The masses knew this was going to be a challenging affair, what with the oil pattern being a custom letter "B" that no one had ever seen before. Some people thought it was "stupid." Others thought it would be "fun and challenging." And still others were so hesitant, many decided to pull out the week before. Still, it went on and it turned out to be a heck of a tournament.
With 43 total entries signed up for the event at Lodi Lanes, including many top bowlers from NY and NJ, as expected, scores were low from the get-go. Take a look at these statistics to get an idea of just how difficult this pattern was:
- First Round Game Score Average: 174
- Total Games Bowled in Round 1: 172
- Total Games in Round 1 Above 200: 29
Round 1 was highlighted by Paul Bajorski's ridiculous 290 in Game 2, which catapulted him to a 63-pin lead headed into Round 2. After Round 1, there were only two "plus" scores, an 891 by Bajorski and an 828 by Adam Chase. With 22 of the 43 bowlers qualifying for Round 2, Bajorski and Chase continued the assault, with Chase firing off a 278 in Game 5 to highlight the Round 2 scores. With the top 11 scores from Round 1 and 2 combined headed to the casher's round, it was anyone's game for the next 9 spots. Elite bowler Joe Novara was in the hunt after Game 6 as was newcomer and youth bowler, 15-year-old Amanda Morris. However, with Novara and Morris both struggling on a very difficult 13-14 pair in Game 7, they both fell out of contention, with the cut score after Round 2 being -81.
With the scores resetting for Round 3 and the Top 4 making it to the bracket finals, the 2-game total wood round was up for grabs. Adam Zimmerman led the way after the first game of Round 3, firing off a 245 for the early lead. Mike Mirabile's 196 was solid, but he had ground to make up as he was sitting in 5th with one game to go. After a solid 232 from Michael Martell in game 1, he struggled in Game 2 and with Mirabile pumping out a 239 to clinch the final spot, our final 4 were Chase (445), Tony Macchietto (438), Zimmerman (436) and Mirabile (435).
In the semifinal bracket, Mirabile got off to a stellar start with the front 4 strikes against the #1 seed Chase. Chase made a comeback midway through the game, but Mirabile kept his foot on the gas and took the win 245-203 to get to the championship match. In the other semifinal match, Zimmerman struggled from the jump and the youngster Macchietto took advantage, taking a 214-182 win and our title match was set.
The title match was one for the ages. With the lanes breaking down, but right of 10 basically being totally out of bounds, both bowlers had their work cut out for them. Mirabile balked first, opening in the 2nd frame. Macchietto struggled to keep the ball in the 1-3 pocket, however his Brooklyn strike in the 2nd allowed him to start with a double and he had a quick 24 pin lead in the early going. With Macchietto and Mirabile exchanging marks in the 3-4th frames, the lead remained at about 20 headed to the mid-point of the match. And then both bowlers turned it on. Mirabile, sensing trouble, proceeded to throw a 4-bagger, however Macchietto responded with his own triple and it was a 2-pin lead headed into the 9th frame. Mirabile would've locked it out if he struck out in the 9th and 10th, however his 9th frame shot came up high and he left a 4-pin. He threw a strike in the tenth, but with Macchietto working on a triple, all he needed was a mark in the tenth to close it out. With Macchietto admitting afterwards it was the "most nervous he's ever felt bowling," his 10th frame shot went a little awry, leaving a difficult 3-6-10. A conversion was a win. A miss was a loss. It was all up to the spare. Unfortunately for Macchietto, it was not to be. He chopped the 6-10 off the 3 and Mirabile had his first ever Bowlage Pattern Tournament Series chip with a 212-207 victory.
With the win, Mirabile took home the $1,000 first prize with Macchietto taking home $650 for the runner-up spot. Here are the other cashers in order:
- Chase
- Zimmerman
- Martell
- Bajorski
- Zack Vitelli
- Sam Kaplan
- Andrew Suscreba
- Francis Vitelli
- Tom Catalano
You can watch the action below:
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3 (cashers)
Semis:
Finals:
