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EBONITE INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS AND PRODUCTS SHINE IN SEASON-ENDING PBA WOMEN’S SERIES SHOWDOWN
Apr 20, 2010
ARLINGTON, Texas – Michelle Feldman, Shannon Pluhowsky and Kelly Kulick put an impressive show as the curtain fell on the 2009-10 PBA Women’s Series season with the PBA Women’s Series Showdown presented by BOWL.COM Sunday on ESPN.
The star of the made-for-television event was Feldman, who was nearly perfect in defeating Pluhowsky and Stefanie Nation in the unique Petraglia Scoring System competition where the low score wins and points are awarded based upon the number of balls need each frame to clear the deck.
In the $25,000 title match, Feldman, a 33-year-old right-hander, struck on her first four shots, converted a pair of 10 pins and finished with another string of four strikes for a Petraglia score of 12 (8 strikes for one point each and two spares at two points each). Pluhowsky, a 27-year-old left-hander, finished second with 16 points while Nation was third with 20 points.
Feldman, who threw an Ebonite Mission and a Track 505A on the Scorpion lane condition, had fate on her side on her way to the title. To get into the six-woman field in the first place, players had to either win a PBA Women’s Series title earlier in the year or be the highest-placing finisher in an event if the other player(s) were already qualified for the Showdown. Feldman earned her spot by finishing fourth in the Scorpion Women’s Championship, but winner Pluhowsky, runner-up Liz Johnson and third-place finisher Kulick had already clinched spots.
In her opening Women’s Series Showdown match, Feldman kept her karma alive, successfully converted the 3-4-6-7 split in her 10th frame to tie Nation for an automatic berth in the title match, and then won the spot with a strike in the roll-off frame while Nation got a six-count.
For Feldman, the two equipment choices fit perfectly with her strategy of picking a target on the lane, and letting the balls do the work of hooking back to the pocket as the condition transitioned from fresh to carrydown.
Pluhowsky, in the meantime, used a Hammer Jigsaw to nearly bowl the first perfect Petraglia game in her first-round match against Johnson and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard. Pluhowsky threw the first nine strikes before leaving a 7 pin in the 10th frame for a score of 11.
“I took six balls to Texas and it turned out the Hammer Jigsaw was the right choice,” Pluhowsky said. “On the longer patterns, the Jigsaws have been great balls for me. They matched up great and gave me the best carry. It was the same ball I used to win the Scorpion Championship in Detroit.
“I used the same ball in the championship match here,” she continued, “but they re-conditioned the lanes and they were a little tighter and my carry wasn’t quite the same. Toward the end I made a bad shot, and the lanes were also hooking more, but I didn’t move fast enough.
“Over the season, I’m really pleased. The Hammer balls have rolled really good for me.”
Kulick, a 33-year-old right-hander from Union, N.J., was eliminated in the Wild Card round after a costly seventh frame where she left the 3-4-6-7-10 and needed three shots to clean up the split. She wound up losing a shot at the title to Nation by two points.
“I threw the ball well, but when I needed a strike, I got nine,” Kulick said.”In the first round I used a Playmaker the entire game. The Scorpion played differently than it has in the past, but the Playmaker gave me the best look and, I thought, the best carry. Unfortunately, in the opening round, that didn’t prove to be the case.
“In the Wild Card match, we had a great game plan to break down the condition, but I had to play deeper and the shots I thought were really good wound up with splits. I started with a Mission. It was close to what I needed, but after I split, I switched back to Playmaker and ended up striking out. Obviously I was too late in making the change.”
While the Showdown ended the PBA Women’s Series, two major championships remain on the women’s schedule for the current season – the USBC Queens in El Paso, Texas, April 24-28, and the U.S. Women’s Open at Cityview Lanes in Ft. Worth, Texas, May 6-12.
— Ebonite Bowling Balls & Bowling Equipment - Based in Hopkinsville, Kent., Ebonite International is a privately-owned company that currently services bowling centers, distributors and retail outlets both domestically and internationally. The company’s consumer product brands include Ebonite, Hammer, Robby’s, Columbia 300, Track and Powerhouse™. Its commercial product brand is Ebonite Bowling Center Direct.
