BOWLING: Christmas came early for Mesquite’s Milan Carr as he bags another 300 game

Milan Carr’s marriage proposal to his wife years ago is one of the two most creative and unique I’ve heard from multiple bowlers in both Mesquite and St. George bowling circles.

I know. You want the scoop on how it all went down. Understandable. But first we need to chat about his latest venture in reaching the pinnacle of bowling success.

It actually began with a so-so 170 game, but I’m giving him a mulligan on that because he didn’t get to throw as many practice balls as he normally does before league play officially began.

However, beginning with a strike in the first frame of his second game, and seemingly on a mission to make up for a disappointing 170, he began lighting up the scoring monitors with one X after another, and as you’ve already garnered from the headline, he tattooed the 1-3 pocket with 11 more strikes paving the way for a 300 game.

But he wasn’t finished piling up the strikes as he continued showcasing his ability for throwing them by beginning his next game tattooing the 1-3 pocket for six more giving him an eye-popping 18 straight strikes.

Along with being a perfect stocking stuffer with Christmas just days away, his latest perfecto is also his second in the last two months, and with it, he joins Mike Saldivar, Rob Hartman, Doug Love, and Dave Maves as the only bowlers who’ve rolled two 300 games at the Virgin River Bowling Center. And on a related note, it should be noted the late Darwin Wimer holds the record for the most 300s at the VRBC with three.

And now were gonna pivot to what you’ve really been waiting for which is some of the juicy details of his meticulously planned and flawlessly executed marriage proposal.

First, he was working at a bowling center where his future bride was bowling in a league, and after throwing her bowling ball down the lane in one of the frames, the ball didn’t come back, and guess who just happened to be conveniently working that night in the back near the pin machines?

Yes, you guessed it!  Moving forward here, as part of his plan, he next had the bowling machine return a “special” black bowling ball, which in turn led to a palpable spike in his heart rate dealing with a whirlwind of emotions, because he wasn’t totally sure how she’d respond after picking up the bowing ball and seeing painted in white, “Cheryl, will you marry me?”  Well, we know how she responded to his proposal because they’ve been married for some 25 years since, bowl together in the City High Rollers League, and still have the bowling ball he proposed with.

In other pin action, Mike Yoder’s 730 set on games of 256, 249 and 225 raised his Wednesday Men’s League average to 209 and it’s going higher, and if you’ve ever seen his jaw-dropping resume with all the 800s and 300 games, you know why it will continue gaining altitude. Amazingly, after Harold Hendrick was featured last week for his highest Mesquite series of  682, on Monday of this week in the Gamblers 4 Aces League he cranked out a monster 730 series on games of 254, 243 and 233, and Scott Mattingly (706-256) also got in on the 700 pin action.

Meanwhile, Austin Finster bookended a 226 with games of 236 and 235 for with 697 set with 23 strikes and raised his King & Queens League average to 222, Dan Aslin’s 694 scoring feast came on games of 258, 230 and 205, and San Diaz thumped the lanes with a 685 score including 10 strikes in a clean 268.

And without much fanfare, Alan Jacobson has been a first-rate scoring machine for the last month, and when combining his 629 from last week with his 694, 685 and 615 scores from the previous three weeks, he’s averaged 218 over those 12 games, and it’s great seeing Mike Gentry (624-235) get his scoring touch back, and during his heyday on the softball field he was a top-notch player.

In Early Risers League action, Michael Donovan spanked the lanes with his first 600 this season with a season-high 230 game and raised his average to 174, and figure the odds, but Frank Addamo  tossed a 614 two weeks ago, and last week booked another 614.

And Bob Morgan, at age, 90, has seemingly been able to slow down the relentless passage of time when you consider he put together 17 strikes, and marks on 13-of-15-spare shots en route to a 609 series with a 235 game, while Fred Foerster (608-214) put up solid numbers and before retiring and moving to St. George owned a bowling center in California, and Angel Hernandez (606-211,199,196) graduated from Virgin Valley High School in 2020, is a huge Raiders fan, and a testament to how much his game has improved in the last year, he’s basically throwing at least one 600 a week this season.

