Strikes were flying off the hand of Dawn Fernandez last Wednesday night at Bellevue Bowl in the Commercial Classic league.
Rolling for the Merced Medical Supply, Fernandez had a night she will never forget, setting a new personal best with a 288 in her final game. She began a little cold with a 167 in her first game, but quickly warmed up. Fernandez posted a 213 next and in the last game of her three-game set, she caught fire.
Stringing together 10 consecutive strikes, Fernandez looked well on her way to perfection. However, her ball in the 11th was a little high and left the 4-7 split; she finished with a 288 -- 24 points better than her previous high score.
Fernandez, rolling an Columbia 300's Arch Rival, totaled a 688 series and took over the league's high-scratch game and series from teammate Rae Coonce.
You might remember Fernandez. She was a member of the High Rollers league at Castle lanes for several years and always carried a 180-plus average. If she could carry that average at Castle, she knows the game. I call her "Lefty," because she would tug the ball for a Brooklyn strike at Castle.
Since she began rolling at Bellevue, she has found the pocket more consistently. The last several years, Fernandez has been one of the top five women in our association for average. The top women's association game this year was 295, rolled by Courtney Dahlin.
Besides Fernandez's fireworks, there were several Classic members lighting up the lanes with great games last week:
Dennis Gray rolled a 287 in his first game with a string of 10 strikes and finished with a 753 set.
Gene Frazier also had a string of 10 for a 280 game in his second game.
Marlene and Renee Danel, a sister-in-law duo, found the lanes to their liking as Marlene rolled a career best 138; she averages 83. Renee rolled a 187, nearly 60 points better than her 128 average.
First-year bowler Dave Souza had his highest game ever with a 235 in the Classic.
Rolling in the Bellevue Seniors, Manuel Salazar began his third game with eight straight strikes. His ninth toss was high and left the 7-10 split. In the 10th he washed out for a solid 243.
Rolling on lanes that he normally does not prefer -- Cedar Lanes -- Larry Valenti Sr. struck an accord with the Fresno house at the Silver Foxes' recent singles event.
In the qualifying round he rolled games of 235, 224, 242, 245 for a scratch total of 846; with handicap, he landed the No. 3 seed with a 994 set.
In the three-bowler roll-off, he finished in a tie for fourth and collected a check of $170. He missed moving into the semifinals by one pin.
Pete DeVries had a 911 qualifier and placed 25th for $45.
The club's next event will be in Santa Maria on Saturday, Feb. 11.
Innovative Bowling Products is celebrating its 40th year in the bowling business and will be running sales throughout the year. Up now are Abralon sanding pads, two-speed ball spinners and polish and ball cleaning supplies. To see their entire inventory and prices, click on innovativebowling.com.
Modesto's resident PBA pro Wayne Garber made the valley proud as he competed in the 2012 USBC Masters in Henderson, Nev., last week and did a bang up job. He went 2-2 in the double elimination format, and lost his final match to Jason Belmonte, the two-handed bowler from Australia, 750-645. Garber received a check for $1,900.
In the championship match, Mike Fagan defeated Chris Barnes for his first major PBA title 246-213. The winning purse was $50,000.
Scoring Leaders
Patty Harrell 229, Mary Walker 187, Kay Koehn 196, Sharee Frazier 201, Jerry Hill 247, Sharon Roper 178, Steven Sanchez 269, David Souza 235, Jerry McMilan 258, Jess Donohue 232, Jenny Avellar 221, Barbara Bustos 197, Tia Wolfe 193, Dana Lee 212, Todd Gilles 243, John Layton 267, Barbara Graves 198, Caren Thompson 217, Ron Burch 264, Jeremy Hurd 247, Ed Rowen 238, Jim Mullings 238, Gudi Ross 207, Brian Kucius 235, Don Surdich 275, Sid McIntyre 190, Vicki Lester 179, Margaret Richter 192.
Series Leaders
Courtney Dahlin 564, Rae Coonce 570, Lance Ollenborger 582, Dave Porter 583, Julie Wescott 596, Adam Andrino 608, Phil Chernoff 622, Mike Robins 653, Gene Frazier 656, Daniel Clarke 660, Eric Hickman 664, Dawn Fernandez 668, John Eversole 669, Larry Valenti, Jr. 670, John Nunes 681, Clarence Allen 685, Don Surdich 689, Doug Laidlaw 717, Dennis Gray 753.
Don Surdich is the Sun-Star's bowling columnist and can be reached at (209) 777-1111 or via e-mail at desurdich@aol.com.
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