ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Shannon O’Keefe of O’Fallon, Illinois, came into the week with fond memories of Double Decker Lanes, and she will leave with one more after capturing the 2018 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Sonoma County Open.

In a title match for the ages, O’Keefe, the No. 4 seed, defeated top seed Verity Crawley of England, 268-266, on Saturday. The stepladder finals were streamed live on Xtra Frame, the Professional Bowlers Association’s online bowling channel.

The championship match began in a flurry with both players combining for 15 out of 16 strikes through eight frames, with O’Keefe owning the only non-strike when she spared in the first frame. 

Crawley left the 1-3-6 combination in the ninth frame to end her run at perfection, giving O’Keefe the opportunity to lock up her seventh career PWBA Tour title if she could throw strikes in the ninth and the first shot in the 10th frame along with an eight count spare in the final stanza.

O’Keefe struck in the ninth but left a 10 pin on her first shot in the final frame. She made the spare and filled nine pins on her final offering. 

Crawley, who finished second at the 2017 PWBA Fountain Valley Open and 2017 PWBA Greater Detroit Open, would have the chance to win her first PWBA Tour title if she could double in the 10th frame. She left a 7 pin on her first shot, giving O’Keefe her second Sonoma County Open title in three seasons.

The range of emotions were significant for O’Keefe during the title match, but being able to manage them were key.

“There were some moments in the match where I needed to take a really deep breath,” O’Keefe said. “I’d throw a strike, which followed her strikes, and knew I was staying right in it. I knew I just needed to calm myself down and really try to control what I could control and stay in the moment. However it was going to end, I told myself I’d be happy with it.”

With the win, O’Keefe now has claimed at least one win in each season since the relaunch of the PWBA Tour in 2015. Her success was nothing more than a dream just a few years ago.

“This is something that I dreamed of back on the old PWBA Tour but definitely was not refined to where am I now,” O’Keefe said. “When the relaunch happened, I was so excited to be able to get out here and compete at this level week in and week out. Really, all we had was Team USA for the last decade, and I’m so grateful and blessed to be apart of that. But, I wanted more. So, to see how it’s just snowballing from year to year is just incredible, and I feel so blessed.” 

The win for O’Keefe was extra special because of the family’s recent loss of their 13-year-old dog, Cola. She was an important part of the O’Keefe family, and she may have given O’Keefe the extra help she needed to take home the title.

“She was my baby,” said O’Keefe, while holding back tears. “She owned Mommy and everyone knew it. Everybody who would stay at the house would always say she was completely different when I was home than when I was gone. It was really hard. I feel like I lost a piece of me. Anytime this week was tough, or I threw a bad shot, I just thought of doing it for Cola. I thought Verity was going to double for sure in the 10th and when she didn’t, Bryan (O’Keefe) looked right at me and said, ‘That was Cola Bear,’ and I just lost it. This one’s for her.”

O’Keefe advanced to the title match after defeating last week’s PWBA Las Vegas Open champion, Shayna Ng of Singapore, 214-186. Ng was looking to win the first two titles of the 2018 season.

In the opening match, O’Keefe downed Sweden’s Ida Andersson, 226-160. Andersson was looking for her first PWBA title.

O’Keefe made a late charge to the stepladder finals during Saturday’s Round of 12, where she jumped from 10th to fourth in the standings on the strength of a 276 effort in Game 5 of the six-game block.

Competition this week at the PWBA Sonoma County Open at Double Decker Lanes included two eight-game qualifying blocks on Friday to determine the 32 players for Saturday’s Round of 32. An additional eight-game block Saturday morning narrowed the field to 12 players, who bowled six additional games to determine the stepladder finalists.

The 2018 PWBA Tour season continues next week with the PWBA Fountain Valley Open at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, California.

Qualifying and match-play rounds of PWBA Tour events are broadcast on Xtra Frame, which also will be the livestream home for the stepladder finals of seven standard events. 

Go to PWBA.com for more information about the PWBA Tour.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – Mother’s Day is a day each year where children honor their mothers for being great, and Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, gave her mother an early present Saturday by winning the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Fountain Valley Open. 

McEwan, the No. 3 seed, ran the stepladder and defeated Bryanna Coté of Red Rock, Arizona, in the title match, 215-182, to win her fourth career PWBA Tour title. In the process, she joined last week’s PWBA Sonoma County Open champion Shannon O’Keefe of O’Fallon, Illinois, as the only players to win a title in each season since the relaunch of the PWBA Tour in 2015.

The stepladder finals were streamed live on Xtra Frame, the Professional Bowlers Association’s online bowling channel.

In the championship match, McEwan began with three consecutive strikes, which echoed a tone she’d set in her previous matches by getting off to strong starts. Coté struggled to find a look early in the match, but she still managed to give herself a chance to win with strikes in the eighth and ninth frames. McEwan countered with a strike in the ninth, and she sealed the victory with a spare to start the 10th frame to collect the $10,000 top prize. 

