CENTRAL NEW YORK – While a 300 game is the goal of every skilled bowler, far more difficult is putting together enough strikes over three games to produce a series of 800 or better.
Somehow, East Syracuse Minoa boys bowler Zach Kassel pulled off both of these feats in the course of the Spartans’ big 5-2 win over Cicero-North Syracuse at Strike-N-Spare Lanes, where the Section III championships take place next weekend.
Having opened with a 246 game, Kassel then converted strikes on all 12 shots he faced in the second game for a perfect 300, and he kept going from there, ultimately converting 21 consecutive strikes.
Though not quite perfect in the third, Kassel’s 278 gave him an 824 series, the best in Section III this season, and a difference maker when ESM’s pinfall was 3,829 to C-NS’s total of 3,668.
Alex Locke (672 series) and Mike Saunders (664 series) also lit it up, Locke closing with a 246 and Saunders putting up a 257. Ryan Dablock had a 200 and 203 in his 586 series, with Luke Liedka getting 200 and 201 in his 546 set and Joe Gardner stepping up with a 537 series.
For C-NS, Games of 239, 204 and 224 gave Jacob Calabria a 667 series, just ahead of Nehemiah Bachmann, whose 262 came in the second game as Bachmann concluded with a 662 total. Sam Hoffmann’s 207, 210 and 221 led to a 638 series, with Garrett Arnold steady in a 600 series and Jason Krausnick opening with a 226 on his way to a 599 total.
ESM’s girls also won, blanking C-NS 7-0 led by Alana Tuberville, who shot a 213, one of her best games of the season, on the way to a 486 series. Ruth Birmingham added a 432 series, while Nicole Baker’s 411 series was just ahead of Jewelianna Hallock’s 409 set.
As a follow-up on Thursday, ESM’s boys beat Liverpool 5-2, and while Kassel cooled off from his C-NS set, he still had a 583 series with a high game of 583.
Instead, it was Kyle Nissen who was nearly perfect, with a spare and 11 consecutive strikes in a 290 game that closed out a 670 series. Saunders opened with a 222 in a 598 series as Liedka shot a 221 and Dablock a 212, with Gardner adding a 559 total.
The girls Spartans also won 5-2 over the Warriors, getting a 497 series from Hallock and 467 series from Baker, which overcame 211 games from the Warriors’ Sara Conover and Sarah Daniel, with Conover getting a 554 series and Daniel a 511 set.
Christian Brothers Academy finished an undefeated regular season on the girls side by handling Chittenango 7-0 on Thursday afternoon.
Eliana Occhino was consistent, her 216, 203 and 192 games part of a 611 series. Sophia Ciereck closed strong with a 178 on her way to a 427 total as Sierra Burke shot 157, 155 and 146 in her 458 series.
CBA’s boys also blanked Chittenango 7-0, with Tom Dearnaley’s 211 game highlighting a 573 series. Porter Matt had a season-best 493 set and Ryan Storie added a 457 series as Birin Smith gave the Bears a 550 series and high game of 216.
Fayetteville-Manlius bowled Friday against Syracuse City at Green Lakes Lanes and won a 5-2 decision on the boys side despite Syracuse’ Donnel Ayers shooting a 707 series with games of 246 and 268.
The Hornets’ pinfall of 3,024 just beat out Syracuse’s 2,928 as Sean Bird, closing with a 258, had a 600 series, one behind Gabriel Williams’ 601 set that had games of 224 and 240. Cole Cox added a 528 series that closed with a 203.
F-M’s girls, improving to 7-3 overall, shut out Syracuse 7-0. Ashlynn Yonge’s second-game 217 pushed her to a 506 series, with Lillian Squire’s 453 set beating out Andrea Aguilar-Miranda (441 series), Samantha Geiss (435 series) and Teagan Hunt (428 series).
Both of the Bishop Grimes teams won last Tuesday over Altmar-Parish-Williamstown by 7-0 margins at Lighthouse Lanes, the girls seeing Lania Young set a season mark with a 238 game in her opener that led to a 517 series, helped by Wijeong Suh, who started with a 169 in a 410 series.
The boys Cobras had Alec Kinne open with a 196 during a 502 series, with Casey Mierek (434 series) and Victor Rizzo (415 series) helping out.
