BOWLING: Mesquite’s Jadon Borges throws 25 strikes in a career-high 694 series

By Willie Theis

Jadon Borges is another talented young bowler who’s winning accolades for the scores he’s putting up at the Virgin River Bowling Center in just his first season bowling in an adult league.

In his latest round of bowling excellence he began Monday Scratch League play with six strikes in a clean 217 effort, and followed with 10

more strikes in a 242 with a pair of open frames. At this point with 459 in the bag after two games, a 600 was almost assured, but that 459 number also put coveted a 700 in play.

And he made a great run at it with nine strikes including a six-bagger, but an open in the 6th frame torpedoed his 700 hope as he still finished with a 235 for an impressive and caree-high 694 series.

Borges has a bright future in the sport as his delivery reflects top-notch bowling mechanics in terms of footwork, balance at the line, ball release and arm swing. And with about four weeks left in the season given his skill-set, a 700 is doable.

Away from bowling one of his hobbies is playing chess against some good competition, and recently he[‘s taken up the game of golf.

Growing up in Florida, he’s a big fan of baseball at the Tampa Bay Rays and also roots for the Florida Gators in football.

I’ve had multiple adults comment on how impressed they are with his positive attitude, patience and obvious great work ethic. And growing up in a family with not only a twin brother, but also a set of triplets helps explain some of those admirable qualities.

In other scintillating pin action, Michael Ramirez began his Wednesday morning Early Rises League play with a relentless pummeling of the 1-3 pocket good for 11 strikes in an another adrenaline-filled 279, and with as many 279 games with 11 strikes that he’s had, once he gets his 12 for a 300 game he’ll also gonna find it almost intoxicating.

Additionally, he followed his 279 with nine more strikes in each of his next two games, a 249 and 243 en route to a herculean 771 series with a total of 30 strikes and only two open fames.

And literally hours later the same day competing for his Defense Preparedness team in the Mesquite Merchants Men’s League he was back hammering the pocket with 24 more strikes in a 677 effort including a 10 bagger in a 280.

Meanwhile, Mike Saldivar’s great shot execution in navigating the topography on lanes 19 & 20 paved the way in sending 23 rockets to the 1-3 pocket for strikes, and with marks on all eight of his spare shots finished a standout effort with a clean 769 series on games of 278, 266 and 225. And in his Kings & Queens League outing a day earlier he thumped the lanes with 22 strikes and marks on 7-of-8 non-split spare attempts for a 706 whatchamacallit.

In other action on the men’s beat, Scott Mattingly peeled off his fourth straight 700 series in a hard-hitting 735 affair with 23 strikes, clean games of 247 and 243 with his sole open courtesy of a nasty split in a 245 game. And in the Monday Scratch League he began the night with an open and was Tide clean the next 29 frames in a 684 series.

John Hollaway is a terrific bowler with a torn rotator cuff and still tossed a 690, Milan Carr fired 19 strikes in a 685 with one open, and three splits in a 195 game derailed Doug Love’s bid for a 700 before finishing with a 685..

Dennis Craft’s combination of 19 strikes, 11 spares and only one open ultimately led to a  683 series, John Martin is averaging 213 in his MMM League after delivering a top-notch 683 outing with 20 strikes, clean games of 227 and 223 before a nasty 7-10 split in a 233 game put the kibosh on a clean series, and Austin Finster and his punishing strike ball uncorked a 674.

And Dean Baum’s 673 included an eight-bagger in a 267,  Al Oliveira IV put together a heckuva good outing with 19 strikes and marks on 10-of-11 spare attempts in a 660 edging out Bob Marget’s 659 for the next best series, and Bryan Pierce merits ink for another good outing, a 656.

Meanwhile, Paul Buntin is reaping dividends with his two-handed delivered as he smoked the lanes with a career-high654 on games of 243, 210 and 201, Angel Hernandez punched out a first-rate 653 with a 242 game and he enjoyed a terrific 2023-24 season with multiple 700 and 600 series scores but this season his scoring production is down some due largely to the fact he’s basically only bowling one league a week.

