PWBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

16 PLAYERS TO CONTEND FOR SEASON-ENDING PWBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
ARLINGTON, Texas – The best performers on the 2018 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour will invade Richmond Raceway for the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship.
The pinnacle event of the PWBA Tour season will take place Sept. 16-19 inside the Old Dominion Building at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. The PWBA Tour Championship brings together every title winner in 2018, with the remainder of the field filled through the season points list.
Players will compete in a single-elimination, best-of-five match-play bracket to determine two of the competitors for the live finals, which will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, the 2018 PWBA Player of the Year, and Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, already have earned their spots on the TV show, as they receive byes into the semifinals as the No. 1 and 2 seed, respectively.
BowlTV, the official YouTube channel of the United States Bowling Congress, will have live stream coverage of all rounds leading up to the live finals on CBS Sports Network.
O’Keefe, who won last year’s PWBA Tour Championship, won two of the first four events in 2018, the PWBA Sonoma County Open and her second major title at the United States Bowling Congress Queens.
The 39-year-old right-hander also finished second at the PWBA Greater Harrisburg Open, fourth at the PWBA East Hartford Open and the BowlerX.com PWBA Twin Cities Open, and fifth at the U.S. Women’s Open to capture her first player of the year honor.
In last season’s PWBA Tour Championship semifinals, O’Keefe was part of a thrilling match with former three-time PWBA Player of the Year Liz Johnson of Palatine, Illinois.
Tied at 222 after 10 frames, the match needed three sudden-death one-ball roll-offs before O’Keefe claimed victory. She used that momentum to then defeat Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, 222-203, in the finals to claim her first major title.
"I think there is a major difference in believing something is possible versus knowing it’s possible,” said O’Keefe, who along with McEwan and Liz Johnson are the only players to win a title in each season since 2015. “I always dreamed of winning my first major and believed it was possible. However, after accomplishing it, I now know I can achieve all things I set out to do.”
McEwan, who won the inaugural PWBA Tour Championship during the first year of the relaunched PWBA Tour in 2015, won the PWBA Fountain Valley Open to earn her spot in this year’s PWBA Tour Championship.
She also finished second at the PWBA East Hartford Open, third at the PWBA Louisville Open and the QubicaAMF PWBA Players Championship, and fourth at the U.S. Women’s Open.
McEwan had an outside chance of challenging for PWBA Player of the Year at the Tour Championship, if she could’ve finished no worse than second at the Players Championship in August.
Stefanie Johnson, who captured her first career major at the QubicaAMF PWBA Players Championship, catapulted herself into the No. 3 seed with the win at the final regular-season event and earned a first-round bye.
Stefanie has qualified for the finals of every major this season, finishing fourth at the USBC Queens and second at the U.S. Women’s Open.
She’ll face the winner of Monday’s first-round match between No. 10 Erin McCarthy (PWBA Louisville Open champion) and No. 11 Diana Zavjalova.
Liz Johnson, owner of 10 career major championships, captured two titles this season to earn the No. 4 seed.
She partnered with 11-time Professional Bowlers Association champion EJ Tackett to win the PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles and earned the title at the Nationwide PWBA Columbus Open. It’s the first time Liz Johnson is not the No.1 seed at the PWBA Tour Championship.
She’ll take on the winner of the first-round match between No. 9 Josie Barnes (PWBA East Hartford Open champion) and No. 12 Kelly Kulick.
Jordan Richard, the 2018 PWBA Rookie of the Year from Tecumseh, Michigan, will make her Tour Championship debut after an electrifying first year of competition that included a victory at the PWBA Greater Harrisburg Open.
She appeared in the TV finals of all four events in August and produced a third-place finish, two fourth-place finishes and a fifth-place finish during the stretch. She will face No. 15 Shannon Pluhowsky in the first round.
The rest of Monday’s first-round matchups, with how they qualified in parenthesis: No. 5 Liz Kuhlkin (U.S. Women’s Open winner) vs. No. 16 Lindsay Boomershine (points); No. 7 Bryanna Coté (points) vs. No. 14 Missy Parkin (points); No. 8 Rocio Restrepo (BowlerX.com PWBA Twin Cities Open winner) vs. No. 13 Maria Jose Rodriguez (points).
The PWBA Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards are determined by competition points.
The lanes are being specially installed inside the Old Dominion Building by QubicaAMF, the official supplier of bowling equipment for the 2018 PWBA Tour Championship.
Visit PWBA.com for more information on the 2018 PWBA Tour, including the complete schedule, player biographies, event coverage and more. Click here to view the official PWBA Tour Championship bracket. To purchase PWBA Tour Championship tickets online, please click here. For all things PWBA Tour Championship related leading up to the event, follow the PWBA social channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PWBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
At Richmond Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
(All times local)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Practice Session for Matches 1,2,3 and seeded athletes
4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.:  Practice Session for Matches 4,5,6 and seeded athletes
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Noon: Matches 1 and 2
3 p.m.: Matches 3 and 4
6 p.m.: Matches 5 and 6
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Noon: Matches 7 and 8
3 p.m.: Matches 9 and 10
6 p.m.: Matches 11 and 12

