March 18, 2025

A Double Dip RTB Feature In Salem

The RTB Eliminator Tournament took place this weekend at Firebird Lanes, featuring competitive doubles and trios events. Donald Cephus and Mauro Miranda claimed victory in the Eliminator Doubles, while Frank Dietz, Matthew Kemper, and Justine TK secured the win in the Eliminator Trios event.

A special thanks to Erik Griggs, Keith Johnson, and the Firebird Lanes staff for ensuring a well-organized event. Appreciation is also extended to all the bowlers who participated and contributed to another successful tournament.

February 25, 2025

Nick Jones and Nick Karr win the RTB Plastic Ball Doubles

The annual Plastic Ball Doubles returned to it familiar February date, sandwiched between Portland Masters squads. 28 teams of doubles came to Woodburn Lanes, MAYBE ready to throw spare balls all day???

Bill Machin was bowling the event, so it was up to Caileen and Chris Neff 1.0 to run the show. And they handled it in fine style, able to handle any and all issues on the day, which were minimal at best. It was an interesting day with scores all over the place.

The day started with Machin and Chelsea Sporkia slotting themselves in second after 1 game, behind the pick-up team of Gerald Stacey from St Helens and Timothy Major from Salem. Also right in the mix were Rob Horan and Jeff Blindguy as well as Donald Cephus and Cesar Jose.

After 2 games, Donald and Cesar took over the lead, with Tim and Gerald just behind them. James Bretthauer and Ryan M. Cross moved into 3rd, ahead of Bill and Chelsea. There was a logjam of 5 teams all separated by 5 pins from 5th-9th. It was going to be a battle all day.

Bill and Chelsea moved back into the lead after 3 games with a huge 454 scratch game. The entire top 7 was nearly turned upside down, with Tim Schaefer and Bob Davenport going from 7th to 2nd, Miguel Guzman and Melissa Gray going from 14th to 3rd, and Tom Hanten and Barbara Howard Hanten going from 12th to 4th. Tied for 5th were Gerald Hoover Jr./Robert Rowe and Bretthauer and Cross, with Isaac Mailkoff and Gilberto Chavez sitting in 7th.

After 4 games, things were starting to get dicey. Unless your name was Bill, you had to really throw the ball great to make it strike. Tim and Bob were doing that as they moved into the lead by 3 pins over the Timothy and Gerald. who jumped 6 spots from 8th to 2nd. Bill and Chelsea stayed strong in 3rd, with Melissa and Miguel in 4th, followed by Aaron Heintzman and Jordan Hunt in 5th. Gerald and Robert sat 6th, and making their first appearance in the top 7 was the young team of Nick Karr and Nick Jones. But you would hear more of them soon.

With 5 game complete, and everyone lining up for the final game, Miguel and Melissa jumped back into the lead with a huge 424 scratch and 55 pins of handicap. They held a 30 pin lead over Bill and Chelsea, 49 pins over Tim and Bob, and 60 pins over Gerald and Tim. Nick and Nick had slipped behind the cut line, but just by 6 pins. It was still anyone's game.

As expected, all the scores plummeted in game 6. Except one team. Nick Jones and Nick Karr blasted a massive 445 scratch game, the third highest of the day, to leapfrog 7 teams all the way up to second. Melissa and Miguel held on to the top spot, ensuring of no worse than a second place finish. Tim and Bob slotted in third and would face the winner of the unexpected 4th-5th stepladder match, which was because Bill and Chelsea finished in a tie with Gerald and Robert at +99, necessitating the one game roll-off.

Finishing in 6th place was Timothy Major and Gerald Stacey, and the last to cash team was Aaron Heintzman and Jordan Hunt. The rest of the teams moved on to the stepladder finals. The first match was over pretty quickly, as Chelsea, who had struggled all day long, finally found a good look and first a 236 game to lead her team to the win over Robert and Gerald. They still received a nice 5th place check though..

Bill and Chelsea moved on to face the #3 Seeds Tim Schaefer and Bob Davenport. Bob was feeling confident, after shooting a 296 game on Thursday in league, with his plastic ball no less. He and Tim had a slight handicap advantage of 18 pins. But both Bill and Chelsea had their lowest games of the day, which was totally bizarre after they had just dominated the game before. The final score of 381-334 sent them home for the evening to prep for the Portland Masters.

Bob and Tim moved on to face the young two handers Nick Jones and Nick Karr. They had decided to use the same ball, easy for those pesky two handers And boy did they find the look they needed. Holding a modest 13 pins handicap advantage, they fired a 438 scratch game to easily outdistance Tim and Bob, who settled in with a 3rd place finish, but obviously a disappointment, considering how well they had bowled all day.

Nick Squared moved on to the finals to face top seeds Miguel Guzman and Melissa Gray, who had really found the look in game 3 and never looked back. But their good fortune came to a crashing halt at the 2 hands of the young Nicks. They started strong and although Melissa and Miguel tried to stay in contact, it was not to be. Nick Squared blasted a 450 scratch total and a 481-355 victory.

Melissa and Miguel got a great 2nd place check though and that's always good.

This is the first title for both Nick Karr and Nick Jones, earning each of them a spot in the TOC at Firs Bowl in December. That plus first place checks and the champions jerseys makes for a great day.

Final Standings:

Huge thanks to the staff of Woodburn Lanes, especially Caileen and Chris Neff, plus we appreciate Bill Machin for welcoming us in to run our event there. We will be back for the Grand Finals in December!!!

February 10, 2025

"OBA All-Stars" Beat The Odds At RTB Emerald Valley Quad Swiss

Information about their win and when their first boy band album drops from Tournament Director Andy Schmidt soon.

January 14, 2025

Exciting Finish At The Willamette Valley Warfare

TSTCB (Tony Sinclair, Sean Stacey, Tiffany Smith, Cody Renfro, and William Gillett) win in a thrilling final game at Willamette Valley Warfare!!! Coming into the final game needing to make up a 7 point gap, they were able to take 7.5 of a possible 8, and tying leaders Bowling For Soup (Paul Dorchak, Brevin Knight Jackson, Katie Thom, Travis Gunn, and David Gunn) and winning on pinfall tiebreaker!!!

December 23, 2024

Aaron Bailey Wins First RTB Title At Grand Finals.

The 2024 RTB season drew to a close with the Top 16 points earners attending The Grand Finals at Walnut City Lanes for a shootout to determine the final season champion.

Bowlers earn points by attending events and cashing in events. 20 points are earned for every event attended and if you cash in an event, bowlers can earn up to 60 bonus points. Additional bonus points are earned in the Mega Swiss and Megabuck Mania events.

Throughout the season, we add $1.50 for EVERY entry in an RTB event, excluding specialty events such as the Scratch, the Queens, and the Sr Classic. This amounted to $2521 added to the prize find for this event.

