New Ball Proves To Be A Perfect Fit For Wall

Nobody asked Tom Wall if he liked his new ball. They didn’t have to. His face - and the scoreboard - provided the answer.

Wall, who owns an insurance agency in Tekoa and is an assistant high school football coach at Tekoa-Oakesdale, picked up a new Violet Offset Hammer ball from Wheatland Lanes owner Mike McPherson on Feb. 19 and promptly rolled 24 straight strikes in the C.O.P. league at the Colfax establishment.

That’s back-to-back 300 games, if you’re scoring at home.

They are the first perfect games for Wall, who carries a 209 average. They’re also the first 300s at Wheatland in five years, said McPherson.

Back-to-back 300s are rare. There likely haven’t been more than three or four in the area in the last decade.

Wall left the four pin on the first ball in his third game to end his string, but finished with a 246 for an 846 series. That shattered the Wheatland three-game record of 818.

Wall hammered out 31 strikes from the 36 balls he threw.

“He’s not even a scratch bowler; just a rec league bowler,” said McPherson. “He just bowls three games a week; he never practices. But he’s a pretty good athlete.”