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
8 p.m. Eastern:   LIVE CBS SPORTS NETWORK FINALS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Noon - 5 p.m.: Fan Fun Friday in the Old Dominion Building
Bowl with some of your favorite PWBA players!
Includes: FREE bowling with some of the PWBA stars. Giveaways and autographs on-site. Bring your bowling shoes & equipment if you'd like. House balls will be provided.
*Bowling will be limited during high traffic times to ensure all fans have a chance to participate*

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
11 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Three Wide and Military Hospitality Event
(ticketed event for about 1,500 people)
About the PWBA
The Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) originally was formed in 1960. The PWBA Tour has events throughout the country, offering high-level competition and top prize money for women bowlers. The PWBA is supported by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America (BPAA) and the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).

DLURHAM 3--SCRANTON 0

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE

RAILRIDERS

GAME REPORT

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Durham   3   Scranton/Wilkes-Barre    0

 

MOOSIC, Pa. (Sept. 13, 2018) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell to the Durham Bulls 3-0 on Thursday night at PNC Field. The Bulls took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Governors’ Cup Finals.

 

Game three was a home game for the Durham Bulls despite being played Moosic.  The entire series was moved to PNC Field from Durham Bulls Athletic Park with Hurricane Florence preparing to make landfall in the Carolinas this week.

 

The Bulls took the lead in the bottom of the first when Kean Wong and Rob Refsnyder led off the game with back-to-back singles against Mike King to put runners at first and third. Austin Meadows hit into a fielder’s choice groundout, plating Wong with the first run of the contest.

 

Durham tacked on two more tallies in the bottom of the second as Brandon Snyder cracked a leadoff home run. Two batters later Jason Coats collected an infield single and scored on a Jake Cronenworth double and the Bulls grabbed a 3-0 lead.

 

King settled down after the rocky start and pitched well over the remainder of his 6.2-inning outing. He allowed seven hits and walked two while striking out four. At one point the right-hander retired 11 of 12 batters. He exited with runners on second and third, but Phil Diehl was able to escape the jam in his Triple-A debut.

 

The RailRiders threatened offensively, but Chih-Wei Hu was able to escape the jams. With runners on first and third and one out in the top of the sixth, Giovanny Urshela grounded into an inning-ending around-the-horn double play.

 

In the top of the seventh Mike Ford singled with one out against Hu. Two batters later Shane Robinson doubled to left and Ford was thrown out to end the inning trying to score from first.

 

Kyle Bird closed out the victory for the Bulls with two scoreless innings to earn his second postseason save. Mark Payton led the way with a 2-for-4 day offensively for the RailRiders, while Zack Zehner and Robinson tallied a double each.

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre continues the best-of-five Governors’ Cup Championship Series with Durham Friday night at PNC Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The RailRiders send lefty Ryan Bollinger (0-0, 1.59) to the hill, while the Bulls counter with righty Zach Lee (4-5, 5.02). For tickets and more information call (570) 969-BALL or slide to www.swbrailriders.com/tickets.

  

IL Governor’s Cup Championship Series

Durham leads series 2-1

PBA SPARE SHOTS

PBA Spare Shots

 

PBA INTERNATIONAL-WORLD BOWLING TOUR RETURNS TO BANGKOK SEPT. 22-28

The next stop for PBA Tour players who are chasing the top eight places on the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour earnings list for a berth in the end-of-season PBA Clash will be the PBA International-World Bowling Tour Thailand, Sept. 22-28, at Blu-O Rhythm & Bowl Paragon in Bangkok where the tournament’s US$32,250 first prize could play a significant role in the 2018 earnings race.

 

The WBT Thailand format includes three three-game qualifying blocks with nine-game pinfall totals determining the 42 players who will advance to Round Two which involves qualifiers 25-42 bowling six games (all previous pins are dropped). The top 10 from Round Two will join qualifiers 9-24 for another six-game block in Round Three. The top 12 from Round Three will join qualifiers 1-8 for the six-game Round Four.

 

Round Four will decide the seven players who will join the highest-qualifying Thai player for the final round on Friday, Sept. 28, that will be a modified stepladder schedule. Match One will include Finalists 6, 7 and 8. The winner moves on to Match Two along with finalists 4 and 5. That winner bowls Finalist 3 in Match Three. The Match Three winner bowls Finalist 2 in the Semifinal Match. The Semifinal winner advances to the championship match where he/she has to beat Finalist 1 twice in order to win the event.

 

The winner will earn a PBA Tour title if he/she is a PBA member and doesn’t accept handicap pins (like many WBT events, WBT Thailand offers women 8 handicap pins per game.

 

PBA fans can follow the Thailand tournament online through the Asian Bowling Federation’s website: http://www.abf-online.org/results/ttbawbt18.htm. Thailand’s Jojoe Yannaphon, a PBA member, is the defending champion. In 2017, Yannaphon was high qualifier and defeated Sweden’s two-handed star, Jesper Svensson, 212-202, to earn his first PBA Tour title.

