Big games: Super bowl Saturday
Merritt, Arrington, Burica come through
It was a champion sight Saturday in Orland Park.
There were 228 bowlers spread over 48 lanes at Orland Bowl in the biggest sectional for bowlers rolling at the same time in the 55 years of Beat the Champions.
Erica Merritt, John Burica and Anthony Arrington came up biggest in the Section 4/ Will County Sectional.
Burica and Arrington topped the 124 men with 781s. Merritt edged Deborah Anderson by one pin — 755754 — for best among the 104 women.
“Iwas in a group with good ladies [lanes 23-24],’’ said Merritt, a Chicagoan who is marketing manager for the World’s Finest Chocolate. “I started slow but was able to kick out two good games.’’
Good thing because Merritt, who advanced from Burr Oak Bowl, only had eight pins of handicap.
Burica, who advanced from Palos Lanes, also only had eight pins of handicap. But he made good use of 14 strikes in a row from the first game to the second. He left a 4-9 split on the 11th ball in the second game to just miss his first 300.
“I didn’t have to move most of the day,’’ said Burica, a Palos Heights man who is an electrical engineer for Scientific Games in Chicago. “I got lined up in practice, and it never varied much.’’
Arrington, who also advanced from Burr Oak, rolled a scratch 781, including a 279 in the second game.
“It was a great look,’’ said Arrington, a Blue Island man who’s a DEG technician for AT&T. “I was just hoping I could keep carrying.’’
In the first 54 years the Sun-Times and the Chicagoland Bowling Proprietors Association co-sponsored BTC, more than 5.7 million entries from league bowlers have carried on the charitable tradition, raising more than $2.7 million.
And again, the top prize for the women’s winner (Lan-Oak Lanes, March 6) and men’s winner (Elk Grove Bowl, March 13) will be a Ford Focus from the Chicagoland Ford Dealers.