MOJAVE DOUBLES

champs Sergio Torres, Sophia Fleming, Johnny Petraglia Jr., and Sophia Ferguson

        Two veterans and two rookies each teamed up to put on impressive performances, capturing titles at the JBT Mojave Doubles Classic, hosted by Suncoast Bowling Center.

        TJ Rock and PBA champion Jake Peters began the scratch division stepladder finals with a 171-157 grindout win over Kyle Duster and Nick Devlin.  The next round came down to the tenth frame, where it turned out to be more doubles heartbreak for Eric Hatchett, as he and Harley Sweigart fell 222-219 on Harley's tenth frame split.  Sergio Torres and Johnny Petraglia Jr. then stopped TJ and Jake's run 217-188 to advance to the title match.

        Cortez Schenck and Kyle King, by far 1-2 on the all-time JBT titles list (87 and 63 respectively) and 2-1 on the all-time earnings list ($60,000+ and $76,000+ respectively), teamed up and met those lofty expectations by leading a super-tough field.  However, the rapidly improving Torres, and Petraglia, a 19-time champ on the east coast JBT, brought in not only stellar resumes of their own, but a better look on the title match pair.  They stayed in control throughout for a 214-190 win, earning the 6th and 20th titles of their JBT careers.

        9 and 10 year-olds Sophia Ferguson and Sophia Fleming had a thrill ride up the handicap division stepladder, beginning with a 208-147 win over Kyle Gilbert and Kaylee Am-Khong.  The next match was a low-scorer between the younger and beginning bowlers, but Team Sophia pulled out a 102-96 win over David Mendoza and Jairo DeAlba.  Marks were tough to come by in the semifinals as well, and Ferguson and Fleming again came out on top, this time by a 161-138 margin over Destiny Johnson and Darren Fletcher, to move up to the title game.

        Hawaiian natives Sonny Geronimo Jr and Casey Nagamine teamed up to lead the event, and the title match was close throughout.  Sophia's tenth frame 10-pin spare that rode the 1-board the whole way forced Sonny and Casey to fill 20 pins in their tenth to win.   Nagamine, whose only JBT title came in a doubles event, got the strike on the first ball, but was unable to spare a bucket on the fill shot, and the stunned Sophias earned their first JBT titles each with the resulting 186-184 final score.

        Big thanks to Suncoast for a great job hosting the event, as well as all the adults and alumni who came out to bowl with today's JBT bowlers.  Want in on all the fun for all ages and averages?  Just check out our schedule and come on down, that's all you have to do!