Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 7, 1993 TAG: 9306070079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Well, maybe not all bowlers.
When it wasn't her turn, Kelly looked over her husband's shoulder and read Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, a golf instructional book.
Kelly paid close attention to a section called "positive thinking" as she overcame a 16-pin deficit to win the first Viking Lanes Ladies Professional Bowling Tour Regional Open.
"I read a golf magazine last week," said Kelly, who does not play golf but finds many parallels in the two sports. "It keeps me from getting too uptight. This morning, I worked crossword puzzles."
It's no wonder Kelly gave up the crossword puzzles. After taking a 97-pin lead in Saturday's qualifying, she lost three of her first five matches Sunday and dropped one pin behind Sandy Pridemore after the five-game morning session.
When Pridemore rolled a 216 in the 19th game out of 20, she extended her lead over Kelly to 15 pins. However, she still had to face Kelly in the position round, with 30 bonus points to the winner.
"Maybe I had an edge in experience because I'd been in matches like this before," said Kelly, who last year won a tournament on the LPBT national circuit, "but I was nervous out there, too."
Kelly was fortunate she was only 15 pins down after rallying for victories in the 18th and 19th games. She opened the final game with two strikes and rolled a 221 to Pridemore's 179.
Pridemore, an amateur from Huntington, W.Va., had one strike in the final, but what clinched the victory for Kelly was a pair of split conversions, a 4-5 in the seventh frame and a 5-7 in the ninth.
It was the first regional victory since 1991 for Kelly, who finished third three times last year. At 44, she is in only her fourth year as a professional.
Kelly taught business in high school for 12 years, giving up teaching when her husband, Bob, bought a bowling center. One reason she kept her amateur standing was in order to bowl for the United States in international events.
She was clearly the favorite at Viking Lanes, although she hurt herself in the next-to-last game when she uncharacteristically missed a 2-pin in the seventh frame.
"I kinda kicked myself but I didn't dwell on it," said Kelly, who admitted the 7 1/2-hour return trip to Huber Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, would seem shorter with a $1,400 check in hand.
Kelly averaged more than 201 pins for 20 games and, counting bonus pins, finished with a total of 4215 - 57 ahead of Pridemore. Third-place Joanne Harris from Occoquan was more than 100 pins behind Pridemore.
Sheila Hale of Roanoke, who was ninth to start the day, won four of her first five matches and got as high as fourth before finishing sixth with an average of more than 193 per game.
"I really never expected to finish as high as I did," Hale said. "I thought I'd finish 10th. Depending on how my schedule works out, I'd like to bowl in the next regional in July."
Pridemore, who as a teen-ager came to Roanoke to compete in roller-skating events, cashed for the first time in eight LPBT events - four regional and four national - and was looking forward to a return trip.
"I was third [in skating] the first time I came here," Pridemore said. "This time, I was second. That means I'm heading in the right direction." \ Final results of the Viking Lanes LPBT Regional Open (a - amateur):
1. Linda Kelly, Huber Heights, Ohio, 4035 pins, 6-4 in match play, 4215 total, $1,400.
2. a-Sandy Pridemore, Huntington, W.Va., 4158, 6-4, 4158, $700.
3. a-Joanne Harris, Occoquan, 3876, 6-4, 4056, $500.
4. a-Kenda Cameron, Gambrills, Md., 3890, 4-6, 4010, $400.
5. a-Karen Canter, Knoxville, Tenn., 3836, 4-6, 4010, $350.
6. a-Sheila Hale, Roanoke, 3785, 6-4, 3965, $300.
7. a-Heidi Jackson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3768, 6-4, 3948, $280.
8. a-Vanessa Jenkins, Knoxville, Tenn., 3805, 3-7, 3895, $260.
9. a-Nellie Glandon, Columbus, Ohio, 3747, 4-6, 3867, $240.
10. a-Su Bachinger, Youngstown, Ohio, 3667, 4-6, 3747, $230.
by CNB