ADMIRAL ROBINSON LANES

champs BJ Baker & Erika Garcia 

BJ Baker needed double overtime to win, while Erika Garcia left no doubt as to the winner, in exciting JBT Southern California Conference action at Admiral Robinson Recreation Center.

The scratch division once again saw very high scores all day.  Early leader Shelby Shirlock opened round one of the finals with a 223-215 win over Josh Wilson when Josh left a heartbreaking solid-10 on his second shot in the tenth frame.  Matt Jones then defeated Shirlock 197-159 in round two, before falling to Baker in the semifinals 225-174.  Despite the semifinal loss, Jones had one of the more memorable days in JBT history, missing the first game completely, then averaging 232 the rest of the way to still make the finals.

Top seed Forrest Holland out-struck everyone all day to qualify first at +414, and he and BJ engaged in a tense battle the whole way.  A short count on Forrest's fill ball allowed Baker the chance to go double-9 in the tenth to win.  After throwing two beautiful strikes, an uncharacteristically bad shot of the fill ball left an 8-count, resulting in a 224 tie.  Holland elected to bowl first in the first one-shot rolloff for a title in JBT history, and threw a big strike.  BJ was up to the challenge, also striking to force a second rolloff.  Forrest's next shot went light for an 8-count.  Baker then stepped up and also went light, but mixed the pins for a 9-count and a thrilling win, the 16th of his illustrious career.

The handicap scores were big all day as well, and LC Cline continued that trend by winning round one of the finals with a 253, defeating Russell Unger's 223 and Nick Powanda's 200.  Erika Garcia then took over, winning round two with a huge 268 over Cline (204) and Jeff Ingram (170).  She follwed that up with an even huge-er 281, beating Ben Bryan Florendo (210) and Kyle Ruzylo (201), who took over the points lead, to advance to the title match.

Top qualifier Billy Ray Decanay was enjoying a great day in his first ever JBT event, but Garcia was not to be denied.  With a vocal crowd behind her, she dominated the entire match, defeating Decanay 265-206 to convincingly capture her first career JBT title.

Everyone who finished in the top 5 qualifies for the 2006 JBT SW Southern California Invitational Tournament, the regular season's year end event, featuring a guaranteed minimum $1,000 first place scholarship in each division.  Top season-long point scorers also qualify for the 2006 JBT SW Touring Players' Championship, featuring a guaranteed minimum $2,000 first place scholarship per division! 

Thanks to Mr. Dom DeLuca and everyone at Admiral Robinson for hosting this event, we appreciate very much the privilege of bowling on a military base. 91 entrants shared in over $1,900 in scholarships awarded.  Please continue to help spread the word about the terrific benefits of bowling JBT SW events!