Steve Brownlee

Surprise probably won’t begin to describe what happened to a pair of River Rock Lanes bowlers recently.

Jim Kipling, 61, of Ishpeming Township rolled his first 300 game during the Monday Northern Electric Automotive Industrial League on March 13.

Though Kipling is one of the top left-handers in the league, he’d never had a shot on the final ball for perfection before.

And it sure didn’t look like it would happen that night after a 171-178 start using his 15-pound Motiv Trident reactive resin ball.

“I don’t think I really moved, I might’ve thrown the ball a little harder,” Kipling said when asked what he did differently the third game. “I kept leaving 7-pins the first two games and then missing them.”

The Trident is a new ball for Kipling — he’d had only about three weeks.

“I thought I needed something that’s really snapping on the end,” he said about a hard finish to the ball just before it reaches the pins.

He estimates he’s been bowling in league for just about 40 years, but this brush with perfection didn’t get him shaking.

“My knees didn’t shake, since I know my worst enemy with this new ball is the 7-pin,” he said.

His brother Roger and son Brian are teammates, two guys he’s now leapfrogged for career scores, since Brian has a 298 and Roger a 299 game.

About 3 1/2 weeks before that on Feb. 23, secretary-treasurer Joleen North, 70, of Gwinn rolled a three-game series of 706 in the Thursday Night Ladies League.

Though it’s her eighth 700, she was also surprised.

“I’ve got to have shoulder surgery when the season’s over,” she said. “I hadn’t had a 600 all season.

“This was totally out of the blue.”

She used her 14-pound Motiv Forza resin ball for games of 235, 203 and 268. Her only open frames all night were a pair of splits in the middle game.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net