RESULTS AND INFORMATION

Queensland, Australia – Team USA’s men and women were back on the lanes Friday for more Baker Team competition at the 2022 International Bowling Federation World Cup at Suncity Tenpin Bowl in Queensland, Australia.

Friday’s schedule was the reverse of that followed on Thursday, meaning the women bowled two blocks, early afternoon and late evening, while the men just bowled a four-game early-evening set.

Despite the switched-up schedule, one thing that didn’t change was Team USA’s success.

The women went 2-1 during the early set and 4-0 to finish the evening, moving their overall record to 9-2 and keeping them in first place with only Saturday’s final three-match block remaining before the cut to the top four is made.

Team USA’s men are also inside the cut line; they are in a tie for third place in the men’s overall standings.

Women’s Block 1

Team USA’s familiar quartet of Bryanna Coté, Stefanie Johnson, Danielle McEwan and Jordan Richard matched up with Australia to start Day 2 of Team, and the hosts were anything but welcoming, throwing an opening seven-bagger at the Americans.

Team USA tried to hang tough, starting strike, spare, strike, spare, five-bagger, but when Richard left the 3-4-6-7-10 in the ninth frame, Game 1 was officially over, and the Australians had won (245-221).

The roles reversed in Game 2 as it was the Americans coming out with a string, notching the front five before Richard’s 3-10 baby split stopped the run; nevertheless, she adeptly converted the spare to keep Team USA clean and in control.

The Australians, meanwhile, couldn’t recapture their Game 1 firepower, striking just three times through the first seven frames and chopping a 3-6-10 in the eighth to allow the Americans to even the match up with a 257-195 victory.

When you figure out what works, there’s no reason to change it, and Team USA didn’t during Game 3, rolling nine more strikes and staying clean yet again to notch another 257, which was more than enough to top Australia’s 182 and give the Americans the match.

Team USA’s scoring pace came down just a bit during their opening game against Singapore, but the win-loss result was the same as the Americans overcame an early open and threw a late six-bagger to win the game (232-224) and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Team USA only got stronger during Game 2, starting with a double and then adding a four-bagger in frames five through eight to cruise to a 245-199 match-clinching win.

The last match of Friday’s early block pitted the Americans against Germany, and Team USA didn’t slow down one bit, striking in eight of the first nine frames to sew up the victory (254-198) before the 10th frame began.

The Germans wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and it showed during Game 2 when they overcame a pair of early splits to throw a late four-bagger that applied pressure to Team USA heading into the 10th frame.

Nevertheless, the Americans still had ball-in-hand, needing Johnson to double to squeak out the game and end the match.

She got the first hit, but the second ball skidded wide and left a bucket, giving Germany a 208-205 win and forcing a third game.

Unfortunately, Team USA just never found its groove during that final game, splitting three times and missing a single-pin spare to end the early block with a disappointing 205-162 loss that gave Germany the match victory and gave Team USA its only loss of the set.

Despite the disappointment of the loss, Johnson saw a lot of good things in the early set and was optimistic about the matches to come.

“Our communication has been great, and, for the most part, our ball reaction has been really good as well, so it was a solid block,” Johnson said. “Our mindset for tonight will be the same, just controlling what we can and not dwelling on our opponents. We’re just going to have some fun and let the pins fall where they may.”

Team USA’s women sat at 5-2 after the first two blocks, which was enough to put them into a tie for first place heading into the evening block.

Men’s Block 1

After going 5-2 over the course of two blocks Thursday, Jakob Butturff, A.J. Johnson, Kris Prather and Kyle Troup had Team USA’s men’s team in third place heading into the lone four-match block of Men’s Baker Team play Friday afternoon.

Bermuda was the first team standing in Team USA’s way when Friday’s men’s action began, and they gave the Americans all they could handle.

Bonus bowling was needed to determine a winner in Game 1 as after Bermuda’s anchor bowler left a 4-6-7 split in the 10th frame, Team USA’s A.J. Johnson left one of his own, causing the two teams to tie at 187 and force a roll-off.

By tournament rule, the bowlers who bowled the last frame must also be the two who do battle in the roll-off.

Thankfully for Team USA, Johnson quickly shook off the sting of the split and delivered a double to begin the extra frame. Bermuda’s bowler matched Johnson’s first strike but not his second, allowing the Americans to win the roll-off (47-37) and take Game 1.

