Long Island Summer Bowling Tour!

Port Jefferson , NY - New York Yankees great Yogi Berra said it best, "It aint over till its over". 

The Long Island Summer Bowling Tour visited Port Jeff Bowl on Friday July 20, 2001. A record turnout, spectacular bowling by some and bizarre endings for others  highlighted the evening.

The Junior Scratch division featured a spectacular performance in qualifying, and a strange finish.  In qualifying, Neil Foresto, Commack rolled a 987 (246.75 ave) total, with games of 246, 210, 277, and 254 to lead A.J. Fragola, Patchogue by 100 pins (887-221.75). Tim Modavis, Sound Beach, coming off a 154 in game 3, fell from 3rd to 6th and could not have felt too good about his chances to advance to the finals. After all, Mike Wodzinski, East Meadow,(646), Alex Cavagnaro, North Massapequa, (636), and Scott Schultz, Huntington Station (624) were all ahead of Modavis and only 1 spot would be filled by the 4 bowlers. Modavis appeared out of the picture. Modavis, however, rolled a 226 game in the 4th and final game and watched in disbelief as Cavagnaro (178), Wodzinski (165) and Schultz (158) all failed to slam the door shut. With the sudden change of events, Modavis would  leapfrog back into the number 3 position with Cavagnaro, Wodzinski and Schultz all on the outside looking in. Modavis, from that point on, took matters into his own hands. In the semifinal match, Modavis took advantage of a struggling Fragola and easily defeated him 195-149, and Modavis moved to the championship match vs. a waiting Foresto.  In that final match, Foresto did not look comfortable. Modavis took the lead early, and the two competitors traded mostly spares and a few strikes for the rest of the game. Any hope that Foresto had to win the match , came to a halt when he rang the dime on the first ball in the 10th. Modavis, needing just to keep the ball in play in the 10th, did so and came home with the title, 198-175.

Fine scores in the Junior Scratch division were rolled by Foresto, 277,733 Front  741 Back,987, Fragola, 248,695,887, Modavis, 231,819, Cavagnaro, 232,637,814, Wodzinski, 266,646,811, Jessica Figueroa, East Islip, 214, Dennis Kearney, Coram, 222, Schultz, 235,624 and Rob Pelligrino, East Northport, 239,604. 

The Junior Handicap division saw total domination by Louis Dalessio, Sound Beach. Dalessio threw a sizzling 1086 w/hdcp (890 scratch-222.50) and easily outdistanced the 2nd place finisher Ronald Gocinski, Coram, 1001 w/hdcp. in the qualifying round. Ronald's brother, Edward Gocinski, rolled way into the 3 seed with a strong performance as well, 981 w/hdcp. In the semifinal match, and could only be termed as a parents nightmare, brothers Ronald and Edward squared off. Edward struggled throughout the match and Ronald maintained his hot hand from the qualifying round and defeated his brother, 253-187. (Note: it should be pointed out that Ronald gave Edward a pat on the back and a word of encouragement after the game had concluded). The final match, between Gocinski and Dalessio, was a classic. Neither bowler was to give in to the other and in the end, it was Dalessio who found a way to slide to the title, 233-230.

Outstanding scores in the Junior hdcp division include Dalessio,257,709,890, R Gocinski, 233,602, E Gocinski, 213, Scott Tobin, East Northport, 223, Jack Castellano, Centereach, 211, Tony De Saro, 211, Eric Modavis, Sound Beach, 210, Kevin Kearney, Coram, 205 and Cindy Zagorski, East Patchogue, 212.

In the Adult Handicap division, Michelle Perretta, Levittown, set the pace with an incredible 991 w/hdcp. Ryan Neary, Dix Hills, made a strong bid to take the lead after a very impressive 300 w/hdcp (278 scratch) in game 3, but fell 14 pins short, 977 w/hdcp and held the #2 seed after 4. Brian Darcy, Setauket, held off a hard charging Kathleen Wodzinski, East Meadow, 971-962 w/hdcp that secured him the 3rd and final spot to the finals. 

