43
Maplewood boys enter sectional at 11-1
MECCA
Unlike a basketball floor in a gym or an ice hockey rink, the surface preparation for a match in a bowling alley is unique.
That’s why visiting teams are sometimes stumped getting in the groove.
Maplewood may find itself in such a position when the Ohio High School Athletic Association Mahoning-Trumbull sectional is held Friday at Bell-Wick Bowl.
Maplewood enters with an 11-1 record after beating McDonald on Wednesday.
“It’ll be a battle, that’s for sure,” first-year coach Mark McCloskey said of both the competition on Friday and mastering the lane conditions at Bell-Wick, where 24 boys teams and 23 girls team will face the alley’s “house shot.”
“It depends on whether the kids find the lines fast enough,” McCloskey said.
He said that Maplewood’s home alley, Cortland Lanes, is known for its dryness.
“When you’re at a place where it’s well-oiled, it takes a little adjustment,” said McCloskey, a postman by day and bowling coach by the time he’s finished with work in late afternoon.
“Oil slows a ball and makes a bowler use the outside line instead of swinging it, so it’s a little different for them,” the coach said. “When it’s dry, you can crank it faster, but when it’s oily, it’s slower and you’ve got to use the outside line because you don’t want to go through the oil.”
Even at tournaments, McCloskey’s Rockets held their own and handled the surface pattern, such as for the Ed Zitnik Memorial at Bell-Wick during the Christmas break, when Maplewood placed third.
“Still, it depends on who’s carrying [strikes] that day,” McCloskey said. “You can bury it, but you might leave a 10-pin or a stone-8 [stubborn 8-pin].
Maplewood has three upperclassmen, a sophomore and a girl who are solid varsity bowlers. Averaging in the 190s are senior Matt Horner, juniors Justin Gardner and Chris McCoy and first-year bowler Mark McCloskey II, a sophomore and the coach’s son.
Against Lowellville on Monday, McCloskey II started with eight strikes for a 275 game, then added the front three in the second game for a 479 set.
“He’s becoming one of our better bowlers,” coach McCloskey said of his son.
Maplewood, one of few schools to proudly display a banner in its gym in support of its bowling teams, is also one of a few to have a girl on the boys squad.
Phyllis Armstrong is a senior who is averaging 192.
“It’s very tough for a girl [to bowl against boys],” coach McCloskey said of Armstrong, who had games of 234 and 191 on Monday.
Maplewood’s only loss so far was to Warren Harding at Crest Lanes.
During the 2011-12 season, Maplewood went 14-0, including a win over Harding.
“They had to come to Cortland [Lanes] and lost,” said McCloskey, who took over for Tim Pappagallo for 2012-2013. “This year, we went to Crest and Harding had two kids who came out of the gate with a 240 and a 230 and my kids couldn’t adjust fast enough and we lost by 300 pins that night. Normally, we’re beating teams by 400-some pins and we even won one match by a thousand pins.”
Ironically, Lowellville is a team that beat Harding this season.
“All in all, we’ve had a very good season,” McCloskey said.
After sectionals, Maplewood has one more regular-season match against Youngstown Christian at Wedgewood.
Under Pappagallo and before Maplewood lost Zac Thompson to graduation, the Rockets reached the district at Twin-Star Lanes in Kent.
Maplewood also has Nick Horner, the freshman brother of Matt, who is averaging in the mid-to-high 160s.
“He’s an alternate or sub this season, so he’s the next-best one to make it,” McCloskey said. “Next year, we’re looking for him to start varsity.”
McCloskey’s flexible work schedule will become more flexible when the Postal Service drops Saturday delivery.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.
On the plus side, it would afford McCloskey more time to be with his bowlers.