You all know the children's song, right? I Have Two Hands! Well I have two balls, you can sing the rest of the song, ha-che-che! So I brought two balls to the Palace with me tonight, my resurrected and super shiny pink and yellow Beast Ball (a DV8 Misfit), and my trusty Spinderella (An Ebonite Cyclone). Been feeling good all week (see my JingGal Bowls blog) and was hopeful for a fun high-scoring time at the lanes.
With Hurricane Nemo hitting the Northeast, we were lucky that Chester County was only getting rain and a little bit of snow and sleet tonight, so our Philly Pinoy league games were still on. Thank goodness, otherwise I would have had withdrawal symptoms!
Tonight the BowlStars were up against the Bowlcoholics. We have strong ties with the Bowlcoholics. Raul, wife Joy and son Paolo are old family friends, Pinoy pals and neighbors of mine when I was a graduate student living at the Florida State Alumni (Slumni) Village in the 1990s, and Raul is from my home town of Los Banos, Laguna. Raul, Joy, my GoPapa Joel and I were the core players of the Seminoles bowling team at Philly Pinoy league last year, and Chona was our sub. Bicoy is a fellow Zumbalade, enjoying the Zumba classes MehAnn used to have in Chelo's basement with us BowlStars. And of course, Joy is the younger sister of Mitchie's hubby Ivan. Bowling against friends and family can be fun, and not being naturally competitive, I tend to want everyone to be happy. But not tonight: I wanted a WIN and I wanted it BAD, since we had lost our first two matches 1-3 with the Hall of Framers and the BowlDawgs. We were ranked 8th out of the 10 teams, while the Bowlcoholics were ranked 6th, but having played with them before, I knew we had a chance, hey, we always have a chance. Bring it on, game face on, no mercy, let's play!
BowlStars (L-R): CHELO Compendio, MITCHIE Masanga, STRING/CHONA Aquino, JING Capucao, and LIZ Datu
So up for the BowlStars were Chelo Babe, String/Chona Babe, me JingGirl and Mitchie Pie, and we had a team handicap of 18 pins against the Bowlcoholics. The Bowlcoholics line-up had Bicoy, Joy, Raul and Paolo. We were in lanes 25-26, right smack in the middle of the action. To our right were the BowlDawgs and the Hall of Framers, to our left were Spare Me and the Bowleros. Lanes 21-22 had the Bowlerines against the Bowlinators, while lanes 29-30 closest to the dance floor had our beloved Lords of the Lanes with Ball In.
So the games began, and the first game was neck and neck. With less than 20 pins handicap, the game was close from frame to frame. I started playing with Beast Ball (ball number one), but oh the lanes were dry, so although I was making marks, I switched to Spinderella by the 6th frame, and was rewarded with a double = good decision. Chelo was getting her groove and played a great 140+ game. String had a string of marks and also played above her average. I had a whopping 171 game. Mitchie was struggling to find her line but continued to fight for every pin. We did great, but man did our advantage get wiped out in the last few frames with Bicoy playing above her average, Joy making a good showing, Raul also getting a 171 (gaya-gaya, puto-maya), and Ropey getting a string of strikes and ending with a 216. 'Nak ng tipaklong...nasilat pa! So the first game went to the Bowcoholics with a narrow 20+ pin advantage. Keep fighting, my BowlStars, maliit lang ang lamang nila!
Bowlcoholics (L-R): Bicoy De Leon, Raul Quimbo, Paolo Quimbo and Joy Quimbo
(NOTE: BowlStar Jing in background, saling-pusa behind Bicoy and Raul).
The ping-pong pin-fall match continued in the second game (but I did not need to sing my "Pin Fall" song from last week). Chelo Babe was hot hot hot, making her marks and getting doubles, whoopie! She had a stellar 168 game, way to go! Even String was getting doubles, whoa! I was playing a darn 9-pin no tap game but was thankfully getting my spares (I was proud to get every single 10-pin spare!), until a gutter ball started the curse of the open frame for me, ugh. I was lucky to end with a 140+ game. Mitchie continued to struggle but hang in there and got her marks in the last few frames, also ending with a 140+ game. I was not paying attention and had conceded the game until I realized that we had won by 2 pins. TWO PINS! Celebrate, celebrate, cheer and dance around. We are TIED, we have a CHANCE. Fight fight FIGHT! Oh, and by the way, wake up call for me, the lider baboy, for not paying attention to the score = shameful, I need to keep my head in the game! Sorry, Bowlcoholics, I don't even remember how you guys did, my attention was on my gals, and on doing that weird horsey dance, and on buying my 50/50 ticket, and on trying to decide which stupid ball to throw, and trying to remember where to stand.... Thanks to my anchor woman, Mitchie for pulling off this win in the last frame of the second game. Super duper play! But thanks also to Chelo's awesome game, which made up for all of us not quite playing at our averages. GO TEAM!
