Bellmore-Merrick Bowling Remains on Top

Fresh off their 8-3 victory over Wantagh last week, the Bellmore-Merrick squad found themselves at the top of the standings for the first time all year. Entering the lanes on Monday, it was the first time they were bowling as a first-place team.

And they sure did play like it.

Led by Mepham's Ricky Hough with a high series of 660, the Bellmore-Merrick team cruised to victory over Island Trees, winning all three games by decisive margins in addition to winning the accumulative total to claim the 11-0 sweep.

"Overall as a team we bowled excellent," said Hough. "One guy wasn't up and one guy wasn't down. We were very consistent"

The first game was never close as Bellmore-Merrick soundly defeated Island Trees, 796-638. Hough, who leads the team with a 211.4 average, contributed with a 200. However, he was outperformed in the game by Mepham's C.J. Marino and Calhoun's Dan Mueller, with scores of 237 and 207, respectively. Also chipping in was Calhoun's Chris Vogel with a 152, well below his average of 202. Marino's game was particularly efficient, as he left no open frames and bowled seven strikes.

"The lanes were pretty good," Marino said. "It was a team effort and I'm just happy we won."

Bellmore-Merrick managed to improve their total score in the second game, as they won by the score of 827-698. Mueller enjoyed his best game of the day with a 215, while Hough had the best game of the day by any team with a 249. Marino and Vogel added to the team-high score with games of 187 and 176, respectively. Hough managed to end his game by bowling five straight strikes.

"The second game I made some good adjustments," Hough said. "That's why I bowled so well."

The third game was much closer than the previous two, as Island Trees bowled their highest total of the day. However, it wasn't enough as Bellmore-Merrick came up with the victory by the score of 809-781. In this game, coach Joe Bianca replaced C.J. Marino with Calhoun senior Nick Landi, who has never bowled a game for varsity before. Landi responded with a solid game of 201. The rest of the squad continued to bowl consistently as Mueller bowled a 177, Vogel had a 210, and Hough led the way once again with a 211.

"I've been waiting all season for this," said Landi on his first game as varsity bowler.  "I went in there, did my thing and bowled over a 200. But I couldn't have done it without my teammates."

The team was without Calhoun senior Mike Cappuzzo, who was nursing a wrist injury. Cappuzzo holds the second highest average on the team with a 204.2. Despite his absence, the team still managed to win the accumulative score in decisive fashion, 2,432-2,117.

Coach Joe Bianca was very pleased with his team's effort.

"We bowled well today as a team," said Bianca. "We had a couple of alternates in, and we still had two series' over 800 which is what we are shooting for each time. Now we are looking forward to the counties."

Towards the end of the second game, everybody in the lanes stopped bowling so that they could watch Wantagh's Ryan Fiorillo, who needed just three strikes to secure a perfect 300 game. He did just that, and was embraced immediately by his teammates while the crowd roared with excitement.

The girls' varsity team was equally as successful as the boys, defeatingIsland Trees in all three games and winning the accumulative total to take all 11 points.