Aaron Lorincz Completes Triple Crown at Mayflower Lanes
The Budweiser Michigan Majors Bowling Association’s first Major of the year was held at Mayflower Lanes in Redford March 15-16. One of the MMBA’s youngest stars Aaron Lorincz of Saginaw added his name to the list of Triple Crown winners by defeating Frank Snodgrass of Roseville three games to one at our annual Match Game Championship. Only Gene Stus and Larry Walker have accomplished this feat.
Lonnie Jones of Ann Arbor and Ken Wyatt of Sterling Heights paced the field of 43 bowlers with a six game qualifying score of 1442. The cut score to make the 16 man semi-final match game bracket was a 6-game qualifying score of 1243.
Frank Snodgrass started match play on Saturday afternoon as the 11th seed and eliminated 6th seed Scott Christie 2-1, 191-210, 238-215, 237-209. Snodgrass faced Abed Daher of Dearborn in his first match on Sunday and won 2-0 in a couple of close games, 236-212, 239-231. In the semi-final round Snodgrass defeated Mike Chism of Farmington Hills 2-0, 239-180, 196-165 to move into the championship match.
Aaron Lorincz started match play as the 4th seed and defeated Terry Dockery of Fraser 2-1 in a close match 175-166, 194-211, 244-206. The first match on Sunday Lorincz matched up against Todd Sim of Belle River, Canada. This match couldn’t have been any closer. Lorincz won the first game 236-214 and Sim won game two 214-205. The deciding game came down to the 10th frame. Sim needed a double to win the game and got the first strike, however, came up light on the second shot leaving a 2 pin. With the spare conversion both players ended up tied 254-254. Sim started the 9th & 10th frame roll-off leaving the 3-6 spare and failed to convert. Lorincz stepped up and threw a strike in his 9th frame and 10th to shut the door on Sim 47-39. Lorincz lined up nicely in his semi-final match against Corey Miller of Grand Blanc. Lorincz started with the front 8 in game one to win 259-215, then started with the front 8 in game 2 to win easily 279-233.
The championship match is a best 3 out of 5 games and looked like it would be a shootout as Snodgrass captured game 1 280-247. In game two the scores came down for both players as the lanes transitioned with Lorincz grinding out a 214-182 victory to even the match at a game a piece. Lorincz pounded the pocket in game three and was rewarded with a 249-224 win taking a 2-1 lead. In game 4 Lorincz again was in the pocket in game four but couldn’t put strikes together. In the 10th frame Lorincz needed a mark to shut door and missed a 10 pin to open the door for Snodgrass. Snodgrass needed a double in the 10th but came up high on his first ending his day with another 2nd place finish - Snodgrass finished 2nd last month at Sterling Lanes. For Lorincz, this was not only his 5th MMBA title in his young career but also completed the triple crown which includes wins at the Match Game, Championship, and Tournament of Champions. Lorincz received the first place check of $1,000 along with a beautiful trophy provided by Pro Am Bowling and Trophy. Snodgrass received a check for $500 for his 2nd place finish.
A big thank you to Vicki Ingham and the rest of the staff at Mayflower Lanes for their support and hospitality. I would also recognize our great sponsors, A.J. Mathews of West Side Distributors, Bill DeFrance of General Maintenance Works, and of course Storm Products. Our next tournament will be held at Wayne Bowl in Wayne on April 19th with a start time of 10:00 a.m.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Aaron Lorincz (Saginaw) $1,000
2. Frank Snodgrass (Roseville) $ 500
3. Corey Miller (Grand Blanc) $ 250
4. Mike Chism (Farmington Hills) $ 250
5. Abed Daher (Dearborn) $ 180
6. Todd Sim (Belle River, Canada) $ 180
7. Robert Mireles (Lansing) $ 180
8. Adam Dee (Birmingham) $ 180
9. Ken Wyatt (Sterling Heights) $ 120
10. Lonnie Jones (Ann Arbor) $ 120
11. Scott Christie (Southgate) $ 120
12. Ryan Nelson (Clinton Twp.) $ 120
13. Kurry Crayton (Pontiac) $ 120
14. Justin O’Hara (Westland) $ 120
15. Terry Dockery (Fraser) $ 120
16. Nick Wissinger (Clinton Twp.) $ 120