Bombers Secure Win 250
The Bowling Bombers opened the 2023 2024 season in home tri-match against Clinton-Massie and a non-league match up with Elder. The Bombers will look to senior leadership during the season to make a run for the post-season. The Panthers are defending GCL Champions and the Falcons finished last season 8th in the Division 2 State Finals.
In game one, the Bombers were anchored by Andrew Berkemeier with a 215 and Keegan Barbee rolling a 201. Late game errors pushed Aaron Bickford and Connor Cahill to finish with games of 162 and 167. The Bombers (920) trailed the Elder (930) Panthers by 10 and had a 21 pin lead up on the Falcons (899).
In game two, the Bombers couldn't close the gap on the Panthers as they pushed their lead to 106 pins. Andrew Berkemeier finished his day with a 440 series and a 225 game. Keegan Barbee rolled a 187 on his way to a 388 series. Dimitri Panagis in his varsity debut shot a 181. The Bombers ended the regular games with an 1821. The Panthers rolled a 1927 and the Falcons trailed with a 1742.
In bakers, the Bombers opened with a 188 to the Panthers 201 and the Falcons 157. In games 2 and 3 of bakers, the Falcons cut the gap between the teams and pushed to a 10 pin lead over the Bombers. The Falcons shot games of 270 and 215 while the Panthers rolled a 191 and 162 while the Bombers shot 225 and 140. Lane troubles forced the Bombers to watch the Panthers put up 176 and the Falcons finish with a 160 before they could throw their first ball. The Bombers struggled in the first 3 frames with only one closed frame. In the final 7 frames, the Bombers threw 5 strikes and 3 spares to finish with a 204.
The Bombers split the opener to sit at 1 and 1 on the season, while the Panthers move to 2 and 0, and the Clinton Massie Falcons fall to 0 and 3 on the season.
Bomber Strength:
During Bakers, the Bombers struck 48.9% of the time. Andrew Berkemeier and Dimitri Panagis lead the strike fest rolling ten 75% and 62.5% of the time.
Record Performances
The win today propels the Bombers to their 250th victory as a program in their 23rd season as a team. The Bombers have beaten 33 different programs since they began in the 2001-2002 season. Coach Alan Runkel secured 134 victories for the Bombers, Coach Hott has 98, and Coach Imholte and Coach Murphy have 9 wins a piece. The Bombers have secured 65 wins against Moeller over this time period. There are only 4 teams, the Bombers have matched up with but have been unable to beat in head to head match-ups: Kettering-Fairmont (0-3), Middletown (0-4), Milford (0-1), and St. Xavier Louisville (0-1).
Upcoming Schedule:
The Bombers finish up November with a GCL League match against La Salle on the 28th. They then have a busy early December with a Saturday game at Bethel-Tate on the 2nd, the Elks Invitational on the 3rd, and Mason on the 6th.
Around the GCL:
The Moeller Crusaders kick off their season on the 28th of November. La Salle and Elder rolled in the Kick-Off Invitational. The Lancers finished 10th and the Panthers finished 19th.