By Gabe D'Angelo

Herald Bowling Columnist

“I’M TOO OLD to be bowling 11 games in our day,” said Francis Zitnik (age 60) after he won the Sunset Lanes King of the Hill Tournament that was held May 18. But, apparently age wasn’t a factor in his win as Zitnik totaled 2625 pins and averaged 238.63 for his 11 games.

He also flirted with perfection with a 299 game in the semifinal match, leaving a 2-pin. “I told you earlier in the day that speed was going to be very critical and I made it a point to be careful with it. Seriously, some days the breaks go your way and some days they don’t. Today was my day,” he said.

The tournament attracted 19 bowlers and as usual with tournaments at Sunset featured some of the top bowlers in the surrounding area. Among the participants was PBA member John Hrscina.

The tourney was designed to emphasize both skill and attrition. Each participant bowled a four-game qualifier, and then the field was cut to the top 10. Those who made the top 10 bowled two more games and the field was cut to the top six. The top six bowled two more games to determine the four stepladder finalists. All scores carried over until you reached the stepladders.

Bruce Boyd led the qualifiers for the top ten cut with 1017. Other qualifiers included: (2) Adam Barta (1002), (3) Kevin Richardson (977) (4) Bob Eckenrode (931), (5) Brian Zipay (923), (6) Andrea Lucente (916), (7) John Hostetler (900), (8) Zitnik (894), (9) Bryan Bailey (859) and (10) Dave Jara (854).

High games during the qualifying round went to the following: Boyd (279, 254), Barta (278, 263), Eckenrode (269), Lucente (267), Jara (265), Hostetler (258), Richardson (258, 258, 254) and Zipay and Stevens (257).

Those who made the top six were as follows: (1) Barta (1465), (2) Richardson (1443), (3) Eckenrode (1435) (4) Zitnik (1429), (5) Boyd (1405) and Hostetler (1391).

Second-round high scores went to Zitnik (280, 255), Eckenrode (279), Barta (259), Jara (257) and Hostetler (256).

Two more games produced the final four. They were (1) Barta (1927), (2) Richardson (1913), (3) Zitnik (1886) and Eckenrode (1841).

In the first game of the stepladders, Zitnik defeated Eckenrode 217-215. One of the most crucial events occurred in the 3rd frame. Eckenrode had struck in the 2nd and his shot in the 3rd looked like a double. But, he fouled. He managed to convert the foul to a spare, but the error was meaningful in pin count.

But, he regrouped, converted a 5-7 in the 9th and ended the game with a turkey for 215.

Zitnik also had problems in the 3rd. He failed to convert a 2-5-8 (leaving the 8 pin) and found himself down by 11 (59-48). However, he marked the rest of the way including strikes on the last five shots and ended with 217 for the win.