The format is an 7 game Eliminator format. All bowlers bowl 5 games, moving pairs each game. After 5 games, we cut the field in half, sending 8 people home with the same payout. The rest of the field bowls an additional game, with pins carrying over. After that game, the final 8 are cut to 4, with the 5th-8th getting a pay bump. The final 4 bowl one last game with pins continuing to carry over. After that game, we cut down to 2 bowlers. 3rd and 4th are given an additional pay bump.

The final 2 then go back to zero and bowl a best 2 out of 3 final match to determine the champion. This allows for some drama in the event that we have a runaway in the qualifying round.

Before the action began on Saturday, we took the time to recognize the top 16 with commemorative medals signifying their success throughout the season. We also recognized the Player Of The Year, for the second time, Bill Machin, who had 8 cashes and 3 titles, the last defying the long odds to come back and win the POY.

We started with 16 and began the quest to crown a champion. Bill started our swinging with a 264 game, But he trailed Eddie Grudzinski, who shot 250 and had a few sticks to help him. Lanny Thomason was right there as was Gonzalo Antonio. Game 2 saw Bill hold the lead, but Aaron Bailey, looking for his first title, had moved into 2nd with two consistent 220+ games. Eddie maintained 3rd place and Lanny 4th, with Jerry Graham III sitting 5th.

After 3 games, Aaron had taken over the lead as the lanes really began to show some breakdown. Jerry was in second, Bill 3rd, Eddie 4th, and Chris Ertel moved to 5th. Sitting in 8th was Joe Laperriere, with a tenuous lead over Antonio. Game 4 saw Chris move up to 3rd behind Aaron and Jerry, and Brian Penn come into a tie with Bill for 4th. Lanny was in the 8 spot, 20 pins ahead of Antonio.

The final saw a bunch of movement. Eddie had been struggling since his early start, and his final game of 163 gave him a feel that he would be heading home. But he was able to make the final spot, 13 pins ahead of his good friend Caleb Gay. OBA Director Sean Daniels finished in 7th with Penn in 6th, Lanny 5th, Chris 4th, and Bill 3rd. Jerry blasted a monster 223 surpass Aaron for the lead and set himself up for a run at the title. The 8 bowlers who were eliminated all earned $125 for their time on a $100 entry.

The top 8 moving on were separated by 125 pins, not much in the grand scheme of things. And other than the top 3, it was a battle to see who would make the next step and go to the final 4. Bill would have the high game at 227, which would slot him 3rd at +96. Aaron closed the gap slightly on Jerry with a 210 game, but still trailed by 38 pins. The bottom 5 would all be very close. Sean shot the high game of those 5 with a 198, but his handicap deficiency kept him in the 8th spot at +39. Eddie Grudzinski was just a pin ahead at +40 and Lanny just ahead of him at +44. Chris and Brian were the final and Brian got just enough with his 199 game to edge of out Ertel by 4 pins. The 5th-8th place bowlers all got $200 for their finish.

The final 4 had one last shot to make the Championship finals. It would take a pretty big game to do that as Aaron and Jerry had a decent lead. And on the beat up lanes, that just wasn't gonna happen. Bill had the best shot but inly could muster a 154. Brian's 170 game also couldn't eat into the lead. Jerry and Aaron set up an all lefty finals, a rarity in this event. A lefty hasn't won this event since 2014. Bill and Brian each got $300 for their 3rd-4th place finish.

The championship finals took place on 9-10. By now, everything was pretty messy, so finding a good shot would be a test for both. Jerry held a 26 pin handicap advantage per game. The would go back and forth, trading shots. Aaron struggled to carry on the left lane, but the right he was perfect. Jerry got behind with an open and then in the 7th he left an awful 4-7-10 split. To the surprise of all, he was able to convert it and it gave him the spark he needed to edge out Aaron for Game 1 228-226.

Game 2 was a MESS. Both players lost their look on both lanes. 6 frames in, Jerry was heading into 100 territory, with 4 opens. It didn't look much better for Aaron, but at least he was able to strike a couple times. Jerry finally recovered slightly, but he was only able to muster a 128 (167 w handicap), which gave Aaron's fairly mediocre 168 (181 w handicap) was able to nod the match at 1 and take it to a decisive Game 3. Though I am pretty sure that was more of a torture than an award.

The final game saw Jerry start out with an early lead and Aaron continued to struggle with carry on lane 9. But at least he was staying clean. Jerry finally had a couple bad shots and that allowed Aaron to get back in the match. Going into the 8th frame, he really needed to figure out the left lane to make Jerry work to catch up. He was able to get the ball to face up clean and drove out the 7 pin with a beautiful strike. Jerry wasn't done yet, as he struck in the 8th but then left an open in the 9th. Aaron needed a strike and then good count to win. He struck in the 9th and then went back to the problematic lane 9. If he could strike on the first ball, it would be all over. He stepped up and with a clean smooth stroke, he ended the match with a strike. Another strike in the 11th and it was a lock. The final score was a 214 (227 handicap) to a 170 (209 handicap) win.

Aaron earned his first ever RTB title, something Travis Gunn did at the 2022 Grand Finals. He pocketed $675 and the championship jersey, plus an invite to the 2025 TOC. He will also get a custom mini RTB belt eventually.

Jerry got a fine $450 for the runner-up spot.

We want send a sincere thank you to Walnut City Lanes, who hosted us for the final time with this event. They are closing business in May 2025. They have been a wonderful host for us over the year, We wish Jerry and Sherry Rettke a wonderful retirement and hopefully, someday, there will be a new Walnut City Lanes for us to host an event at. Thank you for years of memories!!

That concludes our 2024 season. We will rerate the bowlers back to their last 50 games of tournament play as their starting averages for the 2025 season. I will be working on these over the winter break and we will start out fresh at the new event, Willamette Valley Warfare at Woodburn Lanes and Starlite Lanes in January.

Everyone have a great Christmas and New Years and we will see you in mid January!!!

December 16, 2024

Tanner Acosta Wins RTB Northwest Tournament of Champions

The Annual Tournament of Champions is always my favorite event, as all entrants earned the right to be there by winning an event at least sometime in their career. Anyone who is a champion can attend, provided that you compete in at least one event per year AND have your champion shirt.

This year, we had 76 champions attend for the 5 game qualifying round, including 3 former champions (Mychael Samson from 2021, Leo Funari from 2022, and the reigning champion Nick Losli). None of them though would be in the running for another title, thought Leo gave it a run with a 287 game to start the proceedings. There were a number of huge games early on.

Keith Stoner, the reigning Grand Finals champion, started with 277-279 to give him a great head start. Zachary Osburn shot a 276 i game one, Tanner Acosta shot 290, giving himself a century award after his 190 in game 1. Sean Daniels, this year Player of the Year runner-up, also erased a bad first game with the high game of the day with a 297 in game 2. And Melissa Germann shot her personal best game, a 278, in game 2 to jump into second early behind Stoner.