 

The WBT Thailand is also a WBT points event. The top three men and top three women in WBT points for the 2018 season will compete in the World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the PBA which will be contested at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas, for airing on FS1 on Sunday, March 10, at 10 p.m. EST.

 

NEXT UP: XTRA FRAME ON FLOBOWLING VISITS NORTH CAROLINA, CALIFORNIA

Closing out the month, PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling will visit North Carolina and California to cover another weekend doubleheader: the PBA50 Storm Invitational at Planet Fun Bowling and Entertainment Center in Shallotte, N.C., and a PBA Regional event, the PBA Double Decker West/Northwest Open presented by Roto Grip from Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park, Calif., Sept. 29-30.

 

The PBA50 Invitational, Saturday and Sunday, Sept.29-30, will involve a field of 14 including 2018 PBA50 Player of the Year Michael Haugen Jr., PBA50 Cup winner Brian Kretzer, PBA60 Player of the Year Ron Mohr, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Norm Duke, Parker Bohn III, Lennie Boresch Jr., Amleto Monacelli, Ryan Shafer, Bob Learn Jr., Pete Weber, Harry Sullins, Brian Voss and Johnny Petraglia.

 

All PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling events are covered live from start to finish. One last reminder: existing Xtra Frame subscribers need to transition their current subscriptions to FloBowling by visiting https://www.flobowling.com/claim-account. New subscribers can enroll at FloBowling.com.

 

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: ANDY PATTERSON WINS GRAND CASINO INVITATIONAL

Andy Patterson from Tyler, Texas defeated Chris Hibbitts II from Keller, Texas, to win the fifth annual PBA Grand Casino Resort & Hotel Southwest Invitational at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., Sunday. The entire event was live-streamed by PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling.

 

Patterson, who earned his sixth PBA Regional title, was able to string strikes while Hibbitts had trouble adjusting to the final pair’s conditions, topping him, 220-158, to claim the $4,000 winner’s check.

 

After 12 games of qualifying, both players had long roads to the final match. After qualifying 13th, Patterson started his road to victory by downing Houston PBA50 player David Scardaville, 2-0, in the best-of-three-game Round of 16; David Krol from Nixa, Mo., 2-1, in the Round of 12, and Tyler Albracht of Amarillo, Texas, 2-1 in the Round of 8. In the semifinal round, he eliminated newly-inducted PBA Southwest Hall of Famer Mark Scroggins of Canyon, Texas, 279-243.

       

Hibbitts, who had won two previous PBA Regionals at FireLake, qualified 14th and defeated Sean Lavery-Spahr from Pasadena, Texas, 2-1; Joe Findling from Mesquite, Texas, 2-0; Shawn Maldonado of Houston, 2-1, and Devin Bidwell of Wichita, Kan., 236-160, before Patterson ended his bid for another PBA title.

 

As part of the tournament weekend, Scroggins and Junction City Bowl proprietor and long-time PBA Regional tournament host Joe Ellison from Junction City, Kan., were inducted into the PBA Southwest Region Hall of Fame.

 

● Steve Lickliter of Beckley, W.Va., won the PBA60 Wilson & Sons Pest Control Open title in Mooresville, N.C.; Stoney Baker of Canton, Ga., notched his 31st PBA regional win in the PBA50 Samuel Adams Mooresville South Open presented by Columbia 300, and Bill Peters of Dayton, Ohio, won his first PBA title in the PBA60 Kingsport Southern Open presented by Storm to complete the PBA South Region’s annual extended Labor Day “tripleheader” at Warpath Lanes in Kingsport, Tenn.

 

Lickliter kicked off the series by defeating Sam Ventura of Syracuse, N.Y., 214-207, in the final of the PBA60 Wilson & Sons event at Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C., on Sept. 1. Two days later, Stoney Baker came out striking with the front five to defeat PBA Hall of Famer and defending champion Tom Baker (no relation) of King, N.C., 258-220, in the PBA50 event, also at Victory Lanes in Mooresville.

 

Along with his 15th regional title, Lickliter earned $2,200. Stoney Baker earned $2,300 in the PBA50 event.

 

The South Region players then traveled to Tennessee where Peters was the top qualifier. A recent “super senior” after turning 60 on Dec. 27, Peters defeated no. 2 qualifier Sammy Ventura of Syracuse, N.Y., 259-181, to win the PBA60 title and $1,600 in Kingsport.

 

● Also in the PBA South Region, Brandon Curtis of Manson, N.C. won his first PBA title Sunday, defeating Matt Martin of Axton, Va., 278-246, to win the 15th annual PBA Fayetteville South Open at Lafayette Lanes in Fayetteville, N.C.

 

Curtis, who qualified in the fourth-and-final position for the four-man stepladder finals with a 17-game total of 4,199 pins – one pin ahead of PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. – disposed of Mike Coffey of Melbourne, Fla., in opening match, 268-245, and easily defeated Dick Allen of Columbia, S.C., 265-226, in the semifinal contest to advance to the championship match.

