PNW Baker Team challenge (2nd Place)

I enjoy watching Baker Team format tournaments. Baker a nice change of pace from the pressure of singles play and the kids get so amped it's crazy! It's no surprise they lost their voices by the end of the day cheering for each other. The PNW Baker Team Challenge was such a great tournament to watch and one I'll remember for a while :)

The tournament was challenging on several fronts. First of all, the HVAC system at Bowlero was offline, so the house was much colder than normal. The event was an adult / junior tournament with current / former collegiate bowlers in the mix as well as competitive adult bowlers on many of the teams. And then there was the pattern itself (The 2022 US Women's Open Pattern #2). It was absolutely brutal!

The team stayed just above the cut line through the first five games and averaged in the mid 160's (like I said, tough pattern). I don't know if I've seen this many splits and open frames in a youth tournament before. But the boys fought through adversity and hung in there. They eventually got into a groove and closed out the final 5 games with a smokin' 216 average to qualify for matchplay in 3rd place (out of 25 teams).

The top 8 teams made the cut and they won against their first two opponents in matchplay (best 2 of 3 games) to make the finals match against Josh Mullen, Liam Hardman, Jake Mullen, Duke Knudsen, and Sierra Stoner.

While our team (Mac Reese, Owen Barrett, Henry Hind, DoHoon Kwon, and Alex Crowley) put up a great effort (They averaged just over 200 in the finals), it wasn't nearly enough to compete with the blistering scores of 224 and 268 that Josh, Liam, Jake, Duke, and Sierra put up for the win. Congratulations!

I'm so proud of how Mac and his teammates carried themselves in this tournament! They enthusiastically supported each other throughout the day, coached each other through the peaks and valleys of an incredibly difficult oil pattern, selflessly adjusted their lineup depending on who was hitting at the time and operated like a well-oiled, fun-loving machine. Not too shabby for a young team competing against older, more experienced competition. It was a joy to watch :)