A big milestone for Devin Peterson helped Marshalltown girls bowling to a win over Ames at Wayward Social on Tuesday.
Peterson rolled her first career 200 game with a 201 in her first 10 frames and the Bobcats beat the Little Cyclones, 2,249-2,093, managing a split with Ames after the Bobcat boys fell short by a 2,924-2,883 margin.
The girls led by 28 pins after the individual round before pulling away in the Bakers with an 800 total that included opening games of 188 and 202 pins.
Peterson, a Clarke University bowling recruit, added a 172 in her second game for a high series of 373 for the Bobcats. Kenedy Lammert added a 302; Ariana Villagomez rolled a 262 and Camillya Thomas and Sydney May finished out at 257 and 255 pins, respectively. Delaney Legg chipped in a non-counting 228 series.
“She bowled stellar,” MHS head coach Dustin Peterson said of Devin. “Kenedy had a good series too, first time she’s bowled a 300 series. … I think it was a rough day for some of our girls, and it’s close to break, but the great thing was Cam struggled in her individual games and then came back really strong for us in Bakers as our setup man, she did a great job.”
The Bobcat girls followed their 202 with a 111 for their lowest Baker game of the day, but had enough of an advantage over an Ames team that didn’t score higher than 150 pins in a single Baker game on Tuesday.
“The good thing is we can always switch our lineup around, but tonight it just seemed to work having Devin in that last spot,” Dustin Peterson said. “Another thing we switched is having Ariana in the first spot – typically I put our strongest bowler there to set the tone, but she did a great job in the one and six frames, really good.”
While there were personal bests on the lanes today, Dustin Peterson still feels the Bobcats are 300 pins off their potential heading to the new year.
“We’ve got room to grow, but every one of the gals on varsity and JV have been improving every day, so it’ll come,” Peterson added.
The boys matchup on Tuesday came down to the final Baker game as both teams were exactly tied at 2,721 pins each with 10 frames left to play – the Little Cyclones outscored Marshalltown 203-162 in the final game.
The Bobcats trailed by 13 pins going into the Baker round but immediately turned it around with a 222 and 223 in back to back Bakers to build a 71-pin lead.
“I think we just got complacent and had zero energy the rest of the way,” MHS head coach Nate Clark said.
Aiden Cowan led the Bobcats in the individual games with a 447 series in the season debut for the returning individual state champion. His series included the Bobcats’ high game at a 236. Gage Grieves rolled a 396, Jayden Beichley a 391, Carter McCready rolled 386 and Porter Niedermann turned in a 353. Cayden Slifer added a non-counting 328 series.
“[Cowan] helped tremendously,” Clark said. “1,973 [pins in Round 1] is pretty good, there’s obviously room for improvement, but not bad for week 4. … We’re getting better at picking up spares.”
The Bobcat girls and boys return to action on Jan. 7, 2025 against Mason City at the Comet Bowl in Charles City.