Bellmore-Merrick Bowlers Seal Conference Championship

Up eight points on Wantagh going into the day, Bellmore-Merrick just needed to win one of the three games yesterday to claim first place and clinch the conference championship.

They got that out of the way early.

Defeating Wantagh by more than 100 pins in game one, Bellmore-Merrick clinched the top spot and secured their place in the county championships.

"All season-long it was like a roller coaster," Calhoun's Dan Mueller said. "We all went in thinking there wasn't going to be much competition, but we were wrong because there were some really tough teams. But we're all really happy with how we did this year and we're going to have fun at counties."

With only one game required to win, coach Joe Bianca sent in his four best bowlers at the start. Still without Calhoun senior Mike Cappuzzo because of a wrist injury, Bianca decided to go with a lineup of CJ Marino from Mepham, Mueller, Chris Vogel from Calhoun, and Mepham's Ricky Hough.

Even with the championship on the line, the team seemed unfazed by the pressure and managed to put up strong scores. Hough bowled  a 170, Vogel a 180, Mueller a 203, and Marino led the way with a 213. The team won the game 763-651, and took home the conference title.

Marino set the tone early by throwing five straight strikes to start the game.

"I started out well, then struggled a little in the end," Marino said. "But we got the win and we clinched the conference. That's all you can ask for."

With the pressure off, coach Bianca decided to get his reserves in for the second game. He replaced Marino with Calhoun junior Taylor Weinberg, and replaced Mueller with Mepham senior Brandon Gaines. Weinberg and Gaines went on to bowl a 194 and 148, respectively. Vogel stayed in the game to bowl a 202, while Hough bowled a 169. In game two, the team lose a close one, 722-713.

After the game, Hough was taken out for the first time all year. While content with winning the championship, he was disappointed with his individual performance on the day.

"It feels good to win," Hough said. "Though it didn't go exactly how I wanted it to. I would have liked to have bowled better, but I think I put a little too much pressure on myself."

In place of Hough, coach Bianca inserted Calhoun junior Scott Castellano. Two more substitutions were made, as Calhoun junior Tom Bianco came in for Weinberg, and Mepham junior Eric Schildt replaced Gaines.

Castellano bowled the high game with a 225. Bianco rolled a 196, while Schildt bowled a 167. Also contributing with a 213 was Vogel, who threw his highest game of the day. Bellmore-Merrick took the final game 801-793. Vogel was the only bowler to play in all three games for Bellmore-Merrick.

"I struggled early in the first game, but picked it up in the later frames," Vogel said. "I just managed to keep on making good shots and it showed later on in the series."

The team won two of the three games plus the accumulative total (2,277-2,166) to win the match, 8-3.

After the match, Bianca reflected on the year his team has had, and was already looking ahead towards the counties.

"It was a great year," Bianca said. "It was between two teams, us and Wantagh; we just needed the one game and we did it right away. Now we're looking forward to the counties in two weeks. We're conference champs, and now we're going for the big one."

Bellmore-Merrick will bowl next in the county championships on Saturday, Jan. 30.