LAS VEGAS — Jacksonville State (Ala.) edged out Youngtown State 2-1 in the national semifinal Mega Match to earn its second consecutive national championship appearance in their second year of competition at Suncoast Bowling Center
“Winning the national championship last year was incredible, but we lost to graduation every girl that bowled on that TV show,” coach Shannon O’Keefe said. “So, for these little ones to come in and believe it was possible, to trust the process, to trust us, to trust each other, to get to this point to face adversity all throughout the season, understanding that every step along the way is just dress rehearsal for this moment, really led to them to be able to do what they did today. And I could not be any more proud.”
The Gamecocks jumped out to an early lead in the traditional frames, but the Penguins registered 13 strikes from the eighth frame on to hold a three-pin lead heading into the fifth bowler. Danielle Henderson was coming off four consecutive strikes and recorded a single-pin spare on her second ball of the 10th and a strike on her fill ball. YSU picked up a four-pin spare on the heels of a single strike with a strike on the fill ball.
Henderson finished with a 246, bowling eight total strikes.
Annalise Bryant led all bowlers with a 266, bowling eight straight strikes after picking up a single-pin spare in the first. Triway High School graduate Emma Yoder added a 203.
YSU put together an incredible run through Baker with a 225.4 average, highlighted by a 278 in the third game and won the total 1,127-1,123. The Gamecocks made a run in the fifth game with a 238, closing with six straight strikes to pressure the Penguins at the end and taking a 78-pin deficit to just four.
“We came up with the saying; we called it fog,” said Yoder. “It means foot on gas. And we kept saying, so we kept saying, like, fog it up.”
The Gamecocks opened the best-of-seven series with three strikes and a two-pin spare conversion from OBryant in the fourth, then doubled in the sixth for a 220-213 victory. Jax State doubled in the second and fifth and had six strikes in the first seven frames. Both teams left the ninth open. The Penguins fired three strikes in the 10th to come away with a 223-220 win.
Jax State closed the fourth with six straight strikes to overcome leaving two frames open the first time through the lineup in a 213-201 win. In the fifth, the Gamecocks got a big close to come away with a 212-201 win to advance to the championship.
The Gamecocks again will face Youngstown State at 9 p.m. Eastern in the Baker best-of-seven national championship on ESPNU.
Youngstown State eliminated Nebraska 2-0 in a mega match on Saturday morning to clinch its spot in its first national final. The Penguins also beat the Huskers 2-0 on Friday in the first round of the Final Four.
The championship match is a winner-take-all, best-of-seven Baker match. The first team to win four games, regardless of the margin of victory of each game, will win the title.