After game 3, Stoner retained the lead, with Chad Gibbs of Sweet Home moving into the 2 spot, Cody Renfro from Dallas having a dream day was in 3rd, and Melissa Germann slipped to 4th, but still looking good. Rebecca Cole from Bend was sitting in the final transfer spot at +97, but it was a tenuous lead with multiple competitors still well in the running,

Game 4 saw Stoner retain the lead and Renfro move into the 2 spot as Gibbs fell back a bit. Thomas Grimraider Brannon shot a huge 258 to jump into 5th, just ahead of Daniels. James Donaldson shot his 3rd straight 200 game to get into a 3 way tie with Tanner Acosta and Nate Moore at +135. And Rebecca continued to hold the 16th spot by just 1 pin over Matt Ramshaw. It would all depend on the 5th and final game to see who made the finals.

The top 4 bowlers stayed the same, with Renfro overtaking Stoner for the overall top spot, and Brannon jumping Eric Stern for 3rd and 4th. Daniels remained top 5, just barely ahead of Jeff Blindguy and Tanner Acosta. Melissa Germann held on to lane choice by grabbing the 8 spot. David Gunn and Nate Moore tied for 9th, with David getting the 9 spot by virtue of having the higher scratch game. Chad Gibbs remained in the field in the 11 spot. Lucas Richard Cobb jumped from 18th to 13th with a 235 game. And Brendan Smith shot 238 to go from 20th to the final spot in 16th.

The biggest moves came from Amanda Whitcomb and Zachary Wenger. After 4, they were tied at +91 in 24th. They both fired huge games, Amanda with 246 and Zach followed up his 279 with a 247. This allowed Zach to jump to 14th, tying with Donaldson and getting the spot over Opie due to his scratch game. Whitcomb bounced all the way up to 12th, setting up a first round duel with her good friend and frequent ball rep Daniels.

While this locked up the top 16, there were 3 other paying spots. Brian Penn had been in the top 16 most of the day, but he slipped with a 191 in game 5 ti finish in 17th, just 4 pins out of the bracket. 15 year old Rasna Som came all the way from Pendleton and fired a scratch +70 to snag the final cashing spot, which will go to his SMART account. And finally, Brett Day jumped all the way from 33rd up to 18th with a 244 game to get a check.

17. Brian Penn +138 $160

18. Brett Day +128 $155

19. Rasna Som +125 $150 (SMART)

We also were gifted a 900 Global Sublime Focus from Play Well Pro Shop, which raised an awesome $350 for the prize fund. Cody Renfro took home the ball, extending his dream day.

The single elimination bracket awards the higher seeds with lane choice, except they cannot camp on a pair. So each higher ranked seed selected their pairs, no surprise that 1&2 were the last ones taken. Most of the matches were fairly cut and dry, with the exception of the 4/13 match between Cobb and Stern. That match went down to the very last shot, with Stern taking the nod 211-205.

There were a couple shocking upsets in round 1. Amanda Whitcomb pulled off a shocker, beating her good friend Sean Daniels 256-185. And in a real stunner, Keith Stoner was knocked out after leading most of the tournament by James Donaldson 214-174.

Round 1 Results

Cody Renfro def Brendan Smith 226-204

David Gunn def Melissa Germann 192-159

Tanner Acosta def Nate Moore 211-165

Jeff Blindguy def Chad Gibbs 198-165

Thomas Grimraider Brannon def Zachary Wenger 220-197

Stern def Cobb 211-205

Whitcomb def Daniels 256-185

Donaldson def Stoner 214-174

Round 2 Saw Renfro's dream day continue. He fired a huge 276 wigh handicap game to knock out Gunn's 216. Cody only started bowling this year and he's already rapidly improving and will be challenging for more titles next season. Whitcomb put a beating on Stern with a 272-229 win. Tanner ended the dream of Opie, but they had fun doing it. Tanner just had too much with a 247-187 win. And finally, in a very exciting match, Jeff Harkins was able to strike out in the 10th to get past Thomas Brannon 230-206.

The second round losers went home with a nice check of $350/ea.

The Semi-finals brought on the big bucks. Amanda and Cody battled through the match to see who would go to the finals. Cody had had am incredible day, only shooting two games below 200, pretty crazy for a new bowler. But this time, his luck ran out. Amanda put together a solid 199 scratch (225 handicap) game as Cody struggled to a 155 scratch (197 handicap) game. Amanda would move to the finals against either Tanner or Jeff.

Jeff Harkins had won MegaBuck Mania this year and stood a decent chance to win the two highest paying events of the year. He had to battle the young fireballer Acosta, known for his incredible skill and shotmaking and fiery energy. They would battle shot for shot with every frame being critical to the match. Tanner started with a double and then started a trend that would define the match. He threw a great shot on lane 5 and left a bouncing 10 pin. He would clean it up and then strike on lane 6. But in the 5th, again a bouncing 10 pin. You could see it was getting to him. Jeff, however, was not able to take much advantage, with a bunch of spares and only one strike. The 6th frame was another beautiful strike on Lane 6, and then AGAIN a 10 pin on Lane 5. Another spare and another beautiful strike on lane 6.

Jeff found a line and was able to strike, which set up a thrilling finish. Tanner, having gotten a pep talk from Sean Daniels, came back to lane 5 and made a minor speed and line adjustment and buried the pocket for a clutch strike. This gave him the opportunity to go to lane 6, his good lane, and shut out Jeff. He blasted the pocket on the first shot and struck. One more strike and 6 would lock up the match. But that stubborn 10 pin again reared its ugly head. This gave Jeff the chance to win. Jeff needed the first two strikes to win. He struck on the first shot but was not able to contact for the second and that ended the dream. He spared and struck for a 224 handicap game, but Tanner's 228 moved his to the finals against Amanda.

Cody and Jeff each got $575 for their semi-final finish.

The final, featuring the #7 seed Acosta, an unlikely finalist due to his late decision to enter and his scratch status, and the #12 seed Whitcomb, who is having a resurgence after a lifetime away from bowling and two hip replacement surgeries and years of rehab to walk comfortably again. The match started out good with a spare strike from Amanda and a strike spare from Tanner. But then Amanda lost her ball reaction on the right lane this would drastically alter the complexion of the match. She was able to stay clean, albeit not able to strike much, while Tanner motored along, but was not able to really extend his lead much. The 26 she was getting was keeping Amanda close. She finally struck again on the left lane, but again the right lane left her with a 6 count. She cleaned that up and moved to the 9th frame, still with a shot.

But what looked to be a good pocket shot left one of the worst breaks in bowling. The pocket 8-10, which was pretty undeserved. She plucked off the 8 pin and it tried to clip the 10 off, but missed it. This gave Tanner a near insurmountable lead and he completed the job by striking in the 9th and 10th for a solid 223 game to eclipse Amanda's 193 handicap game.

Amanda, coming off her win at NWWBT at Linn Lanes, took home a great $950 check for runner-up.