Game 2 would go to Bermuda, which led pretty much from start to finish.

Late strikes by Johnson and Prather kept Team USA’s slim hopes alive, but when Troup left a 4 pin on the first ball in the tenth, the game belonged to Bermuda (211-177).

The Americans rebounded and seemed to be in good shape during the early portion of Game 3, but a split in the fifth and single-pin leaves in the eighth and ninth, coupled with Bermuda strikes in the fifth, sixth and seventh, created another nail-biter.

Team USA held a one-pin lead going into the 10th frame, so it was all riding on each squad’s anchor bowler.

Bermuda’s man was up to the challenge, striking on all three shots to keep the pressure on the Americans, but Prather was equal to the task as well, and when he tripped a 4 pin on the fill ball, Team USA had a 215-214 win and another match victory.

The thrill of victory didn’t last long though as the Americans struggled from start to finish in the opening game against Malaysia, splitting five times and striking just four during a 218-152 loss.

Team USA had a much stronger showing during Game 2, staying clean and delivering strikes when they were needed most to top Malaysia 217-202 and even the match at one game apiece.

Unfortunately, the Americans were not able to drum up a repeat performance in Game 3 as a split and two single-pin spare misses allowed Malaysia to breeze to a 207-178 win and take the match over Team USA.

Thankfully, things went much more smoothly once United Arab Emirates was the opponent on the other lane.

Team USA opened the match against UAE with a double and closed with five out of the last six strikes to breeze to a 244-172 win in the opener.

The second game wasn’t quite as pretty, but it was equally effective as Butturff got the first strike in the 10th frame to help Team USA grind out a 190-184 victory and the sweep.

The Americans’ final match of the day was against Czech Republic, whose Marek Talpa still holds the honor of being the only bowler to shoot 300 so far at this year’s tournament.

Nobody was perfect in Game 1 of this matchup, but Team USA opens in the seventh and eighth frames coincided with a Czech Republic double, allowing the Czechs to win the opener by 18 pins (192-174).

Game 2 was closer, but the outcome was the same as Team USA just never found its way, striking just three times and splitting in the tenth to lose the game (205-192) and match to Czech Republic.

The day-ending loss dropped the Americans to 2-2 for the block and 7-4 overall, which kept them in third place with Saturday’s final three-match block remaining.

The Americans will have to stay in the top eight after that block in order to advance to the Men’s Baker Team quarterfinals on Monday.

Even though Friday’s block wasn’t pretty at times, Troup feels good about the position the Team USA men hold going into Saturday’s final qualifying round.

“As a team, we made a few too many mistakes today, myself included, but we still went 2-2 and are in position to make the cut,” Troup said. “In the big picture, the goal is to make the top eight, so we’re going to come in tomorrow, win a match and lock up our spot. We feel good.”

Women’s Block 2

Once the men had finished up, it was time for the Team USA ladies to get back to work during the evening block.

The Americans entered Friday night’s session in a four-way tie for first place with Singapore, Sweden and Germany, and Malaysia was just one game back.

As such, it was crucial for Team USA to author another strong set in order to put themselves in good position going into tomorrow’s final three-match block of Women’s Baker Team qualifying.

At the end of Saturday morning’s round, only the top four women’s teams will remain.

Team USA didn’t have to wait long before facing one of its rivals in the women’s top four as Malaysia was the Americans’ opening-round opponent Friday night.

The Malaysians gave the Team USA women their only loss of Thursday’s opening round, so the Americans may have had payback on their minds as the match began.

It certainly looked that way as Team USA was all over Malaysia from start to finish, staying clean and notching 10 strikes to roll to a 258-170 win in Game 1.

It’s hard to improve upon a 10-strike performance, but you can do it with 11 strikes, which is precisely how many the Americans threw during Game 2.

A second-frame split was the only blemish on Team USA’s scorecard; the rest were strikes, and that allowed the Americans to easily take the game (268-213) and match victory over the Malaysians.

Things got considerably tighter during the opening game of the following match against Sweden.

After completing the Baker version of an Andy Varipapa 300 by striking on the first two shots of Game 1 - giving the Americans 12 strikes in a row going back to the previous game - Team USA suffered an open in the third and lackluster pin carry throughout the middle of the game.

Those factors allowed Sweden to hang close, down just 12 pins after eight frames.

