SPORTS

Bowling: Ten Pin Talk

Jody Bastas has pocketed another 300 game … and came THIS CLOSE to an 800 series.

The Great Falls righthander used his 300 to splice together games of 243 and 247, to collect a 790 series Thursday night during the Classified League at Little’s Lanes, the second of two perfect games rolled in the region this week.

Ryan Mapes had a pretty decent week on the lanes himself. He was just 109 miles away.

Mapes and partner Corey Winson won the doubles portion of the Havre City Tournament last weekend at the Hi-Line house with a pinfall of 1,467, and had a 777 series mixed in.

But that’s not the highlight of the week. That came on Wednesday in the Men’s City League, where the BNSF Railway employee strung together games of 300, 230 and 224 for a 764 series.

It is the third time Mapes has reached perfection in his career.

Hi-Line Lanes owner Ken Brubaker says scores were pretty high during the tournament. Roman Surber got tapped by a nine-pin on his final ball for a 299. Kyle Surber averaged 235 en route to the All-Events title, scoring 2,121. Add a 740 series to that, as well. And let’s not forget the fairer sex: Julie Rodgers shot a 709.

Kyle Surber lost the singles crown by one stick to Kyle Fanning, with Roman Surber in third with a 723.

Second place in doubles went to Julie Rodgers and Modesty Cavin with a 1,394. Dave Herman and Shawn Mariani was third with a 1,369.

Team event, with a score of 2,504, went to Shamrock’s (Doris Howard, Suoener Springer, Modesty Cavin and Julie Rodgers … all of whom are related). Bud Light was 12 sticks back in second, and the Four Goofs was third.

SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS: While it was just a tad too late to make the column, we did manage to get the final tally from the Great Falls USBC City women’s tournament into Tuesday’s paper.

Now, we can pass them along to you … in a little larger type, of course.

In Division One: Just Do It (Kim Cooper, Shelby Vernon, Amy Hunter and Barb Baumgartner) won team event with a 2,671, followed by The GFUSBC Association Team. Bev James and Norma Miller are doubles champions with a 1,397, beating Holly Fulcher and Barb Lankford by five pins. And Lori Hopp’s 713 won singles by seven pins over Marie Walsh and Danielle Jacobs.

In Division Two: Team champions are The Strikers (Lois Hering, Bettry Peterson, Carol Martin, Tina Buls) with a 2,647, with The Fun Bunch taking second. Jean Lundt and Lorraine Zuern scored a doubles win over Gail Hooks and Veronica Bowie; and Debra Erwin shot a 730 in singles, while runnerup Nicole Bryan had a 687.

In Division Three: The Honor Team (Maggie Deaton, Lois Hering, Shirley Shoquist and MaryEllen VanHoozen) had the winning score of 2,515 in Team event. Phyllis Lee and Jiggs Jones won doubles with a 1,388, and Alley Teberg’s singles score of 757 beat Julia Stevenson by 20 sticks.

GREAT FALLS’ KRISTEN DEHN finished third and Choteau roller Angie Burk was fourth in the run for the Women’s U.S. Open Qualifier Sunday at Missoula’s Five Valley Center.

Winning the tournament, and getting paid expenses and entry fee into either the Women’s U.S. Open or the USBC Queens Tournament is Patti Carlson of Kalispell, who downed Julie Redfern of Billings in the title match. The Women’s U.S. Open is Aug. 31-Sept. 6 in North Brunswick, N.J., while the Queens Tournament is May 13-19 in Green Bay, Wisc.

Carol Sears of Missoula was fifth.

Josh Link of Hardin bested Butte southpaw Mark Hodges 257-196 to earn himself a trip and an entry into the U.S. Open in Garland, Texas Nov. 2-8.

Wayne Marchie of Butte was third, Monty Baker of Bozeman fourth, and Markus Mosness of Helena fifth.

Next weekend, the Jeanette Martinich Classic for female bowlers is at Star Lanes in Butte. Call Laurie Tripp at (406) 498-4167.

Also, the Best of the West Shootout will be held this weekend at Lincoln Lanes in Libby. You can call Tim Rooney at (406) 293-9329 or 293-0553 to enter.

Tribune Sports Writer Lee Vernoy writes and compiles Ten Pin Talk every week for the Tribune. He bowls, too. Call him with all things bowling at (406) 791-6569, or email him at lvernoy@greatfallstribune.com.