Fitch girls bowlers four pins short of state

The Fitch girls bowling team fell four pins short of advancing to its 12th state tournament appearance in the last 14 seasons.

The Falcons rolled a 3,549, but finished sixth and missing out on the fifth and final state qualifying spot at the NEO district at Twin Star Lanes last Sunday. The top five teams advanced to state next week at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. Massillon Jackson (3,553) took the final state berth.

“It’s a hard loss,” said Fitch coach Don Morrison.

The Falcons trailed Jackson by six pins prior to the final two Bakers. In Game 5, the Falcons nipped Jackson, 167-156, to gain a five-pin advantage. But Jackson outscored Fitch 196-187 in the final Baker.

In the opening game of the afternoon, a 906 put the Falcons in second place.

“We did well our first three games, but our first two games of Baker hurt us,” Morrison said of scores of 152 and 147 that dropped the Falcons to fifth.

Then the shocker, when Fitch rolled a 113 in the third Baker game.

“That No. 3 game buried us,” Morrison said.

Part of the problem may have been equipment delays.

“We had breakdowns and repairs and had to wait so long that the girls got tight,” the coach said of machine shut-downs on lanes 5 and 6.

“We didn’t bowl the way we know how to,” Morrison said of the early Baker games. “We made a run at the end, but it wasn’t enough.”