 

In the title match Curtis started with nine strikes to grab a healthy lead while Martin fumbled early. Despite a six-strike rally from the fourth frame to the 10th, it wasn’t enough to catch Curtis who earned $2,400 along with his title.

 

● Rick Graham of Lancaster, Pa. compiled a 6-1-1 match play record on his way to a 69-pin victory over tournament sponsor Brian LeClair of Albany, N.Y. in the PBA50 Brian LeClair’s Revolutions Pro Shop Eastern Open at Boulevard Bowl in Schenectady, N.Y., Sunday.

 

Graham, who finished second in last year’s event, survived a 178 final game in qualifying to advance to the semifinal round. He then led the semifinal round to advance to the round robin finals, where he retained the lead to the end, posting a total of 2,083 pins for the eight-game final round, including match play bonus pins, to out-distance LeClair’s 2,014 total.

 

The win was Graham’s fourth in PBA Regional competition, but his first in PBA50 competition. He earned $1,500 for the win while LeClair, who rolled a 279 in the position round to move into second place, earned $900.

● John Dudak of Orland Park, Ill., defeated Brian Menini of Brookfield, Mo., 254-163, to win the PBA50 Diamond Jo Casino Midwest Open at Cherry Lanes in Dubuque, Iowa, Sunday, for his first PBA title after competing in more than 200 events as a “senior” bowler.

 

The 64-year-old Dudak, a veteran of 103 PBA50 Tour and 115 PBA50 regional events, earned a $1,600 prize. He defeated Menini after Menini eliminated Jon Schure of Ripon, Wis,. 259-223, in the first match and Dean Mueller of Arlington Heights, Ill., 222-180, in the semifinal contest.

 

● PBA Regional events on the Sept. 14-16 weekend schedule include the Sturgis Central/Midwest Open at Sturgis Bowl in Sturgis, Mich., and the Liberal Kansas Southwest Open at Ayr Lanes.

 

● September’s PBA Regional calendar continues over the Sept. 21-23 weekend with the PBA/PBA50 Millsboro Lanes Eastern Doubles in Millsboro, Del.; the one-day Florence Bowling Center Central Open in Florence, Ky.; the PBA50 Cherokee Lanes South Open presented by Roto Grip in Canton, Ga.; the Lubbock Sports Southwest Challenge at South Plains Lanes in Lubbock, Texas, the one-day Mockingbird Lanes PBA and PBA50 Midwest Open doubleheader presented by Hammer in Omaha, Neb., and a Northwest/West tripleheader at Paradise Lanes in Tacoma, Wash., including the Always Painting Northwest/West Open presented by Vac-Tec; the Gary Mage PBA50 Northwest/West Open presented by Great American Casino, and the Jeanne Naccarato Women’s Open.

 

● The September PBA Regional schedule concludes over the Sept. 28-30 weekend with the Bluffton Central/Midwest Open at EZ Bowl in Bluffton, Ind.; the PBA50 J&L Sports South Open at Paradise Lanes in Spartanburg, S.C., and the Double Decker West/Northwest Open presented by Roto Grip in Rohnert Park, Calif. The Double Decker event will be live-streamed by PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling.

 

● For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on PBA Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area…and remember, you can follow “live scoring” for all PBA Regional events on pba.com (easily accessible for Apple device users using the PBA app).

SCRANTON-DURHAM SERIES NOW TIED 1-1

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE

RAILRIDERS

GAME REPORT

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Durham   5   Scranton/Wilkes-Barre    2

 

MOOSIC, Pa. (Sept. 12, 2018) – The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell to the Durham Bulls 5-2 on Wednesday night at PNC Field. The best-of-five Governors’ Cup Finals is now tied a 1-1 after the RailRiders were victorious in Tuesday’s series opener.

 

Durham took the lead two batters into the game when Nestor Cortes walked Kean Wong and allowed a two-run home run to Rob Refsnyder. Cortes settled down from there and allowed only one more hit in his 6.0 innings of work. The southpaw struck out six batters on the night, including Refsnyder in the third to cap an epic 17-pitch battle.

 

Austin Pruitt was even stronger on the mound for the Bulls on Wednesday night, hurling 6.0 shutout frames despite several threats from the RailRiders. SWB pushed runners into scoring position in the first and fifth innings, but Pruitt didn’t break and allow a run.

 

In the top of the seventh, the Bulls added a run against Brady Lail to extend their lead to 3-0. With two outs Jason Coats tripled to right center and scored on an infield single from Jake Cronenworth. The righty reliever worked around a leadoff single in the eighth to toss a scoreless frame to cap his night.

 

The Bulls tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth inning when Nate Lowe took Cale Coshow deep for a two-run home run to extend a 5-0 advantage. In the bottom of the ninth Giovanny Urshela doubled and scored on a two-run home run from Mike Ford, but Colin Poche hung on to close out the 5-2 Durham victory.

 

RailRiders pitchers struck out 11 Bulls batters in the contest, and four of the five hits collected by SWB batters were extra-base hits. Poche earned a save with three innings of work out of the bullpen, his first of the postseason. Urshela finished the night 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored.