Tanner took home a cool $1500 for RTB title #2 and earned the special TOC jersey and the replica mini RTB title belt, when it gets here

He thanks his sponsors Roto Grip and ZEALO Gear, as well as his family and friends for all the support.

Thanks to Justin Backus and the team at SuperPlay, as well as owner Terry Pierce. Aside from one minor issue, everything ran very well with minimal issues all day. And that was all while they were managing multiple birthday parties and prepping for their first live concert that night.

We conclude the season next week as we visit Walnut City Lanes for the final time. We plan to send them off with a bang as we crown the final champion of the season and the silver replica RTB belt.

Thank you to all the champions who came out to compete and we will see many of you next season. We open the Willamette Valley Warfare to start the 2025 season on December 16th!!! BE READY!!!!

November 25, 2024

RTB Northwest Concludes Regular Season at Woodburn Lanes with MegaBuck Singles Tournament

Woodburn, Ore. -- The final event of the RTB Northwest regular season took place at Woodburn Lanes, featuring the MegaBuck Singles tournament. The event, which serves as a last chance for bowlers to secure a spot in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) and earn points toward Player of the Year, drew a strong turnout.

The competition began with two squads. The first squad saw 29 bowlers vying for seven semi-final spots. Early standouts included Joe LaPerriere, who shot a 267, and Keith Stoner, who fired a 268 in the opening game. After five games, Mike Grenya led the squad with a +236 score. The top seven qualifiers were:

Mike Grenya: +236
Don Talbott: +196
Jake Rost: +190
Brian Penn: +185
Joe LaPerriere: +178
Paul Dorchak: +156
Bill Machin: +144

The second squad, labeled the “Burn Squad” due to more challenging lane conditions, saw 45 bowlers compete. Amanda Gay led this squad with a +203 score, followed by Daniel Barrera (+183) and Terry Bigsby (+164). The top 11 from this squad included ties for seventh place between Chelsea Sporkia and Travis Gunn (+126).

In the semi-finals, Bill Machin dominated early, rolling a perfect 300 game on the newly installed lanes. Despite this, Travis Gunn made an impressive comeback after a rough start, climbing to third place with a 697 series. The top three bowlers advanced to the finals:

Bill Machin: +67
Travis Gunn: +51
Terry Bigsby: +22

The finals were a tightly contested three-game series. Machin started strong with a 238 game, securing a narrow lead over Gunn and Bigsby. Gunn closed the gap in the second game, but Machin’s consistent performance and clutch strikes in the tenth frame of the final game earned him the victory. The final scores were:

Bill Machin: 667 (+67, $1,000)
Travis Gunn: 651 (+51, $625)
Terry Bigsby: 622 (+22, $450)

This marked Machin’s 13th career RTB title, leaving him just one title shy of the all-time record held by Jason Brutosky.

The RTB Northwest regular season ended with a record 1,976 unique entries. The TOC, set for December 14 at SuperPlay, has already garnered 94 entries, with hopes for a sellout. Next season promises to expand further with the addition of RTB Columbia Gorge and potential new sponsorships.

Acknowledgments

RTB Northwest Tournament Director Andy Schmidt thanked Brunswick Bowling Products for their three years of sponsorship and announced Storm Bowling Products as their new sponsor under the 900 Global brand. Special thanks were given to Caillean Massey and Chris Neff for their efforts during the event.

November 10, 2024

Victory For The Salesmen At Firs Bowl

Eugene, Ore. -- The RTB Northwest Tour made a stop at Firs Bowl in Eugene for the Emerald Valley Quad Swiss event, hosted by Tim and Shelly Lein. The competition drew 24 teams, each aiming to gain points toward the Grand Finals and the Player of the Year awards. After seven rounds of close matches, The Dictionary Salesmen emerged as the champions.

Tournament Recap

The event began with a strong start from team LL3D, who swept Game 1 to lead the field. However, by Game 2, Oh Split and The Dictionary Salesmen moved up with sweeps of their own, positioning themselves as top contenders. By Game 3, Daddy's Home, led by Tony J. Godinho's impressive 299 game and 785 series, took the lead based on pinfall, closely followed by Leins With Gunns and Oh Split.

Game 4 saw a shift as The Dictionary Salesmen took five points from Daddy’s Home, moving into first place. Leins With Gunns trailed by one point, while Chris and the NEW Triangle, Daddy’s Home, Fourplay, and Respect Your Elders filled out the top six.

In Game 5, Leins With Gunns overtook The Dictionary Salesmen with a commanding lead of 28 points, a four-point advantage over the Triangle and Salesmen. However, Game 6 saw a decisive 7-0 sweep by The NEW Triangle over Leins With Gunns, giving them the top spot heading into the final game.

The title match pitted The NEW Triangle against The Dictionary Salesmen, who held a 55-pin handicap advantage. Despite strong individual performances from the Triangle, The Dictionary Salesmen prevailed with a 6-1 victory to claim first place with 36 points. Oh Split secured second place with 33 points, while The NEW Triangle rounded out the top three with 32 points.

Final Standings and Payouts

The Dictionary Salesmen - 36 points, 6,365 pins ($1,400)
Oh Split!!! - 33 points, 6,163 pins ($1,100)
Chris and the NEW Triangle - 32 points, 6,432 pins ($800)
Bowling For Soup - 32 points, 6,233 pins ($640)
Daddy's Home - 30 points, 6,350 pins ($560)
Leins With Gunns - 30 points, 6,108 pins ($480)

This marks the first RTB Tour title for the Gibbs brothers, putting them in the Tournament of Champions next month at SuperPlay. This is the second title for teammates Donald Cephus and Aaron Heintzman, with Cephus having won RTB vs. Boneyard in October and finishing runner-up at the recent Baker Doubles.

In addition to tournament play, a raffle awarded a Brunswick ball to Caleb Gay. The RTB Tour thanked all participants, proprietors, and supporters and looks forward to the season’s final event, the MegaBuck Singles at Woodburn Lanes, where bowlers will vie for the last title of the regular season.

October 26, 2024

Hard Fought Battle For RTB Northwest Baker Doubles Title

Cottage Grove, Ore. -- Congrats to Jonathan Curiel and Lucas Richard Cobb on winning the RTB Baker Doubles at Cottage Bowl!!

Each earned $560 for the win and champions jerseys. The beat out Donald Cephus and Cesar Jose 465-419 in the finals!!

October 12, 2024

It's A Win For Bretthauer In Salem

Salem, Ore. -- For the first time, RTB Bowling hosted an event specifically for senior bowlers, bringing 44 men (aged 50+) and women (aged 40+) to AMF Firebird Lanes on Saturday to compete for an RTB title and a $675 first-place prize. The tournament saw a range of new and returning participants, with many expressing interest in future events.

