SANTA CRUZ LANES

champions Labriel Leach and Michael Curry

    (l-r) a great group photo from Santa Cruz (click to enlarge); tears of joy from Steven Pizzi just after bowling his first ever 300 game! (click to enlarge);  blast from the past: Labriel's last winning picture, from August 2001!  These and other great pictures from Santa Cruz are on the photos section of the website.

   Perseverance paid off for two JBT SW veterans as they captured titles in thrilling action at Santa Cruz Lanes.

   The scratch division stepladder finals opened with Taylor Brennan making his first finals in a while a success with a 222-204 victory over "Mr. Fifth" Jeremy Medina.  Brennan, who also won the Junior Gold qualifier earlier in the day, rolled on in round two with a 213-189 win over Christian Jensen.  Brennan ran out of gas in the semifinals, though, and Labriel Leach took advantage with a commanding 234-151 win to advance to the title match.

  Top qualifier Tyler Addotta was looking for his second title in three months, having captured the Best in the West win in November, but ran into an absolutely determined Leach in the finale.  As Tyler struggled with ringing 10-pins, Labriel strung together the first six strikes to take charge, coasting to a 246-179 victory.  With the win, Labriel easily smashes the record for longest time between victories.  This win, his 4th career title, comes nearly FOUR AND A HALF YEARS since his last win, the T of C on 8/17/01.  That was our 91st event, and Santa Cruz marks our 337th.  Now THAT is perseverance.

  It was the handicap division that stole the spotlight, however, with very high scoring and three memorable moments.  Qualifying, which featured the third highest cut score in JBT SW history (+69), was led by Kevin Millard, who came out of nowhere to turn in a spectacular performance, rolling +288 for five games, also third best all-time.  But the individual score of the day came from 14 year-old Steven Pizzi, who fired 12 straight strikes in game three, including three flush hits in the tenth, for an emotional 300 game, electrifying the capacity crowd.  In the semifinals, an absolute dogfight for the 8 stepladder spots featured Michael Curry's 284 game, jumping him from 14th to 5th seed for the finals. 

 Pizzi ended up needing all of those pins just to sneak into the number 7 spot for the finals.  He then proceeded to roll 7 strikes in a row in the first round of the finals- only to lose to an equally spectacular performance from CJ Crowley, whose 263 defeated Pizzi (252) and Holly Gordon (172), who also made a memorable debut, capturing the high female scratch prize.  

  In a tightly contested round two, Curry finished first with a 230 game, then had to sweat it out as both Matt Payne and Crowley had chances to pass him.  However, Matt finished with 218 and CJ with 210, advancing Curry to the semifinals.  In the semifinal, first time finalist Barbara Lampkin finished with a fine 192, but had to watch as Curry tallied 227.  Michael then had to sweat out another tenth frame by an opponent, but Corbin Farris' light hit in the tenth cost him count he needed, and the result was a 214 game for Farris, giving Curry a trip to the title match.

 Curry, who grabbed the handicap points lead by reaching the finale, then had his hands full with top qualifier Millard, who had the luxury of being on cruise control to the #1 seed thanks to his qualifying performance.  Michael had the crowd strongly in his favor, but kept opening between his strikes to let the tough Millard back in the match.  After sparing a 5-pin in the tenth to finish with 220, it was deja-vu for the third time for Curry as Millard could step up in the tenth and win with a strike and good count.  Unfortunately for Kevin, his first shot went high, and the end result was a 220-213 win for Curry, good for the first title of his JBT SW career.    

 Everyone who finished in the top 5 qualifies for the 2006 JBT SW Arizona 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 as always to Santa Cruz manager Dale Schnell for being one of the biggest supporters of junior bowling in Tucson, and for hosting this great event. 98 entrants shared in over $2,300 in scholarships awarded.  Please continue to help spread the word about the terrific benefits of bowling JBT SW events!