At this point it's all about gaining that all-important experience for the future, and that's exactly what the Cranford bowling team achieved Monday afternoon at the Union County Tournament.
With only the top six teams moving on to Thursday's finals, and the top 30 percent of men's overall high scores advancing to Wednesday's individual championships, the Cougars knew it would be an uphill climb. Still it didn't stop this young and improving squad from rolling several solid games under intense pressure.
Junior Chris Juliano got the team off to a great start, rolling an impressive 227, while Scott Belmont rolled a 190, giving Cranford a solid first game total of 848 pins. Though they couldn't keep up that type of momentum, Cranford coach Rich Goldstein was pleased.
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"The team played well," said Goldstein. "Chris had an awesome first game but felt the pressure and unfortunately didn't advance. Mike (Milwicz) had a rough two first games and tried to switch things up too much but felt his groove in the third game (rolling a 182). All in all, we have a young team which continues to adjust and grow."
Sophomore Scott Belmont finished with the high-series for Cranford, finishing with a 536 and rolling a 190 and 189 in his first two games.
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"It was a fantastic day for Scott," said Goldstein. "He was in the zone and played well. We'll have him on the team for another two years and I look forward to watching him."
Not to be forgotten was the ever-improving Tim Coda, whose 200 middle game was a season-high. He finished with a 479 series, which was third behind Belmont and Juliano's 511.
"It was an awesome job by Tim," Goldstein said. "He has improved the most this season. Yesterday, we concentrated on his footwork and it seemed to have paid off. I have high aspirations for him as he completes this season and he also has two more years to grow with us."
As for the season, there is still much more to look forward to. The Cougars will face Rahway in their final regular season match next Monday before preparing for the State Tournament set for February 13.
