosting our Tour over the weekend.  Just shy of $2,000 in scholarships were awarded at this event, and over $3,700 for the weekend.  Want in on all this fun and excitement?  Come on down to the next JBT event, it's as simple as that!