BOWLING: Mesquite’s strike-throwing Milan Carr fires 300 game

When Milan Carr brings his strike ball to the party, he’s a strike-throwing machine. And it doesn’t even matter if he’s bowling on the four lanes most bowlers prefer not bowling on.

For starters, he began City High Rollers League play on lanes 1 & 2 with seven strikes in a clean 226, and then really unleashed his strike ball throwing 12 straight strikes for a 300 game.

Next, he followed with five strikes in another clean 226 en route to a standout 752 series with 24 total strikes. His second 226 was also a 9 pin no-tap 300.

Now let’s pivot to one day earlier in the Men’s Mesquite Merchant League on lanes 23 & 24 where he tattooed the pocket with 26 strikes in a 757 series on clean games of 267, 256 and 234. Now that’s a total of 50 strikes in two outstanding league outings.

Also, while a 900 series is the holy grail in bowling, his back-to-back clean 757 and 752 series scores is an impressive achievement and speaks volumes about his skill-set on the lanes. And that’s the perfect segue into mentioning when he bowled his first 300 in New York, he peeled off a jaw-dropping 25 straight strikes spanning three games. And with his Mesquite perfecto, he became just the 16th bowler to throw one since the VRBC opened in 1998.

Away from bowling, Carr loves cruising around on anything with wheels, loves rooting for the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys, and retired after 25 years from a job he loved with the New York State Department of Corrections.

In other pin action, Angel Hernandez has a ton of people who like his friendly personality and they’ll be happy knowing he had an awesome night in the T.G.I.F League. While it began with a so-so 159 game, he skyrocketed over a 100 pins higher with a standout and career-high 259 with 10 strikes and two single pin spares for a 9 pin no-tap 300.

Next, building on the momentum of finishing his 259 with a 7-bagger, he began his third game with a 5-bagger giving him 12 straight strikes spanning two games for an  Andy Varipapa 300 game. And after chalking up a super 255 in his third game, he finished with an impressive career-high 671 series.

Meanwhile, Larry Willis throws a strike ball with tons of revs helping propel him to a 698 series on games of 247, 235 and 216 in his best series since a 702 in October 2022, and on the heels of his 300 game and first 700 series, Dylan Kesl (696-247) put together another huge scoring effort, while Todd Koller (674-241) had a competitive outing in the Monday Scratch League and likely raised his 212 average, and Doug Love’s (671-248) quality outing including marks on 11-of-12 spare shots.

Bill Rife’s (616-213) first 600 of the season should raise his 167 average, and Martin Carrillo is an avid baseball fan who delivered his first 600 of the season with a 602 on consistent games of 204, 203 and 198.

In single game play, Mike Gentry’s (610) 269 was the second best game of the week, while Gil Niimi’s (646) bid for a second 300 was on track after running the front eight, until a nasty 4-6 split in the 9th frame, but followed with a turkey in the 10th for a 266 with 11 strikes.

Mark Maguire liked his 232, but even more loved his Utah Utes victory over the USC Trojans on Saturday, while Rob Hartman is one of only a small handful of bowlers with two 300s bowled in Mesquite, and it’s great seeing him return to the lanes and toss a 230, and  Britt Kesl also thumped the lanes with a 230.

And Jack Northover’s 601 included a 6-bagger in a 230, and this past summer, along with his better half, Katie, they traveled 13,601 miles covering 26 states visiting numerous famous landmarks, including the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Louisville, Kentucky. However, anyway you slice it, this trip does raise a legit question of how in the heck did his wife put up with him on the a trip of this length and duration? I mean, she deserves to be canonized a saint right now. Yikes! Oh, well, I’m sure the editor will catch this and delete it.

Meanwhile, Al Legan tossed a season-high 225 and must have liked the rare win his Chicago Bears pulled off on Sunday, and Skip Hayzlett’s 222 included seven strikes and he’s forever grateful his parents who were married for 70 years helped him catch the bowling bug.

In other action, Join Fjeld uncorked a 221, Bob Monson Sr. is a former UPS driver who rolled a 216, and Jacob Martinez who lives in Veyo, Utah had only one open in a 215.

