Bowling: Angel Hernandez Wows Mesquite Bowling With First-Ever 600 Series

Angel Hernandez is the newest member of the 600 Club at the Virgin River Bowling Center in Mesquite, Nevada.

And the fuel for his first-ever 600 series was a combination of 15 strikes, only three open frames, some clutch shots late in his third game, and a determination to not squander a legit shot at a 600.

And an even more detailed window into how it all unfolded begins with a 193 game, followed by a 5-bagger in a second game before finishing with a 221, and finished a gratifying night with clutch strikes in the 7th, 8th and 9th frames, along with a spare in the 10th and 9 on his fill ball for a 202 paving the way for a memorable 616 series.

His game has really taken flight in his sophomore season of bowling, and he’ll tell you he was miffed at himself multiple times this season when a untimely split or open frame derailed a determined bid for his first 600. And I’m talking about his series scores of 599, 597, 593 and 589. However, with his first 600 in hand, and oozing confidence on the lanes, two days later he smoked the VRBC with another 600, a 610, and more will surely follow.

His career-high league game is a 247, and Darren Tang and Andrew Anderson are his two favorite pro bowlers.

Away from bowling he loves gaming with Overwatch 2 and Madden NFL 23 his two favorite video games. He’s also a huge fan of the Las Vegas Raiders, Oakland Athletics, Charlotte Hornets and the University of Oregon Ducks football team.

After graduating from Virgin Valley High School in 2020, he loved working on cars before becoming a valuable staff member in the bowling center where his friendly personality and willingness in helping out bowling customers gets a 5 star rating.

And those same bowling customers would be surprised in finding out he’s really left-handed, but does most things with his right, and these days is also reading more books and writing poetry, and eventually wants to travel to Japan and South Korea.

In other pin action, the big-hit brigade of Scott Mattingly (756-277,258,221) and Mike Saldivar (734-264,244,226) continued creating mayhem on the lanes, and Bruce Hooley also delivered a drubbing of the VRBC in a week of sensational bowling mowing down pins to the tune of an eye-popping 237 average between two standout outings (733-259 & 689-240).

Meanwhile, Dean Sheppard (726-268, 234,224) put together his best scoring output of the season in a brilliant performance of shot making which should remove all doubts his once formidable is back, and Bob Marget is also a heckuva good bowler who averaged  226 in his two league outings (684-268 & 676-245).

And now we’re pivoting to bowlers who’ve received little or no ink this season, but merit major kudos as all posted their best scores this season. For starters, Bryan Pierce’s proudest moment in recent weeks is the birth of a son, but another is a 684 set on games of 257,223, and 214, while Harold Hendrick’s outstanding 664 effort came on games of 225,225, 214 with 18 strikes.

Robert Melendez (664-244) also delivered a top-notch effort with clean games of 244 and 226 and the one open in a 194 was on a split. He’s a fascinating guy with a variety of interests including fishing, camping, golfing and is especially passionate about NASCAR. So, if you wanna know anything about Daytona International speedway or Talladega, he’s your man. He was also a key volunteer in radio communications covering hockey games in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

And in spite of dealing with hip and back issues, Rick Jones navigated the lanes for an impressive 654, with 21 strikes, a clean 225 along with a 224 and 205. He was an outstanding football player in high school, recruited to play at BYU, and is a huge fan of college sports, and in his bowling heyday threw a career-high 714 series in Singles play in the Utah State Tournament, and also rolled a career-high 285 game in the annual Japanese American National Bowling Tournament.

Dennis Craft (651-238) fired 20 strikes in a highly efficient series, and Harold Uncles threw a total of 39 strikes, and averaged 210 between his first two 600s of the season, a 635 and 626. He also played in a very competitive softball league in his younger days, which means he was a dang good softball player.

And a 570 by Mark Brackelsberg wasn’t his highest series of the season, he put on a clinic in picking up spares with marks on 22-of-23 attempts, including spares on all 7 of his 10 pin shots and also picked up the 6-7 split.

