Though the Cranford bowling team continues to rebuild, there were a number of bright spots in their performance against Elizabeth to warrant optimism for the future.
The Minutemen won 7-0 behind a 2,900 total pin effort Monday night, but Cranford's Scott Belmont and Michael Milwicz bowled big-time games, giving coach Richard Goldstein something to smile about.
"I'm very happy with our progress so far," said Goldstein. "We played another tough game today as well, but we increased our average from 713 from the previous match to a 801 average for this match. It's a big improvement."
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Milwicz, who bowled a 245, knew he was in a zone during that second game, and that's a great feeling for any bowler.
"It was going good," said the junior. "I was just having my hand under the ball, just throwing it and it turned out to be a good game. It feels good."
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Sophomore Scott Belmont rolled a 254 in his third and final game of the day, which turned out to be a a team high.
"That game I changed up my setup styles. It just came out of nowhere," he said. "I didn't expect to get a 254, and I guess if I keep doing that, my season will get a lot better. I guess I can come to anchor next year. If I keep practicing, I'll keep getting my score up, my average up and I feel I can become a really good bowler if I keep doing that."
Tim Coda also stepped up, bowling a 180 to lead all Cranford rollers in game one, increasing his pins by 45. Junior captain Chris Juliano continued his consistent ways, finishing his last two games with a 194 and 180 respectively.
Right now, the Cougars are right where their coach wants them to be as they continue to make progress.
"They're definitely coming in more focused, working on their spares a lot more as well. They're a lot more consistent than they used to be," said Goldstein. "It's definitely a rebuilding year, but we have the talent to continue to improve. Hopefully, it'll continue."
"We have a lot of fun bowling together. I think we have pretty good team chemistry," said Belmont.
Mike Bani led Elizabeth with a team-high 257 in the final game, which followed solid scores of 202 and 182. Megan Turczynski also impressed by rolling 225 and 233 in her final two games.
Cranford will next face St. Mary's on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Jersey Lanes in Linden.