Both teams put up doubles in the eighth and ninth, setting up a scenario where Sweden could pull off the comeback if their anchor bowler struck out and Johnson didn’t.

Team USA was in good hands, however, as Johnson delivered a pair of no-doubt strikes in the tenth and eleventh to lock up the game. She took seven on her fill ball to make the final score 218-197 Team USA.

No such heroics were needed during Game 2; the Americans just stayed clean and used a turkey in frames six through eight to keep Sweden just out of reach.

By the time the 10th frame rolled around, Coté just needed a mark to officially end Sweden’s chances. She easily covered the solid 8 pin that refused to fall on the previous delivery, giving Team USA the 206-197 win and another match victory to add to its total.

New Zealand was the next opponent standing in the Americans’ way, and it didn’t take long for Team USA to jump all over them.

After starting spare, strike, Coté struck in the third, kicking off an eventual seven-bagger that put Team USA out in front to stay (257-175).

The Americans stayed clean during Game 2, but the striking power was missing as they managed just one double.

The Kiwis, meanwhile, notched a double in the second and third and a turkey in the sixth, seventh and eighth to fight back with a 225-204 victory that pushed the match to a winner-take-all third game.

Nevertheless, it would be the Americans who would be doing the taking.

Team USA started spare, spare, double, spare before finishing with a seven-bagger to defeat New Zealand 257-171 and prove once again that few teams can match the Americans when they’re stringing strikes.

Team USA’s final match of the evening would be against the Philippines, which it defeated 2-0 during Thursday’s opening block of Baker Team play.

The Americans ran that mark to 3-0 when they took the first game of Friday night’s match by a final score of 225-213.

Neither team put together any big strings, but Team USA doubled to start, tripled in frames four, five and six and stayed clean the rest of the way to hold the Philippines at bay.

Game 2 was another matter entirely; it was a game to remember.

Taking advantage of an early split by the Americans, the Philippines jumped out to a 17-pin lead by the seventh frame.

Team USA was closing fast though, using strikes in the seventh, eighth and ninth to lessen the gap considerably.

Still, when McEwan left a 10 pin on her first shot in the tenth and the Philippines’ anchor bowler doubled, it looked like the game had slipped away from Team USA.

That’s when things got interesting.

Needing just seven pins on the fill-ball, the Philippines’ final bowler left the bucket, tying the game and forcing a roll-off.

Things started badly for Team USA as McEwan left a 4-6 split and opened in the first frame of the ninth-and-tenth-frame extra session.

She recovered from there though, notching all three strikes in the tenth to post a score of 39.

After its anchor bowler struck in the ninth and spared in the tenth, the Philippines was once again in position to collect the win.

But the roll-off was destined to continue because needing a strike, the anchor bowler counted nine to send the game to a second roll-off.

That one would do the trick though as after McEwan stoned an 8 pin on her opening shot, the Philippines’ bowler threw a Brooklyn strike in the ninth and a flush pocket hit in the tenth to put McEwan away (49-40) and send the match to a third game.

That game wasn’t going Team USA’s way early on as it managed just one strike through the first seven frames before finally putting up a double in the eighth and ninth.

The Philippines, meanwhile, suffered two early opens before putting together a four-bagger in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth to put themselves in the driver’s seat heading to the 10th frame.

That’s when the tables turned, however, as after the Philippines’ anchor bowler chopped a spare, Richard delivered a strike to complete the comeback and give Team USA a 225-213 Game 3 win and the 2-1 match victory.

The win moved the Americans to 4-0 for the evening block, running their overall record to 9-2 and keeping them in first place with only Saturday’s final three-match block remaining.

On the day, the Team USA women averaged 231.6 over the course of 18 games and broke 240 eight times. If that keeps up, the Americans are not only almost certain to advance, but they’ll also be a handful for any team that opposes them.

“We’re bowling really well and feel good about where we’re at,” McEwan said. “We’re working together, learning together and getting better every match.”

Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe has definitely noticed that improvement, and it’s just what he likes to see.

“The women just bowled incredible today, especially the night block,” O’Keefe said. “They really got the picture of what the lanes were doing right from the word go, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

“The guys had some trouble seeing the picture and struggled with execution a little bit, but they’re still in good shape with one set to go. We’re going to change up the gameplan a little bit tomorrow and see what we can do.”