Welcome back to another edition of Striking Spotlight as were going to look back on the PWBA St. Petersburg Clearwater Open.

In the opening match, we have Team USA member and 2015 PWBA Rookie of the year, Stefanie Johnson against fellow Team USA member Kelly Kulick. I felt that this match was going to be a knock out fight of a match. In the practice leading up to the match both ladies looked calm and had a great line, but once the lights come on and you feel the heat from the TV lights above, this becomes a different game. Johnson started the match by striking and Kulick added right back with a double of her own. Johnson needing to come back in her next two frames to put the early pressure back onto Kulick, but goes spare and then an open in the 3rd frame looked to give Kulick that added momentum to finish off this match. Kulick gave back some pins in the 4th frame as she opened. Now at the halfway of this opening match it’s a very tight match. Johnson seemed to lose some reaction as she did not strike again until the 7th frame where she put a double on the board to Kulick’s turkey in frames five through seven, but she never struck again this match. Johnson needed to get the first two strike’s in the tenth and got the first one, but failed to get the second strike and shot 192 to Kulick’s 198.

In the second match Kulick finds herself up against the number 2 seed Rocio Restrepo. Restrepo won The Greater Detroit Open for her lone title earlier this year. The opening frames of this match seemed to tell the tale of how this match would have gone. Both players started with a spare as Kulick opened in the 2nd frame before throwing the next three strikes, Restrepo threw strikes in the next five of six frames before opening in the 8th frame. Kulick spared in the 7th frame and then threw a crucial double before going spare/strike in the final frame for a 211. Restrepo, got up in the 9th frame and in a must strike position she knocked them all down and with going spare 9 in the tenth frame she edged out Kulick by a score of 214.

Bringing us to the championship match where Restrepo moved on looking for her second win this year. She will be bowling against the number one seed Lindsay Boomershine who is making her first TV show and looking for her first title. Restrepo started out with a strike before a washout that was not converted for an open in the 2nd frame. Boomershine struggled as she opened in six frames of the championship match. She never got to ball to face up until the end of the game where she threw 5 strikes on just one lane and shooting 134. Restrepo struggled as well as she never struck again until the seven and eighth frames and the last shot of the tournament for a 165 game and title number 2 of this year. With this win Restrepo will earn an automatic spot in Semifinal match of The Simthfield PWBA Tour Championship in September.

Go to PWBA.com to learn more about the PWBA Tour, including news, player biographies and more.

About the PWBA

The Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) originally was formed in 1960. The PWBA Tour has events throughout the country, offering high-level competition and top prize money for women bowlers. The PWBA is supported by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America (BPAA) and the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).