Third game, need to focus, focus, focus. Chelo continued her hot streak = so proud of yah, darling! String struggled but still made a good showing = great work, my dear! Mitchie was getting strikes and marks, hallelujah, we needed each one! I was hit and miss, getting some marks and strikes and missing some "easy" spares due to the dry lanes ("hookerating" "drunken balls"). The Bowlcoholics were faltering, Raul's hot hand was giving him splits, even Paolo was getting open frames. Focus and fight, my BowlStars, we have a CHANCE. The difference was dwindling and was getting closer to only around 10-20 pins.
By the time we got to the last frame, we were the only teams still playing since most teams did not have a full roster, with some team members not coming due to the weather. The only other teams with a full roster were our next door neighbors, the Hall of Framers and the BowlDawgs, but of course they finished early coz they had strings of strikes against each other. So we had an audience watching, as we entered the 9th and 10th frames. Chelo ended her fantastic game with a 140+ score. She had a 455 series and a 152 average, which is mighty awesome considering she started the evening with a 122 average = that's my Babe-licious IncrediBOWLicious team mate! I was trying so hard to loosen up, limber up and focus so badly for the last frame, I don't even remember how String did = she gave it a good try, I am proud, forgive me for not paying attention, my darling. I prayed to the bowling gods to grant us a good finish, as I picked up my Spinderella. I felt all eyes on me as I hit my mark. My physical and mental preparation was rewarded with a strike! Happy dance, happy dance, then settle down and focus, darling, focus.
Paolo was playing the Bowlcoholics' last frame and had just thrown a strike, but it was so close we both needed to throw strikes to get a win. I had pulled off a turkey in the 10th frame against the BowlDawgs last week, I was hopeful I could do it again if I could focus. Paolo threw his second ball and it was a 9. I threw mine and, whoa, got another strike! More happy dancing, many thanks to the bowling gods, too much dancing, i was getting dizzy = focus, focus, deep breaths, close your eyes and concentrate. Paolo got his spare, we were down by 19 pins. I threw my last ball and got a nine, ending with a 140+ game. With only my anchor batter (hmm) Mitchie left to play, the Bowlcoholics were ahead by 10 pins. So since Mitchie was going into the 10th frame with a spare, only one pin would win it! She got 6 with her first ball and the third game was ours. Hallelujah, we got two wins, the Bowlcoholics got one game and total pins. Tied, baby, with two wins and two loses a piece Happy happy, glad to get two wins. Go BowlStars, we did not lose tonight!
Alas, our dear hubbies of the Lords of the Lanes were swept by Ball In. The Bowlerines were also swept by the Bowlinators. Spare Me was swept by the Bowleros. Maraming nagwalis, ke linis linis! And while the scores looked like a 3 wins-1 loss for the Hall of Framers, James' handicap apparently had the BowlDawgs winning 3 wins-1 loss (ERRATA: I updated the highlighted section of this paragraph on 2/11).
Hall of Framers (L-R): Angelo, Edmer, Angie and Andrew Sotomango
BowlDawgs (L-R): Patrick (PJ) Carretas, Lino Matamis, Jay Lizardo and Olee Ramiscal
Dear BowlStar Lizzie came tonight and brought our bedazzled shirts for our next week match against our beloved hubbies of the Lords of the Lanes - thanks for coming, darling, and giving us much needed cheer and support! Thanks also for your for your help with the 50/50 raffle, since dear Alice Mercado could not make it tonight. Our winner for tonight was NOT Alice Deo, it was Romy Liboon! Congratulations for winning $18 from the pot. Next week, remember to bring your cash, folks, you could be the next lucky winner!
I was not too shabby tonight, played a 171, 148 and 147 for a 466 series and a 155 average. My Philly Pinoy league average may increase to 154, so glad I could maintain it. It's been a 150+ average week for me at the lanes, which was what I was hoping to accomplish and maintain going into summer league last year after the Philly Pinoy league. What a difference a year makes! Now I need to sustain and then maybe set more lofty goals. My 200 game is just around the corner!
I had a ball with my two balls tonight. Anybody care to join me for practice at 9:30ish this Sunday morning at the Palace? Tina is there and only charged me $2 per game last Sunday. I have reserved two lanes, but more lanes are available. Have to prepare for next week's epic battle of heroic proportions, the V-Day Philly Pinoy Challenge: BowlStars vs Lords of the Lanes! Who will prevail? Who will be triumphant? Abangan!
Be safe, everyone, and see you at the lanes....
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