Valenti Sr. wins Central Valley Senior Bowling Club title

There were 68 senior men and women bowlers competing at Stockton’s West Lake Bowl for the Central Valley Senior Bowling Club’s singles event recently.

Merced’s Larry Valenti Sr. came out on top after qualifying third with a 1,029 in the stepladder finals. In his first match he bowled Modesto’s Richard Erler with a 1,057. Valenti rolled a 247 to Erler’s 242. He than advanced to take on the top seed of Julian Batiste from Vallejo who had 1,079. Valenti came out firing with a super 278 to Batiste rolling a 263.

The win was good for $179 for Valenti.

Up next for the club will be a doubles event to be held at the Harvest Bowl in Brentwood on Saturday, May 20. A woman can join the club if they are 50 years or better, men is 55 and older. Membership is only $20 a year, an entry into their tournaments is $40.

You roll four games across 8 lanes. The top three qualifiers will advance to the stepladder finals. Number 3 bowls number 2, the winner take on the number 1 seed for the championship. Contact David Brown at 209-549-2510 for more information.

Shooting stars

The Commercial Classic had Larry Valenti Jr. hitting his mark all night with games of 279-279-246 for a 804. In the Atwater Merchants, Corey Phillips came close to another 800 set with games of 269-268-258 for a 795. In the Guys & Dolls Mark Whitcomb finished with a 663 series.

League champions crowned

The first league that finished its year was the Tuesday Seniors at Bellevue Bowl that had the Friends taking the league championship over 2 right and 1 left team. The Friends had John Krone sealing the deal with a 277 game in the second game in the championship match giving them the crown, 2,120 to 1,959. Team members are Niki Abernathy, Leo Gonzales, and Krone.

Seniors no-tapers

Don’t forget this Friday is Yosemite Lanes is hosting their monthly 9-pin no-tap singles for senior men and women. First ball starts rolling at 1 p.m. Entry fee is $13. High game is paid out after every game for men and women. No pot-luck is held. See ya there.

Association meeting in May

On Saturday, May 20 at 10 a.m. is the annual meeting of our Merced County USBC Association board in the meeting room at Bellevue Bowl.

A major shake-up is on the verge of happening in the board as members have been resigning for different reasons. Leaving the board are our President Tom Brewer, Directors Carol Brewer, Gudi Ross, and Jim Mullings. There are several men and women who have mentioned that they are interested in running for a directors position.

The directors position is open to any association bowler in Merced County. Our association manger, Keith Hunter made a decision in December that he would be retiring on July 30 after 22 years as a secretary of the Merced Bowling Association and manager of the Merced County USBC Association because of health reasons. He recently had successful surgery on his right shoulder at the Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto. Two days after his surgery, Hunter suffered a stroke and is now in a rehab hospital in Fresno and last word he was going fine.

Dave Egleston, our new President of the association informed me that the association is now taking applications for the position of manager for the association. A resume should be written and dropped off at Bellevue Bowl. At the meeting you can nominate association members from the floor to be elected as a new director, they have to be attending the meeting. A new manager will be announced during the May meeting.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Valenti Sr. wins Central Valley Senior Bowling Club title."