Traverse City Record-Eagle

Bowling

February 20, 2010

Kalbfleisch beats teammate

TC Central senior beats teammate in final game

BY DENNIS CHASE

TRAVERSE CITY -- Mariah Kalbfleisch was running out of time.

The Traverse City Central senior was trailing teammate Nichole Lally by close to 40 pins in the sixth frame of the Great Northwest Bowling Conference girls individual championships on Friday at Timber Lanes.

"I wasn't finding the pocket," Kalbfleisch said. "And when I did find it, I would split and not get it. I opened twice. But I kept plugging away -- and it all changed."

Starting in the eighth frame, Kalbfleisch rolled four consecutive strikes to rally for a 197-180 victory.

"It was nerve-wracking," she said. "Without that (four strikes), I wouldn't have won it."

Lally opened in the 10th, ending her chances.

"I split in the 10th -- not much you can do about that," she said. "That definitely didn't help."

Lally was the No. 1 seed in the tournament after rolling games of 227 and 210 in the qualifying round. Kalbfleisch was the No. 2 seed after games of 173 and 203.

Lally then reached the finals by beating Ali Schratz 193-183, Taylor Pahl 224-160 and Corrie McIntosh 257-160.

Kalbfleisch defeated Desarae Zoulek 136-122, Breanna Bitely 267-177 and Katie Vreeland 193-181.

Lally wasn't too upset about losing to Kalbfleisch in the finals.

"We've been best friends since first grade," she said. "If you're going to lose to anyone, losing to your best friend doesn't make it as hard."''

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