Adam Barta likes to bowl at Sunset Lanes. Actually, Barta doesn’t care where he bowls or in what type of league. Barta who averages between 215 and 242 (the 215 is in a sport PBA shot league) doesn’t have an ego problem and the experience in the PBA sport shot league, no doubt, prepares him for any type condition he may face.
Such was the case on Nov. 15 when he competed on five different types of lane conditions and won the 2009 Sunset Lanes NASCAR sweeper, defeating Tim Pfeifer 1355-1303. Barta averaged 227.4 in the qualifying round and 224 in the championship round (without bonus points).
Mark Ferrara finished 3rd with 1295 and John Doughton was 4th with 1289. Bryan Bailey was 5th with 1271 while Matt Mariano finished 6th with 1138.
For those of you not familiar with the tournament format, there were five different lane conditions ranging from a house shot to sport shots. Both the qualifying and final rounds were shot on the aforementioned conditions.
Ferrara was a model of consistency as he led the qualifying round with 1176 (235.2 average). Barta was 2nd with 1137. Doughton was 3rd with 1135. Bailey was 4th with 1131 while Pfeifer was 5th with 1113. Mariano was the final qualifier with 1077.
High qualifying games were shot by Doughton (297), Pie Rossi (279), Ferrara (268, 259), Bailey (264), Nick Demine (258) and Pfeifer (255, 279).
Each finalist entered the final round receiving position bonus points in order of their finish. Ferrara received 120, Barta 100, Doughton 80, Bailey 60, Pfeifer 40 and Mariano 20.
In the championship round, bowlers also received bonus points per game in order of their finish. The top finisher received 40 and then it decreased in increments of 5 down to 15.
Barta opened the championship round with a 247. When coupled with his position points and bonus points he had 382. Ferrara (22) was 2nd with 362. Pfeifer (253) was 3rd with 333. Doughton (224) was 4th with 329. Mariano (244) was 5th with 294, while Bailey (203) was 6th with 278.
The 2nd game saw a bevy of low scores. However, Barta (189) and Ferrara (193) continued to hold the top spots with 596 and 585. However, Mariano (209) moved into 3rd with 543. Pfeifer (168) was 4th with 521. Bailey (205) moved up to 5th with 518, while Doughton (159) dropped from 4th to 6th with 503.
Scores did improve during the 3rd game and there were some significant changes in the standings. Barta (264) and Ferrara (194) were still 1st and 2nd, but Barta now held a 96-pin lead 900-804. Doughton (256) moved from 6th to 3rd with 794, while Bailey (208) moved up one spot from 5th to 4th with 756. Mariano (184) tumbled to 5th with 742 while Pfeifer (188) was 6th with 729.
More changes occurred after game 4. Barta (194) continued to lead with 1119. However, Doughton (219) moved into 2nd with 1043. Ferrara (189) and Bailey (222) were tied for 3rd with 1013. Pfeifer (243) was 5th with 1012 and appeared ready to make his run. Mariano (184) was 6th with 917.
With a 76-pin lead over Doughton and a 106-pin lead over Ferrara and Bailey, it appeared as though Barta had a lock on the title. He managed a 216 for 1355 and 1st place. However, some late heroics from Pfeifer made the event interesting. Pfeifer shot 251 and cut into Barta’s lead. But, it wasn’t enough and Pfeifer finished 2nd with 1303.
Ferrara (247) finished 3rd with 1295 while Doughton (221) was 4th with 1289. Rounding out the final two positions were Bailey (221) 1271 and Mariano (206) 1138.
Notes: The qualifying field averaged 208.66. The highest average was on the Richmond (house shot) condition with 221.14. The lowest average was on the Bristol (short-oil) shot at 193.4. Other averages on the various conditions were as follows: Charlotte (sport shot 2) 219.61, Darlington (sport shot one) 209.47, and Daytona (long-oil) 200.66. The highest (297) and the lowest (124) games of the qualifying round were on the Charlotte condition.
The finalists averaged 213.53. Final round averages by game were as follows: 1st game (232.16), 2nd game (187.16), 3rd game (215.66, 4th game (204.5) and 5th game 228.16. The high game for the championship round was 264, the lowest was 159.
Gabe D’Angelo is a local bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Writers Association who writes this weekly column for The Herald
