NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Drury Blue Devils bowling team captured the 2012 Massachusetts State High School Bowling Title last weekend.
The team traveled on March 3-4 to Gardner Ten Pins in Gardner, where they outpaced 15 other high schools to take the state title for the first time.
Berkshire County showed how strong the local high school bowling program is by filling all four top spots after the preliminary rounds of match play and Baker matches. Pittsfield High (3037 pins), Lee High (2953 pins), Drury (2939) and Taconic High (2935 pins) advanced out of the preliminary rounds to a stepladder format.
Finalist Teams
Rank
Team
Totals
1
Pittsfield
3037
2
Lee
2953
3
Drury
2939
4
Taconic
2935
In the two-game quarter finals, the Blue Devil bowlers came back from a 9-pin deficit to beat Taconic 416-405. Next the Blue Devils took on a young, talented Lee team and beat them 361-321. This set up a rematch of the 2011 State Finals against Pittsfield High School.
This year's Drury team rebounded from a 35-pin deficit after Game 1 to beat the two-time defending State Champion Pittsfield High School 393-385. Blue Devil senior Michael Johnson was awarded the tournament MVP. At one stretch in the competition, Johnson threw 19 consecutive strikes across the five Baker games.
During the second half of the weekend, all boys with regular season averages over 170 and all girls with a 140 or higher average competed for the Massachusetts State Individual Championship. Once again, Berkshire County showed its strength by placing seven out of eight boys and four out of six girls in the semi-finals. Seeded No. 1 for the boys was Johnson and seeded No. 1 for the girls was the Blue Devils freshman Kayla Field.
In the boys' stepladder finals, Gardner's Adam Cormier defeated Taconic's Peter Dubin 237-180. Cormier then defeated Lee High School's Tyler Warner 202-162. In the championship round, Johnson continued his clutch bowling and defeated Cormier 235-202, making it a clean sweep for the senior.
In the girls' stepladder finals, Monument Mountain High's Abby Rossi defeated St. Peter Marian's Stephanie Jurgiel. After a tying score of 169, Rossi won a two-frame roll-off 49-28. Rossi then rallied in the ninth and 10th frames to beat Field 192-182.
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It was an amazing weekend watching these young adults bowl. They showed great sportmanship, teamwork and the love of bowling. They are great champions! I am so proud of them.
Great job by all the students and especially by the Blue Devils. Great representatives of the Berkshires. Also a terrific job of coaching and writing the article by Mr Cote.
well written...great job by the team who showed us the true meaning of being a team and not just individuals...very proud of these young adults who never gave up...berkshire county should be proud of its programs...great bowlers, coaches and fans...nice to see all the parents from the berkshires pulling for each other..i am glad to have made some awesome freindships thru the years as well as connor has...connor and i wish nothing but the best for the bowlers and their families in the future
