Ultimately, stuff happens.

“We didn’t perform like we wanted to in our first match of the season on Wednesday; it wasn’t how we wanted to kick off the season,” head coach Terry Metzner said. 

As coach Metzner alluded to, there weren’t very many positives to build on after FHC’s opening-season match versus Greenville—the boys lost 26.5 to 3.5, while the girls were defeated 30 to 0. In such lopsided matches as Wednesday’s, the boys and girls can’t add very many ingredients to make a winning team right away. They can, however, use trial and error to get an idea of what they still need to tinker with, including their spare shooting.

“In our eyes, it wasn’t the most exciting way to start the season,” junior Peyton Price admitted. “We at least now know what we need to work on, which will hopefully pay off in the long run. As of now, we need to work on getting those much-needed extra points.”

Down the stretch, FHC’s failure to capitalize on spare opportunities cost them the entire match. 

“Spare shooting is so important when it comes to winning matches,” coach Metzner said. “Without a solid spare game, it’s difficult to make up big deficits against really good OK White teams like Greenville.”

Even though FHC as a whole struggled, Peyton shot right out of the gates with a 243 in the first round of individuals. Peyton’s score of 243 in round one was enough to put him over the edge against Greenville’s Devin Hinidubaker. Other than Peyton, the only other bowlers from FHC that won or tied their own bouts were seniors Joey Spaletto and Zach Guikema. 

“As a team, we didn’t have the showing that we hoped for,” Joey said. “So because of that, I’m not as excited about my performance as I would have been if we won; all I care about is succeeding as a team.”

Just as the boys had their fair share of blunders, so did the girls. Weighed down by numbers, the girls team is bound to face numerous opponents this season that will outnumber them. Fortunately for the Lady Rangers, Wednesday’s contest was one of the few times that they had “strength in numbers” on their side. Still, their inexperience on the lanes proved to be their Achilles heel on Wednesday. 

“This group of girls is more than willing to work hard at practice and learn the nuances of bowling,” coach Metzner said. “It’s just about translating that hard work in practice to actual matches. With that being said, I thought [sophomore] Mary Kate Dean played pretty well.”

Last season, both teams’ baker game performances were not up to par with what coach Metzner expected. So this season, the focus will be on drilling the basics of spare shooting. FHC’s next chance to concentrate on picking up spares will be on Monday, December 13, when the Rangers host inner-conference foe Byron Center at Eastbrook Lanes.

“The loss didn’t feel good, but now we know what we have to work on and how hard we need to drill things such as spare shooting,” Joey said.