Young bowler comes close to regional win
Jan. 23—Odessan Bella Love Castillo got second place in the professional PWBA regional in Dallas this past weekend.
Her dad, Brian Castillo, said Bella almost set the record for the youngest ever to win. Currently it's 17 and Bella still 13. She was the leader after 8 games of qualifying and was the No. 1 seed.
The average was 231 for and games and the final match was 203-212.
Ashley Rucker of Bartlesville, Okla., filled her final frame to collect her first regional win, an article on the Professional Women's Bowling Association website said.
Rucker, a 30-year-old left-hander, covered her third 7 pin of the title match and toppled nine pins on her fill ball to take home a 212-203 win against youth standout Bella Love Castillo. Rucker earned the $1,700 top prize for the victory and a spot in the season-ending PWBA Regional Showdown in December, the article said.
The bowlers played eight games of qualifying to get to the top four players. Bella bowled nine games that day.
Select pairs during qualifying and the stepladder finals were broadcast live at BowlTV.com, the PWBA article detailed.
The title match stayed close through the first six frames, with Rucker holding a 10-pin advantage as Bella stepped up for her seventh frame.
Bella, a 13-year-old two-hander who had earned the top seed for the stepladder after eight games of qualifying on Saturday's 43-foot lane pattern, left her second consecutive 4 pin but was unable to convert the spare. She followed with a 2-10 split in the eighth frame and another open, giving Rucker the chance to open up her lead.
Rucker stayed clean in the eighth and ninth, but since she was unable to strike in either frame, Bella still had a chance to make things interesting with a strong finish.
Bella showed her resiliency by striking on her final four deliveries to force Rucker to mark in the 10th frame, the article said.
Bella earned the top seed with a 1,849 total (231.13 average), while Rucker finished with 1,832. Oklahoma City's Jasmine Ware qualified third with 1,812, and Evans was the final advancer in fourth with 1,809, the article said.
In addition to her strong showing at the Greater Dallas Regional, Bella earned time in the national spotlight after winning the Celebrity Super Clash at the Jimmie Allen PBA Challenge on FOX and competing at the PWBA Dallas Classic Series in 2022.
The next PWBA Regional event will be March 25 at the PWBA Greater Detroit Regional. The tournament will be held at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Michigan, just before the start of the United States Bowling Congress Masters.
The regional schedule features nine events across the United States in 2023 leading up to the Regional Showdown.
The field at the Regional Showdown will feature 16 players. Each regional champion in 2023 will automatically be seeded into match play at the event, while the rest of the field will be determined through an eight-game qualifying round that will be open to all PWBA Regional-eligible bowlers.
The 16 players will compete in round-robin match play before the field is cut to the final four bowlers for the stepladder finals. More details on the location and date of the Regional Showdown will be available at a later time.
The 2023 PWBA Tour season will start in May at the PWBA Stockton Open in Stockton, California. The event will be contested from May 4-6 and kick off the 12-event national tour schedule.
