Eagles look to jump in Oly League mix

Bailey, Schmittler will lead KSS into bowling season.

By AARON MANAGHAN

Sports editor

The Klahowya girls bowling team didn’t need a lot of time to gel this year.

The Eagle rollers, coming off a 2006-07 season that saw Chelsea Schmittler advance to state as the team went as far as districts, already knew each other pretty well off the lanes.

Some of that was to be expected, with Schmittler, Paige Antuna, Serenity Jenson and others returning from last year’s team. But the connections go far beyond bowling.

“We’re already a team,” Klahowya coach Loree Hippe said. “And some played volleyball together this year. Some played fastpitch together last year. So for the most part, they know each other. It’s really nice.”

That’s made it easy for Klahowya to get right back to business after taking third place in the Olympic League a year ago.

“It’s good,” Hippe said. “There’s not that many new ones.”

But that doesn’t mean the new bowlers on the Eagles’ roster won’t make contributions this season.

Of Klahowya’s 14 rollers, eight are returners. Leading the way for the newcomers is freshman Carys Bailey, who led the Eagles with a high game of 188 and high series of 342 in the Eagles’ 7-0 loss to Olympic on Thursday at All Star Lanes & Casino. Bailey also led the Eagles against Sequim in a 7-0 win on Tuesday, with a high game of 180 and series of 344.

“She brings in some consistency,” Hippe said.

Schmittler, who went to state in the first season individuals were eligible, returns as the team’s lone senior. As a result, Hippe said she’s taken on a stronger leadership role this season.

“The girls elected her team captain Tuesday,” Hippe said. “She’ll do fine.”

Schmittler rolled games of 143 and 134 against Olympic Thursday.

Now, Hippe said the team is just working on staying consistent and improving as the season wears on.

“Basically, it’s just seeing if they can improve,” Hippe said. “We’re gonna work on picking up spares as usual. Some of them are a little lower because we’re really working on their form and technique. It’s a little different than what they’re used to. But they’re coming along quite well.”

As for the Olympic League, which finished as a neck-and-neck showdown between Bremerton and Olympic last year, Hippe said she sees her team sizing up about the same this year.

“We’re pretty much in the same position we were last year,” she said. “We’re kind of in the middle. Bremerton’s got a really strong squad again. And Oly’s got a strong squad.”

Hippe expects bowlers like Breanna Stanley, Jennifer Donaldson and Shannon Frey to enter into the mix as well.

The Narrows and Olympic leagues have adopted a new scoring system this year designed to better prepare bowlers for the postseason. Last year, each team rolled two full games with a Baker game used in a tie-break situation. Hippe said that resulted in many kids not being as comfortable in Bakers, which play a large role in scoring at districts and state.

“We wanted the kids to have the experience of anchor games before the end of the year,” Hippe said.

Now, the scoring works on a point system. Teams bowl two full games against one another, with the winner getting two points for each game. The teams then roll two Baker games, each worth one point. Another point is then awarded for the highest total pin count.

Klahowya will travel to Port Orchard’s Hi-Joy Bowl Tuesday for a 3 p.m. match with Peninsula.