Terrull Benally makes a weekly trek from St. George and captured his first ink for a 212 with a 4-bagger, while Mike Foote, also from St. George fired a 211, and Bill Smith throws a darn nice hook ball and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and booked a 211.

Dave Houghton picked up the 3-10 split in a clean 210, and he may want to consider asking his team captain (Doug Love) if having a team breakfast, on the captain of course after bowling might be in order after the beatdown the team suffered last week, and Carlos Baeza’s 205 included a 5-bagger, while computer whiz and Chicago Cubs fan John Gerger also posted a 205.

The Utah Hall of Famer Red Powell smacked a 203, Jimmy Webb also racked up a 203, and Ken Schloman popped a 202 and still vividly recalls growing up in Missouri and watching Bob Gibson mow down hitters and Stan Musial knocking ’em out of the park for home runs.

Bob Robbins who lived in Alaska before moving to Mesquite fired a 202, Brent Schlesinger had seven strikes in a 202, and Tony Aris gets his first ink for a 201 with a 4-bagger.

In women’s action,  Lee Ann Harmes led the scoring parade sparked by a clean 247with a 6-bagger along with a 197 and 169 which paved the way for a 613 series with 16 total strikes and marks on 10-of-12 non-split spare shots. She’s enjoying a really good season and hails from a bowling family, including her dad, Bob Field, who’s resume shows a 300 bowled in Mesquite, and an 800 series rolled in Colorado.

Autumn Telford tossed the week’s only other 600, a 613 on games of 221, 207 and 180. Her game’s been hampered in recent years with a shoulder issue, but in her heyday, she was a juggernaut on the lanes with multiple 700s, including a career-high 749 and career-high 208 average.

Georgia Godfrey (560-196) has the game to serve up good scores like this on a regular basis, and it is great seeing Nanette Kezior have her best outing this season two days ago in the Monday Gamblers 4 Aces League with a 546 set on games of 192, 191 and 163 and likely raised her 160 average.

Lynae Page is a pretty darn good bowler and gets ink for a 534 and 220 game, Marla Daniel captures her first ink for a 506, and Francine Gasteleum’s 500 on the nose is her second 500 of the season.

In single game play, Sandy Sheppard (574) topped the charts with a 238 in the Monday Scratch League two days ago, and Diane Marget (596) delivered a 232, while Reiko Schultz delivered a first-rate effort in Ladies Trio League play on Friday with a 220 game booked in a 549 series.

Mel Ray’s 217 is her second deuce in three years, Evelyn Hooley (513) registered a 211, Kimberly Marshall (503) chucked a 201 and with her delivery will no doubt have higher games down the pike, and Cindy Meacham’s 4-bagger paved the way for a 200.

Scott Mattingly 694-265; Mike Yoder 684-252; Jim Lytle 680-249;Darren Simonds 670-235; Mike Rogers 663-254;Mike Saldivar 662-254; Al Gans 653-236; Milan Carr 653-225; John Martin 644-225; Jeremy Telford 641-234; Jeremy Turlington 629-224; Dean Baum 628-234; Austin Finster 626-236; Dennis Craft 621-227; Sal Diaz 619-221; Bruce Hooley 619-218; Dan Aslin 616-219Dean Sheppard 614-210; Dale Knight 609-220; Ernie Kala 222; Dale Davidson237; Bob Marget 235; Ken Riswick 232; Randy Brown 228; Bill Funk 226; Logan Hendrick 226; Alan Jacobson 224; Randy Carter 224; Tim McNees 222; Jedd Fisher 219; Ricky Trujillo 217; Harold Hendrick 217; Paul Sullivan 217; Robin Drury 216; Rob Cormani 215; Steve Serrano 215; Randy Kezior 214; Gary Smith 214; Ken Thompson 214; Brian Collins 212; Chris Eyre 209; Dave Cirbo 207; Jack Baker 207; Mike Dunlop 205; Rick Stoneman 205; Frank Addamo 203; Larry Moultrie 203; Nick Paul 203; Brent Schlesinger 202; Cheryl Rogers 532-192; Bobbie Robbins 501.