“This means the world to me, especially on this tour,” McEwan said. “This year, in particular, the talent is unbelievable. The girls have come back and have gotten so much better from the first year to the second year and all the way through. Every week out here is grueling, the shots are hard and it’s really taken everything I have to make it through each round. So, to come out on top, this one’s a great feeling.”

McEwan didn’t record an open frame during her three wins. It’s a fact she didn’t even notice because she was intently focused on keeping her process the same throughout the stepladder finals. Her mental game has played an important role in her continued development as a player, and it’s something she’s focused on improving since last season.

“My main keys have been being positive and being patient,” McEwan said. “My downward spirals come from when I start to panic and I’m not patient, and it affects my physical game. I saw a lot of that last year. So, this year is about being patient, being positive and trying to keep everything as even-keel as possible.”

In McEwan’s three previous wins, her mother, Susan Varano, had been present for each victory. With the stepladder finals being held in the host center during the 2018 season, Varano was not in attendance for this championship-round appearance. 

This presented a different feeling and vibe for McEwan, who was used to looking up and seeing her mother watching on as a spectator. But, perhaps more than anything, it provided McEwan a different perspective and understanding of just how important her mother is and has been.

“My family is very important to me,” McEwan said. “But, with Mother’s Day in particular, this is my first win where my mom hasn’t been here. It’s one of those things you kind of take for granted almost. I don’t mean to, but she’s just always been here. And, today while bowling, it caught me a couple times and I said, ‘wow, she’s not here. This is really weird.’ I know she was at home glued to the computer and sitting next to my grandmother probably all screaming and crying. It’s all good. Happy Mother’s Day, mom.”

McEwan advanced to the title match after defeating No. 2 seed Rocio Restrepo of Louisville, Ohio, 247-209. Restrepo was looking for her fourth career PWBA Tour title. 

In the opening match, McEwan defeated local favorite Missy Parkin of Laguna Hills, California, 220-202.

Competition this week at the PWBA Fountain Valley Open at Fountain Bowl included two eight-game qualifying blocks on Friday to determine the 32 players for Saturday’s Round of 32. An additional eight-game block Saturday morning narrowed the field to 12 players, who bowled six additional games to determine the stepladder finalists. The 2018 PWBA Tour season continues next week with the first major of the season at the United States Bowling Congress Queens at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

Qualifying and match-play rounds of PWBA Tour events are broadcast on Xtra Frame, which also will be the livestream home for the stepladder finals of seven standard events. 

Go to PWBA.com for more information about the PWBA Tour.

RENO, Nev. – Shannon O’Keefe now has claimed the last two majors on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour after winning the 2018 United States Bowling Congress Queens on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old right-hander from O’Fallon, Illinois, put the finishing touches on a dominating week at the National Bowling Stadium as she defeated Bryanna Coté of Red Rock, Arizona, in the title match, 221-189, to capture the coveted tiara awarded to the winner and $20,000 top prize. Coté, the top seed for Tuesday’s stepladder finals, earned $11,000 for the runner-up finish.

The USBC Queens is a major on the PWBA Tour schedule, and Tuesday’s championship round was broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.

O’Keefe grabbed the early advantage in the title tilt after Coté started with back-to-back splits. She opened the door for a brief moment after leaving the 4-6-7-10 split in the fifth frame.

“That was just a bad shot,” said O’Keefe, a 14-time Team USA member. “I got really quick and came off my power step, and I tend to grab the ball when I do that. It was my miss the whole week. I knew I needed to keep my hand under it and really feel my power step. Bad shots happen and I’m not a machine, but what’s important is how you bounce back from it. I had really great ball motion and trusted what I was seeing and the moves I had to make.”

O’Keefe quickly bounced back with strikes in the sixth and seventh frames, and she seized the opportunity to seal the win after Coté missed a 7 pin in the eighth frame by striking on her final four shots.

“The biggest thing for me was staying patient and in the moment,” O’Keefe said. “One of the things that makes Liz Johnson so great is when people give her an opportunity, she takes advantage of it, and I idolize her for that. I really tried to take my time in those pressure situations and trust my process to deliver a good shot without any regrets.”

O’Keefe claimed her first major championship to conclude the 2017 PWBA Tour season at the PWBA Tour Championship. Her win at the Queens marked her second victory through four events in the 2018 season.

The eight-time PWBA Tour champion has her sights set on winning PWBA Player of the Year, but she knows she can’t rest on the success she’s found in the first quarter of the season to reach her goal.

