Our preseason began Monday against Dutchtown at All Star Lanes in Baton Rouge. Denham Springs entered the matchup with a depleted roster on both the girls and boys side teaching the valuable pre-season lesson that deep rosters are going to be a tremendous asset this season. The boys were short three starters and the girls were short two starters. The Dutchtown boys were also short a starter. So begins our COVID challenged season.
The Dutchtown boys proved in their first game that they are going to be able to hang with any team in the region dropping a stout 661 on their low lane to and a 1254 overall to jump out to a 7-1 advantage early that proved too much to overcome in the end. The Jackets closed the gap somewhat in game two and took game 3 by a margin of 6-2. Dutchtown won the scrimmage on the boys side by the final score of 18-9.
Starting 6 and junior Cade Fletcher led the team with three wins in the match and a 588 (205) series. Freshman Cooper Bush bowled his high game today with a 188 from the 3 spot.
The Dutchtown girls are returning a solid squad of mostly sophomores and you can see the team growth from last season based on their starting averages vs. their scrimmage performance. The girls match started off equally lopsided with a 7-1 decision for Dutchtown which they would repeat similarly for the remaining games. Dutchtown ended up taking the match 22-5. The girls team will face Dutchtown in the regular season.
Audrey Cedotal led the girls with a 467 (182) and finished with a 2-1 advantage in the 6 spot.
For both teams this was the first experience many bowlers have had with head to head competition outside of friendlies in practice. We shook off some nerves and look to an improved performance in our next scrimmage.
The Jackets will face off against Albany in the second scrimmage of the season at Tangi Lanes in Hammond on Jan 20. This will be a preview for the girls of a venue they will compete in later this season. For both teams it will be the final tune-up in preparation for the start of the season.
Cade Fletcher lines up for the strike against Dutchtown