And North Dakota State football fan Orlyn Meyer’s 650 raised his ER League average to 200 from 199, and Gil Niimi’s heckuva good 645 set featured 18 strikes and his 14 spares would have been15 for a clean series except for one hiccup shooting at a 10 pin in a 214 game.

And Frank Addamo’s 18 strikes helped pave the way for another one of his competitive outings, a 645 with consistent games of 225, 219 and 201, and Fred Emmons is a U.S. Navy veteran and former ESPN employee who continued his impressive scoring production of late with a 642 series and raising his ER League average to 184 from 183.

Robin Drury showed flashes of his once dominant game in The Evergreen State in a 631 set when he cranked out 16 strikes, had marks on 13-of-14 spare shots including going an impressive 5-of-5 on his 10 pin spare attempts.

Jack Northover is a super good guy who is so supremely confident his L.A. Dodgers will win the World Series again this season that it has seemingly even carried over to his bowling game of late. And it manifested itself in oozing confidence on the approach in K&Q League action which helped pave the way for his first 600 of the season, a 624 with a season-high 245 game.

Finally, Brent Schlesinger raised his MMM League average a stick to 181 from 180 after rolling a 608 series, Brian Collins threw 19 strikes in a 604 effort, while Dave Castro tallied a 603, and Jake Swingler merits ink for a terrific 598 series with 14 strikes and a clean 224.

In single game play, Dave Johnson (649) from Beaver Dam, Arizona hurled a 266 with an eight-bagger, Darren Simonds (649) loves classic cars but also liked his 267 with 10 strikes, and Jesse Dixon (649) racked up nine strikes in a 258, and has tossed a 300 game in St. George.

And it’s not a surprise when Dave Houghton (611) throws a heckuva good game like his 257, Jim Lytle (639 navigated the lanes for a 256 and he spent some of his youth in Germany as a child of a military family.

In other action on the men’s beat, Dave Pershing (610) popped a 255, Bruce Hooley’s terrific 685 included a 257, while Dave Castro (625) shot a 243 in the MS League, and Roman Perez in his second season bowling on the Bulldog Towing team also smacked a 243 and I was told by a coach at Virgin Valley High School that Perez was one heckuva terrific player on the school’s soccer team.

Meanwhile, Dick Lonick loves hockey, but also liked his six-bagger in a 236 game and he’s locked in a tight race for the Most Improved Average Award given out at season’s end.

And when all Al Gans (631) can muster for a high game in a week is a 233 it almost always means he’ll be storming back the following week with a much beefier one, and Ken Schloman tossed seven strikes including a five-bagger in a 233.

Nick Paul tossed a clean 231 with seven strikes, David Walker finished a 226 with a five-bagger, Warren Furber chalked up eight strikes in a 225, and Steve Kenyon bagged seven strikes in a 221 and he’s an avid Utah Utes football fan and retired air traffic controller.

Mike Dunlop pocketed a 216 and he’s worked his average up to 191.35 and currently has a slight edge in the Most Improved Average race in the MMM League, John Gerger hammered out five strikes in a clean 212, and Mike Carpenter also earned ink for a 212 and he’s a humungous Oregon State Beavers fan.

Gage Hughes punched out a 212 with seven strikes and two opens and he’s a young two-handed bowler in his freshman season of bowling and a 600 series a month ago helps illustrate why his game has big upside potential, and Paul Sullivan who makes the weekly trek from St. George captured his first ink in this season for a heckuva nice 211 game with a four-bagger.

And Red Powell worked the lanes for a 210 and he’s in the Salt Lake City Bowling Hall of Fame for his sustained bowling excellence over the years and you can also read about his daughters exceptional bowling talent in today’s women’s section and what she did in her Mesquite bowling last week, and Jeremy “JT” Turlington had six strikes and five spares in a 209 in the MS League.

