BOWLING: Sandy Sheppard throws a riveting 706 series in Mesquite bowling

It’s never a yawner when Sandy Sheppard steps on the approach at the Virgin River Bowling Center.

And in her latest eye-popping feat, she became just the second woman to bowl a 700 series at the VRBC. And it was fueled by a combination of 10 strikes in an opening 245 game, followed by nine strikes in a 237, and clinched an electrifying 700 with a clutch spare in the 9th frame, and pounded out her 26th strike in a riveting 10th frame for a 224 and paving the way for a stratospheric 706 series.

Sheppard’s resume includes a career-high 749 series, a personal best 297 game, and a career-high 196 average in the 2020-21 season. And two other crown jewels in her career include winning the scratch Singles event with a 730 series in the 2012 Colorado Women’s State Tournament, and a truly impressive 5th place finish in All Events in the 2017 Nevada State Open Championship where the majority of bowlers were men.

With basically a front row seat in seeing all of the standout achievements of Sheppard and the late Darwin Wimer, both have inspired the idea of creating a Mt. Rushmore type tribute as a way of saluting the best in Mesquite bowling history. And should that idea come to fruition, you now know the names of the first two who’d have their faces carved into that baby.

Away from bowling, Sheppard enjoys playing golf and pickleball, and this summer had a blast with her grandkids on a hike of some three miles surrounded by spectacular vistas in the Cedar Basin Trail located near Thayne, Wyoming.

In other pin action, Bev Cormani is the first-ever woman to throw a 700 in Mesquite bowling history with a 716 series in November, 2021, and she had another good week by combining 17 total strikes, including a 6-bagger in a 238, along with a clean 220, and a 157 for a 615 set, and the more improvement Autumn Telford (604-233) continues to see with her shoulder issues, the more her scores and 187 average will continue gaining altitude.

Meanwhile, without much fanfare, Lynae Page (563 & 535)  is having a good season and averaged 183 between two good outings including a season-high 239 with seven strikes, and Reiko Schultz also put together a second straight week of first-rate bowling with a 562 series and season-high 230.

Lee Ann Harmes (557-213) spanked the lanes with some very competitive scores, Nanette Kezior (535-201) registered some solid numbers, while Charlene Heiden, bolstered by a nice 210 game booked a gratifying 532 score, and Chery Rogers disposed of 520 pins.

And on the last Friday of Trio League action before the Thanksgiving break, Marge Mongolo, a good athlete who also plays senior softball snared some ink for a 518 set and 202 game, while fellow Trio League bowler Annette Blank hit the lanes with a season-high 517 pin count.

In single game action, Kim Marshall (590) captured high-game honors by engineering a brilliant turnaround in peeling off nine straight strikes after beginning her first game with two opens en route to the highest game rolled to date in women’s league play, a 256 gem, and here’s betting she’ll be throwing more big scores as the grind of a long season moves forward.

Bobbie Robbins (538) fired six strikes in a 213 with only one open, Georgia “GG” Godfrey smacked a 212 with six strikes, and Charlene Heiden posted a 532 series and 210 game, and away from bowling she’s traveled several times with her husband (Doug) to watch NBA star Steph Curry and his Golden State Warriors play basketball games.

Bowlers, in a brief change of direction here, let’s pivot away for a tad from individual bowler scores to mention that all bowlers should be aware that the policy of the bowling center no longer printing out score sheets for individual bowlers has changed to where now any bowler can now get a print out at a cost of 25 cents per sheet. And it applies to all bowlers, so when I have score sheets printed out after a league outing looking for bowler stats I’d like to use in my column, I fork over a quarter for each sheet. And if you bowl a 300 game and want a copy to show friends like Dave Pershing did after his perfecto on Thursday night, it cost him a quarter. And if there’s ever a change in this policy it will be reported here.

With that said, let’s pivot back to bowling scores on the men’s side of the ledger where Dean Baum ended a sluggish early part of the season in convincing fashion with a 715 series and 264 game, Austin Finster’s outstanding season continued as he punched out 25 strikes in a 705 set on games of 257, 257 and 192, and in a vintage Mike Rogers effort, he hurled consistent games of 235, 235 and 225 with 18 strikes while going 10-of-10 on his spare shots for a clean 695 series.

