American Bowling Congress

Mark Bowers of Aberdeen finished seventh overall and won $5,600 in the American Bowling Congress Bud Light Masters in Toledo, Ohio, this past weekend.Bowers went 5-2 in the match play competition, just missing the cutoff for the five-man stepladder finals. Doug Kent of Canandaigua, N.Y., won the tournament, beating George Branham of Indianapolis in a two-frame rolloff for the title.

Debbie Kuhn of Baltimore finished fifth in the recent Women's All-Star Association Showboat Champions Tournament held in Atlantic City, N.J.Kuhn, who had a 1,875 in the qualifying round, was 4-2 in the championship round and knocked down 1,270 pins to earn $375. Valerie Mentzer, with 1,387 pins, was the winner and took home $1,250.Carol Tracey of Jessup finished fourth in a companion Sweeper Tournament, knocking down 1,026 pins and earning $300.Dolores Cook of Westminster finished 16th in the same event with 994 pins and won $130; Gwen Purcell of Fort Washington had a 975 for 25th and $96; and Marge Melvin of Newark, Del., had 955 for 32nd and $88.In the Showboat Golden Girls Tournament, Cook was second with 994 pins and won $175; Purcell was fourth with 975 pins and won $112; Ada Bylsma of Odenton had 971 pins and won $90; and Evelyn Carroll of Baltimore knocked down 905 pins to win $40.*Tony Fogler rolled the highest series of the year at Country Club Lanes with a 286-278-268832 in the WPOC League.

Ed and Jackie Lanehart, retired and avid tenpin bowlers, are Ellicott City residents who do their league bowling at Brunswick Normandy and their tournament bowling wherever there's a tournament.During a recent seven-week period, Ed Lanehart played in tournaments in Tulsa, Okla.; Baton Rouge, La.; and Las Vegas, Nev. His wife joined him for the last two trips."Last year there were no Senior Olympics and the ABC Nationals were held in Cincinnati so that's where we went, and of course, the Hi Rollers in Vegas," he said.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Although three technical fouls were assessed the BayRunners in their 124-103 loss at New Mexico last night, the team may need an altitude adjustment more than an attitude adjustment. Coach Terry Truax joked after the game that before the BayRunners' next contest, also at New Mexico on Monday night, "We should probably go to Santa Fe [60 miles north of Albuquerque] and make everyone run back." His team had an up-and-down performance last night, falling behind early, then by 15 right before halftime.

Lee Brosius of Odenton knows a little bit about bowling.Using a 16-pound Blue Hammer, Brosius was third in the scratch doubles with his partner, Dave Hart, and also earned cash in the scratch singles, in the Hanover (Pa.) Bowling Centre's tournament, which ran May through Sept. 30.On the weekend of Sept. 29 and 30, he had the top singles series score of 859. And he teamed up with Wilson Rowe that same weekend to fire a 640 set to go with Rowe's 614 for a total of 1,254 and 10th place in the tournament.

Bruce Hollen Jr. captured the All-Events crown in the recently completed Baltimore City Bowling Championships at Fair Lanes Kings Point in Randallstown.Hollen, who had a scratch total of 2,252, earns a trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the American Bowling Congress Masters Tournament in 1992. Hollen also won the scratch singles title with 793.Other winners included: Smooth Five in team scratch, 3,594; Jeff Minster and Roy Harris, scratch doubles, 1,485; Dan Cullen and Tom Russo, handicap doubles, 1,581; Jim Stanbaugh, handicap singles, 821; and John Brezzen, all-events handicap, 2,450.

There were seven 300 games and two 299 efforts in the past two weeks at Country Club Lanes.Rolling perfect games were Bill Grauling, Jerry Nowacki, Jeff Harding, Jerry Hosza, Paul Manuel, Robin Gee and Chuck Tillman. Missing perfection by one pin were Steve Berkett and Robin Whittaker. Whittaker, bowling in the Chesapeake Mixed League, also had a 744 set, and Gee, rolling the Starfires League, had a 745 set.Irv Roswall rolled a 298 game and Mike Jeffries rolled a 297 in the Baltimore Men's Scratch Classic League, also at Country Club Lanes, and Lance Hunsinger rolled an 803 series in the Scratch Triples League.

Antonio Pasquale Moscato, a retired registered nurse and champion bowler, died of a heart attack March 17 at Union Hospital in Elkton. The Northeast resident was 74. Mr. Moscato was born and raised in Canandaigua, N.Y., where he was an outstanding high school baseball player. He was known for his 94 mph fastball and once struck out 19 batters in seven innings. Rather than attend Syracuse University, where he had been offered a full scholarship, Mr. Moscato signed with the Boston Braves and pitched for their Jacksonville minor league team, until a line drive shattered his wrist and ended his career.

Another of the Baltimore area's longstanding duckpin and tenpin bowling alleys is closing its doors. After 40 years of operation, Bowl America Inc. will close its lanes at 11973 Reisterstown Road on Sunday. The bowling alley is the second with duckpin lanes - a Baltimore tradition in which players use 5-inch balls to knock down short, squat pins - to close in the metropolitan area in less than a year. Last fall, Southway Bowling Center in South Baltimore closed to make way for upscale apartments.

Ella Mae Ritchie was 96 years old when the corners of the afghans began giving her trouble. At that age, your fingers are not as nimble as they once were.Ella Mae Boone, her daughter, would help her mother by tearing out the crochet and redoing the corners.That, to put it mildly, infuriated Ella Mae Ritchie; she quit.It takes a strong-minded woman to be a farm wife all her life and raise four children. Ella Mae Ritchie did not take kindly to being interfered with in her crocheting.Ella Mae Boone is just one of her children and lives in Woodbine; Virginia Brothers, another daughter, lives in Gamber.