Josh Marino: Scratch Champion
Smithtown, NY: Frank Spano, a senior bowler from Brentwood, NY won the $1,000 top prize at LIGBT’s house shot event at AMF Smithtown. Frank earned his 2nd LIGBT handicap title by defeating Max Thomas, Stamford, CT 229-200 in the final shootout. While Max earned $500 for 2nd, finishing in third with a 195 was Jack Saunders, Holbrook, NY earning $300. Fourth went to Deon Taitte, Amityville, NY with a 185 worth $250.
The final shootout was a good match as all 4 bowlers were within 9 pins handicap. Frank started the match with 4 strikes in a row and was cruising until he opened in the 6th and 9th frames. Jack had a chance to force Frank to double in the tenth if he doubled. Jack got the first strike but failed on his second attempt. When Max doubled in the final frame he grabbed second place by just 5 pins. Deon had trouble with the left lane and could not build a string of strikes.
Prior to the handicap finals was the scratch final match between Joshua Marino, Forest Hills, NY and Warren Cooperstein, Fort Salonga, NY. Josh won the $600 scratch top prize by defeating Warren 231-203. Warren earned $300 for his runner-up position. Also cashing in the scratch prize fund was Anthony Fusco, W. Hempstead, NY (667) earning $150 and junior bowler Kyle Perillo, Nesconset, NY (657) earning a $75 scholarship.
This was the first time the LIGBT visited AMF Smithtown and it was a big success. The house shot event drew a crowd of 90 entries (70 handicap/20 scratch), advanced 13 bowlers to the finals (plus 2 scratch finalists) and paid out $4,225. The cut scores on the house shot were; 762 & 730 for the 49 & under age group and 731 & 752 for the seniors. High series of the tournament was shot by Deon Taitte with an 884 in the 1pm squad.
LIGBT’s next tournament is our annual Thanksgiving Major featuring top prizes of $3,000 & $1,500. This 2-day event (November 23 & 25) will be hosted by AMF Garden City. To view the final results of the AMF Smithtown house shot event please visit www.ligbtour.com. The LIGBT is sponsored by Kegel, Knockout Ball Cleaner, Torch Bowling, and Billvee Electric.