Trevor (18-22-0) : Tyson (22-18-0)
Week 5 Recap by Casual Observer
S. Gelardi (22) vs Rodych (9) – Deveney and Sutherland double date proves unsuccesful
Naugler (19) vs Cook (12) – Team Naugler win fueled by spite at being called garbage
Nelson (28) vs Fleming (3) – Team Nelson takes advantage of last place team
Armstrong (16) vs Campbell (15) – Armstrong completes comeback, Campbell chokes
D. Gelardi (21) vs Stevenson (10) – Spares may be better than actual Team Stevenson, but not good enough for win
Youzwa (24) vs Howarth (7) – Janna fills in for Colton, Team Youzwa doesn’t miss a beat
Hendrickson (19.5) vs King (11.5) – Team Hendrickson wins, and continues to play leap frog with lineup
Lourenco (23) vs LaMonica (8) – Lourenco buries LaMonica, Bradshaw body still missing
WEEK 6
Match #1 – HENDRICKSON vs. YOUZWA
Team Hendrickson broke their win-loss cycle last week with a solid win over Team King. Chad Hurd (783) and captain Brett Hendrickson (1048) decided to try some role reversal apparently as Brett broke out of his slump and Chad experimented with what it would feel like to be a leadoff. Chad obviously had to eat a big loss to Wayne King (1043) but it balanced out with Brett also sweeping all his points of Carter Schade (751). Team Youzwa continues their torrid pace as one of the top teams this half taking care of Team Howarth last week 24-7. The only matchup that may have had them sweating a little was Marc Steves (932) holding on by 6 pins to take total on Craigs Enns (926) after a 281 – 207 game four nearly saw his 79-pin lead disappear.
Key Matchup
After the upside-down week Team Hendrickson had, they will be trying their third anchor of the season, Robbie Hendrickson (983). This will be a big test going up against one of the higher averages in the league Colton Youzwa, who will come in as a 29-pin favourite. This matchup will need to stay close for Team Hendrickson to keep themselves competitive.
Anonymous Insight
On paper this match is one sided but games aren’t played on paper
Tyson’s Pick: Team Youzwa
Trevor’s Pick: Team Youzwa
Match #2 – LOURENCO vs. FLEMING
Team Lourenco extended their winning streak to five weeks, taking down Team LaMonica. James Jubinville (970) came up big for his team, posting their highest individual total this season and making it a monster 311-pin win over Jeff Bradshaw (659). The other big part to Team Lourenco’s success was Jon Linley (932) making a strong return after a couple weeks away, taking four points from Matt Turanski (880). Four points would have been an improvement on Week 5 for Team Fleming who managed just three off Team Nelson. The majority of these points came from Brooke Goulet (970) who made a strong effort to comeback on Tyson Nelson (1026) after being down 150 pins after two games.
Key Matchup
Facing off against Brooke at anchor this week will be Alycia Mann. Both women were drafted at identical averages and have only gone up since then, Alycia averaging 227 comes in at a disadvantage with Brooke averaging 245, 29 pins over the initial draft average. I think we could see a good back and forth battle all night.
Anonymous Insight
Lourenco has had a solid start but Fleming is itching to prove they’re not a doormat.
Tyson’s Pick: Team Lourenco
Trevor’s Pick: Team Lourenco
Match #3 – NAUGLER vs. ARMSTRONG
A few harsh and truthful words in last week’s writeup seemed to light enough of a fire under Team Naugler’s ass for them to steal a much needed-win from Team Cook. Taking advantage of Trevor Cook away for the week Dan Sim (905) laid a 200-pin beating on Don Carpenter (705) at anchor. The other winning effort for Team Naugler came from Adam Williamson (909) who shot out of the gate with a big 567 double to coast his way to a 3-2 win over Zach Friesen (881). Team Armstrong made their match exciting right till the finish, completing a 141-pin comeback on Team Campbell with a dominant 1033 – 869 win in game four, to give them the 16-15 victory. Karen Armstrong (959) continues to be one of the strongest thirds in the league, averaging 243, but was in a close matchup against Jessica Meurrens (829) up until the game four blowout that saw her take total with a 139-pin win, 300 – 161.
Key Matchup
The seconds in this match could play a big part. Both Adam Williamson and Linda Orne (784) have had a bumpy start to the season with both either shooting low 800s/high 700s or going mid-900s. This leaves a potential 200-pin swing in this matchup that could go either way. I expect the winner to be whomever can break off a big game first.
Anonymous Insight
Armstrong at full strength is scary but Naugler is coming off a huge win
Tyson’s Pick: Team Armstrong
Trevor’s Pick: Team Armstrong
Match #4 – NELSON vs. D. GELARDI
Even with their captain gone Team D. Gelardi did not miss a beat, remaining undefeated, putting up 3752 total and taking 21 points off Team Stevenson. One of the biggest takeaways for their team last week would have to be the wires starting to connect for Chris Jeffers (870) who despite having an early 151 game, had himself an above average night, and his only loss being the 151 – 155 matchup against Mitch Dubell (792). Speaking of wires connecting, Team Nelson seemed to have found a little spark of life last week, laying a 28-point beatdown on Team Fleming, moving them from 13th to 5th in the standings. It doesn’t hurt when both Dave Duncan (921) and Cindy Cousins (917) swept their points by a combined 401 pins over Mark Prystupa (703) and Chloe Fleming (734), also marking the first time Team Nelson has had two bowlers shoot over 900.
