Bowling: EHT boys coach Frank Williams believes Eagles can contend for state title

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher Forty pins. That’s what separated the Egg Harbor Township boys bowling team from competing for a state championship last winter. The Eagles made it to sectionals, but fell 40 pins short of advancing to states. Only the top eight teams in the state in Group 4 make it to the finals, with each of the four sections sending two teams. Egg Harbor Township finished third at sectionals and was left out of the big dance. Eagles coach Frank Williams doesn’t think that will happen again this year. “We’re really excited. We swept Kingsway and GCIT, and even though we had an off game against GCIT, we still shot a 970, which is a good score relative to other teams,” Williams said. “I really think we can make it to the state finals this year. The four boys I have back this year really bowled well under pressure last year.” Egg Harbor Township went 8-0 during the regular season last year as an independent team and is off to a similar start this year, as the Eagles have already swept Kingsway and GCIT in their first two matches. In addition, junior Matt Stephens — whose father, Martin, is a professional bowler — recently won his second straight South Jersey Singles Classic title by rolling a 268 to beat Alex Sorge of South Brunswick by 11 pins. And that wasn’t even his best score of the day. He bowled a 289 in the quarterfinals and a 269 in the semis. Matt Stephens is one of a handful of outstanding bowlers for Egg Harbor Township, and this month took home his second South Jersey Singles Classic championship. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) Coach Williams said he wants this year’s team to make a run at a state championship, and the Eagles might have the talent to do it. Their top four bowlers all return with high-level experience, led by Stephens and Jason Pesce, who nearly made it to the quarterfinals of the South Jersey Singles Classic, which featured 100 bowlers on the boys side. The team also features Quiyan Pesce, a senior and older brother of Jason, as well as Alex Swain, a tall, lanky senior who is coming into his own. The fifth spot in the starting five currently has a couple of sophomores competing for time. Both Stephen Masi and Chris Wong have the potential to add to an already strong lineup. Williams said what makes this team so special is the dedication of his athletes. Most don’t play other sports, so they spend a good portion of the year on the lanes, for the high school team and also for various travel teams. “For a kid like Jason, he doesn’t do any other sports so he basically lives at the bowling alley. He works in the pro shop and when he’s not doing that he’s bowling either in a league or just on his own,” Williams said. “He was actually on the phone with Storm right before a recent match trying to buy a new bowling ball. I had to yell at him to get off the phone with one of the bowling companies to actually come over and bowl.” Getting through the South Jersey sectionals won’t be an easy task, however. There are some strong teams, particularly in Ocean County and around the Cherry Hill area. Cherry Hill West started out 7-0 and Shawnee went undefeated through its first five matches. EHT also has to contend with teams such as Brick and Brick Memorial. Lenape and Brick Memorial were the teams that beat out the Eagles for spots in the final eight last year. “South Jersey has teams such as Brick and Brick Memorial, so it’s is really competitive,” Williams said. “Lenape last year was very good, as was Brick Memorial, and those were the two teams that beat us out. They have their own lanes in Brick, they have good specials for the kids to come after school, the parents are involved. They have a lot of good teams (in Ocean County).” Coach Frank Williams said he is relying on senior Alex Swain to be one of his top scorers this season. Having a bowling alley in town can be a huge advantage for a high school team, and EHT enjoys that by having Kingpin Bowling and Entertainment Center right on the Black Horse Pike. Williams credits general manager Mary Ann Ross and her staff with helping the program become as successful as it has been recently. “Kingpin couldn’t be more accommodating,” Williams said. “I can’t praise Mary Ann and Kingpin enough, they have just been great to us. They are flexible with us, and we are flexible with them when they have leagues. They have been awesome to us.” Williams said what makes coaching this group of kids so rewarding is the camaraderie that is gained through long bus rides and hours spent on the lanes in practice and during matches. “It’s nice because they are all really nice kids, and I think that kind of goes with the sport. They share bowling balls. Like Matthew, Jason and Qui, they have a bunch of bowling bowls so when somebody new comes in they will offer up one of their old ones to give that kid a feel for what a real bowling ball feels like and how it moves on the lane. Once a kid gets that and the ball hooks and does what it’s supposed to do, all of a sudden they are hooked and they are out buying their own bowling balls. It’s like a fever, and everyone catches it,” Williams said. “For us, the bus rides are always long because there aren’t many teams around us. But the kids are great and they have a lot of fun. And even outside of my team, all of these kids bowl on travel teams and the camaraderie really goes throughout the whole sport. There really is no bad blood. I coach girls lacrosse, and there are some teams you play where the girls really want to go out and crush that other team, but you just don’t get that in bowling.” Williams said one of the biggest misconceptions about bowlers is that they are not athletic. He is quick to point out, however, that not only are these kids talented, but they have to be smart as well. Bowling is as much about strategy as it is about being precise and consistent with your shots. “The average person comes in, grabs a house ball off the rack and just chucks it down the lane as hard as they can, but you see there is some strategy behind it,” Williams said. “You have to be athletic to be able to bowl with the caliber that this team bowls with. The athleticism is more than you think, but it’s not just that, it’s the athletic knowledge that goes into it. I’m a big fan of the term field awareness, or court awareness, and it’s that athletic IQ. In bowling, you need so much of that. You have to be smart to be a bowler, and I think some people miss that. Their athletic IQ in bowling might be higher than a kid has in football.” Williams said what he likes most about coaching bowling is the energy at the lanes, particularly when you’re talking about high-level tournaments such as the South Jersey Singles Classic or NJSIAA sectionals. “I love getting to spend time with this group of kids. They are fun to be around,” Williams said. “There is so much camaraderie. All these kids want each other to do well, but you still want to do better than the other kid. You want people to do well because that puts the pressure on you. There’s a lot of energy.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]