Bedford junior gets on a roll for dream series

2/13/2013
BY RACHEL LENZI
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
Spencer Sevrence rolled a 290 in the first game, then a 278, before finishing with a 300 for an 868 series. It was a Toledo Junior All Stars Travel League record.
Spencer Sevrence rolled a 290 in the first game, then a 278, before finishing with a 300 for an 868 series. It was a Toledo Junior All Stars Travel League record.

In 11 years of bowling, Spencer Sevrence said he’s learned the importance of remaining calm and relaxing instead of becoming tense.

That was exactly the frame of mind Sevrence took when he set a bowling record on Feb. 2 during competition in the Toledo Junior All Stars Travel League.

Sevrence, a junior at Bedford High School, set a league record of 868 two weeks ago at Jug’s Bowling Center. Sevrence bested the previous league record of 818, set in December of 2003 by Nick Stone.

Sevrence, 16, also recorded an age-group city record — Chad Rieger set the previous city record of 821 in February, 2010.

“That’s the highest score I’ve ever gotten,” Sevrence said. “900 is the highest score you can get in three games, and that’s three 300s. I missed 10 pins in the first [game] and 22 in the second, then got 300 in the third game.”

Michael Aumiller, the director of the Toledo Junior All Stars Travel League, likened Sevrence’s record to a pitcher in baseball who threw a one-hitter — not quite perfect, but still remarkable in its realm.

“A perfect three-game series is 900, and it’s been done a few times over the last five to 10 years, but there’s a significance to it,” Aumiller said.

Sevrence has bowled for 11 years and competes in the Toledo Junior All Stars Travel League, a co-ed league that rotates among 13 bowling centers in the Toledo area and Temperance. Aumiller said the 53-year-old league is one of the oldest youth travel bowling leagues in the country and currently has 36 bowlers on 12 teams.

Earlier this month in a league competition at Jug’s Bowling Center, it took a few frames for the Temperance resident to realize that he had a chance to record his best day in bowling. The possibility of setting any kind of record wasn’t an afterthought, but it wasn’t at the forefront, either.

“It started going through my head, but I had to block it out,” Sevrence said. “Whenever I don’t block things out, it falls apart. I was trying to laugh and have a good time and not think about anything.”

But Aumiller noticed the buzz that began to surround Sevrence as he bowled on lanes one and two.

“He had a little bit of a crowd watching him,” Aumiller said. “His father was there, and his father was trying to keep him focused, one frame at a time. I don’t think he knew exactly anything or how close he was to the record until the end.”

Sevrence, who also golfs and plays baseball, said his previous high score in bowling was a 770. Is he aiming to set another record?

“I would love to beat that score,” Sevrence said. “But that would be a heck of a score to beat.”

Contact Rachel Lenzi at: rlenzi@theblade.com, 419-724-6510 or on Twitter @RLenziBlade.