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Three-man race for top bowler

By DEREK LaRIVIERE
Published April 28, 2006

Jimmy Hearl bowled his third perfect game of the year last Friday night during Spring Hill Lanes' Friday Primetimers League.

It was the only perfect game over the past two weeks. The score further distances Hearl with a group of two others as the county's elite bowlers.

Along with Jay Olsen (four 300s) and Walter Dry (three 300s), Hearl completes a trifecta of competitors that start and ends the discussion about the county's top bowler for 2005-06.

Right now, Olsen leads the race with his four perfect games and two 800 series. Over the past two weeks, Olsen has only strengthened his case, making the list of top scores five times.

Four of those scores happened during the week of April 3. Among his scores included a 289 game along with a 788 series.

Dry also found himself among the high scorers again, with his name gracing the leaders once over the past two weeks. He tossed a 261 game and 723 series during the Gator High Rollers League at Spring Hill Lanes.

With only a month left in the season, the outlook could come down to the wire.

Kevin's Pro Shop League regular Al Valenca has his best effort of the season two weeks ago when he came up with a 298.

The 298 was not the story though. Valenca joined the rarified air of 800 series territory.

Only a handful of county bowlers have reached the mark this season, a highlight that some consider even more difficult than a perfect game.

The 800 series was Valenca's first and his close call with a 298 would have been his first perfect game.

Twice before he had thrown 11 consecutive strikes, once in 2002 when he tossed a heartbreaking 299 and once in 2004 when he threw 290.

Melanie O'Grady continued her stranglehold on her reputation as the top female bowler in the county.

She was the only female competitor to toss a 700 in the past two weeks, a mark she has hit consistently this season. Her regular league is the Gator High Rollers League at Spring Hill Lanes.

While she has not bowled a perfect game at Spring Hill Lanes, her Hernando County alley, O'Grady has tossed two 300s this season, one at Dunedin Lanes and one at Hudson Bowl. The scores were thrown a little over a week apart in March.

Add to those the 800 series she registered at Dunedin Lanes in February, and the 22-year-old has a total of seven 800 series to her credit.

[Last modified April 28, 2006, 01:16:18]