Mark Brackelsberg’s 207 helped his Mark’s RE/MAx Realty team win 16 points helping send his team zooming to 5th Place in the MMM League, Dan Erhart fired six strikes in a 205, and Wade Heileson and Doug Schaan each logged a 204.

Finally, Javier Delgadillo punched out a 202, Louis Dilisio put together a four-bagger in a 200, Stan Benally tossed five strikes in 200, and like Benally, Steve Roberts also pocketed a 200 game with one open and four strikes.

In women’s action, Samantha Powell was in town visiting her dad, Red Powell, the Salt Lake City Hall of Famer, and while a sub in the CHR League she blistered the lanes with a 659 on games of 241, 237 and 181. She’s a tremendous bowling talent and her resume already shows seven 300 games, a 299, and finished the 2023-24 season with a 216 average over 87 games.

Meanwhile, Bev Corman, fueled by 14 strikes, 14 spares, a clean 216 and three opens finished with the next best score in the scoring food chain with a 605,  LeeAnn Harmes claimed the only other 600, a 604 which featured 17 strikes and 13 spares during games of 219, 204, 181, and two days earlier in K&Q League action she tossed the women’s high game of the week, a 257 with eight strikes in a 591 effort.

And Sandy Sheppard’s 594 fell basically a mark short of her umpteenth 600, Lynae Page turned the page on a recent scoring funk with a nice 558 set including a 206 and hopefully her strong outing will be the tonic to reboot her game to what it was before her reduced scoring output.

And Debbie Hansen mowed down 538 pins in one of her best outings this season, Jane Burgoyne (534-198) delivered some really solid scores and she’s a big Vegas Golden Knights hockey fan, and Charlene Heiden’s  526 and 211 are both her high scores at this juncture in her ER League season.

Reiko Schultz booked a 504 with a 191 game, Molly Gomes logged a 501, and Cheryl Rogers flattened 502 pins, but the real scoop with her is the fact she brough some of her amazingly scrumptious chocolate chip cookies to bowling and just the mere sight of seeing her some in a plastic bag is enough to get the pancreatic juices flowing, and once you take that first bite, your taste buds are forever grateful she came to bowling packing some of her totally delish ccc’s.

And in pivoting back to bowling and the single game scene, Gayla Ruesch (512) chucked a 217, Renee Swall uncorked a season-high 211 in her Gamblers 4 Aces League bowling, and MaryAnn Davis (525) popped a 206.

Finally, Bobbie Robbins who formerly lived in Wrangell, Alaska posted a 200, Autumn Telford (514) tossed a 199, and Krista Kilpatrick’s 199 included five strikes and only one open.

SUNDAY SPORT SCRATCH LEAGUE SCORES

Alfred Oliveira V 612-241; Kelly Williamson 586-206; Gage Hughes 211, 191; Dennis Craft 201.

MEN’S HIGH SCORES

Randy Brown 669-232; Chuck Youngdale 645-249; Mike Rogers 634-248; Dylan Kesl 630-246; Dan Aslin 621-227; Jeremy Telford 617-235; Sal Diaz 603-213; Larry Willis 237; Bob Wells 237; Ed Hoepfner 235; Logan Hendrick 235; Gary Smith 234; Ernie Kala 233; Alan Jacobson 227; Shaun Edwards 227; Kelly Williamson 226; Dale Knight 223; Dave Harris 223; Jeff Branche 223 & a clean 191; Ken Meacham 215; Rob Cormani 215; Alfred Oliveira V 214; Jedd Fisher 214; Dan Johnson 213; Steven Uhrig 213; James Hartley 212; Jorge Munoz 212; Jim Bice 212; Mike Bock 202; Harold Hendrick (598) 204; Russ Marshall 204; Jared Bundy 204; Dean Sheppard 203; Steve Serrano 203; Bruce Hamilton 202; Jim Rappe 202; Javier Delgadillo 201; Jeff Harmes 201; Britt Kesl 200; Mike Yoder 200.

WOMEN’S HIGH SCORES are all located in the column itself this week.