By: Sean Moylan
While many fans of the Bordentown Regional High School boys’ bowling team lamented over the graduation of Chris Jones, Greg Havens and Carl Braverman last spring, the Scotties quietly added two young stars to their roster last season sophomores Lane Hirschfeld and Ryan Branson.
Starting many matches as freshmen, Hirschfeld and Branson quickly proved they could handle the pressure of bowling at the varsity level.
Moreover, Branson and Hirschfeld, a co-captain, each averaged a 206 in Bordentown’s win over Delran in its opener two weeks ago. Branson is close to a 170 bowler in practice while Hirschfeld currently holds a 179 practice average.
However, junior TJ McGonigal, who averages a 189 in practice, may be Bordentown’s best bowler.
"Those three (Branson, Hirschfeld and McGonigal) are three of our better bowlers," noted first-year varsity bowling coach Rob Conlin, who assisted Kevin Wright last season.
Freshman Rusty Miller averaged a 174 in the Delran match and has also looked good in practices.
Leon Mack, a Bordentown junior, averaged 175 against Delran. He’s a fine bowler.
Matt Bell, a senior co-captain, is a solid 154 bowler. Junior Kevin Gabauer averaged a 184 against Delran (166 in practice).
Even without Jones and Havens, who often put up numbers better than some professional bowlers, Bordentown should be the favorite to recapture the Freedom Division crown. However, it is unlikely the team can go 17-0-1 again.
Coach Conlin is assisted by Frank Planas.
GIRLS
The success of the Bordentown High School girls’ varsity bowling team will depend heavily on the development of its fourth and fifth bowlers.
With seniors Kristi Hamm and Jen Dean and freshman Melissa Jones pretty much set in stone in the Scotties’ lineup, Bordentown will need to get the most it can out of freshman Samantha Todd, senior Jessica Merrick and freshman Nancy Ramirez.
Hamm is an all-star veteran who has a 159 average in practice.
Dean, who bowled for a 161 average in the opening day loss to Delran, has roughly a 145 average in practice.
Jones, who is former boys’ bowler Chris Jones’ younger sister, has a solid 145 average in practice.
Todd hasn’t bowled since she was a very young girl. Nevertheless, she is doing extremely well. She has a practice average in the 130s and she bowled a 148 average in the match against Delran. Merrick’s and Ramirez’s averages are also steadily rising in practices.
The Greyhounds’ primary concern is a lack of depth at the varsity level. They can’t afford any sicknesses or injuries.
The Scotties have a new coach in Rob Conlin. Coach Conlin has made every effort to prepare for this season.
"I’ve gone to a few clinics and learned a lot," noted Coach Conlin, who works with Frank Planas.
If either Merrick or Ramirez can go on a tear, Bordentown should have a very good bowling season. At the very least, Hamm is an all-star caliber player.
RESULTS
The Bordentown Regional High School girls’ varsity bowling team tied Maple Shade 2-2 at the Maple Bowl on Tuesday afternoon.
Jen Dean came through big time for the Scotties with games of 176 and 140 in her 428 series. Of course, Kristi Hamm was steady as a rock with a solid 405 series, which contained a high game of 142. Freshman Melissa Jones showed promise with her 142 high game. And Samantha Todd, also a freshman, rolled a solid 381 series, which featured a 152 high game. Bordentown won the second game 652 to 603 and beat Maple Shade 1920 to 1897 in the total pin count to earn the tie.
Delran defeated the Bordentown girls’ team 3-1 in the Scotties’ home opener at Papp’s last Thursday.
On the Bordentown boys’ side, the Scotties’ crushed Delran 4-0 in their opener last Thursday, but lost 1-3 to Maple Shade on Tuesday despite two games of over 200 (222 and 205) by Leon Mack. Ryan Branson, however, posted Bordentown’s high game (226) and its high series (590). Lane Hirschfeld had a 499 series (151, 163, 185), but everyone else bowled a little under their usual averages. Nevertheless, Bordentown nearly escaped with a tie because it won the second game (763 to 751) and came within four pins of winning another.
"The boys played well, but they (Maple Shade) had some studs on their team," said Bordentown first year head coach Rob Conlin.
The Scotties’ boys are 1-1 and the girls’ team is 0-1-1. Both squads will look to do well in their home matches versus Burlington Township today. Then, both Scotties’ teams are scheduled to host Cinnaminson on Monday. Bordentown is scheduled at Medford Tech on Tuesday.

