Fletcher is the second Middletown girl and first since Taylor Harris finished 82nd in 2012 to qualify for the state tournament.
Coach Bob Bowen’s Fairfield girls finished fourth in the district tournament at Beavercreek’s Beaver-Vu Lanes to qualify as a team for the third time in program history and first since 2012. The Indians finished fourth in the state in 2011.
Coach Nick Arvin’s Hamilton team qualified for the first time in program history by finishing fifth in the district tournament.
“It’s huge,” said Arvin, whose daughter Lilly is a Big Blue senior. “We knew we had something special their freshman year. We knew they could be a force to be reckoned with.”
Seniors Gabby Bryan, Shelbie Deaton, Kara Getz, Madison Harnish, Madalyn Klapper and Allison Porter and junior Emily Brunner were scheduled to leave with the Arvins on Friday for a late-afternoon practice session at Webb’s. Competition is due to get under way at 10:45 a.m on Saturday.
Seniors Vanessa Roese, Allie Horne, Katie Dashley, Lexie Kidd, Haleigh Wallace, Kaylee Murdock and Emily Medecke and sophomore Tavish Leslie comprise coach Bob Bowen’s Fairfield team.
“I think, over the last two seasons, the team has really put in a lot of off-season effort,” Bowen said about the Indians’ ability to get back to the state tournament. “They’ve been working on little things, like picking up spares. I think the communication between teammates has been much greater. Those are the keys. This team has come together as a team and coalesced as a group. Other teams in the past have not been as close.”
Sixteen teams and 16 individuals not on qualifying teams will compete on Saturday.
Middletown coach Woody Cowgill credits Fletcher’s recent switch to a new ball with helping her reach Columbus.
“She’s three-year varsity,” Cowgill said. “The first year, she threw a straight ball. She got a brand-new ball a month ago. Now, she’s got a big hook and a big curve, and she’s pretty much in the pocket a lot of times. She’s throwing a ball that hooks a lot more.”
Cowgill sensed four days before the tournament that Fletcher was a little nervous.
“She’s very quiet,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t tell if she’s thrown three strikes in a row or just one. I talked to her a little earlier, and you could tell she was a little nervous.”
Arvin’s daughter Kaylee in 2017 was the last girl from Hamilton or Fairfield to qualify for the state tournament. He credited overall team improvement, physically and mentally, with this season’s Big Blue surge.
“Every one of them has improved from last year,” he said. “It’s hard to pick one person who’s improved the most. Emily Brunner broke the two-game school record. Shelbie Deaton’s average up 10 pins from last year. Lilly’s averaging over 200 pins a game.”
Somebody asked him what he saw four years ago that led him to believe seasons such this one were on the horizon.
“Determination,” he said. “We saw a willingness to be wanting to win and a determination at knowing how to win.”
Bowen pointed to Wallace and Horne as two Fairfield girls who turned around their performances.
“From a pure average perspective, she’s gone up more than all of the rest of them,” Bowen said of Wallace. “Allison Horne has come a really long way. She worked extremely hard in the off-season on her spare game, and that elevated her game.
“Lexi has improved the most in five years,” he added. “Her family doesn’t bowl, so she’d never bowled before. She’s gone from brand-new to 185-190 (pins) and all-conference.”
Hamilton and Fairfield, which both call Rollhouse Fairfield home, just missed qualifying last season, and Bowen recalled a conversation he and Arvin had before the current season.
“We see each other all the time,” Bowen said. “We’re friends. We were having a conversation and Nick said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we both made state this year?’ Voilà. We’re both in state.”
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