ONONDAGA COUNTY – Though it would not prove a repeat of 2023 glory, the Baldwinsville girls bowling team still managed a third-place finish in Sunday’s Section III Division I tournament at Flamingo Bowl in Liverpool.
And as it turned out, the Bees will have a presence at next month’s state tournament at Strike-N-Spare Lanes thanks to the work of two of its proven veterans, Lizzy Hildreth and Samantha Hass.
Hildreth, having to finish among the top two individual bowlers when the Section III Shoot-Out took place Wednesday at Strike-N-Spare, pulled it off with a six-game total of 1,160.
Tough lane conditions made every shot a challenge, but Hildreth, helped by games of 220, 217 and 203, went to the top of the standings, 27 pins ahead of Utica Proctor’s Kaitlyn Truong.
By virtue of having the best scoring average in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division, Hass had already secured a place on the sectional All-Star team heading to the state tournament.
As a whole, the team will consistt of Hildreth, Hass, Truong, two-time state champion Eliana Occhino (Christian Brothers Academy), Sarah Street (Rome Free Academy) and Anna Kanakos (Adirondack), the top individual performers in their respective leagues.
Back in the sectional tournament at Flamingo, an opening-game team score of 729 quickly put the Bees in the middle of the Division I pack in sixth place as Fulton, after initially falling behind Rome Free Academy, took the lead in the second with a 1,008, the best game by any team all day.
B’ville jumped to 862 in the second game and then had an 824 in the third game. After the break, the Bees proved steady in the afternoon session, with a fourth-game 852 and a fourth-game 865.
Then, in the sixth and final game, the Bees’ 883 was only topped by Fulton’s 897 that clinched a team title with 5,600, well clear of RFA’s second-place 5,196. But that 883 allowed B’ville to finish at 5,015 and overtake Utica Proctor (4,943) for the third spot.
Hildreth and Hass, two holdovers from last winter’s sectional and state championship teams, finished just outside the individual top 10. Hildreth did not shoot better than 178 in any of her first four games, but then had a 237 in the fifth and a 201 in the final game to climb to 1,070 and 11th place. Hass was steadier, with every game between 159 and 197, to post 1,060 and 12th place.
Just behind them, Morgan Diecuch finished 15th, peaking with a 202 fifth game in her 1,047 series. Layla Trendowski, another member of the 2023 championship side, was 24th, her closing 210 part of a 963 series as Ashlee Laveck shot 752 over five games and Leah Berkey had a 118.
