Staff report

BELLEFONTAINE — The Sidney High bowling teams opened their seasons on Friday in a four-team match at Bellefontaine against the host along with Mechanicsburg and Ben Logan.

The Lady Jackets finished first of the four teams with 2,428. Mechanicsburg had 2,328, Bellefontaine 2,182 and Logan 1,726.

Jenna Beatty rolled games of 213 and 235 for a 448 series. Heather Gold also had a 448 on games of 222 and 226.

“Mechanicsburg will be one of the best teams we face all season,” said Sidney coach Trent Knoop. “Two years ago they won the state championship, and last year they finished third. Being on the road and facing good teams shows me how much fight the girls have. This was a huge stepping stone for us. we’re very young and still have a lot of work to do, but this is a good group of girls. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.”

The boys had 2,598, just six pins behind Ben Logan’s 2,604. Mechanicsburg had 2,533 and Bellefontaine 2,524.

Matt Elliott led the Jackets with a 381 series.

“We were only down by 14 to Ben Logan going into four baker games,” said Knoop. “Our squad fought extremely hard to pull away with a victory, but a couple mental errors cost us in the end. We only lost one varsity senior last year on the boys side. We return a lot of solid quality bowlers. I look for the boys to have a very good season. Once we get our spare shooting down, look out.

“I want to give a special recognition to sophomore Sean Martin,” he continued. “Sean didn’t start Friday, but he came in in the second individual game, and bowled really well. He brought a bad game up to a 197 to finish the game. It’s very hard coming in cold, having not rolled a ball in over an hour, and compete as well as he did. He continued to roll the ball flawlessly in baker as well. The best thing about this team is we have eight boys that I’m confident that can bowl anytime.”