Early Highlights and Qualifying Rounds

The tournament kicked off with impressive scores. John Docker of Milwaukie bowled a perfect 300 in his opening game, while Bob Davenport from Salem nearly matched him with a 298. Steve Bretthauer of Hillsboro followed closely with a 289. These top performances set the tone for the day and kept the competition intense.

Throughout the qualifying rounds, these bowlers stayed in the top rankings. Bob Davenport moved into the lead in Game 5 with a 254, ultimately securing the top spot by the end of qualifying with a total of +310. Steve Bretthauer and Docker rounded out the top three. The cut for the money bracket ended with 11 bowlers, with Terry Andersen of Sherwood securing the last spot.

Final Qualifying Standings:

Bob Davenport - Salem, OR (+310)
Steve Bretthauer - Hillsboro, OR (+228)
John Docker - Portland, OR (+195)
Shawn Meads - Ridgefield, WA (+194)
Griffin Kinney - Oregon City, OR (+189)
Bill Eddleman - St Helens, OR (+185)
Gerald Stacey - St Helens, OR (+184)
James Pedersen - Salem, OR (+177)
Chuck Orton - Springfield, OR (+169) - $165 prize
Lanny Thomason - Eugene, OR (+154) - $140 prize
John Wells - Eugene, OR (+152) - $125 prize

Match Play Bracket

In the match play bracket, bowlers faced off in two-game total pin matches. The top seed, Davenport, narrowly defeated Pedersen 440-437 to advance. Bretthauer, Kinney, and Eddleman also advanced to the next round.

The final four included Bretthauer, Kinney, Davenport, and Eddleman. Bretthauer defeated Eddleman with a score of 449-398, while Davenport won against Kinney 434-413, setting up a final match between Davenport and Bretthauer.

The Championship Match

In the finals, Davenport and Bretthauer faced off, each vying for the RTB title. Bretthauer took an early lead with a 212 game, while Davenport, struggling with ball issues, managed a 166. Despite a strong comeback in the second game, Davenport could not overcome the gap. Bretthauer secured his third RTB title, winning the match 418-394 and claiming the $675 prize. Davenport took home $425 as the runner-up.

Additional Highlights and Announcements

A raffle, sponsored by Brunswick Brands, awarded John Barth a prize, and event organizers thanked Firebird Lanes staff for a well-run tournament. The success of this senior-exclusive event has led to plans for a return in May at Mt. Hood Lanes.

The next RTB event will be the highly anticipated Baker Doubles at Cottage Bowl, expected to draw nearly 120 bowlers across two squads. This event marks the return of the Baker format, which hasn’t been featured since 2016.

September 30, 2024

Gunn and LaPerriere Win RTB Plastic Ball Doubles

WOODBURN, OR – The third edition of the RTB Plastic Ball Doubles Tournament took place at Woodburn Lanes, drawing 27 teams for the unique event where competitors could only use polyester balls.

The event featured a challenging 29-foot light oil pattern, which tested the skills and patience of all participants.

Barbara Howard Hanten and Tom Hanten set the pace early, leading after game 1 with a score of +56. However, James Bretthauer and Ryan M. Cross took over the lead after game 2 and held on through game 4, increasing their advantage to 80 pins. But the competition tightened as the lanes continued to shift.

David Gunn and Joseph LaPerriere made a big move in game 5, jumping from 4th place to claim the top spot with a 408 scratch score. This earned them a spot in the stepladder finals alongside Barbara and Tom Hanten, Sean Stacey and William Gillett, and Kian Pryor and David DuBois, who had made significant jumps throughout the day.

The finals saw David Gunn and Joseph LaPerriere secure their second RTB title, defeating Barbara and Tom Hanten in a close match. The duo’s win came after LaPerriere's second RTB title of the year and Gunns first win since May 2022.

Final Results:

David Gunn / Joseph LaPerriere – $525 each
Barbara Howard Hanten / Tom Hanten – $375 each
Kian Pryor / David DuBois – $275 each
Sean Stacey / William Gillett – $225 each
James Bretthauer / Ryan M. Cross – $190 each
Dwayne Fagan / Bob Davenport – $160 each

The next RTB event, the Senior Classic, will take place on October 12 at AMF Firebird Lanes, open to bowlers 50+ for men and 40+ for women.

September 21, 2024

Spit On That Thang Walks Away The Winners In Bend

BEND, OR – A special event hosted by Rebecca Cole and Play Well Pro Shop at Lava Lanes Bend successfully introduced 18 new bowlers to RTB events. The initiative, designed to expand participation in future tournaments, featured a discount incentive for teams bringing in two new bowlers, with seven teams meeting the criteria. Play Well Pro Shop contributed to the prize fund through this sponsorship and a ball raffle, adding $213, which was won by Jeff Brittle from Orchard Lanes in Hood River.

The event saw 21 teams competing for an RTB title and a spot in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) scheduled for December. Throughout the tournament, the top spots were fiercely contested. Teams "Spit On That Thang" and "Hit N Miss" led the field early, both going 5-0 before facing each other in game 2. "Hit N Miss" emerged victorious in that match with a clean 5-0 sweep, sending "Spit On That Thang" down the standings.

The competition remained tight, with new leaders emerging as "Benchwarmers Strike Again" and "FCB" moved into the top spots by game 3. However, by game 5, "Hit N Miss" regained the lead, setting up a crucial final showdown.

In the decisive game 6, strong performances from Ryan and Chris Mott led "Spit On That Thang" to a 4-1 victory over "Hit N Miss," clinching the title with a total of 22 points. This win marked Ryan Mott's first title, Chris Mott's second, and Larry Dankenbring Jr.'s sixth.

Final standings were as follows:

Spit On That Thang – 22 points, 4,322 pins, $1,200
Hit N Miss – 21 points, 4,366 pins, $900
FCB – 21 points, 4,124 pins, $675
No Thumbs Allowed – 20 points, 4,002 pins, $540
Benchwarmers Strike Again – 18 points, 4,057 pins, $420

RTB thanked Lava Lanes Bend for hosting the event and Play Well Pro Shop for their support in recruiting new bowlers. The next RTB event will be the Plastic Ball Doubles in Woodburn, followed by the Senior Classic at Firebird on October 12.

September 15, 2024

Team #speakingtruths Wins RTB Superplay Quad Swiss

Beaverton, OR – Team #SpeakingTruths (Jason Smith, Sean Daniels, Chelsea Sporkia, and Bill Machin) took the top spot at the RTB Quad Swiss event held at SuperPlay, finishing with 39 points and 6,382 pins. They led most of the day, securing the $1,520 prize. Ebowla finished second with 34 points and 6,286 pins, followed by Drink Roll Repeat with 32.5 points and 5,979 pins.

Tristan Bailey had the day’s high game at 290. Other notable teams in the top six were Our Lefty Sucks, A-Team, and Hit N Miss.

