Bellmore-Merrick Bowlers Edge Into First Place

Bellmore-Merrick and Wantagh are two evenly matched teams. So evenly matched, in fact, that they managed to tie each other twice.

The battle between the top two teams in the league lived up to the hype on Wednesday evening, as Bellmore-Merrick won the first game, then proceeded to tie Wantagh in the next two. They split the points for the last two games, but since Bellmore-Merrick won the first game and the accumulative total, they won by an overall score of 8-3. The two ties were something that coach Joe Bianca had never seen before.

"We have never had a tie before," Bianca said. "We've lost by one and we've won by one but never a tie. So two ties back to back was an incredible thing."

In the only game of the night that actually featured a winning-team, Bellmore-Merrick started off strong, taking the first game 798-731. That was the team's highest score, and featured consistent performances all around. Calhoun junior Dan Mueller bowled a 184, Calhoun senior Mike Cappuzzo had a 193, and Mepham senior Ricky Hough finished with a 208. The highest score of the game belonged to Calhoun senior Chris Vogel with a 213.

""I think we stepped up pretty well," Vogel said, "but the first game was pretty big to get the first win."

Game two was when things got interesting. While Wantagh led most of the way, Bellmore-Merrick hit their stride late and made a comeback. The score remained close all the way until thee final fram. In fact, with one bowler left for each team, the score remained tied.  Hough and Wantagh's Andrew Biscar each spared the tenth frame, and had a single bowl left to claim the victory for their team. Hough bowled first and knocked down eight pins. Biscar, needing nine pins to win, followed by matching Hough with an eight and securing the tie at 748-748.

Many people in the lanes stopped bowling to watch this last frame, which added to the pressure. However, Hough said he tried to not let that get to him.

"I just try to hit my mark and get it clean off my hand, and hopefully I carry," said Hough on bowling under pressure. "The whole problem today was that the lanes were tight, and no one could carry."

Hough led his team with a 218, and Dan Mueller had the next-highest score with a 192.

Game three continued the trend of dramatic finishes. With Calhoun junior Scott Castellano replacing Dan Mueller, the two teams remained within striking distance of each other throughout the entire game. Once again, it came down to the final frame.

After Vogel struck out the tenth frame, it came down once again to Hough and Biscar. Hough spared the tenth frame, while Biscar bowled a strike. That left Bellmore-Merrick up by a single pin. Hough bowled a nine, leaving Biscar in position to win it for Wantagh with another strike. He proceeded to bowl an eight, meaning he needed to knock down the remaining two pins to tie, which he did. The two teams finished deadlocked once again, 741-741.

The two teams appropriately shook hands after the match, congratulating each other on some great bowling. However, Bianca knows to always expect a good match whenever his team squares off against Wantagh.

"The lanes were a little tough today," Bianca said. "But both teams came in and they competed, and they look forward to this since spring competition."

Bellmore-Merrick (7-1) won the last two points by managing to narrowly take the accumulative total by a score of 2,287-2,220.

The girls varsity bowling team was not as successful as the boys. They fell to Wantagh 8-3, with Nicole Celauro bowling a high series of 432.