MIRA MESA LANES

champs Cortez Schenck & Erik Hagen (center) with U17 and girls winners Trevor Thompson & Katelyn Abigania

        Two heatbreaking endings led to two relieved champions, in the conclusion to a fantastic weekend of JBT So Cal Conference action at Mira Mesa Lanes in San Diego.

        In the scratch division, twelve semifinalists were carved down to four in head to head matchplay.  In one semi, #3 Cortez Schenck beat #7 Carlos Perez, while #4 Matt Alford stopped #8 Nick Devlin to set up the title match.  Alford had struggled in previous JBT scratch events, but put it all together here, however facing all-time title leader Schenck can be a tough challenge to win your first title.   Cortez had the early lead, but a big-four and solid-8 in the late frames gave Matt a chance to mark in the tenth for the win.  A great shot from Alford left a solid-10, but then he just flagged the spare, handing a shocked Schenck a 208-204 win and his 83rd career title.  It was still a breakout performance for Alford, and his first title will come soon with efforts like that!

        Scores were very high at the top of the handicap division field, led mostly by youngsters, notably the Abigania kids, top seeded 9-year old Katelyn, and 3-seeded 11 year-old Joshua, both of whom made it through matchplay all the way to the semifinals.  In the semis, Katelyn was upset by #12 Erik Hagen, while Joshua got past #7 Allison Azvedo to set up the title match.  The finale was a new experience for both Abigania and Hagen, and stayed close throughout.  In the end, Joshua, just like Alford, needed a mark to win, and just like Alford threw a very good shot, but a wobbly 5-7 stood to his family's dismay.  Abigania managed to keep it together for a great shot at the split, sending the 5 into the 7 but not quite knocking it over, giving Hagen his first career JBT title with the breathless 210-207 win.

        Katelyn got her revenge in the girls' scratch title match, qualifying second with a 199 average, and then beating top seed Michaela Buhain 191-168 for the win.  Let's review: A NINE YEAR OLD WON A SCRATCH EVENT.  That's by far our youngest winner of a scratch event, and has to be one of the youngest in any sporting event that has athletes up to age 22 competing- huge congrats, Katelyn!!

        The U17 final featured veteran Trevor Thompson taking on newcomer Ian Versaggi, and this time it was the vet who prevailed, as the clean-shaven Thompson fired 258 to beat Ian and win the day's U17 crown.

        The day's prize fund was doubled thanks to amazing contributions from Priority Girl Magazine, long time JBT sponsor MSC, Inc., and all of our great regular sponsors including Ebonite.  The Ebonite ball raffles make our '21' game possible for season 21, and Kylie Shishima cashed in on that opportunity, going 7-7-7 for 21 exactly, and the $100 scholarship jackpot!     

        What an exciting day of action- but don't worry, we do this every week!  Just check out our schedule and come on down to be a part of it all!