Home >  Sports >  Notebooks

Sunday, March 18, 2001

After Denise Komenda left the 2-8 and then chopped the 8-pin for an open in the first frame of her first game, she stomped off the alley at Kennedy Lanes and kicked her bag.

"I got really mad at myself," she said. "I'm telling myself, 'This is stupid. I'm a better bowler than this. It got me going."

That's an understatement.

Komenda strung together 10 strikes and left an 8-pin on her final toss for a 278. She followed that with a 279 and finished with a 236 for a 793 series in the Blackie Savatt Memorial League for the highest series by a woman in a predominantly male league in the area.

Komenda's series is one of the highest in the state by a woman.

The 279 matched her high game and she surpassed her previous high series of 739.

Komenda, who averages between 204 and 207 in three other weekly leagues, Debbie Dillinger and Denise Wickline are the only women in the 80-player Blackie Savatt Memorial League. Doc Pritchard, out the past two months with a thumb injury, leads the league with a 223 average.

"In Pittsburgh there are not a lot of good ladies' leagues," said Komenda, 45, a graduate of Montour High School who is a floral designer and manager of a flower shop in Cranberry. "I need to be with the people with the high averages because you learn form them. We bowl with the men for the competition."

On the same night that Komenda rolled a 793, Dave Homol left a 10-pin for a 299.

Komenda and the other women in the league root for each other.

"We always hope for each other to do well," she said. "We all want to beat the men. The guys were all excited for me. If you're good for the team, they want you to bowl for your team. They don't care if you're a man or a woman. They only care how good you are."

Asked to name some of the other top women bowlers in the district, Komenda named, in no particular order, Carol Hargrove, Polly Schwartzel, Marian Stubbs, Debbie Stasiowski, Denise Wickline and Mary Dodds.

Komenda, who starting bowling seriously 15 years ago, played basketball and volleyball in high school.

"I always loved sports," she said. "I started bowling a little late."

The tournament trail

Fred White and Bill Bahney, both from Warren, Ohio, defeated Mike Chontos (Pittsburgh) and Jim Petzel (Pittsburgh), 418-404, in a two-game final to pick up $1,200 as a team in the Saunier Wilhem-sponsored scratch doubles tournament at Freeway Lanes, Zelienople.

Matt Fasnacht (Mars) beat Gary Shawley (Johnstown), 416-411, in a two-game final to win $1,000 as champion of a Saunier Wilhem-sponsored event at Freeway Lanes.

Rich Cardimen won the Miller Lite Head-to-Head tournament for the second consecutive week with a 213-189 victory against Joe Brown in the final.

Double perfecto

Jeff Poholsky (219 average) threw two 300 games on the same night in the Beaver Valley All-Star Travel League at Beaver Valley Bowl. They were the 26th and 27th perfect games for Poholsky, who had a 237 for an 837 series.

"I was in a really good groove," said Poholsky, 40, whose high series is 849. "I was wrapped up in the match and everything was working well."

He had 33 strikes and no opens in 36 frames. He converted the 3-6 in the eighth frame of Game 1 and the 10-pin in the fourth frame and 4-7-10 split in the seventh frame of Game 2.

"In the 10th frame, it still gets to be exciting," he said. "A 300 is a thrill, but the first one was the most nerve-wrecking."

Perfecto

Bob Singer (194 average) tossed his first 300 sandwiched around games of 168 and 194 for a 662 series in the TU-Seven League at FunFest Entertainment Center in Harmarville.

Charles Greer threw a 300 in the Coors Light League at Noble Manor Lanes in Crafton.

What's happening

Saunier Wilhem and Sharpsburg Lanes are co-sponsors of a handicap tournament today at Sharpsburg Lanes, with $1,000 for first place. The entry fee is $29.