The Puget Sound Region experienced its first tornado warning in nearly 45 years Saturday as a 'Water Spout' in the South Sound area may have had some Members hunkering down at home as the Tour returned toWest Seattle Bowl.   However, bowlers from Moses Lake, Yakima and Blaine and other areas did make the trip which made for some very exciting Tournament action.  There were 92 Entries in all with 18 making the Cash List and a Cut Line of 894, FAR and away lower than last week's record breaking 1060 in the scoring festival at Narrows Plaza Bowl.  For whatever reason this was the 2nd straight week where we went into the Final Squad without anyone getting the front 3-Taps to qualify for the 9-Tap Jackpot Consolation.  This time it was Cecil Abay-Abay who came through in the clutch to get the front 4 Taps and a consolation prize of $100.00.  With that, the 9-Tap Jackpot rises to just under the $5,000.00 mark at $4,958.00 and will be back up for grabs next week at Pacific Lanes for the ever so popular 'Best 3 out of 4' format. Also, we will be adding an Early Squad at 10:00AM due to limited lanes and Entry spots available for the Final Squad ONLY at 6:30.  

 

3 out of the Top 4 Finishers on Saturday lined themselves up in earlier Squads then re-entered to make their respective runs at the Title.  Early on there was Ron Rice who normally bowls in the 1st Squad with fellow 'Yakimanian', Judy Buchanan then they make their departure to head back across the Mountains.  This time, they both made a mutual decision to re-enter in the 2nd Squad where Ron made a run at his 2nd Title and set the pace for the day by firing an impressive 968, eventually 4th best for the day.  Next, there was Bill Jones...Bill is facing hip replacement surgery before the end of the year and is making it known that he really wants his first Win before the surgery.  He finished 3rd in the 3rd Quarter Championship back in August and this week took the lead as the Tournament headed to the Final Squad, shooting an impressive 981, taking 3rd Place again banking $456.00.  Keep it up, Bill!

 

In the Final Squad, there were several bowlers with a chance to take the title and in the end, it came down to TWO... Pearl Sedeno holds FOUR Tour Titles (2 in Hawaii and 2 in the Puget Sound Region) and likes bowling at West Seattle Bowl as one of her Wins came there last March.  She finished this week firing a 985 and was on top and in line for her 5th Title but knew that there were other bowlers still out there with a chance.  As it came down to the last couple of frames, one bowler was on a mission, needing marks in each of the last two frames to win.  As it turned out, Pearl was the first person there to congratulate our Newest first Time Champ, Matias Oriza.  Pearl obvioulsy wanted the Title butwas elated to take home the 2nd Place check for$894.00.  Matias, who joined the Tour back in July of 2012, has only been bowling for a couple of years and has shown vast improvement over this time, improving his average by 12 pins this year alone.  His previous best finishes have been a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and now he completes the set with his 1st Title!  He said that he was pretty nervous but excited at the same time because he knew that he was bowling really well and had a chance to win.  Oriza used his new Storm 'Optimus' ball drilled by Pat Johns from HiLine Lanes AND Storm 'IQ' drilled byMatt Surina from Daffodil Bowl.  Matias said that he really enjoys bowling on the Tour and that he feels that all bowlers should join the Tour's "family".  He also says that his family comes first in his priorities but bowling is 2nd for him.  With his $2,011.00 winning check, he plans on sharing with his family and has the hopes for his wife to become a U.S. Citizen soon!  Congratulations, Matias!  We're all very happy for you!