In single game action, John Hollaway (691) took high game honors with a 279, Al Gans (657) punched out a 278, Jerry Holloway engineered a brilliant turnaround in going from a 145 to a 266 two days ago in the Monday Scratch League, and Josue Mendoza lit up the monitors on Monday night with a 266 gem.

Meanwhile, Jacob Martinez (650) delivered a a 7-bagger in a season-high 266 which eclipsed a previous season-high 258, and you can take it to the bank that Mike Saldivar’s (670) 245 will definitely not be his high game for the week once his game returns to the level it was prior to missing a good month.

Bob Marget (673) uncorked a 248, and Steve Roberts who only returned to the lanes around Thanksgiving delivered a 7-bagger in an electrifying 247 game with shots so well executed that in a 9-pin no tap tournament he would have had a 300 game.

Jed Fisher worked the lanes for a 233,  Marl Brackelsberg (598) racked up a 232, Norm Ritchie (597) popped a 222, Rick Stoneman logged a season-high 216, while Allen Cope pocketed a 213, and Nick Paul registered a 212.

Martin Carrillo tossed a 209 and loved the fact his Baltimore Ravens won their game this past weekend, Frank Burdette navigated the lanes for a 208, Wally Posey posted a 203, and Dave Keil had a 4-bagger in a 202.

On the women’s front, some some new names captured most of the ink this week beginning with Kim Marshall who continued pummeling the 1-3 pocket en route to a 601 series including a clean 241 with a 7-bagger,, southpaw Vickie Martinsen smacked a 621 series including a 223,  Mary Posey (576-200,198,178) grabs her second ink of the season after another first-rate effort, while Krista Kilpatrick’s 553 in the Ladies Trio League reflects the growing confidence in her game, and Gayla Ruesch delivered one of her best outings this season with a 560 series and 201 game.

Bobbie Robbins tossed a 544 which included a 201, Marge Mongolo gets her first ink for a nice 536 set with a 210 in Ladies Trio League play, and Ronnie Tsuhako mowed down 530 pins including a 182 game, and sparked by a 203 game, Linda Holloway also fired a 530 set in the Friday’s LTL..

Carol Saldivar was mighty stoked after navigating the lanes for a season-high 205 game which included a 4-bagger, six total strikes and fell just three pins shy of eclipsing her high game of last season, a 207. She served in the United State Air Force for four years, including a tour at Kusan Air Base in South Korea, and she’s also a volunteer at the Mesquite Veterans Center. Also, if you’ve ever seen her ride a Harley, you’d be blown away at what she can do on two wheels, and some of that is due to the fact she was trained in tactical driving while in the Air Force.

In single game play, Jamie Turlington (568) did a super job in working the lanes for the week’s high game of246, Erica Hendrick (527) captures her first ink in this column for a 211, and Suzie Fehseke, the outstanding secretary of the Ladies Trio League fired a 201.

Doug Love 699-252; Jim Lytle 671-259; Dean Baum 660-247; Bruce Hooley 653-226; Chance Evans 646-248; Todd Koller 645-238; Jeremy Turlington 629-232; Darren Simonds 242; Gil Niimi 242; Jon Fjeld 235; Orlyn Meyer 233; Ernie Kala 232; Dean Sheppard 230; Harry Uncles 224; Jim Rappe 222; Dylan Kesl 221; Rick Stoneman 219; Bob Ballard 217; Larry Williams 216; Robert Melendez 216; Bill Funk 215; Bob Robbins 214; Red Powell 214; Dale Davidson 212; Brian Collins 210; Dave Cirbo 210George Huston 210; Frank Burdett 208; Max Burgess 206; Larry Moultrie 204; David Newman 204; Jimmy Webb 203; Tim McNees 203; Bobby Dixon 202; Steve Cominski 201; Ken Thompson 201; Logan Hendrick 201;Bryan Pierce 200; Duane Sullivan 2900; Tony Zaccheus 200; Sandy Sheppard 628-236; Diane Marget 597-214; Bev Cormani 579-217; Lee Ann Harmes 561-191; Jane Burgoyne 517-190; Lynae Page 508-183; Mary Ann Davis 501-207.