BOY'S TEAM:
On Tuesday, the varsity bowlers had their District Tournament at AMF Casselberry Lanes, with both teams taking second place and securing a spot in the FHSAA State Tournament next Tuesday and Wednesday.
The boys began the first round paired up with Edgewater. They began the series with a slight lead against the Eagles, rolling a nice 999 series. The Darters temporarily lost their line and lead during the second game, only to end the first round with a nice 1032 game to gain the advantage over the Eagles. At the end of the first round, however, West Orange had the lead with 3079 to the Darter second place of 2863.
The second round found the pairings exactly the same, with Edgewater and Apopka still paired. The Darters rolled a 958 the first game, and increased with each game to end with a 1029 final game. By the end of the tournament, the Darters had decreased the lead, but fell short of West Orange. The final pin count for the day was 5836.
Kyle Paxson had the high series with a 1306 and the high game of 257 in the final game. Andrew Calvache rolled the second high game of 256, also in the final game, and a 1204 series. Mitch Schilling also had a successful day with a high 220 and an 1176 series. Jon Ladines entered in the third game of the day with a nice 222 game.
COACH'S COMMENTS:
Aside from the second game of the day, our boys bowled some really nice scores, including two games over 1000. Their second game cost them first place. West Orange had a high 1109 first game to give them a large lead that they were able to keep throughout the day. These two things made it extremely difficult to secure first place.
I was proud of the way our boys hung together and kept their scores up the entire day. Bowling against Edgewater gave our boys the incentive to bowl high scores as well as keeping an eye on their closest competition.
GIRL'S TEAM:
The girls team also will advance to the state tournament with their second place finish. They began the first round with a 190 and 181 game and their high series of the morning, 796.
After lunch the standings were posted and the Lady Darters found themselves in third place, trailing West Orange by a mere 60 pins. Amy Seay took the Coach’s advice to pick up the pace and bowled a high game of 208, followed by another nice 193 game. Jennifer Beisheim rolled a 189 in the second game of the afternoon, with Ashley Preston contributing with a 192 final game. Their final two series were 873 and 843, above their norm, to end the afternoon with a 2464 and a 4770 total pin count.
The excitement and anticipation of the afternoon continued as the team and Coach waited for the announcement of who would continue their season at the State Tournament. When it was announced that a West Orange bowler was going as an individual, the team knew they had second place wrapped up.
Amy Seay had the high series, bowling 989. Ashley Preston had the second high series of 982. Catrina Cruger had high games of 190 and 210. Jennifer Beisheim had high games of 181 and 189.
COACH'S COMMENTS:
I gave my girls a pep talk after lunch. I told them they were far from out of the running, and if they wanted their season to continue they would have to pick up the pace just a little.
All of the girls really picked up the pace in the afternoon session and bowled above their norm. West Orange’s coach turned their scores in at the same time that I did. When we compared scores, we knew that it was going to be really close. I was surprised and extremely proud of our girls when they announced the second place finish.