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre continues the best-of-five Governors’ Cup Championship Series with Durham Thursday night at PNC Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The RailRiders send RHP Mike King (0-0, 2.70) to the mound, while the Bulls will counter with RHP Chih-Wei Hu (1-0, 3.60). For tickets and more information call (570) 969-BALL or slide to www.swbrailriders.com/tickets.

 

 

IL Governor’s Cup Championship Series

Series tied 1-1

RAILRIDERS WIN FIRST GAME 3-2

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE

RAILRIDERS

GAME REPORT

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre    3    Durham   2

 

MOOSIC, Pa. (Sept. 11-12, 2018) – Weathering a nearly three-hour rain delay, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders held off the Durham Bulls 3-2 on Wednesday morning at PNC Field. The RailRiders have a 1-0 lead over the Bulls in the best-of-five Governor’s Cup Championship Series.

 

Domingo German made his return to the mound for the RailRiders and was terrific. The only blemish he allowed in 3.0 innings was a two-out double to Austin Meadows in the top of the first, while striking out five Bulls.

 

In the top of the fifth Durham took a 1-0 lead when they loaded the bases with no outs against Justus Sheffield. The southpaw induced a double play from Jake Cronenworth for the first two outs, but Nate Lowe scampered home to score the contest’s first run.

 

The RailRiders wasted no time in striking back in the bottom of the fifth against Ryan Weber. Wilkin Castillo and Mark Payton collected back-to-back one-out singles, and Bruce Caldwell followed with a two-run double to put the RailRiders on top. After a Giovanny Urshela groundout and a walk to Mike Ford, Ryan McBroom laced a base hit into left, plating Caldwell and extending the SWB lead to 3-1.

 

Former RailRider Rob Refsnyder connected for a solo home run against David Sosebee to narrow the gap to 3-2. He escaped the inning without further trouble, and Cale Coshow and Joe Harvey combined to toss a scoreless top of the eighth.

 

In the bottom of the eighth McBroom drew a walk to lead off the inning, and Zack Zehner ran a 2-2 count against Ian Gibaut when the rain intensified and the game entered a two-hour, 59-minute rain delay. When the game resumed, the RailRiders were retired in the eighth.

 

George Kontos walked Lowe leading off the top of the ninth but settled down to retire the side on three flyouts to close out the victory.  Sheffield (1-0) earned the win while Weber (0-2) was charged with the loss.

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre continues the best-of-five Governors’ Cup Championship Series with Durham Wednesday night at PNC Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The RailRiders send LHP Nestor Cortes (6-6, 3.71), the Bulls will counter with RHP Austin Pruitt (3-0, 2.95). For tickets and more information call (570) 969-BALL or slide to www.swbrailriders.com/tickets.

 

IL Governor’s Cup Championship Series

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre leads 1-0

END OF SEASON PBA CLASH

Eight Berths at Stake for End-of-Season PBA Clash, 2019 FOX Preview

Contenders hope to follow Kyle Troup’s example with five events remaining on 2018 schedule

CHICAGO (Sept. 11, 2018) – The Professional Bowlers Association Clash, which will air on FOX on Sunday, Dec. 23 to usher in the PBA’s historic 2019 television agreement with FOX Sports, will be a unique end-of-season “eliminator” event, showcasing the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour’s eight earnings leaders.

The PBA Clash will showcase eight of the PBA’s premier stars who will qualify for the event based on total earnings in 2018, including prize money yet-to-be-won in the WBT Thailand in Bangkok Sept. 22-28; the FloBowling PBA Fall Swing (including the Wolf Open, Bear Open and Tulsa Open) at The Lanes at Coffee Creek in suburban Tulsa, Okla., Oct. 15-20, and U.S. Open at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan., Oct. 24-31.

After last week’s PBA-WBT Storm Lucky Larsen Masters in Sweden, the eight earnings leaders were Jason Belmonte, Anthony Simonsen, Dom Barrett, Andrew Anderson, EJ Tackett, Marshall Kent, Kyle Troup and Jakob Butturff. Close behind were Bill O’Neill, Tom Smallwood, Matt O’Grady and Jesper Svensson. There is ample room for PBA members to make big moves in the final five events, just like Troup, the Lucky Larsen Masters winner, did when he earned a $16,385 first prize to move into the top eight.

The Clash will feature a unique format beginning with all eight players bowling a ninth and 10th frame. Based on total pinfall for the two-frame round, the low score will be eliminated. Starting with the second round, competition will shift to a one-ball, low-man-out format until two survivors remain. The last two survivors will bowl a traditional game to decide the PBA Clash winner-take-all prize is $25,000.

The 90-minute telecast will include biographical profiles of the eight Clash players, and it will include the announcements of the 2018 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year and Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year.

The Clash also will include a preview of the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule of 30 telecasts on FOX and FS1, resulting in 60 hours of national television coverage in 2019 – twice as many hours as last year. The 10 hours of live broadcast network coverage on FOX is the most for bowling in 20 years. Combined with FS1 telecasts, the PBA will bring its fans 38 hours of live TV, almost five times as much as 2018.

