"I must have been throwing a lot of 'Dotty balls,' " said a laughing Trish Mather. "That's the only reason I can think of for getting my career high game and high set at the same time."
A Dotty ball? There are a lot of bowling balls with lot of different names on the market, but a Dotty ball?
"The Dotty ball got its name from my mom, Dotty Richard," said Mather. "When she got a strike with a really, really bad ball, everybody would holler, "Dotty ball, Dotty ball."
Still, Mather had a great night in the Thursday All-Star League at Westminster Thunderhead Lanes. The Westminster resident and tenpin bowler threw a 220 game as the base for a 540-plus series.
Mather, a 158-average bowler, throws a 14-pound Columbia White Dot bowling ball.
Enjoyment leads to big scores
Caroline Clear of Westminster bowls in two leagues at Thunderhead, the Wednesday Morning Ladies and the Monday Mixed at County Lanes.
Originally from Milton, Pa., Clear has lived in Carroll County for 15 years. This year her average has jumped to 167. In the Wednesday Morning Ladies League she shot a 211 game, and next week came back with a 202 game. In between, at County Lanes, she had a 222 game and a 585 series.
Any explanation for the sudden eruption of high games?
"Not really," she said. "Except that this year I'm bowling with a great group of people and having a wonderful time. I guess that you could say I'm just enjoying the game more."
Pin killer throws career high
They call Ed Ellinger "Pin Killer."
"When I was bowling in Reisterstown I'd send pins flying two or three lanes away from where I was bowling," Ellinger said. "So they started calling me Pin Killer."
On Oct. 15, in the Thursday Spare Shot League at Westminster Thunderhead, he threw a career-high game of 186 and added games of 162 and 126 for a big 461 series.
Normally a 109-average bowler, Ellinger has been bowling for "about 20 years."
Three-year-old scores a 98
Mikey Journey doesn't throw hard enough to do any damage to the duckpins at Hampstead Bowling Center in the Pee Wee League on Saturday mornings, but using his two-handed delivery, Mikey, with the help of the bumpers, has been averaging 71 in his first season.
The son of Arnise and Mike Journey, Mikey is catching on to the duckpin game rapidly. On Oct. 17, Mikey rolled a 98 game.
"The game would have been over 100 probably," his mom said, "if he hadn't dropped a ball on his toe in the eighth frame."
A 3-pound, 6-ounce duckpin ball is pretty heavy when you're not quite 4 years old. Mikey's birthday is tomorrow.
That 98 game was the first of the two games that Pee Wee bowlers have for a set. Did Mikey sit out the second game, nursing his toe? No way. He came back with a 68.
Youths scare up good time
Halloween is over. If you weren't at Hampstead Bowling Center last Saturday, you'll have to wait until next year to see more than 200 youngsters in bowling in costume.
You'll have to wait to see Ginny "The Cow" Blackowicz, league coordinator, dishing out sodas and slices of pizza; you'll have to wait to see the Karen "The Clown" Wisner, co-owner of the center, holding down center control, and you'll never get to see the prize-winning costumes of the young bowlers.
Mike Brown, a 106-average tenpin bowler, was the scariest, as Dracula. Augie Zagami, 86 duckpin average, had the most original costume as a mummy.
Missy Reeb, an 86-average duckpinner, was judged funniest, as a baby. Jennifer Perry, 4, with a 73 average in duckpins, was prettiest. The daughter of Nancy and Richard Perry was dressed as Barbie.