The 2014 Spring Opened and the 1st Quarter Closed with a very nice turnout of 136 Entries at HiLine Bowl.  The Cut-Line wound up almost perfectly into the 'Target Range' between 1076 and 911 with 28 bowlers cashing and qualifying for the finals on Sunday.  Saturday, it was none other than Michael Leemoui who earned the Top Qualifier Spot, the Storm "Zero Gravity" Bowling Ball, a BYE for Sunday'sFinals and the Top Qualifier Jacket for the weekend.  This is the second time that Michael has taken home the Top Qualifier Spot as he did so also back in September at Kent Bowl when he won his first title.  This was also Michael's personal best performance with a 1008 (scratch) series...Nicely done, Michael!  Also very noteworthy was the performance of this week's eventual Runner-up, Chuck Gonsalez from Yakima who was going for his 3rd Career Title.  Chuck qualified in 22nd Place with a nice 955while his son, Josh was with him on Saturday celebrating his 16th birthday.  They brought yummy cookies for everyone too!  Happy Birthday, Josh!  Next week's 9-Tap Jackpot increased above the $4,000.00 mark for the first time in quite awhile and is at $4,193.00, while the Progressive Pot will be at$2,141.00 for next week at West Seattle Bowl.  There was a 6-way tie between Matt Carlson, Joelle Baarley, Jason Clement, Megan Mischkot, Ron Campos & Samson Ibale for the Jackpot consolation this week with all having three taps for $25 each.

 

There were several very close head to head matches in the finals with the highlight being the match between Shawn Evans & Skip Shear.  Shawn edged Skip by one single pin in their high scoring match which ended up being 233-232.  Shawn went on to finish tied for 3rd with Mike Metcalf, both taking home $426.00.  The Final match of the day came down toChuck Gonsalez and a very determinedCecil Abay-Abay.  Cecil came out on top in the end shooting a fantastic 244 game as Chuck bowed out but took home the 2nd Place check of $993.00.    Cecil, who qualified for the finals with a 969,  is an original Tour Member (#8) and drills his own bowling balls as a side hobby.  He said that he brought eight balls to this week's tournament but ultimately settledon throwing his Track '715A' to get the job done.  This is Cecil's 3rd Tour Singles Title along with his Doubles Title from Bowlero Lanes back in January when he and Pen Hagen took the Win.  Abay-Abay earned a big $2,207.00 with the win and said that this will help him as he is planning a vacation in April to either Arizona or Hawaii.  Cecil wanted to thank the 9-Tap Tour and added a special thanks to Jon Schneider, who originally signed him up to join. Well done, Cecil!