The final PBA International-World Bowling Tour event of 2018 will be the WBT Thailand at Blu-O Rhythm & Bowl Paragon in Bangkok, offering a $32,250 first prize. PBA fans can follow the Thailand tournament online through the Asian Bowling Federation’s website: http://www.abf-online.org/results/ttbawbt18.htm. Thai native Jojoe Yannaphon is the defending champion.

The FloBowling PBA Fall Swing will include the two-day Wolf Open (Oct. 15-16), two-day Bear Open (Oct. 17-18) and the two-day Tulsa Open (Oct. 19-20). The Tulsa Open will be an 18-game round robin match play event for the top 18 qualifiers based on combined 24-game pinfall totals after the Wolf and Bear rounds (12 games in each). PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling will cover all three events, live from first ball to last. First prize in the Wolf and Bear Opens will be $10,000. The winner of the Tulsa Open will earn $30,000.

The final qualifying event for the PBA Clash will be the 2018 season’s final major championship, the U.S. Open. CBS Sports Network will air the finals live on Wednesday, Oct. 31. The U.S. Open will offer a $30,000 first prize.

About PBA

Now in its 60th year, the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,000 of the best bowlers from 27 countries who compete in Go Bowling! PBA Tour, PBA International Tour, PBA50 Tour, and PBA, PBA50 and PBA-PWBA Women’s Regional events. In 2018, the PBA celebrated its 59th consecutive year of nationally-televised competition, reaching bowling fans around the world who follow PBA activities through the PBA Network which includes Xtra Frame on FloBowling, the PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel, FOX Sports, FS1 and CBS Sports Network, and the PBA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. PBA sponsors include Barbasol, Brunswick, Ebonite International, FloBowling.com, GoBowling.com, MOTIV, 900 Global, PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile Game, Storm Products and the United States Bowling Congress, among others. Learn more at www.pba.co

ALL RAILRIDER GAMES TO PNC FIELD

International League shifts all games of Governor’s Cup Finals to PNC Field

Hurricane Florence forces venue change for games three through five in best-of-five series

MOOSIC, PA. (September 11, 2018) – The International League has announced that, due to the anticipated effects of Hurricane Florence on North Carolina, all five games of the 2018 Governor’s Cup Finals between the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and the Durham Bulls will be played at PNC Field in Moosic.  The series begins tonight and would conclude on Saturday at the latest.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will serve as the home team in games 1 and 2 while Durham will be the home side for the remainder of the series.  Games 1 through 4 will begin at 6:35 p.m. while Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch.

“In consultation with the participating organizations, the decision has been made that it is in the best interest of all involved that the entire Governors’ Cup Finals now be scheduled for PNC Field,” stated International League President Randy Mobley.  “The developing weather conditions in the Durham area have forced this decision.  We hope to have a fun and competitive series while also keeping those impacted by Hurricane Florence in our thoughts.”

Games 1 and 2 were already slated to be played in Pennsylvania on September 11 and 12.  The RailRiders topped the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the semifinal round, three games to one.  Durham beat the Toledo Mud Hens 3-1 in their semifinal series.

Game 3, as well as any additional games needed in this series, were scheduled to be played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park beginning on Thursday, September 13.  According to the National Hurricane Center, Florence is slated hit the shores of the Carolinas late Thursday night or early Friday morning and could reach the coast as a Category 3 storm or higher.

The RailRiders will honor ticket purchases made for any game that was to be played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  Fans are asked to show proof of purchase at the E-Auto Box Office at PNC Field and they will be given the best available seats based on their prior purchase.

Tickets for all five games are now are available online now at swbrailriders.com.  For more information, contact the RailRiders front office (570) 969-BALL.

-swb-

FERRELL WINS GARDEN CITY CLASSIC

FERRELL CROWNED GARDEN CITY CHARITY CLASSIC CHAMPION

GARDEN CITY, Kan. — Every round of the fifth annual Garden City Charity Classic featured a low score of 7-under par 65 and Allyssa Ferrell (Edgerton, Wisconsin) found that mark this afternoon at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course to step into the winner’s circle for the first time in her career.

The Michigan State University alumna used a bogey-free final round to finish at 16-under par overall and claim the title by two strokes.

“I don’t know if it has totally set in, just really happy with how I played,” said Ferrell. “Every given week out here, someone different can win and I am simply fortunate enough that I can be the winner here in Kansas.”

At the conclusion of play, Ferrell raised the Cecil and Francis O’Brate Memorial Trophy, named appropriately after the prominent philanthropic Garden City family with strong connections to the event including sponsors American Warrior, Inc., Palmer Manufacturing, Inc. and Samy Properties.

During her victory speech, Ferrell dedicated the win to sister Brooke, who can no longer play competitive golf and was on the bag this week in the Sunflower State. After dealing with tendonitis, torn cartilage and a pinched nerve, the former standout for the University of Wisconsin underwent four surgeries in nine months on her right arm starting last August.

