BOWLING: Led by Ricky Trujillo & Martin Carrillo, the Strikes R Us team wins a league championship

The clock’s run out on the 2024-25 season, but over the next couple of weeks we still wanna cover some of the roll-off action that determined league championships before bidding adieu with this column until I return in September.

And this week it begins with the Strikes R Us team which is one of the most popular and rapidly improving teams in the City High Rollers League. And it’s also a unique team in that all members of the team went to Virgin Valley High School, and that includes Octavio Botello, a 5th member of the team who would bowl when they needed a sub.

Well, the season ended with a roll-off  for the league championship which pitted the Strikes R Us against another pretty darn strong Slashes Not Dashes team of Jane Burgoyne, Warren Ferber, Dale Knight and Bob Marget. And it should be noted both Knight and Marget are terrific bowlers who’ve carried deuce averages for years.

However, in the roll-off, as you already figured out, it was the Strikes R Us team who ended up with the bragging rights to winning the roll-off and the league championship. And leading the way was Ricky Trujillo who tossed a 678 series fueled by 23 strikes thrown during games of 248, 231 and 199.  And Martin Carrillo also played a pivotal role for his team winning the championship as he came up with his best outing of the season, a 617 series that included two clutch games, a clean 248 with eight strikes including a five-bagger, and a 226 with seven strikes and only one open frame.

Meanwhile, like Carrillo, Eric Soto also came up with his best effort of the season, a 516 scratch series which easily eclipsed his previous season-high 501, and Raul Macias tossed a 448 series with a 174 game, and he had a good regular season that included rolling his career-first 600 series and I’m betting this coming season he’ll toss multiple 600s.

For the Slashes Not Dashes team, Bob Marget finished with a 550 with a 202 game, Dale Knight booked a 552 with a 213, while Warren Ferber punched out a 580, and Jane Burgoyne fired a nice 532 with a pair of good games, 195 and 191

And in other roll-off action, the Gamblers 4 Aces league also crowned a champion which turned out to be the Primo team of Ben Jenkins, Billy Deluca, Charlene Heiden and Doug Heiden as they defeated a competitive Balls of Fury team made up of Donald Gaitan, Maureen McNulty, Nannett Kezior and Randy Kezior.

However, after three games, it turned out to be a nail-biter as both squads according to league rules had to bowl an extra frame before a champion could be declared. And led by Charlene Heiden’s 184 and Doug Heiden’s 179, the Primo team emerged as league champions.

Bowlers, just so you do, we’ll see you back here next week with more playoff action scoop.