Safety first as CDYST makes return
They’re baby steps at this point but pointed in the right direction.
The Capital District Youth Scholarship Tour, in its 11th season, took the fall off as bowling centers adjusted to COVID -19 protocols. The tour came back last week with a two-day, pandemic-sensitive holiday tournament at East Greenbush.
The success there has led co-tournament director Mark Taylor to add a stop Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16 and 17, at Patel’s Kingston Lanes.
“We’re going to take it inch by inch,” Taylor said Monday. “I have some plans to do a few more.”
Over the past decade, the tour has awarded more than $170,000 in scholarship money to bowlers in the Capital Region and beyond.
With the Joey Schmidt Capital District Junior Pro-scoring League — known as the traveling league — on hiatus, and the high school season limited because of COVID restrictions, the return of the CDYST is welcome to young bowlers.
“We stayed on hiatus through the fall,” Taylor said. “Given the late opening by the bowling centers and frankly my personal lack of comfort with the whole COVID situation, I wanted to get a lay of the land, see how things are going, what are people doing for social distancing and precautions. I just didn’t feel comfortable jumping right back into the fray, potentially putting other people at risk. We continue to take a cautious approach on things, which is why we’ve modified the format in such a way.”
The East Greenbush tournament was a simple six-game block with no match play.
“I’m not in favor of any kind of format that crosses pairs — shared surfaces and all that stuff,” Taylor said. “I’ve come up with a format that takes social distancing and uses it to our advantage. We’re skipping every other pair, so we’re putting one pattern on their first pair, then once everybody’s done, you go to your next pair on a new pattern.”
Registration is done virtually, and scoring is kept at the control desk. “We checked them in as they walked in, and they went right to their pair,” Taylor said.
Squad times for Kingston are 1 p.m. Jan. 16 (maximum 16 bowlers) and 10 a.m. Jan. 17 (maximum 32). The deadline to register for the Kingston tournament is Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Local scene
Edward Pietrasz of Dryden (Tompkins County) took away $325 in scholarship money in the CDYST Holiday Gold Tournament at East Greenbush, winning the overall scratch competition with a 1,379 six-game total. Shane Hecker of Cassville (Oneida County) was second with 1,318, and Zach Bogholtz of Nassau third at 1,301. Eliana Occhino of Syracuse won the girls’ division with 1,123. ... Nate Purches of Marlborough, Mass., posted the top four-game scratch score of 915 in the Holiday Open at Towne Academy. Pietrasz was second (867) and Brendan Wrights of Fairport (Monroe County) third (865). Olivia Decitise of Troy was top among the girls at 793.
For the third straight time, PBA50 touring pro Brian Leclair of Cohoes got a new year off to a good start, taking home the $2,000 top prize in the seventh annual New Year’s Day Tournament at Kingpin’s Alley. Leclair rolled a 1,318 six-game block (219.7 average) to finish 20 pins ahead of runner-up B.J. Rucinski of Albany. There were 74 entries, down 11 from last year but a strong turnout considering out-of-state travel restrictions. ... Tyriq Ferguson of Albany rolled an 803 triple, two pins higher than John Popson of Albany, to capture the $300 winner’s prize in the New Year’s Day Handicap Tournament at Uncle Sam. A full field of 64 participated.
Dave Rice of Shaftsbury, Vt., won in the New Year’s Day No-tap Tournament at Barbecue Recreation with a 1,457 five-game total. Mitch Andrew of Hoosick Falls was second at 1,387.