And the big news in the Monday Scratch League two days ago is the Hammer Down team of Todd Kohler, Dale Knight, Bob Marget, and Diane Marget won the league’s first half, thanks in large part to a standout effort by Knight, who threw a 665 series on games of 247, 222 and 196, while Koller’s 614 also helped wrap up the title.

Jim Lytle (688-245) raised his Mesquite Merchants league average to a lofty 213, Jeremy Telford’s 686 raised his Monday Scratch League average to an eye-popping 228, and in the same league as Telford, Dave Castro’s outstanding 665 set with 21 strikes raised his average to 195.

And it was great seeing Mitch Fletcher thump the lanes with a season-high 660 series with 21 total strikes, including eight in a 244, Ernie Kala (636-214) is working his way back to the top-notch scores he put up on a routine basis last season, and the same goes for Robin Drury (631-227) who put up some impressive scores during his heyday in Washington state.

Nick Paul’s first 600 of the season, a 606 raised his King & Queens League average to 183, Randy Brown (619-215) is an outstanding bowler who’s current 202 average is virtually assured of going higher, while Randy “The Legend” Kezior’s 601 included a season-high 257, and major kudo’s to Ken Kaylor, who in order to continue bowling had to switch to a two-handed delivery and rolled his first 500 last Tuesday with a 502 on games of 180, 171 and 151. Also, if you’re a bowler in Mesquite and haven’t seen any of Kaylor’s brilliant art work and paintings, you can see some on display at Ace Hardware in Mesquite and you will be impressed.

In single game play, Jeff Harmes has bragging rights to rolling the highest game of the week after he began his third game with a spare, and next tattooed the 1-3 pocket with 10 straight strikes for a standout 288 and also propelling him to a season-high 688 series, John Martin (639) fired nine strikes in a 265, and southpaw Larry Moultrie (623) chucked a season-high 258.

Jacob Martinez  (657) racked up a clean 258 which included a 7-bagger and raised his MMM league average to 195, Jedd Fisher (641) uncorked a season-high 253, while both Britt Kesl, a former standout on the rodeo circuit and Al Legan a disappointed Chicago Bears fan especially after blowing a lead like they did on Sunday pocketed a 225, and Chris Westwood booked a 223.

Ken Thompson started league play with an anemic 128 and then rocketed to a 221, and I’m giving him a mulligan on his128 because of a shoulder issue which required a cortisone shot earlier in the day. Wade Heileson tossed a season-high 218 and hopefully this will be the first of a string of deuce games for the man from Idaho, and Jack Baker (620) pocketed a 216 and he’s a huge fan of the salad bar at Harmons in St. George.

Dave Cirbo delivered a 213, Louis Dilisio registered a 210 and was thrilled by what his Philadelphia Eagles do the Kansas City Chiefs two days ago on Monday Night Football, and Bob Ballard logged a 204. Meanwhile, Myles Benally is big fan Chicago Bulls basketball fan tossed a 202, Russ Love of Mesquite Lock Doc fired a 201, and Harry Uncles scratched out a 200 on the nose.

HIGH SCORES

Cathy Ritchie 502; Jeremy Telford 686-247; Milan Carr 683-246; Scott Mattingly 673-268; Mike Yoder 666-234; Bruce Hooley 653-244; Mike Dunlop 651-232; Koa Paka Ned 648-269; Doug Love 642-248; John Hollaway 641-258 Mike Gentry 639-237; Chris Scott 524-221; Jeremy Turlington 621-238; Dave Johnson 619-258; Randy Brown 615-224; Dennis Craft 613-226; Ricky Trujillo 607-218; Dave Harris 606-210; Darren Simonds 603-248; Gil Niimi 246; Alan Jacobson 236; Duane Sullivan 236; Miguel Soto 236; Gary Smith 234; Rob Cormani 227; Dean Sheppard 226; Bill Funk 224; Steve Kenyon 223; Johnny Harper 222; James Hartley 221; Tracy Mulholland 221; Bob Morgan 217; Dave Cirbo 213; Jack Northover 213; Angel Hernandez 211; Robert Melendez 204; Phil Erickson 204; John Gerger 202; Mardon Connelly 202; Max Burgess 201; Mike Bock 200.