All that the work the Baldwinsville bowling teams had done throughout the winter would come down to its participation in a pair of post-season tournaments at Strike-N-Spare Lanes.
That included Sunday’s Section III tournament, where the Bees emerged as the Class A champions and finished second among Division I (large school) sides battling for a trip to the OnCenter for next month’s state championships.
Tough lane conditions (they used the “Tower of Pisa” oil pattern) would make high scores rare, but the Bees did the best job in the opening game with a team score of 997 to take the early lead, led by Colin Ponto’s 253.
However, B’ville fell back to 891 and 857 in the next two games, allowing Fulton to take the Division I lead at 2,815, 70 pins ahead of the Bees as they went to the afternoon session.
With totals of 875, 810 and 865 in the last three games, B’ville was able to hang on to second place in Division I with 5,295, ahead of Cicero-North Syracuse (5,225) in the Class A standings, but watching as Fulton, with 5,503, pulled away to earn the state tournament berth.
Tanner Rozcyko shot a six-game aggregate of 1,200, second among individuals behind Fulton’s Bradley Martin, who was only nine pins ahead. Jarod Napiorkowski was 21st with a 1.049 series and Chris Forbes had a 1,042 series for 23rd place. Ponto’s 253 trailed only Utica Proctor’s Nick Santa Croce (256) for the best game of the tournament.
Before all this, the Bees took part in last Tuesday’s inaugural Salt City Athletic Conference tournament, and finished fourth with a total pinfall of 1,978. Fayetteville-Manlius won with 2,080, with Fulton second (2,062) and Liverpool (2,004) in third place.
Moving to the girls SCAC tournament, B’ville had a pinfall of 1,664, putting them in sixth place in the 10-team field. Liverpool, with a pinfall of 1,880, edged East Syracuse Minoa (1,864) for the top spot.
The Bees won head-to-head over West Genesee last Monday afternoon at B’ville Sports Bowl in a pair of 3-0 shutouts.
For the B’ville boys, Napiorkowski had a steady 659 series and 231 high game. Forbes’ 247 game was part of a 635 set as Rozcyko had a 627 series and Colin Ponto’s 223 game was part of a 595 set.
The B’ville girls’ 3-0 win over WG was a breakout for Madison Haas, who shot a 201 high game during a 476 series as Brooke Flask recorded a 484 series and high game of 179. Amelia Ponto added a 425 series, topping the Wildcats’ Maddy Lux, who led her side with a three-game total of 422.
