The boys’ and girls’ bowling teams notched victories against Gardendale yesterday to open their season on the right foot after a disappointing finish last year.
The boys’ team missed out on advancing to sectionals last year by a single spot. Unlike the girls’ bowling team, the boys’ team has never made it to a postseason, but they hope to break that streak this year.
The boys won their season-opener by a score of 1270-1055, and the girls won 837-808 with a late comeback. Varsity bowler Henry Harrell hopes this is the first of many wins for both programs.
“Hopefully we can catch some fire and make a big run,” Harrell said.
This season, Harrell said the boys’ team is extremely motivated to win more matches and believes the team’s mentality has changed for the better.
“In the past, bowling used to be more about playing around and for fun, not so much the competitive aspect,” Harrell said. “But this past year, we have gotten a lot better as a team, and we are hoping to compete with the dominant schools.”
The HHS bowlers have put in a lot of effort outside of practice times to improve their form. The majority of the team has made significant improvements to their individual skill levels since last season.
This preseason, the team’s bowling averages drastically improved after nine players adopted the hook technique. Last season, only three players executed this skill, which gives the ball a better angle to achieve a strike.
Harrell’s personal average improved from 90 pins last year to 195 pins per match this year.
Ryan Hepp, who coaches both the boys’ and girls’ bowling teams, praised Harrell and his other bowlers’ dedication and autonomy in their training.
“The boys have shown a commitment to improving their game by bowling outside of practices on their own time,” Hepp said.
Both teams have competitive schedules this year, which will be beneficial in preparing them for the postseason. The boys’ bowling team is looking forward to competing against strong teams this year, including Hoover, Vestavia and Spain Park. These teams have very talented players, but Homewood is hoping to show their improvement from last season with wins against other Over the Mountain schools.
When it comes to the end-of-season state bowling competition, the format benefits Homewood. In regular-season matches, each person bowls one full game and three baker games, where multiple bowlers combine to bowl one game together. The score is calculated based on total pinfall. However, the state competition is solely based on seven baker games.
Five different people will each bowl two frames to complete one baker game. Since Homewood usually has a slightly lower average than other schools around the state, baker games level the playing field against teams with higher averages.
“We have a team full of players who can compete with a lot of the best bowlers in the state on their day, so if they can consistently bowl how I know they are capable of, I see no reason we can’t compete for a state title,” Hepp said.
Hepp hopes the girls’ team will be able to replicate their success from last year and make it to the playoffs, but the main goal this season is to develop technique and skill.
“More importantly, since our team is young and new to bowling for the most part, I would love to see a steady improvement from game to game this season,” he said.
The returning girls’ players have bonded well with the new players, and the entire team has a great desire to improve their skills.
