7/16/03 Al Howerton soared to heights never previously experienced as he teamed with Larry Craig to win the Handicap Doubles Tournament last Saturday at Lompoc/s Ocean Lanes. Al was absolutely devastating as he rolled an 878 four-game scratch series and added 224 pins handicap for an astounding overall 1102 total. Mercy!

Larry, meanwhile, struggled for the first two games then found the line to finish strong adding 819 to Al's total for an overall team winning score of 1921. Man, were they hot or not?

But they needed every pin for the dynamic duo of Sandi Holder and Jean Wyly returned to defend their title and almost did. Sandi shot an awesome 247/1032 and Jean added a superb 190/870 for a second place score of 1902.

John Flores Senior and Vince Culliver finished third with 1807, Paul Ortiz and the Silent Fury Gary Rodriguez fourth with 1787. Rounding off the pay list were Julio Reyes and Jim Socia shooting a respectable 1785 total.

Seventeen teams competed for almost ,800 in prize and bracket money in one of the best turnouts in recent months. Thanks bowlers! The next tournaments at the House of Action are the Super Rainbows scheduled for 7 p.m. on July 19 and 26. See ya there!

Kings and Queens League

Team 4 split with Team 6 and dropped into a tie for first place with the Sandbaggers who won three of four points from The Avengers.

Ed Thorns of the Sandbaggers continued his amazing summer shooting with a splendid 202/554. Teammates Ken Trammell (180/496) and Ed's beloved Sandy (180/467) were instrumental to the victory. The Avenger Gary Gramse fired a decent 234/574 to lead his team.

Top shooter for the night was Monster George Matzie who unleashed a horrific 245/688 set. Shep Robinson also broke a six, a dazzling 238/605 while two Kings decreed themselves respectable 570 shooters: Mark Gonsalves with 218/576 and Ernie Clark with 202/570.

Kathy Walton was queen for the night firing a spectacular 201/546. Tommy Dodson continued to bask in the limelight rolling a terrific 189/536 while Michael Cuthbertson stroked a respectable 169/487 to anchor the honors list.

Ladies ClassicLeague

Nita Phenicie rolled one of her best series in some time, a 226/559 monster-set, but could not gain on Sandy Thorn/s lead of 13 individual match points. Sandy had a rough morning but still managed to win two points to maintain her one-half point lead over Nita.

Two other classy ladies broke five: Bubbling Bobbi Thompson continued her outstanding scoring with a decent 180/515 and Amy Davis just peeked over the five mark with a 187/506. Wanda Jensen tried for a five but fell a couple of pins short with an okay 166/493.

Meanwhile, Margaret Mang and Virginia Bettencourt took advantage of everyone else clobbering everyone else and increased their league lead to 4.5 points. Four weeks remaining … stay tuned!

Grey Panthers League

Fred Hierholzer took an extra Centrum Silver and captured weekly scoring honors over a hard-charging Art Doherty. Fred was as steady as a rock shooting 203/204/198/605 while Art used a huge 232 game to amass his 601 set.

The Avenger Gary Gramse was close to the leaders with a 234/598. Ernie Clark had a good set (224/585) as did Joe Bousquet (201/577) while Ken Martin banged out a splendid 224/576. Ken's beloved Chong, meanwhile, blasted a sensational 1967/491.

George Lucaric was all smiles after firing a 200/554. Antony Overton hit a solid 201/524 and Harold Moore continued to do severe damage to the pins, this time a great 181/481 set. Anchoring the honors list was Carl Watkins who bested his average all three games for a terrific 140/373 series.

Wednesday Match Point League

What's with this guy Jim Socia? The first time he bowled against the Corser/Craig team, he shot a mind-boggling 640 series, then goes into a quasi-funk. Last week he faces Corser/Craig again and guess what, yep, bangs out a huge 224/620. Great shooting Jim! May the bowling Gods forever fill your thumbhole with silly putty when you bowl against the Corser/Craig team!

Meanwhile, The Green Machine (Ken Senior) put his equipment in overdrive and scorched the lanes for a league leading 257/710 series. Awesome!

Chino Vasquez tried to keep up with the "Machine" but a miserable third game cost him dearly. He finished with 257/678.

The big money maker for the night was the Silent Fury Gary Rodriguez who used a fantastic 225/664 and 19 pins handicap to win the third game and series side pots.

Larry Craig fired another great 254/663 set to maintain his 219 average, Ernie Clark scored a decent 213/627, just a tad ahead of Robert Thompson's 236/624. The top distaff shooter was Patricia Lewis with a fabulous 214/619. Nice!

Summer Fun Bunch League

Well now, how about Ken Ledgerwood (215/601) and Ernie Clark (206/593) scattering pins all over the pin decks and leading their team to a romp over the former first place team, Heavy Duty Cycles.

In fact, the Cycles were unceremoniously dumped into third place as Team 2 toppled the X-Men 6-2 to claim second. Chris Moseby led Team 2 to victory with a splendid 242/628 set. Joe Hernandez chipped in with a decent 203/565 while sub Patricia Lewis blasted a respectable 221/560. The Silent Fury Gary Rodriguez also subbed, struggled, but still managed 187/553.

Elsewhere, Mike Brooks unleashed a 226/634 gem while Vince Culliver cursed missing an easy spare, costing him a six (217/599). Fred Hierholzer was all smiles after shooting a 234/595 as was Jim Coldren nosing out Larry Craig 202/581 to 215/580.

Joe Bousquet stroked a splendid 192/576 and Art Munoz blitzed the lanes for a humongous 247 game and 573 set. Ron Morrison patted himself on the back after shooting three consistent dandies for a 546 series. He was joined in the back patting segment by Chuck Hamilton (201/543) and Paul Feeley (215/542).

Gina Phelps opened with a magnificent 247, sputtered, and finished with 541. Nita Phenicie didn't sputter. She threw a monster 219 second game to finish with 541 also. Great shooting ladies!

Rick Rivera anchored the honors list with an excellent 177/518.

Men/s Nite Out League

Two giants, both classic bowlers in every sense of the word, showed why last Friday in a magnificent demonstration of strike stroking. Giant One was Super Stroke Doug Fennell with a sensational 226/256/259/741 series. Giant Two was The Silent Fury Gary Rodriguez who unleashed a fantastic 200/268/231/699 set. Wow!!!

Larry Romero continued his super shooting with a terrific 213/621 while two teammates battled each other for top scores77 Fred Sciurba won with a 224/584 over John Lewis's 196/580.

Richard Ambrosi Senior hit a decent 222/577 while Lee Walker, a beginner 130 average stroker, walloped a stupendous 171/501, and lastly, Pernell Rush came within an eyelash of a five, tumbling a 201/499 to anchor the honors list.

Karl Corser can be reached at 733-1171, or corserkc@aol.com