13 Year Old 8th Grader Bowls a Perfect Game at Plainfield Lanes

Plainfield Lanes. Plainfield, Il. - Saturday October 17th, 9:33am. -

As I do most Saturday’s, I sat watching my 9 year old daughter as she bowled with her teammates in her weekly bowling league at Plainfield Lanes. (www.plainfieldlanes.com) There was the occasional high five or sporadic cheer from parents when their son or daughter made a strike or picked up a spare. Nothing too crazy mind you... Just a few cheers here and there. And then.......

It seemed like half of the bowling alley erupted into a simultaneous chorus of elated cheering. I turned to my wife almost immediately and said.. “That’s gotta be someone who just bowled a perfect game.” Of course, I rushed over to see what the commotion was about and sure enough. There stood a young man with a smile on his face a mile wide. It was Dalton Pickett. Dalton is a 13 year old 8th grader at Channahon Junior High School. I grabbed my trusty Iphone 6s and snapped 2 shots. 1 of him and his score and the other of just his score sheet.

He did it. a perfect game. This young man defied the odds and got a strike on every single frame. Now depending on where you check the published odds of an adult male bowling a perfect game are somewhere around 1:11,500. That means you can bowl 11,500 games and you MIGHT do it once! However... ask anyone who has been bowling for any amount of time and the odds are that they have never done it.

Hannah Diem out of Largo, FL. is the youngest player on record (that I could find) to accomplish the feat at the tender age of 9. Of course, this does not diminish the accomplishment of young Dalton.

His mom Kristi was there with tears in her eyes while she was calling Dalton’s father to tell him of the feat. She told me he gets it from his father who has done so multiple times in his life. Bowling must run in the blood in the Pickett abode!

Hats off to you, young man. Keep it up!!!

Images and story by

Shots By Sean

(www.shotsbysean.com)