Key Matchup
With how strong Team D. Gelardi has been up top, I think a lot of the pressure will fall on Lisa Fetch (757) and Dave Duncan. Their opponents, Chris Jeffers and Jesse Leyte (850), have been fairly consistently around that 850-mark most weeks, while Lisa and Dave both have yo-yo’d back and forth between mid-700 and high-800. They will be needing the latter to stay competitive, especially Dave as Jesse has not shot under 850 since Week 1.
Anonymous Insight
Gelardi is feeling hot in Autumn but Nelson likes to humble
Tyson’s Pick: Team D. Gelardi
Trevor’s Pick: Team D. Gelardi
Match #5 – CAMPBELL vs. HOWARTH
Team Campbell is starting to look very similar to Team Cook of last season, great on paper but a little low in the win column, as they have now lost four straight after their 16-15 choke against Team Armstrong. Jessica Meurrens (829) was on pace for another 900 night until things took a nose dive in game four, that saw both her win and her 900 go out the window, after a 161 – 300 loss to Karen Armstrong (959). Team Howarth has actually found the win column more than Team Campbell but find themselves in 14th due to this being their second week under 10 points. With the team posting nine games under 200, Craig Enns (926) was looking pretty good, and nearly made an 80-pin comeback on Marc Steves (932) in the last game, falling just 6 pins short.
Key Matchup
With both teams shuffling up their lineups after last week, it creates some interesting matchups. The one that could be most interesting is Ray Bartel versus Jessica Meurrens (829) at second. Ray comes in at a slight 8-pin disadvantage but both players are former 230+ averages still getting back into the swing of things, and I would not be surprised to see one of them shoot close to the 950 mark tonight.
Anonymous Insight
Everyone on this pair is looking to bounce back
Tyson’s Pick: Team Campbell
Trevor’s Pick: Team Campbell
Match #6 – RODYCH vs. STEVENSON
Team Rodych is going to want to forget last week. Nine points is probably looking pretty good when only one bowler shoots over 750 at Team S. Gelardi. Even more mind blowing is seeing Lexie Sutherland (710) actually win her total in the third position with a 710, beating out Ralph Gelardi (698). This match saw a combined 19 games under 200 thrown. Team Stevenson shot 3533 last week, 473 pins more than Team Rodych, and only gained one extra point from it, taking 10 from Team D. Gelardi. Team Stevenson does seem to have found a couple reliable spares in Kevin Grabowski (954) and Roland Flaig (918). Roland fell short of his total against Steve Jennings (953), but Kevin took an impressive four points off Jesse Leyte (850).
Key Matchup
Hopefully with the return of all the players who missed last week these teams can turn things around for themselves. The most anticipated return has to be Michael Linsenmeier, he has only been gone one week but his bowling has yet to show up this season. Ironically enough, his opponent is in much the same boat since having a fantastic start in Week 1, Jennifer Devenney (740) has also not broken the 850-mark again. Both these bowlers have too much potential for what we’ve seen from them so far. It might seem like a longer shot based on the numbers, but I am calling it as both will be over 900 this week.
Anonymous Insight
Can Stevenson win without spares? Rodych wants to say ‘no’
Tyson’s Pick: Team Rodych
Trevor’s Pick: Team Rodych
Match #7 – S. GELARDI vs. LAMONICA
Team S. Gelardi may have lucked out a little last week, shooting the 14th highest total (3213), and playing Team Rodych who had the worst team total (3060). The win is even more impressive when you factor in all the first ball 2 pins punched by temporary anchor Michael Young (846), not exactly making it difficult on Matt Sutherland (879). Holly Chaikowski (851) continues to have a good start to the season, throwing her fourth straight week over 850 which is never a bad thing from your leadoff. Team LaMonica was not so lucky as their leadoff Jeff Bradshaw (659) put up a season low, and the team was quick to blame captain Andrew Lamonica’s absence for their inability to win. Jayden Nickerson (855) had a chance to win his total but both him and Ethan Buckman (886) went easy on each other in game four with Ethan taking it 190-182.
Key Matchup
With a 220-pin gap between their highest and lowest weeks both Michael Young (846) and Jayden Nickerson (855) come in as big wild cards. Each of them is a threat to go over 1000, but they both have their share of mid 800s too. If this matchup starts to slip away early it could be a runaway. I am taking the over on the pin difference being 100 pins between these two at the end of the night.
Anonymous Insight
Young guns looking for a good night to roll into Masters
Tyson’s Pick: Team S. Gelardi
Trevor’s Pick: Team LaMonica
Match #8 – COOK vs. KING
Team King had a fairly good week last week, but really not much to show for it, taking 11.5 points off of Team Hendrickson. Both Chris Dewar (940) and Waune King (1043) put up season high totals, but with Wayne being the only one to win his total on the night. Dewar unfortunately ran into an event hotter night from Robbie Hendrickson (983), letting him only walk away with 1.5 points, which didn’t help when you see he took more points than the top two of his team combined. Team Cook really would have liked to have their captain on what should have been a very winnable night against Team Naugler. Derek Sabourin (814) and Jordan Nickerson (813) had an extremely tight match at leadoff, and I can only imagine the scores they would have had if they had used their right hands. Char McIvor (920) had another solid week, it just wasn’t enough to makeup for the schalacking they took at anchor with Dan Sim (905) beating Don Carpenter (705).
Key Matchup
With Trevor Cook back this week Team King will have to look to their top three positions to give them an edge. Specifically, Garry Bell (843) and Anthony Novak need a pair of solid nights facing Zach Friesen (881) and Derek Sabourin who both have extremely high ceilings, despite how they have started the season.
Anonymous Insight
King has been good this year but Cook has ended his retirement for this match
Tyson’s Pick: Team Cook
Trevor’s Pick: Team Cook