In the semifinals, an emotionally charged Neary kept his domination going, as he defeated Darcy 258-235 w/hdcp landing him in the final match with the #1 seed Perretta. Perretta, bowling in her first tournament ever, described her experience as "petrifying". She added, "My girlfriend, Anne Quarry told me how good Ryan was and my knees were literally knocking at the foul line". Perretta however, did not let Neary off the hook. Shooting over her 129 average with a 137 scratch game, Neary needed to earn his title if he were to get it. In the end though, Neary prevailed 248-227. Neary, however, was emotional after the victory. "I did this for my mom. She had emergency surgery earlier this week. The way she is battling and showing the courage she has, gave me the strength to come out and get the job done". Neary added "if I was not the one who was to win tonight, it was going to take one hell of an effort to defeat me". Neary's mom is resting comfortably and on the road to recovery. :o)

Good for Ryan. Good for Michelle. 

Highlighting the evening in the Adult Hdcp division were Neary, 278,705,889, Darcy, 244,613, Wodzinski, 222, Robert Pepel, Rocky Point, 210, Richard Mc Cusker, Westhampton, 217,618, Vinnie Zambito, Shirley, 224, Tom Tripp, Rocky Point, 204 and Frank Collins, Holbrook, 208. 

The Adult Scratch division produced the nights most bizarre ending. In the 4-game qualifying round, Doug Sass, A2Z's first out-of-state competitor, of Nottingham, MD, climbed from the #9 seed after 1 and steadily improved to gain the top spot. Sass, remarked about his 182 start and his steady climb, "I realized early that the shot was not one you could expect to strike on, so you had to stay clean and hope for a few strings of strikes.  I was very fortunate," John Callahan, Port Jefferson Station, held the #2 spot at 849 while Ken Burns, Laurel, held the 3rd and final spot at 825.

In the semifinal match, Burns came out of the gate quickly with the first five strikes, while Callahan opened twice. Callahan never recovered and Burns won the match going away, 222-180. That set up Burns in the final match vs. Sass. 

The final match was a classic duel of two Lefthanders.  Burns struggled early, leaving a 1-3-6-7 washout in the first frame, but recovered with a triple in frames 3-5.  Sass kept the ball in the pocket, converting 4 single-pin spares to start the match, but trailed by 10 after six frames.  Both bowlers exchanged doubles in frames 7 and 8, but Burns missed a 10-pin, leaving the door seemingly open for Sass.  Striking again in the 9th, Sass needed only a nine-spare-nine in the 10th to lock up the match.  Stepping off the approach twice in indecision, Sass made the mistake of the match, rolling right through the headpin, leaving the 4-6-10 split.  Needing 19 pins to win the match, Burns wasted no time, throwing a solid strike and filling 9 on the first ball, to edge out Sass and take the title, 203-202. Burns admitted, "when I missed the 10 pin, I thought it was over. I was kicking myself while Doug was up". Sass, in a reflective mood blamed nobody but himself, "No excuses, none. I made a bad shot...I pulled up at the foul line, and there was no help to be had when you did that. Ken bowled a great match, made the big shots when he needed them.  I tip my cap to him." 

Great match, great sportsmanship.

Rounding out the Adult Scratch division Sass, 237,688,870, Callahan, 279,680,849, Burns, 246,660,825, Steve Evans, Blue Point, 233,608, Scott Solomon, Ronkonkoma, 237, John Ramsey, Holtsville, 209, Charlie Lombardo, Greenlawn, 234,636, Tom McNally, Northport, 221,601, Don Wickman, Seldon, 200 and Steve Garcia, East Islip, 205.  

great job by all bowlers who competed!   

A total of 52 entries participated in the event. Next on tap? Sayville Bowl, Friday July 27, 2001 at 8:45pm. 

Thanx for all the support. 

Final Standings

Payout