Lee Edges Taconic to Claim County Title

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – After going 0-3 against Taconic in the regular season, the Lee bowling team stepped up when it counted on Friday at K&M Bowl, edging the Thunder, 4-3, to claim the Berkshire County Championship.

 

Lauren Schuerer delivered a spare in the eighth frame of the title match to help hold off a Taconic comeback and secure the win.

 

Lee, which entered the four-team county playoffs as the No. 2 seed, had to come-from-behind three times to tie the best-of-seven Baker format final.

 

It was a familiar position for the reigning State Champion Wildcats, who were chasing Taconic most of the season.

 

“That’s been really tough,” Lee’s Devyn Fillio said of the losses to Taconic this winter. “We’ve just been pushing along really well and keeping our mental game good and not letting ourselves get down when we lose to them.

 

“Because we knew coming into this that we’d have to go against Taconic. So we were already prepared to go through the seven games.”

 

Both Lee and Taconic swept their semi-final matches against Monument Mountain and McCann Tech, respectively.

 

In the first game of the final match, Parker Maguire threw a strike in the ninth, and Luzis Brown threw a turkey in the 10th to help Taconic pull away late for a 158-127 win.

 

Lee took control early in the second game, getting a leadoff strike from Nate Terry and strikes in the third and fourth frames from Maddie Kotek and Jaden Parks en route to a 174-139 win.

 

Again, Taconic pulled ahead, this time getting a turkey from Brown, Tanner White and Abby Bliss in the fifth through seventh frames to build a big lead and take an eventual 166-120 win.

 

The Wildcats rallied late in Game No. 4, when Parks rolled a strike in the ninth and Fillio opened the 10th with a pair of strikes to put away a 154-129 win.

 

The teams managed just four strikes between them in the fifth game, which saw Taconic prevail, 164-148, to take a 3-2 lead.

 

Fillio said that K&M presents some challenges compared to the league’s other homes..

 

“One of the main differences is the lanes are brand new, so the oil doesn’t really soak into the lanes, so it can make the oil kind of hard to play with,” she said. “And then the string pins – they don’t get as much pin action because the strikes kind of hold it. Those are the main two differences.

 

“But once you learn how to throw on them, it’s super easy.”

 

Lee won Game 6, 149-125, after Terry and Kotek got things started with back-to-back strikes in the first two frames.

 

Taconic got the early lead in the deciding game, when White threw a leadoff strike.

 

And the Thunder was ahead, 44-43, when Brown threw a strike in the fifth frame and Fillio got a nine on her first ball. She picked up the spare, and Taconic could not make the most of its momentum, getting nine pins in the sixth.

 

Terry, meanwhile, picked up a spare in Lee’s sixth frame, and Kotek and Schuerer followed with back-to-back strikes.

 

Schuerer has been playing on one of Lee’s four JV teams all season, where she compiled a 126 average before moving up to the varsity on Friday.

 

“Lauren’s been bowling well the last three weeks, so we’ve been planning on having her come up because she throws the ball really well,” Fillio said. “And these lanes are hard to work with, so we wanted her to come up, and she did great today.”

 

Lee was ahead, 119-90 and sitting on Schuerer’s strike heading to the ninth frame.

 

Parks picked up a spare while Taconic left a pin standing, which gave the Wildcats a commanding 139-108 lead heading to the 10th.

 

Taconic’s Brown did what he could, rolling a pair of strikes, but the match was decided.

 

Both teams, along with McCann Tech and Monument Mountain, qualify for the State Championships at Bowlero in Chicopee on March 1.

 

“We’re prepared to go and do our best and win,” Fillio said. “We’ve been looking at some of the scores that the teams down there have been getting, and we have a good feeling that we can do really well.”

 

Semi-Finals

Taconic 4, McCann Tech 0

Tac, 151-149; Tac, 148-117; Tac, 177-150; Tac, 122-120.

Lee 4, Monument Mountain 0

Lee, 130-126; Lee, 137-114; Lee, 156-135; Lee 127-121.

 

Finals

Lee 4, Taconic 3

Tac, 158-127; Lee, 174-139; Tac, 166-120; Lee, 154-129; Tac, 164-148; Lee, 149-125; Lee, 162-136.