Bowling: LoriJo Turner rolls a standout 666 series in Mesquite Bowling

LoriJo Turner is one of three marquee women bowlers at the Virgin River Bowling Center.

She’s has undeniable bowling talent with a glowing resume, and yet, something has been hampering her scoring ability in the majority of her outings in the last three months.

And while she won’t utter a word of excuse for the precipitous drop in much of her scoring, some of it’s due to periodic bouts of sciatica, but the primary reason is a serious knee issue on her slide foot that’s pleading for replacement surgery.

However, in spite of the overall drop in her scores, she’s still managed a handful of competitive ones.

And the biggest scoring output came in her Monday Scratch League, and it was a vintage Turner performance with a 6-bagger in a clean 254, along with games of 190 and 222 en route to a 666 series and included a total of 19 strikes and marks on 13-of-14 shots for a spare.

And it should also be noted her 666 is the highest series by a woman this season, and dittos on her 254 game

Meanwhile, last May, and before the knee issue became a major factor impacting her game, she competed on one of the biggest stages for a senior bowler, the 2022 National Senior Games held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where where she finish 2nd in Singles in her age group bracket with a scratch 607 series.

Also, in the Doubles event along with her partner Ellen Clark, they swept 1st Place honors with a scratch 1233 score. And Turner’s highest score in her six games was an eye-popping 297.

In other women’s Mesquite pin action, a strong outing by Cheryl Rogers (569-199, 189, 181) included marks on an impressive 17-of-19 non-split spare shots, while Bev Cormani (550-223) also put up competitive numbers.

Charlene Heiden (544-199) delivered her best series this season, and away from bowling looks forward to going on another cruise and spending time with family and kids.

Lynae Page did a great job in throwing a season-high 542 series, and Molly Gomes (506) captured her first ink this season for throwing a clean 223 game which featured six strikes and four spares.

Gomes was an excellent pitcher and infielder in her softball playing days in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. And here’s betting when playing 2nd base she fielded some sharp grounders to began her fair share of 4-6-3 double plays and end a rally by the opposing team.

Reiko Schultz booked a 511, Toni Gans posted a 510 in Ladies Trio League action, and Nannette Kezior delivered anther solid outing with a 508.

In single game action, Sandy Sheppard logged a 208, Bobbie Robbins (519) smacked a 204, and Judy Connelly peppered the lanes with a season 212.

In men’s pin action, after getting his first Mesquite 600 two weeks ago, Ernie Kala turned in a brilliant performance with a 696 series on games of 255, 227 and 214, including 21 total strikes and marks on 9-of-10 spare attempts.

And between a pair of really good outings, Al Gans (687 & 631) averaged 219, and Rob Hartman who is still one of only four bowlers with bragging rights to a pair of 300 games bowled at the VRBC enjoyed his best outing this season with 19 strikes in a season-high 664 series and 253 game.

And Jim Lytle (656-233) is one heckuva good bowler who puts up good scores on a weekly basis, Mike Rogers (649-255) also continued his outstanding bowling, Gil Niimi (644-231) had another good week with a clean 224 and marks on 12-of-13 non-split spare attempts, and Michael “Smurffzzz” Ramirez (636) tattooed the 1-3 pocket for 20 strikes, including a 5-bagger in a 234.

Orlyn Meyer (615-234) rolled a nice set in his 9:30 a.m. Early Risers League, Dean Sheppard (606-206, 204, 196) will take this type of consistent bowling every day of the week, and James Hartley (600-218) landed back in 600 territory.

In the single game arena, Darren Simonds (659) fired 9 strikes in a 265, Dave Pershing (632) went off the sheet beginning with a strike in the 3rd frame of a 265, while Wayne Donnafield (631) booked a season-high 251.

Dan Erhart put together a 6-bagger in a clean 244 and he’s also a big fan of Gonzaga basketball, John Gerger also rolled a season-high 244 and he’s been to the iconic Wrigley Field numerous times for a Chicago Cubs baseball game.

Bill Funk chucked a season-high 236, Dave Newman (605) spanked the lanes with a 210, and Mark Brackelsberg who’s won medals in the high jump in the Mesquite Senior racked up a clean 225.

Steve Serrano pocketed a 218, and as competitive as he is from his basketball playing days, you know his scores will be zooming higher in the weeks ahead, and Darren Talmadge is an avid Seattle Seahawks fan who also loves to golf, and also liked the five strikes and five spares in his first deuce this season, a 216.

Jack Baker who bowls on the ‘Our Drinking Team Has a Bowling Problem’ team tossed a 216, while Jedd Fisher gets his first ink for a 215 with five strikes.

Juan Morgana popped a 211 and seemingly bowls at least one deuce game a week, Ron Sheets’ 209 is his best game in three years and included a 4-bagger, Josue Mendoza put together a 4-bagger in a 203, and Denton Dorn tossed a really nice 200 game and he’s one of the biggest fans of the Las Vegas Raiders in all of Mesquite.

Tonight is position round in the Wednesday Men’s League and amazingly, four teams still have a shot at finishing in 1st place for this half of the season. They are the teams from Precision Eyecare, Mesquite Chiropractic, Master Villas and Beaver Dam.

Kathy Legan threw a nice 179 game which also matched the highest game of the night by her husband, Al … Than Roth spared the difficult 6-7-10 split … Tama Hixson (139, 139, 138) who played city league softball missed a 139 game triplicate by one pin … Suzie Fehseke picked up the 4-10 split and she also does an excellent job as the secretary of the Ladies Trio League … Lauren Deen converted the 4-7-10.

Sherry Williamson 502;Scott Mattingly 716-248; Mike Saldivar 685-256; Bruce Hooley 661-235; Dan Aslin 614-226; Mike Yoder 607-216; Bryan Pierce 604-232; Alan Jacobson 600-221; Dean Baum 600-221; Mike Gentry 600-205; Sal Diaz 237; Jeff Branche 231; Dennis Craft 228; Jeff Jacobson 225; Larry Willis 224; Bob Robbins 220; Bob Field 219; Bob Davis 217; Frank Addamo 217; Fred Emmons 215; John Hollaway 214; Austin Finster 208; Rob Cormani 208; Logan Hendrick 206; Steve Kenyon 206; Doughton 205; Dave Harris 204; Ken Kaylor 204; Robin Drury 204; Jeff Harmes 203;  Gary Moore 202; Kelly Williamson 201; Harry Uncles 200.