AMF Hemet

champs Bobby Hornacek & Jarred Eusebio

        Bobby Hornacek was clutch time after time, while Jarred Eusebio saved his clutchest shot for the final ball, winning JBT titles in thrilling Southern California Conference action at AMF Hemet Lanes.

        The scratch division used out 'nervewracker' format, where bowlers played two-game matches that went to a one-shot rolloff if matches were tied 1-1.  In round one #16 Victor Berge and #14 Cameron Smith both pulled off upsets, over #9 Brittany Kolatzny and #11 Jordan Ferrer respectively, and both in tiebreakers.  Berge went on to two more upsets, over #8 Mark Idzerda, and then over #1 Curtis Lindeman, who completely lapped the field in qualifying (and earned a bowling pin souvenir in the process), but fell short in the matchplay rounds for a second frustrating day.

        Down to four bowlers, #5 Wesley Low swept Berge in two games, while #3 Hornacek beat #10 Oscar Chan 10-9 in a tiebreaker.  Bobby won the first game of the ensuing title match with an 11-strike 279-196 blasting of Low.  Unsurprisingly to anyone who knows him, Wesley came back to win game two 203-194 and force the tiebreaker.  Bobby, who earlier won a three-shot rolloff with all strikes to stay alive, was perfect again on his shot, and the strike held up when Low only got 8 on his attempt, earning Hornacek the first title of his JBT career.

     The handicap division used our classic format, and Trenton Romleski opened the stepladder finals with a 213-162 win over Leah Zweig.  Ricardo Mendoza then edged Romleski 191-188, and followed with another close win, 209-198 over Chad McLeavy, to reach the title game.

    Top seed Jarred Eusebio dominated the low-scoring tournament, leading since game one and never looking back.  He and Mendoza both struggled in the middle frames of a tense title game, however.  After Ricardo spared in the tenth, it was up to Jarred to fill 19 in his final frame to win.  Eusebio got 9-spare, and then on the all-or-nothing final ball, got only his second strike of the game, resulting in the 201-200 win and a huge family hug after he returned from 6 lanes down the center in jubiliation.

    Kolatzny's great bowling in qualifying earned her the top seed for the day's Women's Series event, but #2 Valerie Riggin finally came through with a Women's Series win, beating Brittany 184-163 for the title, the first of three she'll need to qualify for the 2012 Girls' TPC next summer.

    Thanks to the crew at AMF Hemet for a great job hosting us for the first time.  Over $2,900 in scholarships were awarded on the weekend- want in on all this fun and excitement?  Check out our schedule and come on down, it's as simple as that!