Surdich on Bowling: Diedrich and Hamilton win Scotch Doubles

It was another great turnout for our Merced/Atwater Women’s 500 Club’s annual Scotch Doubles at Bellevue Bowl last Sunday, with 24 teams rolling for a prize fund of more than $575.

Coming in first was the team of Katie Diedrich and Cody Hamilton, who bowl at Valley Bowl in Madera, with a team score of 918 for $74 each. In second were Alice Stove and Ed Huddleston with an 853 for $66 each, followed by Eddie Oliverez and Marie Herrera with an 839 for $57 each and Sandy Olivarez and Monta Tillotson with an 827 for $48 each. In a fifth-place tie were the teams of LaDonna and Monte Stone, and Sharon and Robert Gomes, rolling 819 for $20 each.

Up next for the club is its Behind the Curtain on Aug. 14.

First-timer – It looks as if Brian Barthel kept his cool last Thursday night in the Summer Jubilee league, as he rolled his first perfect game.

To top it off, a player to his left had her wrist guard come off as she rolled her ball. It crossed Barthel’s pair of lanes and landed on the pair to his right as he prepared to throw his 12th ball. But that didn’t break his concentration. He threw a strike for the 300.

Barthel ended up with a 683 series. He was presented with a plaque from our association last Thursday night.

Simpsons score again – Bill and Judy Simpson made the most of it in their senior no-tap tourney last Friday at McHenry Bowl in Modesto. Bill earned $37.50 and Judy $37. In the high-game pot, Bill took the first game with a 331 and placed second in the men’s high series with an 862. Judy took first in the women’s high-game pot with a 340 and second in the women’s series with an 820.

Janie Schropp won a few bucks in the second women’s high game with a 322.

It’s Yosemite Lanes’ turn for the senior no-tap July 22 at 1 p.m. in Modesto. Entry fee is $13, which includes your high-game pot for men and women that is paid out after every game. The intersection at Hatch Road and Santa Fe Avenue will be closed for repairs from July 22 to Aug. 7 in case you use that route.

Ten Pin Fun Center – I guess the second time is a charm for developer Rod Scott, as he again plans to build a bowling center in the Monte Vista Crossings shopping center in Turlock that will be up and running by July 2017.

The entertainment center will be built across from Lowe’s with 34 lanes, a 4,000 square-foot laser tag area, an arcade with 75 games and a banquet room for small or large events. Two bars are being built. The center has several other outstanding features.

Scott had plans to build a center across from Cal State Stanislaus in 2010. Turlock’s last bowling center, Divine Gardens, closed in 1997.

This center will be a gem of entertainment for adults and kids in Turlock and the surrounding area.

The adults, teens and kids of Merced also need a bowling center. It’s a larger city than Turlock with four high schools, a community college and a university.

Valley Bowl is back up – I called Chris Pugliese in Los Banos to see if he was going to be bowling at Bellevue this year. He said he would roll at Valley Bowl in Madera and maybe the new bowl in Los Banos.

Pugliese told me repairs are being made on the roof that fell in at Valley Bowl.

The center had been closed for about five weeks, according to Fred Eisenhammer, who wrote a column in the California Bowling News last week about the problem. Two temporary support beams were erected in the concourse area supporting the main truss, but four permanent steel posts need to be installed.

“That work will be needed later, as a structural engineer was unable to determine the exact cause of the roof damage,” said Patti Hoban, who owns Valley Bowl with husband Terry.

Sixteen of the bowl’s 18 lanes are open.

“We want to ensure that everyone who comes to our bowl is safe and secure,” Patti Hoban said.

The bowl is not a corporate-owned house; they need some help. They have a drive going on to raise funds for most of the repairs; it appears their insurance claim has been denied. If you want to help our fellow bowlers, send a donation to Help Save Valley Bowl, 12829 Hwy 145, Madera, CA. 93537. Make sure you tell them you are a bowler.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Surdich on Bowling: Diedrich and Hamilton win Scotch Doubles."