On Tuesday, Brooke was cleared by doctors following her last surgery in May. 

“To see her when she was kind of struggling at the beginning of the year was hard because I knew she is so much better,” said Brooke, who will soon begin working at Cherokee Country Club in Madison. “To not be able to golf, it has given Allyssa perspective, it’s given me perspective, so I feel like having us both on the course together and both perspectives collide made us very successful. Her dedicating the win definitely had me in tears.”

Ferrell has made the cut in four of the last five tournaments, recording three top-20 finishes over that span. This one in particular will replay in her memory for a long time to come.

“I kind of figured with how well I was playing that I was pretty close to the top,” Ferrell said. “I didn’t look at the scoreboard until after I putted on No. 17, just to know where I was. At the same time I didn’t want to know, but it was nice to make sure when I’m on the last hole if I need to press, or if par is my friend.”

FINKELSTEIN, PRESSEL, YOKTUAN FINISH TIED FOR SECOND

Close behind Garden City Charity Classic champion Allyssa Ferrell was a trio of players at 14-under par overall including 2016 tournament winner Dana Finkelstein (Chandler, Arizona), Madison Pressel (Boca Raton, Florida) and Pavarisa Yoktuan (Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand).

The showing for Pressel was her best on the Symetra Tour since winning the 2014 Decatur Forsyth Classic. 

“Anytime you can give yourself a chance to win is awesome and it’s been quite a while, so it feels pretty good,” said Pressel, who carded a 4-under par 68 today. “Three rounds in the 60s is always good and I made more birdies this week than I had in a really, really long time. It is definitely a confidence builder going into the last four events.”

Yoktuan shot the lowest out of the group with a 5-under par 67, but all eyes were on Finkelstein down the stretch because of her history at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course. She made the turn with a two-stroke lead, but limped to a 1-over par 37 coming in. 

Three bogeys over a six-hole stretch on the back nine proved too much for Finkelstein to overcome in her quest to become the tournament’s first two-time winner. 

“Missed a really short one on No. 11, mud ball on 15 and then just a bad swing on 16, bogeys that cost me the tournament basically,” Finkelstein said. “Yesterday I said that 4- or 5-under par from where I started would have done it and obviously 5-under would have won. Allyssa had a hell of a day and congratulations to her. She went out there and won it.”

VOLVIK RACE FOR THE CARD STANDINGS

Following the 17th tournament of the 2018 Symetra Tour season, the Volvik Race for the Card saw a decent amount of shifting within the top-10.

The win and $22,500 winner’s check moved Allyssa Ferrell up 48 spots to No. 21, having earned $33,896 through 16 events played. Here is a look at the current top-10 heading into the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout at Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado, Ark. from Sept. 14-16:

1. Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines) - $74,616
2. Linnea Ström (Hovas, Sweden) - $59,939
3. Stephanie Meadow (Jordanstown, Northern Ireland) - $58,791
4. Charlotte Thomas (Guildford, England) - $55,453
5. Elizabeth Szokol (Winnetka, Illinois) - $53,878
6. Jenny Haglund (Karlstad, Sweden) - $52,001
7. Isi Gabsa (Munich, Germany) - $51,918
8. Pavarisa Yoktuan - $49,220
9. Stephanie Kono (Honolulu, Hawaii) - $47,312
10. Eun Jeong Seong (Yongin, Republic of Korea) - $46,921

TROUP UPSETS BELMONTE

Troup Upsets Belmonte to Win PBA-WBT Storm Lucky Larsen Masters Title

Two-handed players finish one-two-three in Sweden; U.S. star Bill O’Neill rounds out top four

 

MALMO, Sweden (Sept. 9, 2018) – Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., threw strikes on seven of his first eight shots on his way to upsetting top qualifier and defending champion Jason Belmonte of Australia, 248-232, in the title match of the PBA International-World Bowling Tour Storm Lucky Larsen Masters at Baltiska Bowlinghallen Sunday.

 

Troup, a 27-year-old 10th-year PBA member, earned his third PBA Tour title along with a $16,500 first prize, completing a sweep of the top three positions by two-handed players. Belmonte, who led qualifying as well as the “Step Three” round leading into the stepladder finals, saw his hopes for a title repeat when he failed to convert the 2-10 split in the fourth frame and left the 2-8 in the ninth frame after rallying behind a string of four strikes.

 

The colorful Troup, dressed in matching jersey and slacks in Sweden’s blue-and-yellow national colors, also bowled without his trademark “afro” hairdo in denying Belmonte his third title of the 2018 season.

 

“This is my first trip to Sweden,” Troup said. “I couldn’t ask for a better result.”

 

In the first stepladder match, Ireland’s Christopher Sloan opened in the seventh frame of a close match, but recovered by throwing six strikes to close out the contest and eliminate nine-time PBA Tour champion Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pa., 236-234.

 

Troup advanced to the title match with a 235-187 win over Sloan, a 24-year-old third-year PBA member from Dublin, who was unable to sustain his first-game momentum. Sloan threw one strike and had an open in his first six frames while Troup started with four strikes. A pocket 7-10 in the sixth frame slowed Troup, but he came right back with another three strikes to roll to an easy win.

