BOWLING: Michael Ramirez is a strike-throwing machine in Mesquite bowling

Michael “Smurffzzz” Ramirez is one of the best young bowling talents at the Virgin River Bowling Center in Mesquite who had a breakout 2022-23 season when he finished his sophomore campaign with an impressive 191 average over 83 games in the Kings & Queen’s League. However, from his perspective, in spite of numerous big games and series scores, the biggest disappointment of last season was not rolling a coveted 700 series after tantalizingly close efforts of 692 and 686.

So, let’s fast forward to the 2023-24 season which for him, began only a little over a month ago in January and he’s been on a blistering scoring run ever since. And I’m not hyping it here as you’ll see after reading about his explosive scoring and what a strike-throwing machine he can be.

For starters, bowling in the K & Q League, and fueled by 21 strikes and zero open frames in games of 258, 246 and 214, he punched out a career-high 718 series.

And just one day later, bowling on his Defense Preparedness team sponsored by Peggy Pope for the last eight years in the Mesquite Merchants Men’s League, his lethal strike ball was at it again as he crushed the 1-3 pocket for 23 strikes during games of 246, 227 and 225 for a 698 series.

Now let’s turn the clock back to the week before his 718 and 698 when he was able to erase the memory for the first time of no 700 series last season. And that’s because he dialed up another standout outing in the MMM League which began with eight strikes in his first game, a clean 247, followed by seven strikes in a 241, and finished the night with eight more strikes in a clean 228 en route to his first-ever 700 series, a 716 with 23 total strikes and only one open frame.

Yes, with confidence soaring after throwing 67 strikes and averaging 236 over his last nine games, coupled with all the revs he generates with his delivery, look for more scores to rocket even higher before the clock runs out on the 2023-24 season.

Ramirez who’s thrown a personal-best 16 straight strikes spanning two games is so passionate about bowling he films his practices. And away from the game, he’s a fan of the Pittsburg Steelers, visiting Tokyo, Japan is high on his bucket list, and he graduated from Cedar Ridge High School in Richfield, Utah before changing his zip code to one in Mesquite.

In other pin action, Darren Simonds punched out the week’s next best score, a 716 with a 258 game and raised his City High Rollers League average to 200 from 198, Scott Mattingly who tore a meniscus while playing in a high school football game averaged 232 in the six games of his top two series scores (702-245 & 692-256), and Bob Marget’s first-rate 675 set with a 258 and 21 total strikes raised his CHR League average to 199 from 197.

Meanwhile, Fred Foerster, a huge Raiders football fan and former owner of a bowling center in California navigated the lanes for 16 strikes in a 673 outing with a 267 in his Early Risers League play, and Bob Wells bookended a 203 with games of 237 and 235 for a 665 series which should raise his MMM League 189 average, and without much fanfare, Randy Kezior (642-257) continues putting up really good scores.

And for the short time Chance Evans (637-246) has been bowling, he continues doing a terrific job with his game, Ricky Trujillo’s 631 effort raised his CHR League average by a pin to 195, and  Gil Niimi capped a good week with consistent scoring in a trio of 600s, a 627, 615 and 613.

And bolstered by a 246, Larry Moultrie chalked up his umpteenth 600, a 620, Jim Rappe’s return to bowling after years away from the game continues seeing scores take flight like his 613 with a 243 game in K&Q League play,, and St. George bowler Norm Ritchie cranked out a 610 with a 226 in ER League action.

And Kelly Williamson is a United States Air Force veteran who hasn’t bowled for months due to battling cancer, and in his first return to the lanes since undergoing surgery on his liver, he delivered the most gratifying and inspiring scores of the week, a 607 series on games of 209, 205 and 193 with 16 strikes and marks on 12-of-14 spare shots, while Alan Pearson, an avid fan of both the football and basketball programs at the University of Illinois tossed a 606 with a clean 225 game and 17 total strikes.

Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t give Jake Swingler ink for a terrific 601 set on games of 221, 192, and 188. He developed his game bowling and coaching youth bowlers at the former Showboat Bowling Center in Las Vegas, and in his younger days also was a friend of former Major League baseball player, Dick Allen.

In single game play, Jimmy Webb’s scores have rocketed higher since January, and that includes a career-high 267 last week, Dave Johnson (601) who hails from Beaver Dam tossed a 257, Mike Dunlop (596) cruised to a 254, and Ron Johnson (596) chucked both a 233 and 225.

Josue Mendoza fired eight strikes in a clean 242, Andy Robinson’s 237 included a 7-bagger, Mark Brackelsberg kept hitting the 1-3 pocket in a 234, and also keeps hitting screaming line drives for hits in his senior softball, and Miguel Soto booked both a 224 and 216, but bigger games are on the horizon.

