BOWLING: Ashley Yokoyama takes her game to new heights with a 655 series

A proven blueprint for success in bowling is keeping open frames to a miniscule number. And that’s exactly what Ashley Yokoyama did in a career-high 655 series when her sole open came on missing a 10 pin in the third frame of her first game.

However, she followed her only open with a turkey, spare, and finished with a five-bagger for a 236 game. And a good indicator of how dialed in she was in her 236 is it was also a 9 pin no-tap 300. Next, she tossed a clean 194 which included seven spares, and finished her milestone achievement with a clean 225 for a 655 set, a total of 18 strikes and marks on a super impressive15-of-16 spare attempts.

And projecting into the future here when considering her 655, a 627 series three weeks earlier, and with 14 weeks still to go before the clock runs out on the 2024-25 season, she has the potential to make this a historic season.

She’s already the first woman in Mesquite bowling history to bowl a 600 series with a two-handed delivery, and while certainly not a slam dunk, she could reach another milestone with a 700 series. And a deep dive into her 655 shows nine frames where he left a single pin on her first ball, and if just four or five of those are strikes we could be talking about a 700 here.

She has a season-high 238 game, took 1st place in All Events in her division in the last Nevada Women’s State Tournament, is a USBC certified bowling coach, and a big focus on her game right now is becoming quicker at making adjustments to ever-changing lane conditions.

Yokoyama played volleyball, soccer and tennis in high school along with being active in student government.

In other abbreviated women’s league action, Sandy Sheppard (593-210) and Bev Cormani (591-223)  chalked up the next best scores, and Georgia “GG” Godfrey continued a recent darn good scoring run with a heckuva nice 587 set including a clean 235 game with seven strikes.

Debbie Hansen (525-189) merits ink for one of her best outings this season, Jane Burgoyne (522-188) also put together a solid outing, and sparked by a 195, Sherry Williamson punched out a 512 in Gamblers 4 Aces League play.

In single game action, Reiko Schultz (559) set the pace with eight strikes in a 233, Reno, Nevada’s Sharon Stoneman navigated the lanes for a 224 and Cheryl Rogers (521) cranked out a 221.

Finally, Judy Clark fired six strikes in a season-high 215, it was great seeing Barb Field (492) work the lanes for her first deuce this season, a 200 on the nose, and Dodie Melendez merits ink for picking up the 6-7 split in a 170 game.

And in abbreviated men’s league play, Jacoby Ford finished atop the scoring food chain with a standout 719 series which is also his career-first 700. And he made it happen in a stellar effort which included 23 strikes and marks on an impressive 9-of-10 spare attempts during games of 246, 245 and 228. Ooooh, yeah! This young two-handed bowler is definitely destined to be a scoring juggernaut.

In other action, Alan Jacobson tossed 20 strikes in the second 705 series of his career with games of 258, 234 and 213, Mike Yoder fired clean games of 253, 236 and along with a 215 finished with a 704, and Dave Pershing’s 648 featured consistent games of 222, 221 and 205.

Jeremy Turlington uncorked a 625, Max Burgess a retired dentist from SoCal smacked a 624, and Bruce Hooley booked a 621.

Alan Pearson had marks on 4-of-5 shots at the 10 pin in a 614 series on games of 222, 220, 172, and he’s a humongous fan of the University of Illinois football and basketball and they have a top-notch basketball team this season and return a ton of starters in football next season so they’ll be tough again in the Big Ten Conference.

Max Snyder’s 608 included a 235 with eight strikes, Angel Hernandez fired 20 strikes along with a seven-bagger in a 235 and he had a super 2023-24 season with multiple 700s and 600s and so look for his scores to rip higher in the coming weeks.

In single game play, Harold Hendrick (621) popped a 255, Rob Cormani (624) punched out a 246, while Jonathan Williams gets his first ink for a 245, and Ernie Kala (600) booked a 235.

Finally, Jimmy Webb a huge Boston Red Sox fan registered a 223, Dan Aslin is glad to be back on the lanes again and tossed a 212 with 600s on the way, while Cedar City bowler Tim Brandt also uncorked a 212, and Josue Mendoza logged a 204.

Dale Knight 228; Al Oliveira IV 224; Dylan Kesl 211; Javier Delgadillo 210; Sal Diaz 205; Jacoby Ford 205; Alfred Oliveira V 201; Langston Navarro 201; Josue Mendoza 200.

Autumn Telford 581-215; Kim Marshall 546-212; Cathy Gardner 530-181; Gayle Parison 518-189; Pam Jacobson 505-199; Lee Ann Harmes 501-205.

Mike Rogers 685-245; Dean Baum 667-256; Milan Carr 666-243; Al Gans 650-235; Kelly Williamson 644-247; Scott Mattingly 638-244; Dave Harris 634-235; Jim Bice 628-247; Jared Bundy 623-224; Austin Finster 620-214; Darren Simonds 619-258; Russ Marshall 608-237; Michael Ramirez 608-228; David Walker 603-223; Doug Love 602-235; Vic Reading 238; Bob Robbins 237; Ken Moeller 236; Dave Castro 235; Warren Ferber 1235; Mike Gentry 229; John Martin 225; Dean Sheppard 222; Bob Ballard 218; Logan Hendrick 2126; Frank Addamo 214; Dale Knight 211; Bob Marget 210; David Deen 210; Gary Smith 209; Dan Erhart 205; Gil Niimi 205; Jeff Harmes 202.