With temperatures pushing close to 110 degrees on the bowling lane surface, the heat of the
moment didn’t stop Brunswick from adding to its Manufacturers’ Cup lead after three rounds of
competition in the Professional Bowlers Association’s GEICO Team Shootout hosted by
Six Flags.
Matches five and six of 12 scheduled Baker scoring system round-robin team matches aired Saturday
on ESPN.
In Baker team bowling, each member of a five-player team bowls two frames to complete a full
game. In the GEICO Team Shootout, an “endless 10th frame” bonus feature allows a team to extend
its 10th frame as long as it can continue to throw strikes. The entire series, consisting of six head-
to-head matches between each team and a three-match stepladder final, was conducted outdoors on
specially-constructed lanes on the grounds of Six Flags Great Adventure, in Jackson, New Jersey.
After losing its first two matches to Brunswick, Ebonite International got on the winning track in
Match Five, racing away to a 217-172 victory over 900 Global on the PBA Shark lane condition. A
strike in the fifth frame and three more in the 10th by anchor Chris Barnes were the difference-
makers. Strikes by Mike Scroggins in the first and sixth frames also helped the Ebonite players -
representing Columbia 300, Hammer, Track and Ebonite bowling ball brands – build an insurmountable
lead as 900 Global was unable to put together back-to-back strikes the entire game.
“We picked the Shark because we felt like our team didn’t have a lot of weaknesses,” Barnes said.
“Jason (Couch) and Mike (Scroggins) both had a good look and (900 Global) didn’t have any lefties.
We also figured our rev rate worked to our advantage.
“We knew we had the best team there,” Barnes continued. “The format really didn’t penalize anyone
for not qualifying well, but we didn’t expect to be 0-2, either. But Brunswick bowled a heckuva
game both times.”
In Match Six, Storm’s decision to challenge Brunswick on the Viper pattern stung the “home team”
in the end. Storm had the right to select the lane condition, but the lineup of Norm Duke, Pete
Weber, Wes Malott, Jason Belmonte and Rhino Page was unable to throw a single double. Brunswick
took advantage when Parker Bohn III, Sean Rash and Brad Angelo combined for a turkey to take a
24-pin lead after seven frames.
An unconverted 4-6-7 split by Carolyn Dorin-Ballard in the eighth frame and a missed 1-3-6-7
“washout” by Bohn in the 10th opened the door for Storm, but Page’s seven-count after converting
a 7 pin in the 10th frame was just enough for Brunswick to hang on for a 185-184 victory, its third
without a loss in the round-robin match series.
“I’ve always said if you want a condition that neutralizes the best players, pick the toughest
condition, not the easiest,” Brunswick’s Johnny Petraglia said. “That’s kind of what you’re trying to
do in an event like this. You try to pick a pattern that individuals can’t line up off each other. We
felt like every time the other team picked the toughest pattern against us, they were doing us a
favor.”
After three complete rounds, Brunswick held a 3-0 edge in the Manufacturers’ Cup while the other
three teams all had 1-2 records. The won-lost records at the conclusion of the round-robin matches
will determine the seeding positions for the championship round. Ties will be broken by actual pinfall
totals, not including “endless 10th frame” bonus pins.
GEICO Team Shootout telecasts will continue on ESPN on Sunday, July 11, at 1:30 p.m. All times
are Eastern.