“This doesn’t even feel like real life, and maybe that’s a good thing,” said O’Keefe, who won the 2018 PWBA Sonoma County Open earlier this month. “I’m just staying so focused and not thinking of everything as a whole, and that’s probably the space I need to stay in to push through the rest of the season. I need to keep pushing myself to be better because the girls out here are so good. I need to keep practicing, keep the workouts going and stay present and committed to every shot for the rest of the season.”

Coté, a 32-year-old right-hander, went 6-0 in match play to earn the top seed for the second consecutive week on the PWBA Tour. She led the way at last week’s PWBA Fountain Valley Open but lost in the title match to Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, 215-182.

“I was pretty confident going in, and the ball just hooked much earlier than I expected to start,” said Coté, the 2016 PWBA Lexington Open champion. “After that, I made some pretty good moves and kept it in play. To say I wasn’t nervous would be a lie. I was bowling for a major title against a great competitor. I know things didn’t go my way this week, like last week, but that’s OK. I’m going to keep fighting to put myself in that position.”

O’Keefe advanced to the title match by delivering eight strikes against USBC Hall of Famer and two-time Queens champion Liz Johnson of Palatine, Illinois, 247-224. Johnson was looking to join fellow hall of famers Mildred Ignizio (1967, 1970, 1971) and Wendy Macpherson (1988, 2000, 2003) as the event’s only three-time champions.

Liz Johnson bested Stefanie Johnson of McKinney, Texas, to advance to the semifinals, 232-212. Liz Johnson bounced back from an open in the third frame to roll strikes on six of her next seven shots, while Stefanie Johnson left four consecutive nine counts starting in the sixth frame.

In the opening round of the stepladder, Stefanie Johnson put together a late run of strikes to hold off Amanda Fry of Antelope, California, 200-172. Fry had the chance to win the match with a double in the 10th frame but left a 4-6-10 split on her first delivery.

A total of 191 bowlers from 14 countries competed in three five-game qualifying blocks over three days to determine the 63 players joining defending champion Diana Zavjalova of Latvia in the double-elimination match-play bracket.

Zavjalova, a two-time Queens champion, finished this year’s event tied for 17th place.

Each bracket match leading up to the stepladder included three games, with total pinfall determining which player advanced.

All rounds of competition leading up to the stepladder finals were broadcast on Xtra Frame, the exclusive online bowling channel for the Professional Bowlers Association. To subscribe, visit XtraFrame.TV.

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – For a little more than a week, Josie Barnes of Nashville, Tennessee, reflected on a missed opportunity she let slip away during the first major championship of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour season.

Now, at least for the next couple of days, Barnes will be thinking about how sweet it is to be a two-time PWBA Tour champion.

Barnes, the No. 4 seed, defeated top seed Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, 224-216, on Saturday to claim the 2018 PWBA East Hartford Open title at Silver Lanes. In all, she won three matches during the stepladder finals to capture her first win since the 2016 season.

The stepladder finals were streamed live on Xtra Frame, the Professional Bowlers Association’s online bowling channel.

The championship match was exciting from the start, but it was McEwan who took the early lead after tossing strikes in four of her first six frames.

Barnes, who opened the match with a double, ran into trouble in the sixth frame after leaving a 4-7-10 split, which left her trailing McEwan by 24 pins. The resilient Barnes fired strikes in frames seven, eight and nine, while McEwan traded strikes and spares and had zero open frames.

Barnes stepped up in the 10th frame needing to double for the chance to shutout McEwan but was unable to get the second strike, giving McEwan an opportunity of her own to fill 26 pins and capture her second title of the season. McEwan, who won the 2018 PWBA Fountain Valley Open, left a 2-7-8 combination on her first delivery to allow Barnes to emerge victorious.

While her first title was one she’ll never forget, Saturday’s win confirmed all her hard work, struggles and close calls were worth every ounce of energy.

“I don’t even know how I feel yet,” said Barnes, who won the 2016 PWBA Rochester Open. “I feel like I put myself in position to be successful, but I gave Danielle the opportunity to step up and double to win it. When it didn’t happen, I kind of just lost it. You know the first title means everything, since you work your tail off to achieve your ultimate dream, but the second one feels pretty cool. It’s validation for all that you’ve put in.”

At the 2018 United States Bowling Congress Queens, the first major of the 2018 season, Barnes missed a 10 pin in the final frame of her three-game match against three-time reigning PWBA Player of the Year Liz Johnson of Palatine, Illinois, which would have helped her advance to the next round.

Johnson went on to throw three strikes in her 10th frame to defeat Barnes, 632-630, and it served as the ultimate learning experience in helping Barnes prepare for her next event.

“You know when you give someone like Liz Johnson a chance, she’s going to close the deal,” Barnes said. “I knew as soon as I missed that single pin that she was going to make it happen, and I kicked myself for an entire week because I don’t miss spares. That’s not what I do. Looking back, I just wasn’t present for that shot. I wasn’t overthinking it, I got ahead of myself. This week, I told myself that I would be present for every shot and not let the same mistakes hurt me.”

