1st title in program history

By Cort Reynolds

KENTON __The Bluffton High School boys bowling team made program history by winning the 15-team Kenton Holiday Baker tournament on Tuesday, December 23 at Hillcrest Lanes.

“This is the first championship in the program’s four-year history, and we can’t wait for more,” said Pirate head coach Ben Nye. “What a day for Bluffton Pirate bowling.”

All 15 teams bowled 10 Baker games in the qualifying round. The top eight boys teams based on total scores advanced to the championship tournament stage.

Only Lima Senior was ahead of Bluffton by 73 pins in first place after the 10-game qualifying round.

“Qualifying second was great but we knew it was anyone’s day with how close it was top to bottom, and that came true in the first round vs. Kenton,” Nye noted.

In the quarterfinal round of the knockout tournament, the Pirates rallied to beat seventh-seeded host Kenton, 2-1. 

“We bowled our best two games of the day, and it was just enough,” said Nye. 

Bluffton narrowly lost the first game of the best-of-three series 191-188, but bounced back to take game two 217-192. In the rubber match, they edged the Wildcats 225-222 to advance to the semifinals.

“These boys didn’t let up after that either, all of them making quality shots and throwing games (since) they knew they could be champs at the end,” Nye observed.

In the semis, the second-seeded Pirates swept third-seeded Shawnee. Bluffton won game one 191-145, then clinched the series with a 187-171 victory in the second contest.

In the championship round, the Pirates took on fourth-seeded River Valley, which upset top-seeded Lima Senior in the semis. Bluffton won the first contest 188-168, then lost the second game 204-176 to set up a winner-take-all final match.

In game three, the Pirates rolled to a 188-141 victory over RV to claim the title.

“Over the whole day, the scores felt a little lower for all teams so staying focused, staying positive and making spares was going to be what got you to the end,” Nye offered.

In the opening Baker Series round, Bluffton rolled 191-169-195-170-157=882 to sit third after the first five games.

In the second five-game set, they bowled 205-148-165-158-225=901 to total 1,783 pins for the 10-game Baker series, placing them second only to Lima Senior (1,856 pins). Shawnee was third overall, 40 pins behind Bluffton.

The Indians were first in the second five-game set, with the Pirates second.

Pirate Joziah Salazar bowled three strikes and three clutch spares in the crucial 10^th frames of the opening Baker rounds.

Coby Dailey dialed up five strikes in round two, while Emmitt Kidd rolled four strikes in round two. Weston Johnston bowled two strikes in the second five-game set. 

Elijah Nye bowled three strikes in the first round, while Xavier Navarro contributed two spares.

Bluffton is slated to play at Findlay on Thursday, January 8.

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