Top 6 Teams and Prizes:

#SpeakingTruths – 39 points, 6,382 pins – $1,520
Ebowla – 34 points, 6,286 pins – $1,200
Drink Roll Repeat – 32.5 points, 5,979 pins – $1,000
Our Lefty Sucks – 31 points, 5,915 pins – $800
A-Team – 30 points, 6,167 pins – $600
Hit N Miss – 29 points, 6,191 pins – $500

The tournament also saw impressive individual performances, including a standout 290 game from Tristan Bailey. Other high scores were recorded by Jake Klemsen (front 10 until an 8-pin stopped his run), Matt Ramshaw (279), Bill Machin (278), Shawn Robertson (277), and Heather Williams (274).

In bracket play, #SpeakingTruths solidified their dominance, taking a 6-1 victory over The Gunn Club after briefly losing their lead. The team also defeated Ebowla 7-0 before clinching the title with a second 7-0 victory over The Gunn Club, securing their win before the final game even started.

Despite the already secured title for #SpeakingTruths, the rest of the field remained highly competitive, with spots 2-9 separated by just 5 points going into Game 7. Ebowla ultimately took second place, with Drink Roll Repeat finishing third. The A-Team made a huge push, winning 25 of their last 28 points to grab the 5th spot. Hit N Miss claimed the final cash position after defeating Dragon Ballz in a tiebreaker by total pinfall.

The tournament was hosted at SuperPlay, with Terry Pierce and his staff providing excellent service throughout the event. The next RTB event will be the return of the Plastic Ball Doubles at Woodburn Lanes.

September 1, 2024

Jeffry Harkins Wins RTB Megabuck Mania At AMF Firebird Lanes

Name: VanPort Bowling News
Address: Hillsboro, OR

Jeff "BlindGuy" Harkins' victory at the second annual MegaBuck Mania at Firebird Lanes in Salem capped a weekend filled with intense competition and high scores. The tournament featured four squads, each offering bowlers a 1:5 chance to advance to the casher's round, followed by a stepladder final to determine the overall champion.

The tournament kicked off with the "Party Squad" on Friday night, where 26 bowlers competed. Joseph Andrew Rau-Young led the way with a 269 game, with Dwayne Fagan posting an impressive 279. Rau-Young held his position through the final games, earning a spot in Sunday’s casher's round. Other notable bowlers from this squad included Tyler Satter, Alex Adams, and Alexander Smith, who secured his spot by a single pin in his first RTB event.

Saturday morning’s squad saw Daniel Barrera dominate with a total score of +322, easily advancing to the casher's round. Buck Steffen, making his first RTB appearance in over five years, surprised the field with a +229 scratch score, securing the #2 spot. Brian Penn, Jeremy Wodesky, and Gonzalo Antonio Zamora rounded out the qualifiers from this session.

The Saturday afternoon squad featured smaller numbers, with just 23 bowlers competing. Brian Vigil took the lead with a strong 267 game in the second match and finished with a +216 score. Harkins, from Springfield, posted a +170 to secure his first-ever RTB career cash win, alongside Jay Long from Silverton, who qualified with a +147.

Sunday morning’s squad had the largest turnout, with 41 bowlers battling for the remaining spots in the casher's round. High scores were abundant, including a perfect 300 game by Will Tefft and a 289 game from Nathan Stephens. Ultimately, Jerry Graham III topped the squad with a +293, followed by Jake Rost, Mychael Samson, Clint Gibbs, Nathan Stephens, and several others.

By the end of qualifying, 22 bowlers advanced to the casher's round. In this round, Caleb Gay led early with games of 261 and 225 but stumbled with a 157 in his final game. Despite the setback, Gay advanced to the stepladder finals alongside Tyler Satter, Harkins, Rau-Young, Vigil, Barrera, Blake Copeland, and Graham III.

In the stepladder matches, Harkins, starting from the #3 spot, faced a series of tough opponents. He first defeated Brian Vigil in a tight match, then narrowly edged out Tyler Satter in the semifinal with a 253-228 win. In the final match against top-seeded Caleb Gay, Harkins started strong with four strikes in the first five frames and maintained his lead to win 278-230, claiming his first RTB title.

The full stepladder results were as follows:

Jeff Harkins – $1,375
Caleb Gay – $1,125
Tyler Satter – $900
Brian Vigil – $775
Joseph Andrew Rau-Young – $675
Blake Copeland – $600
Daniel Barrera – $525
Jerry Graham III – $475

In addition to the stepladder, other cashers from the casher's round included Jeremy Wodesky, James Donaldson, Clayton Netzel, Alex Adams, and Nathan Stephens, who took home various prize amounts.

Harkins' win was a remarkable achievement, not only for his on-lane performance but also for his determination to overcome the challenges of vision impairment. Diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, Harkins relies on support from teammates for pin identification and lane adjustments, but his dedication and skill have allowed him to compete at a high level.

The MegaBuck Mania tournament saw an increase in participation this year, with 114 total entries, a 16-entry increase from the previous year. The tournament also raised $220 for the prize fund through a ball raffle, won by Justin Laney.

The next event in the series, the Superplay Quad Swiss, is set for September 14 and has already reached full capacity, with a waiting list in place for additional bowlers.

Who doesn't love a beach trip??

After two years, RTB headed back to the beach and conducted Coastal Combat at Muggly's in Toledo and for the first time ever, North Bend Lanes in North Bend. 12 teams of 5 headed to the Oregon Coast for two days of battle and about 100+ miles of coastal highway driving.

Each team was required to have at least one woman and one senior player, which is usually the norm for these Swiss events in the Northwest. We started off Saturday at Muggly's in Toledo, which was our home away from home back in the pandemic days. Patrick White and his team welcomed us back with open arms and killer food. But other than that, it was a tough day for the bowlers. Scoring was tough all day for most of the bowlers. But if it's tough for all, that means some close matchups.

Walnut City Lanes (Mary Phillips, Shane Courtin, Christopher Kopf, Jim Shimota, and Bryan Morris) started out with 6 points and they would be in contention all weekend long. Unicorn Balls (Candice Ailport, Jon Larsen, Joseph Walrath, Geoff Jones, and Steven Urbach) took 7, but they would struggle most of the day. But the leaders after game 1 were This Isn't 9 Pin No Tap (Brian Penn, Erik Penn, Shelly Lein, Jimmy Humbert, and Paul Dorchak), whi swept with 8 points and would be a force all weekend.

As the day moved on, No Tap would hold the lead through Game 3, but in Game 4, they took a disastrous 1 point, which allowed Hit And Miss (Jerry Graham III, Cody Renfro, Lap JJ, Bill Gillett, and Queen Jessica Ayotte) to jump into the lead, just ahead of Walnut City and Defstar Handyman Services (Dwayne Fagan, Don Talbott, Heather Williams, Brett Day, and Chris Ertel). They would be the story of the weekend, for one main reason. They NEVER moved.

