Leftovers: Suffolk Bowling Championships Edition

Here are some leftover notes and quotes from Saturday’s Suffolk tournament. East Islip won the girls championship, dropping an impressive 6,469 pins to finish ahead of Middle Country (6,075). The Redmen, in third place after Game 1, bowled a 1,184 in Game 2 to take the lead and began to pull away with their 1,086 in Game 3. They finished 13 pins short of breaking of the record they had set in last year’s county tournament.

Lena Sorrentino had a 1,424 series, which was the best among girls and the second best overall among all bowlers in the Suffolk and Nassau county tournaments.

Winning back-to-back county titles: “It’s a great feeling, getting to go up to states with my sisters again. Hopefully we’ll win this year.”

What clicked and why was the team able to do so well – even by EI’s standards? “We kept calm and everyone was pulling for each other and being positive. When everyone’s calm and not worried, it makes everything easier. We found our shot and we were making our spares.”

Taking control after Game 1: “We told everyone to relax and just make your spares. Once we got in the lead, we told everyone that if we make our spares, nobody will catch us.”

Coming close to last year’s record: “It’s great. Even though we lost Tara [Ernst], and she was such a big part of the team, the other people made up for it. Kristina [Freitag] came up really big this year. Jordan [Kruger], too.”

Kristina Freitag shot a 1,262 series in counties and led the Redmen with a with a 213.19 average in the regular season.

Being in third place after Game 1: “Coach [Harold] Cooley just said, ‘Be cool, make your spares. Don’t worry about what everybody else is doing.’ We knew it was early and everyone kept their composure and just did what we had to do.”

During the last few games, were you guys aware of how close you were to the record? “I didn’t even know. I wasn’t one of the starters in counties last year. And this year, it wasn’t one of our priorities. We just wanted to win.”

Freitag bowled just four games last season and had a 179 average. What led to the huge improvement and what has the season been like personally? “It’s been really exciting. I went from being in the 170s to 213. Over the summer I bowled a lot. My dad and I would go every Tuesday and Thursday and bowl at Quartermania. When school started, every day after school I’d bowl 5-7 games. And even now, I’m still bowling like 15 games a day.”

After the tournament was over and you looked at the numbers on the board, what went through your mind? “It’s a feeling of accomplishment. You know how much work you put it to get better and then you see it. It’s a great experience.”

Alexa DeFazio had a 1,333 series. The senior upped her average form 177 last year to 190 this season.

Last year’s team winning a county title and taking third in states despite being young, then coming into this season with high expectations: “It was great seeing everyone improve and step up. So many of our girls work hard over the summer and when the season comes around, everyone has these high averages. I think this be a solid team for the next few years.”

What motivates you to put in the hours over the summer and in your free time: “My motivation was this being my last year. I really wanted to do well. We knew we lost Tara, so we’d all have to get better to kind of make up for her not being here.”

East Islip coach Harold Cooley

Winning another county title: “It’s nice when the girls perform really well. I have a lot of good ones, so I’m very lucky. We have a good tradition and they’ve carried that on.”

Coming close to the record: “We don’t even care how many pins we’re up during competition. After we caught up in the second game, it wasn’t even in the conversation how big of a lead we had. It’s just, ‘OK, let’s do well in this next game.’”

Watching your team dominate: “I’d love to say I want everybody else to experience that, but I’m glad we’re the ones who get to enjoy it.”

Mindset after taking a big lead: “Your goal is bowl the best you can. If you bowl well and somebody beats you, then they beat you; you didn’t lose. Middle Country shot well – they were good. They didn’t lose; we just did better.”

---- BOYS ----

Middle Country won the boys tournament, pulling somewhat of an upset. The Cougarines had the fourth best average (1,016) in Suffolk during the regular season, but was overshadowed by League II rival Smithtown, which went undefeated. Middle Country rallied with a 1,198 in Game 6 to pull themselves from third place, behind Sachem East and Comsewogue, and win. They finished ahead of Sachem East, 6,452-6,330. Their performance down the stretch was kinda reminiscent of the Middle Country girls in 2010.

Middle Country coach Mike Messana

The feeling immediately after winning: “It’s absolutely surreal. Going into the last game, we were down 46. I told my guys that 46 is nothing. ‘We’re in a good position, so let’s capitalize.’ Before the game, I thought I would love for these kids to shoot a 1,200 and win it convincingly and not have it come down to the last ball. We ended up shooting 1,198. Close enough.”

What does this title mean to the team and program? “It puts Middle Country on the map. All year people have been saying, ‘Middle Country has a chance, but…’ We’ve put that to bed.”

Losing key bowlers, including Matt Skalacki (who had a 232.72 average last season) and then winning counties: “Even though we lost three seniors last year, including Matt, I knew in my heart this team was special. I thought that, talent-wise, this was one of the best teams we’ll ever have.”

Mike Ruben had a 244 in Game 6 of a 1,447 series to lead the Cougarines.

The championship and bowling a tournament-high 1,447 series: “It means a lot to me. I did the best I could and my team was there for me. They’ve been great all year and I wanted to help pick them up and win this thing.”

How confident were you that this team could win it all? “Very confident. I thought so from early on. Our team is great. We come through when we need to. Nobody gets nervous or anything like that. We know what we have to do and we pull through.”

Confident about states? “I think we can go all the way.”

Bryan Dragotta had a 1,279 series, including a 246 in Game 6.

Winning counties: “It’s not often that I get to win anything. This is one of the first things I’ve ever won, so this is beautiful.”

Excelling down the stretch: “We started off a little rough, but everyone picked it up. Towards the end, we made our moves and everyone found their line. I liked having the pressure. A lot of other teams finished up and everyone came over and was watching us. That’s fun.”

Finishing second in League II (behind Smithtown) but turning it up in counties: “We struggled in our league against Smithtown. They’d take every point from us. We knew we weren’t gonna win our league, but we wanted to make counties. We came in and we wrecked.”

Tom Murray had 1,218 series and rolled  226 in Game 6.

Finishing strong: “We just kept climbing up, up, up. We had a lot of momentum and we capitalized on that. It’s one of the most fun days I’ve ever had.”

When you go into the last game down 46, are you keeping one eye on what Sachem East and Comsewogue are doing? “Everyone was coming over to our lane and they were into it, so we knew it was probably close, but we weren’t really paying attention to what Comsewogue and Sachem East were doing. We were just focused on ourselves.”

Overcoming Smithtown: “It’s amazing. We were the underdogs and nobody thought we had a chance. For the last three or four years, we’ve been there – second, third – up there. To finally win something, especially when no one even considered us, is great.”

Party at Pepe’s: In the beginning of the season, we planned a party at [Robe Pepe’s] house if we won counties. We’re going straight to Rob’s house and having a crazy party… He thought we had a shot, but he wasn’t too confident. He probably thought it was 50/50 we could win it.”

-- Sincerest apologies to Nicholas Eckert of Comsewogue. In Sunday’s article on the Suffolk tournament, it said that he’s from Commack. That was my fault and I’m sorry. Kudos again to Eckert for rolling a 1,410 series, which was second best in the tournament. He also had a 279 in Game 1 and helped lead the Warriors to a third-place finish.

-- Props to Bay Shore senior Julian Valdaro, who had a 298 in Game 6. He had a 1,252 series.