Bellmore-Merrick Boys Bowling Struggles Against Wantagh

The Bellmore-Merrick boys bowling team fell to Wantagh on Monday afternoon, suffering an 11-0 sweep for the second consecutive time after defeating MacArthur in its season opener.  

The two teams remained relatively close after the opening game, but Wantagh proved too strong for Calhoun senior Scott Castellano and company, who dropped the match by a score of 2,378-2,249.  

“A lot of the kids were getting frustrated and were trying to change up their mechanics out there,” head coach Joe Bianca said. “They weren’t trusting themselves to make adjustments against Wantagh today.”  

Bellmore-Merrick went with its regular starting four in the opening game. Calhoun junior Joe Cucinella was impressive from the start, bowling a game-high 279.

Castellano posted a solid 223. Mepham senior Ricky Hough, an individual Nassau County champion as a junior, bowled an opening score of 168, followed by Calhoun senior Dan Mueller with a 158. Wantagh took the early lead 896-828.  

The second game proved costly for Bellmore-Merrick as Wantagh was able to widen its lead despite their own miscues with a 743-685 win. Cucinella bowled a 183, a few pins short of Mepham senior CJ Marino, who came into the match for Mueller and shot a 189.

Hough shot a similar game to his first, posting a 164. Castellano, who has been the team's strongest bowler thus far, struggled in the middle frame with a 149.  

Cucinella posted his team's high score again with a strong 225 in the third and final game. Marino made a strong statement of his own to earn playing time in the future with a solid score of 179. Bellmore-Merrick nearly took the third game, getting edged out 738-736, but Wantagh had the match in hand by then.  

“We struggled, but I saw some bright points,” Marino said. “We definitely have a a lot of potential, but it isn’t completely coming together right now. With some more practice, we should be just fine.”  

Bianca pointed out the struggles that Bellmore-Merrick (1-2) has been facing thus far and hopes that a turnaround is forthcoming in its next match against Island Trees.

“We need to bowl consistently and pick up our spares, which we missed today,” Bianca said. “Island Trees is a good team with solid bowlers, so we just need to bowl our averages in order for us to win.”  

Bellmore-Merrick takes on Island Trees Thursday at 4:15 p.m. at South Levittown Lanes.