After a rough 2 point start, they kept winning matches and moving up the standings, allowing themselves to stay on Lanes 11 & 12 and find a groove. This gave them a tremendous advantage over the rest of the field and they parlayed that into getting into the 2nd place match by Game 6, yet again, on 11 & 12. They would battle Walnut City, who would take their measure with a 5.5 point win, sending us down Highway 101 to North Bend Lanes for the first time. Special shoutout to Lanny Thomason, who led the field by more than 100 pins, with a 238 average and a high of 278.

Most of the bowlers stayed at The Mill Casino, who offered us a great rate and a fun atmosphere, if you like gambling. We were all able to relax and enjoy the evening, and then get geared up to head into battle the next day.

Owner Mark Mattecheck and Manager Bryan Roberts were on hand and the bowlers filed in for the start of Day 2. Walnut City held a 2 point lead over Hit and Miss and a 5.5 point lead over Defstar. But with 6 more games of action, it was clear to see that things were not over by any means. Scoring on Day 2 was much better and that provided some wild games and crazy swings. A couple teams would battle each other all day long and again, Defstar would find a home and stay there.

Hit And Miss would come out of the box swinging with 6 points in games 1 and 2, which gave them the lead over Walnut. Meanwhile, Defstar had a bad start, going 2 and 2 in Games 1 & 2, which put them all the way down in 7th, and would make it a long road to hoe to get back into the money. Walnut City returned the favor, going 6 and 6 in Games 3 & 4 and moved into a tie for the lead with No Tap, who had just swept away Unicorn Balls, ending their run of three straight 6 point games. In the meantime, Defstar had gone 8 and 7 to get back into 4th, just 2.5 points out of the lead, setting up a furious finish to determine the champions.

Dwayne and the crew had been on 1 & 2 for games 3 and 4, and would be so again for Game 5, repeating the situation from Muggly's. This allowed them to know the shot and be able to adjust accordingly, while their opponents needed time to figure out the shot. In Game 5, they would face Hit And Miss with a chance to move up the standings again and maintain their spot on that pair. Dwayne blasted the high game of the entire two day event with a 279, leading his team, as they took 7 of 8, with Heather only losing by 5. It was a crushing defeat for Hit and Miss, but they were not out of it at all.

Walnut City, meanwhile, put an end to the dreams of No Tap with an 8 point sweep and set the stage for the final game, again on 1 & 2. They had a 3.5 point lead, meaning the winner of the team game would take home the title. With a team win worth 3 points, there was little room for error in this final match. It was a battle from the start. Heather and Don both fired great games, 206 and 203 respectively, Brett had been forced to use his spare ball for a couple of games, and while it was successful, it lost a bit in this game as he fell to Shane Courtin 216-191. Likewise, Bryan Morris was able to be Dwayne 202-190. This meant that it could come down to the anchor bowlers to determine the title. Defstar was looking good, but needed a strong tenth from Chris Ertel. They had to win his point, which wasn't a sure bet against fellow lefty Jim Shimota. But with two great shots, Chris was able to lock down his point and seal the title for Defstar, But that was not the only action going on. A battle had emerged for the final cashing spot.

Come On Carry That!! (Deanna Flynn, Jennifer Todd, Ty Geer, Lonnie Ogilvie, and Melissa Mabe) swept Muggly's away to finish with 55 points. They had been down in the event and had battled hard. But Hit And Miss also finished with 55 points after knocking off No Tap. In Swiss formats, there is no roll-off to determine a position, ties are broken by total pinfall. In this case, Carry That had 12744 pins to Hit And Miss's 12437, giving them the 3rd and final cashing spot. Walnut City, with their 2 points, locked up 2nd place overall, but finished just a scant .5 point behind. A heartbreaking finish for them considering how much they dominated the event.

It was the first titles each for Brett Day, Don Talbott, and Heather Williams, giving them all spots in the TOC at SuperPlay in December. This was the 3rd title for Dwayne, his second this year. But the big news there was that this was the 3rd straight title for Ertel in events that he competed in, having won the Park Eliminator Trios and the Triangle Mega Swiss back to back. He moved into the lead in the Player of the Year standings, supplanting former leader Sean Daniels. This will make the race for POY even hotter as we get into the twilight of the season.

Final Standings:

Defstar Handyman Services - 60.5 points, 12532 pins $2000

Walnut City Lanes - 60 points, 12562 pins $1400

Come On, Carry That!! - 55 points, 12744 pins $875

Hit And Miss - 55 points, 12437 pins

This Isn;t 9 Pin No Tap? - 52 points, 12884 pins

The Incredble - 48.5 points, 12327 pins

Firs Bowl Lanes - 46.5 points, 12738 pins

Unicorn Balls - 46.5 points, 12267 pins

Muggly's - 46.5 points, 12158 pins

Middle Finger Salute - 41 points, 12041 pins

Precision Performance Proshop - 39.5 points, 12282 pins

Glitter Ballz - 25 points, 11540 pins

Full Standings available HERE!

We want to send a huge thank you to the staffs of Muggly's in Toledo and North Bend Lanes in North Bend. We appreciate you welcoming us into your establishments and making us feel wanted. We will be returning to Muggly's in November 2025 and are planning Coastal Combat 2 at North Bend in 2026.

Our next event is MegaBuck Mania at AMF Firebird Lanes on Labor Day weekend. Squads are available Friday night, Saturday morning and afternoon, and Sunday morning. If we reach 200 total entries, we plan to pay $2500 FIRST PLACE!!! Look up RTB Northwest on Facebook to get further information.

2025 Schedule Release Soon

Our annual Queens events are the time for all the ladies to shine on the lanes. We welcomed all the ladies, young and old, to the classic Milwaukie Bowl for the first time. Special thanks to Corey Husted and the entire Husted family and staff for welcoming us in. Big shout-out to Greg Bingham and Eryk Jensen for running the show all day and making things buttery smooth.

The Queens were up first on Saturday. 34 ladies took to the wood lanes, and while Hannah Wools shined in games 1-3, it was all Jasmine Peterson overall. She fired a pair of 267 games and once she overtook Wools after game 3, she never looked back. Even after a subpar 5th game, she still maintained the lead and cruised to a +143 scratch score and +251 overall for a 64 pin lead and the #1 overall seed. Local star Makayla Jensen, who has a ton of talent, was super consistent and fired a +103 scratch and +1387 overall score to take the #2 spot.

The other finalists were as follows:
Jasmine Peterson, Hubbard, OR +251
Makayla Jensen, Portland, OR +187
Jessica Ayotte, Tillamook, OR +176
Amanda Whitcomb, Aloha, OR +170
Sarah Wilson, Hillsboro, OR +163
Taylor Wodesky, Oregon City, OR +142
Jade Diaz, Milwaukie, OR +136
Becky Rux, Mt Angel, OR +118

The single elimination bracket featured 2 game total pins matches. Each higher seed got to choose their starting pair. Jasmine had to give up the most handicap to Becky Rux, a total of 74 pins. But she was able to score well enough to get past the #8 seed Rux, winning 426-349. The closest match of round 1 was, not surprisingly, the 4/5 matchup between friends Whitcomb and Wilson. The match was nearly scratch, with Amanda getting 2 pins total. But she had enough in the tank to hold off her friend, finishing with a 402-364 win.