 

The Malmo tournament – named in honor of Swedish PBA star Martin Larsen – was a World Bowling Tour points event. The tournament format involved multiple six-game qualifying squads to arrive at 60 finalists. Qualifiers 34-60 bowled the four-game Step One, with the top 11 advancing to Step Two along with qualifiers 9-33. The 36 players in Step Two bowled another four-game block, with the top 16 joining qualifiers 1-8 in Step Three for an eight-game round to determine the four stepladder finalists. In each “Step” round, pinfall from all previous rounds was dropped. Under tournament rules, women bowling in the event were entitled to eight handicap pins per game.

 

The final PBA International-WBT event on the 2018 schedule is the WBT Thailand which will take place in Bangkok Sept. 22-28. Thailand’s Jojoe Yannaphon is defending champion. Fans can follow the event on the Asian Bowling Federation website (http://www.abf-online.org/results/ttbawbt18.htm).

 

PBA INTERNATIONAL-WORLD BOWLING TOUR STORM LUCKY LARSEN MASTERS

Baltiska Bowlinghallen, Malmo, Sweden, Sunday

 

Final Standings:

1, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., $16,498.

2, Jason Belmonte, Australia, $12,099.

3, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, $8,799.

4, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., $6,599.

 

Stepladder Results:

Match One – Sloan def. O’Neill, 236-234.

Semifinal Match – Troup def. Sloan, 235-187.

Championship – Troup def. Belmonte, 248-232.

 

Step Three Cashers (after 8 games; top 4 advanced to stepladder finals):

1, Belmonte, 1,916.

2, Troup, 1,810.

3, O’Neill, 1,800.

4, Sloan, 1,776.

5, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 1,774, $4,949.

6, Pontus Andersson, Sweden, 1,767, $3,850

7, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 1,765, $3,300.

8, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1,733, $2,750.

9, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,726, $2,200.

10, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 1,720, $1,980.

11, Annop Arromsaranon, Thailand, 1,714, $1,870.

12, Mattias Wetterberg, Sweden, 1,678, $1,787.

13, Stuart Williams, England, 1,671, $1,732.

14, Teemu Putkisto, Finland, 1,658, $1,677.

15, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 1,645, $1,650.

16, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 1,634, $1,622.

17, Karl Wahlgren, Sweden, 1,615, $1,595.

18, Jimmy Dan Mortensen, Denmark, 1,593, $1,567.

19, Jojoe Yannaphon, Thailand, 1,591, $1,540.

20, w-Sandra Gongora, Mexico, 1,571, $1,512.

21, w-Daria Pajak, Poland, 1,544, $1,485.

22, William Svensson, Sweden, 1,541, $1,457.

23, Mikael Roos, Sweden, 1,535, $1,430.

24, Tore Torgersen, Norway, 1,516, $1,375.

 

Step Two Cashers (did not advance, after 4 games):

25, Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 855, $1,320.

26, Peter Hellstrom, Sweden, 849, $1,265.

27, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 849, $1,237.

28, Gustaf Johansson, Sweden, 844, $1,210.

29, Matt McNiel, Minneapolis, 839, $1,182.

30, Richie Teece, England, 835, $1,155.

31, Joonas Hahl, Finland, 821, $1,127.

32, w-Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill., 811, $1,100.

33, Alfred Berggren, Sweden, 810, $1,072.

34, Daniel Fransson, Sweden, 809, $1,045.

35, w-Li Jan Sin, Malaysia, 807, $1,017.

36, Emanuel Jonsson, Sweden, 790, $990.

37, Gaetan Mouveroux, France, 773, $962.

38, Kamron Doyle, Brentwood, Tenn., 771, $935.

39, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 762, $907.

40, Syafiq Ridhwan, Malaysia, 749, $880.

41, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 731, $852.

42, AJ Chapman, St. Paul, Minn., 724, $825.

43, Kim Andersson, Sweden, 709, $797.

44, Pyry Puharinen, Finland, 624, $770.

 

Step One Cashers (did not advance, after 4 games):

45, w-Jenny Wegner, Sweden, 840, $715.

46, Tomas Kayhko, Finland, 837, $660.

47, Kevin Lindbladh, Sweden, 825, $660.

48, Carsten Warming Hansen, Denmark, 824, $660.

49, Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 814, $605.

50 (tie), Rasmus Edvall, Sweden, and Viktor Albihn, Sweden, 808, $525.

52, Niko Oksanen, Finland, 796, $495.

53, Bendt Petersson, Sweden, 795, $495.

54, Jorgen Roos, Sweden, 780, $440.

55, Martin Paulsson, Sweden, 779, $440.

56, Francois Louw, South Africa, 776, $440.

57, Joachim Karlsson, Sweden, 769, $385.

58, Eric Ahlstrand, Sweden, 752, $385.

59, Robin Persson, Sweden, 714, $385.

60, Thor Morten Bjorge, Norway, 694, $385.

 

w-denotes woman (women received 8 handicap pins per game).