Merced County Bowling Hall of Fame ushers in new inductees

The 21st Annual Merced County Bowling Hall of Fame induction ceremony is now history as Bruce Ingraham, Larry Valenti Jr., and Michael Giordano were introduced to the crowd. Four $1,000 student scholarships were given out during the evening and men and women winners of the City Tournament were presented with their plaques.

Presentation of the 500 club championship winners tournament were awarded. A sparse crowd was in attendance as there were a few April weddings going on for some of our bowlers. We missed the Cardoza family, owners of Bellevue Bowl who are always in attendance.

Red Headpin Singles finals

The Red Headpin handicap tournament sponsored by the Mother Lode 500 Club of Sonora released their final standings and money won by our bowlers. Our local Merced/Atwater Women’s 500 Club was well represented in the final results in the tournament held at Black Oak Lanes in Toulumne City. The women’s division with pin count had Marnie Hamilton taking first place for $66 (724), in second was April Quinonez $59 (709), third place has Tia Pretzer $51 (692), Mary Hamilton and Christina Whitcomb were in a tie for eighth place and each received $18 (648). In the men’s division had John Krone in fourth with a handicap score of 654 for $32.

Shooting stars

Rod Hoofard converted a hard split in the 6-7-9-10 in the Bellevue Seniors on Tuesday. Sean McCulloch rolled a 729 and Jess Ramirez a 662. Neill Barcellos a 651 all in the Commercial Classic. Jeff Stout a 675 in the Guys & Dolls league.

Magic pins

Again, Bellevue Bowl had the attack of the bowling pin that made its way into the ball return track again last Wednesday in the Commercial Classic league. And, once again Keith Docherty led the charge to remove the pin, which was loose behind some balls on the track. Docherty did not have to saw this one to get it out. He removed the plastic covers on the ball return system to get the pin out. He had a large tool to help him out this time. Again, he did a great job; the bowlers were not waiting for the repair too long.

Monterey 500 Invitational

The Monterey Women’s 500 Club is hosting their annual Invitational Tournament on Sunday, April 30 at Monterey Lanes in Monterey. There will be only one division with an entry fee of $30. It will feature three games of 9-pin no-tap. Entries close on April 28. Entry forms are available at Bellevue Bowl.

Tenth frame.

We have lost another longtime bowler in Joe Winters, one time bowler at Century Bowl for years. He was the lead bowler on the Harris Acres team in the All-Star Scratch league at Century. His bowling partners were John Lema, Johnny Rocha, Tom Ragsdale, and Nick Puglizevich.

In 1970 Winters carried a 182 average, in 1979 a 188, overall Winters carried a 183 average during his year bowling in the Merced Bowling Association. I never bowled with Joe on his team, always against him. A celebration of Life for Joe will be held this Saturday, April 8 at 11 a.m. at the Stratford Evans Funeral Home on 1490 B Street in Merced. He will be laid to rest with full military honors on Friday, April 21 at the San Joaquin Valley Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. at W. McCabe Road in Santa Nella.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Merced County Bowling Hall of Fame ushers in new inductees."