Jim Richardson, after being close a lot of times, finally posted his first 300 at Bel Air Bowl.
"Well, I do have two 300s at Forest Hill," Richardson said. "But even though I had an 800 set at Bel Air, I just could never seem to get the 300."
That 800 set consisted of games of 254, 268 and 299 for a 821 series.
Richardson bowls five nights a week in six leagues (Friday he bowls both early and late shifts) all at Bel Air Bowl.
In the Thursday Twilighters league earlier this month, he started with a 208 game, then fired his 300 and came back with a 255.
"I was lined up even in the first game," he said. "But I didn't get the carry I wanted from the Burgundy Hammer I was using. In that first game I had two strikes then two open frames so I switched to a RPM, threw five strikes and left a 10-pin [which he missed] then I threw 17 strikes in a row [12 in the second game and five more in the third game]."
Another 300 game
Mike Lastowski, ABC field representative and a Harford County resident, spent years on the PBA national tour.
According to Bobby Marshall of Harford Lanes in Aberdeen, Lastowski was the first person to post an 800 set in Harford County.
"He's been such an outstanding bowler for so many years, that it never entered my mind that he didn't have a 300 game until after he threw one a few weeks ago," Marshall said. "It just shows how crazy this game can be."
Marshall should know: this season 12 perfect games have been shot in the Aberdeen center.
First season back
Mike Tolliver, a Parkville native now living in Bel Air, is a 14-year veteran of the Harford County Sheriff's office. He bowls in a single league on Monday at Bel Air Bowl and carries a 193 average.
As the right-hander said, he had "a good night" a few weeks ago.
Tolliver started with a 250, added a 245 and finished with a 279 for a 774 series.
Both the 279 and the 774 are career highs.
Valentine's tournament
The third annual Valentine's Scotch Doubles Handicap Tournament was at Bel Air Bowl on Feb. 4-5 to benefit the Cecil-Harford YABA Scholarship Fund.
Bonnie Kissner and Gary Lehr teamed to post a 1,330 score for first place. Sarah and Marty Letscher were second with 1,300.
After that second-place finish, Marty Letscher decided to try the PBA national tour again; last week he went to Toledo for the PBA National Championship event and this week he'll be bowling in the Greater Baltimore Open at Country Club Lanes in Baltimore County.