The long distance award winner, Ayotte, all the way from cheese country, was able to get an early lead on young Taylor Wodesky from just up the road in Oregon City. Taylor tried to come back, but Jessica was able to put her away 425-344. The biggest stunner of round 1 was the 2/7 matchup between a pair of Milwaukie regulars. Former RTB champion Jade Diaz took on friend Makayla Jensen. Jade was getting 32 total pins of handicap and surprisingly, she wouldn't need it. Although Makayla beat her by two scratch the first game, Jade still had a narrow lead. But she was able to pull away in game two and pull off a stunning upset over one of the favorites with a 496-459 final score. Each of the 1st round losers received $175 each.

The Semi-Final matches again allowed the higher seed to choose their pair, but they could not camp on the pair they were just on. Jasmine took on Amanda and Jade faced off with Jessica. Jasmine had a dogfight on her hands against Amanda. Both struggled in the first game, but Amanda's struggles continued and Jasmine was able to find just enough stroke to be able to hold her off. Final score was 459-417. The closest match of the day was the other semi final match between Jade Diaz and Jessica Ayotte. They both battled back and forth. Jade was getting a scant 10 pins, so she knew any mistake could cost her. It would come down to the final few frames. Jessica finished up with a score of 418 and that barely held off Jade's 409. That sent her to the finals against the top seed. Jade and Amanda received $275 each for the semi-finals.

Your Queens finals featured two non champions battling for their first title. Game 1 was a big battle. Jessica was getting 7 pins a game and she fired a huge 215. But Jasmine, who hadn't missed a beat all day, was right behind her at 209. This gave Jessica a 13 pin lead going to game 2. And that is where the wheels came off the trucks. Both ladies struggled with spares and splits. Jasmine in fact had two 4-10 splits and Jessica had a 4-6-7. Jessica was able to close out to 155 game and that forced Jasmine to strike on the first shot in the tenth to take home the title. She stepped up, as confident as she could be, knowing it was one ball for the win. But as the ball left her hand, it was a little left. The result was not the desired one, an 8 count. The score was 160, but that left her 15 pins short, Final score was 420-402. Jasmine recieved $375 for runner-up. She said she was happy with making the finals and that she bowled so well all day.

Jessica received $525 for the win and was presented her tiara from outgoing Queen Jenn McCrow. Also the RTB belt and a beautiful bouquet of roses from Holly Itami Springfels and Flower Shope Kern Park. She will take her crown back to Tillamook and has stated she will pay it forward next year and donate the tiaras to the champions.

The ladies also added $231 to their prize fund through the Radical ball raffle. We would also sell tickets Sunday and then draw the winner.

Sunday morning brought the Senior Queens to The Bowl. Again, a smaller field, but nonetheless an elite field :) And this field had a single shining star. Jayne Mahealani Sonognini rolled over the field in qualifying. Like Jasmine, she took the lead in Game 3 never looked back. She ended averaging 202 for the day, a +14 scratch and +182 total, 90 pins clear of the field. A stunning surprise followed in the #2 spot. Beverly Cady from Woodburn, who started with a 118 game, came back with 4 of her next 5 over average and a 188 in game 5 that propelled her into the #2 spot at +92 total. Another newcomer, Abby Mance from Salem, posted a +58 to sneak into 3rd place, just ahead of Joy Parker from Lebanon, who filled up the top 4 bracket at +50.

The first matchup, the 2/3 matchup, featured the two surprise finalists, Bev and Abby. Neither really lit the lanes on fire during the match, as they both grinded with spares, strikes being hard to come by. But Bev pulled our just enough, using her 32 pins of handicap to win the match and advance to the finals 427-383. Abby, who was so excited to make the cut, earned $175 for the semi-final finish. The other semi-final match was a battle between two friends, who were wearing the same shirt, as they are part of the same team for other events Joy enjoyed a 15 pin per game handicap advantage. Unlike the other match, these two showed the lanes who was boss. Joy shot a solid 182 while Jayne took her down scratch with a 188. That gave Joy a 9 pin lead going to the critical game 2. Both would light up the lanes, with strikes and spares. But then a critical error as Jayne missed a 10 pin in the 9th frame. It looked as though that would cost her. But Joy said no to that, closing with 5 straight strikes to shoot 225 and pull away from dominant leader. Her final score was 493 to Jayne's 456. The shocking defeat did not dampen her spirits. She was so happy to average 200 and make the finals, it didn't even matter. And she saw her friend go on for the title. She won bracket money and a nice $175 check helped keep that smile up.

The finals saw Joy vs Bev, who admitted later she only signed up for S & G, if you know what I mean. She was so nervous and her anxiety was through the roof. And game number 1 showed it. It started with a ridicluous pocket 7-9, and then two disastrous gutter balls showed her nerves, and she started off spotting Joy a 29 pin lead. Bev was getting 19 so that helped a little in Game 2. That and some comforting from teammate and RTB champion Dan Lancaster, who was on hand to watch. But Joy had the whole LebCrew watching her as well, so it was a rowdy final to be sure. Game 2 was a total role reversal. Joy started out looking like it was gonna be a cakewalk, after Bev had yet another gutter ball. But she steadied her nerves and started to get in the pocket. and started to feel better, Meanwhile, the wheels were coming off for Joy. 3 splits in 4 frames made things almost even. And then Bev had the finish of a lifetime.

She finally got a strike in the 8th, and then another in the 9th. One more in the 10th and the title was hers. She jumped up and down with excitement and then finished out with two more strikes for an exclamation point. She was so excited and showed some real emotion, tears were definitely flowing. The final score was 458-384. Joy went home with $260 for runner-up.

This was the first title for Bev in only her second ever event. She took home $425 for the win and the tiara from outgoing Senior Queen Melissa Gray. She also got the roses from Holly Itami Springfels and Flower Shope Kern Park, along with the RTB belt. She thought she would have to give the tiara back, but was assured it hers to keep. She is excited to try the TOC at SuperPlay in December.

We also added an extra $95 to the prize fund in the raffle. The randomly drawn winner by a local house bowler was none other than the Queen Jessica Ayotte!!! She wins a ball of choice from Brands of Brunswick.
We want to send a sincere thank you to everyone at Milwaukie Bowl. You were fabulous hosts and we look forward to coming back next year. Greg and Eryk did an excellent job, and the rest of the staff there made it a great time for everyone.

We head off to the coast for Coastal Combat in two weeks, and we open up the MegaBuck Mania.....well actually its already open at the time of this posting. Please salute your new Queens for the next year.... Jessica Ayotte and Beverly Cady!!!

2024 RTB Queens And Senior Queens