In single game play, Kelly Williamson (650) showcased his ability to throw strikes with 11 in a 267, Gil Niimi (649)  booked a season-high 258, Michael “Smurffzzz” Ramirez uncorked a clean 247 that included picking up the 4-9 split.

Ernie Kala (659) popped a 244, Fred Emmons chucked a 224 and he’s happy his UCONN Huskies made it to the Final Four, Shaun Edwards rolled a 223 and is also a huge baseball fan, Nick Medina popped a 222, Dave Newman tallied a 217,and Louis Dillisio shot a 213 and he’s an avid fan of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Larry Moultrie fired a 211, Dale Davison who served four years in the U.S. Air Force bagged a 210, Steve Kenyon an avid Utah Utes football fan tossed a 505, and Ricky Trujillo chalked up a 200. Ask Trujillo about it, but he did a super job competing in a tournament in Las Vegas.

In women’s pin action, Bev Cormani set the scoring pace with a 598 series including a clean 236 with 19 total strikes, both Diane Marget (578-214) and Sandy Sheppard (578-211)  booked the next best scores and both could still see scores bolt higher before the clock runs out on the 2022-23 season.

And Mary Posey continued a string of quality outings with a 557 set including 13 total strikes and a clean 211, Reiko Schultz (554-214) put together her best outing this season, look for Lee Ann Harmes  (540-202) to bounce back with a big 2023-24 season, and Charlene Heiden (517-214) did good work.

Debbie Hansen (528-211), Kerri Roberts (516-187) and Nancy Egge (502-192) collectively, KO’d 1,546 pins.

In single game play, while Virginia Glass did not eclipse her season-high 248, she still tossed a darn good 233, Gayla Ruesch (551) tossed a season-high 218, Molly Gomes (535) threw five strikes and only had one open in a 205. Evelyn Hooley (526) logged a 204, and Lori Jo Turner(558) posted a 200.

Katie Northover was stoked after bowling a career-high 180 game, and she’s also very good at pickleball. So good in fact, that word on the street is that on most days of the week she can win matches when playing against her husband, Jack. Yikes! I can’t believe the computer just typed that in … Dodie Melendez tossed a personal-best 196 game & an impressive 70 pins over her 126 average. When living in Utah, she was also a bowling league secretary … Toni Gans converted the 2-4-7-10 split in Ladies Trio League action & she merits recognition for another standout job running the bowling portion of the Mesquite Senior Games … Sonya Robinson picked up the tricky 4-7-9-10 split and her improving game is also being helped by competing in tournaments in Sin City … Karla Plant picked up the 1-5-7 washout … Suellen Summers picked up the 5-6-10 … Suzie Fehseke spared the 6-10 … Georgia Godfrey picked up the almost impossible 3-6-7-10 … Phyllis Margolis spared the 5-7 split

Doug Love 653-258; Dean Baum 637-234; John Hollaway 637-247; Al Gans 635-236; Mike Gentry 635-238; Milan Carr 630-224; Dave Pershing 623-235; Mike Rogers 603-217; Rob Cormani 601-217; Randy Kezior 600-214; Koa Pak Ned 253; John Gerger 248; Britt Kesl 247; Wayne Donnafield 241; Ken Kaylor 235; Jeff Branche 226; Robin Drury 225, 224; Logan Hendrick 223; Steve Serranoi 220; Bob Morgan 218; Harvey Scow 216; Frank Addamo 216; Ron Hendrickson 214; Carlos Baeza 212; Darren Simonds 212; Jeff Harmes 212; Ed Hoepfner 211; Jimmy Webb 211; Dan Aslin 209; Jim Rappe 208; Dave Harris 208; Larry Willis 205; Dennis Harley 202; Dennis Woolsey 200; John Thistle 200.Cindy Peterson 540-190; Ashlee Yokoyama-Kesl 533-192; Linda Holloway 512-186; Nannette Kezior 510-180.