The Middletown Boys Varsity Bowling team participated in the annual Back to School Bash today at Rollhouse Fairfield lanes.

The oil pattern for today's event was harder than what we are used to when we bowl on house shots at Eastern Lanes and away matches at other bowling alleys. The reason the pattern is used is to try to make it harder for all bowlers, and to also see what it will look like at the end of the season for the Sectionals & Districts tournaments.

The format was 2 regular games, followed by 4 Baker games, across 4 lanes, all before lunch. Once the next round starts, all teams go into a bracket style knockout round, where the winner of best 2 out of 3 Baker games gets to advance.

The most important thing to accomplish during a tournament with the format that was used today, on top of the special oil pattern, is making spares. Teams that can consistently make their spares, go deeper into the tournament and have a better chance of winning. Unfortunately, our boys struggled all day making spares, and their scores and end-result show it.

High bowler for the team was Sophomore Brent Shaw with games of 168 & 131! Just 2 pins back in total pinfall was Sophomore Harlynn Davis, who rolled a 141 & 156! Junior Riley Pritchard started off slow with a 124 and finished his set with a 155, and Freshman Ben Bales bowled a 137.

The 4 Baker games in the qualifying round were all below the team's current average, as they shot a 122, 168, 136, & a 139. This put them in 22nd place before the break.

After lunch, the Middies went head-to-head against 11th ranked McNicholas. The first game was a close one, but our team lost by just 3 pins, 140-137! In game #2, their opponent did a better job of picking up their spares, and knocked our boys out of the tournament by shooting 160 to our 134.

The Middies will travel to Poelking Wilmington Lanes for their next match on Wednesday against Chaminade Julienne. Start time for the match is set for 4:00pm.

GO MIDDIES!