Myles Benally continued a nice run of weekly deuce games with a 224, Dave Houghton logged a 216, Ken Riswick tallied a 216 and look for him to win gold in tennis in the upcoming Mesquite Senior Games, and Jerron Linge racked up a 213.

Dan Earhart bagged a 207, Al Legan pocketed a 205, Jacob Martinez rolled a 202, and Jerry Holloway booked a 200 on the nose.

On the women’s front, it was another week of more women than normal rolling scores which merit some ink.

For starters, Krista Kilpatrick raised her Ladies Trio League average to 176 with a 597 series and 215 game, and in just her first season of bowling, Lexi Mattson flirted with a 600 series before finishing with a 592 series. She fired 9 strikes including a 7-bagger in an opening clean 259, followed with a 6-bagger in a 236, and in an adrenaline-fueled final game finished with a 97.

However, the main point is it’s a slam dunk that a 600 will happen, and it’s just a question of when. And you’ve heard it here before, Mattson has a very smooth and athletic two-handed delivery which gives her the potential to be a real force on the lanes down the pike. I’m not sure Mattson even realizes just how good she can become with her delivery. And Ashlee Yokoyama’s coaching has helped her a great deal in developing her game. Stay tuned on Mattson in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile, forget Gayle Parison’s first so-so 154 game as she’s captured ink for throwing an eye-popping 11 strikes in clean games of 215 and 203 for a mouthwatering 572, and Cheryl Carr decided it was finally time to get some ink for herself instead of seeing all of it go to her husband, Milan. In fact, she even deserves some extra ink after peppering the lanes with her first-ever 500 series in Mesquite bowling, a 564 on games of 205, 192 and 167 while throwing a total of 14 strikes.

And maybe what Carr does away from bowling is even more impressive than her 564. Amazingly, she rides her bike some 15 miles a day, and some days after she’s finished with a bike ride, even walks with a pet dog for several more miles. Here’s betting her resting pulse rate must be in the low 50s.

And Debbie Hansen’s pulse rate was elevated after throwing a season-high 549 with a 204 game in her CHR League, and Cheryl Jackson gets her first-eve ink after throwing a season-high 521 series in Ladies Trio League play, and Charlene Heiden merits kudos for a 516 score with a 5-bagger in a 202.

Yes, the beat goes on as Tama Hixon smacked a 511 while throwing six strikes in her first deuce this season, a 20o, and Marge Mongola raised her Trio League average a point to 158 with a 504.

In single game action, Ronnie Tsuhakow’s 214 topped her previous Trio League high 211, Margaret Baron nabs her first ink for a clean 213 game with five strikes and five spares, while Barbara  Windberg’s clutch strike in the 10th clinched her first deuce this season, a 202. Oh, wow! Windberg just inspired a betting idea. And it’s because she hails from the Windy City, and so does her husband, John. Anyway, one is a Chicago White Sox fan, and the other a Cubs fan. Whoa! So we’re gonna go to work and set up some betting odds as to which one is the Cubs fan. Dang, on second thought, with card games no longer allowed at bowling, we won’t be able to do that either as it would be viewed as a type of solicitation.

Finally, Krissy Davis also gets her first ink in two years by showing her teammate brothers (Dave & Dan) how it’s done as she tossed a season-high 195 game which included a turkey and six spares with only one open frame in TGIF League bowling.

On a related bowling note, the Mesquite Senior Games still has some openings in the Singles competition. The Doubles event is all filled up. So, if you’d like to bowl in the Singles event contact

Toni Gans via text or phone at 253-350-5689. The deadline for registration is March 2nd, 2024.

HIGH SCORES

John Hollaway 661-257; Bruce Hooley 649-248; Doug Love 640-226; Milan Carr 633-236; Dave Pershing 633-219; Dennis Craft 628-239; Mike Rogers 622-225 Chase Evans 619-213; Jim Lytle 607-211; Mike Saldivar 602-222; Dan Aslin 246; Orlyn Meyer 246; Mike Yoder 236; Koa Paka Ned 234; Dave Harris 233; James Hartley 229; Dave Newman 225; Britt Kesl223; Dave Castro 222; Rob Cormani 221; Dan Johnson 215; Chris Eyre 214; Gary Smith 214; John Martin 214; Chris Scott 213; Bill Funk 211; Sal Diaz 211; Randy Carter 209; Bill Smith 211; Frank Addamo 207; Russ Marshall 207; Darrell Moffatt Sr. 206; Tony Zaccheus 205; Doug Heiden 204; Tony Arias 204; Angel Hernandez 203; Louis Dilisio 203; John Gerger 202; Pat Garcia 202Jon Williamson 201; Ken Meacham 201; Martin Carrillo 201; Wally Posey 201; George Huston 200′ Sandy Sheppard 616-218; Bev Cormani 578-225; Reiko Schultz 553-191; Mary Ann Davis 528-204; Kim Marshall 528-198; Lee Ann Harmes 519-191.