Providence Senate Wins National Roll-off 2005

On May 20-22, Coaches Monica and Marty along with the four member squad that won the Eastern Regional Junior Championship Tournament in New Jersey this past March, traveled to Detroit, Michigan to compete in the NBA Anthony J. Roberts Junior Championship Roll-Off. This was the first time in the history of our program that we have ever made it to this national stage. We really wanted to make a good showing and also represent for not only our program, but the entire Eastern Region. Our team members were Justin Scott-Jones (team captain - picture left), Rai Doblmeier (picture bottom right) , Randy Hagemoser and Chris Page as our anchor.

The competition at this event was top notch. The Southern Region was represented by a team from Memphis, TN. The Western Region brought in a stacked team of very talented bowlers led by Team USA member Mark French, who averages 228. The Central Region bowlers were from Cleveland, OH and this was their second straight appearance at the Roll-Offs. They were the most experienced team and you could see it in the way that they handled themselves at the event. They were a very great group (James, William, Jason and Antwoine) and we connected with them right from the jump.

We felt very good about our chances coming into the event just based on how hard we have been practicing for the last three weeks and also because we felt that our team chemistry was fantastic. Our game plan was to minimize mistakes (such as splits) and also to fill da frames as much as possible. Oh yeah, and shoot no less than 800 scratch per game with the intent on earning the top seed. Everything went according to plan, we rarely had an open frame and everything else just seemed to fall into place. In our first match we shot an outstanding 876 team scratch series, paced by Rai with a 267 game, Chris with a 219 game and Justin with a 207 game. We left a combined six open frames that first game with four of them splits.

Our second game was our best performance of all. We shot an unbelieveable 883 scratch series. It was an all out TEAM EFFORT with everyone shooting over two-hundred (Rai-235, Chris-224, Randy-220 and Justin-204). The team had only two open frames for that entire game. This game combined with the first one enabled us to earn the top seed in the stepladder team finals (assuring us of no less than a second place finish).

We watched the Western Regional Champions (out of Los Angeles) take down both the Southern and then the Central Regional Champs with some great individual bowling performances led by Jason Dutcher (1007 series after 4 games). They shot a 907 scratch series against Cleveland to advance to the finals against our team in a much anticipated match-up.

This was the match-up that everyone wanted to see. We came out pumped and ready for war (East v. West). This match was considered a wrap by the 4th Frame, as we showed right off the back that we were not intimidated by them. We never let up, despite the fact that they threw in the towel midway through the game. We just kept bowling as if we needed every pin to seal the deal. The final score was 874 to 712 scratch in our favor. The top bowler was Rai, who shot a 264 game and 766 series. Justin bowled a 214 game and Randy went 211 in the finals. No one on the West team shot two-hundred. Rai was the most outstanding bowler at the tournament averaging 255 per game. He now has established himself as an elite bowler in our program, which means that he earned a bowling nickname by Coach Marty for his efforts. Rai will now be known as "MVP" for his most valuable performance in the roll-off. Congratulations Providence Senate for winning the National Championship! Way to Represent! This was an experience that we will cherish forever and hope to get another opportunity to return to the National Roll-Off in the future. Special thanks to Veronica Green (TNBA National Jr. Program Director) for all that she does for the junior bowlers. Rosetta McCall (Providence Senate Adult Secretary) and Joy Long (Providence Senate Adult President) for coming to Detroit early to support the team in its quest for the National Championship.