Barnes now has earned an invitation to the PWBA Tour Championship at Richmond Raceway in September with her victory. She last appeared at the event in 2016 and looks forward to returning to the pinnacle event of the season.

“It’s nice to earn it early on,” Barnes said. “That’s what we fight for, whether you win it or not. It kind of stunk not to be there last year, so I’ve been working really hard in the offseason gearing towards that. But the road doesn’t stop. I’m still going to continue to work hard and take it one week at a time.”

Barnes advanced to the title match by defeating Lindsay Boomershine of Perry, Utah, 238-190. Boomershine was looking for her first career PWBA title.

In the opening match, Barnes defeated the early front-runner for PWBA Player of the Year, Shannon O’Keefe of O’Fallon, Illinois, 233-217. O’Keefe already has two titles in 2018, winning the PWBA Sonoma County Open and USBC Queens.

Competition this week at Silver Lanes included two eight-game qualifying blocks on Friday to determine the 32 players for Saturday’s Round of 32. An additional eight-game block Saturday morning narrowed the field to 12 players, who bowled six additional games to determine the stepladder finalists.

The 2018 PWBA Tour season continues next week with the sixth stop of the season at the PWBA Louisville Open at Fern Valley Strike and Spare in Louisville, Kentucky.

Qualifying and match-play rounds of PWBA Tour events are broadcast on Xtra Frame, which also will be the livestream home for the stepladder finals of seven standard events. 

PWBA News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Since the relaunch of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour in 2015, Erin McCarthy of Omaha, Nebraska, has been knocking on the door of becoming a champion, and she walked through Saturday after winning the 2018 PWBA Louisville Open.

McCarthy, the top qualifier, defeated No. 3 seed Maria Jose Rodriguez of Colombia, 259-210, to capture the win at Fern Valley Strike and Spare for her first career PWBA title. 

The stepladder finals were streamed live on Xtra Frame, the Professional Bowlers Association’s online bowling channel.

McCarthy came out on fire in the championship match, tossing seven consecutive strikes before a 10 pin ended her run at perfection in the eighth frame. Rodriguez also started strong with three consecutive strikes, but she quickly found herself down after an 8-10 split in the fifth frame.

Rodriguez wouldn’t go away as she countered with strikes in frames six, seven and eight to keep it close, but an open frame in the ninth sealed the victory for McCarthy.

It’s incredible,” said McCarthy, who became the first player this season to win as the No. 1 seed. “I’m still on cloud nine. I’m speechless. You know, Maria made a great shot in the middle of that game and she left an 8-10. It still was a pretty close match depending on what I was going to do, and it kind of just helped take some of the pressure off and allow me to breathe for at least a frame or two. Again, it was a great shot, just a bad break.” 

McCarthy is no stranger to stepladder finals, with three top-five finishes since 2015, including two of those finishes coming at major events (2015 United States Bowling Congress Queens and 2017 U.S. Women’s Open). But, this week felt slightly different for McCarthy because she’s been busier with life off the lanes and has only competed in three events. 

The 27-year-old right-hander has been busy working two jobs as a registered nurse and enhancing the new home she’s recently purchased. In an odd way, the time away from the PWBA Tour has helped her feel more relaxed, which is different in comparison to previous attempts at winning. 

“I’ve just been more relaxed coming into it,” said McCarthy, who is a three-time Team USA member. “I keep myself busy with work, and I just bought a house so that’s been distracting me a bit. I’m not putting as much pressure on myself. I still want to perform to the best of my abilities, but I don’t get down as often. I don’t stress out, so I can stay in the moment and stay true to that statement.”  

The busy schedule means McCarthy spends many days at one of the two hospitals she’s employed at, which also means she spends many days with her inquisitive co-workers. Those individuals have helped McCarthy by being supportive of her goals and dreams on the lanes. 

“It means a lot to me,” McCarthy said. “My co-workers back home are very supportive and some of them were probably watching. They always ask me about bowling and how it works, and they always want to learn more about the game when I get back home. It kind of makes it easier to compete knowing that they’re behind me 100 percent.”

Rodriguez advanced to the title match by defeating Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, 228-149. McEwan was looking for her second title of the season.

In the opening match, Rodriguez defeated Esther Cheah of Malaysia, 265-168. Cheah was looking for her first career PWBA Tour title.

Competition this week at the PWBA Louisville Open at Fern Valley Strike and Spare included two eight-game qualifying blocks on Friday to determine the 32 players for Saturday’s Round of 32. An additional eight-game block Saturday morning narrowed the field to 12 players, who bowled six additional games to determine the stepladder finalists.

The 2018 PWBA Tour season continues next week with the seventh stop of the season at the PWBA Greater Harrisburg Open at ABC West Lanes in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

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