Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

WATERFORD — Under normal circumstances, this would have been the most pressure-packed shot in the life of St. Clair Shores Lake Shore senior bowler Devin Patrick – and also maybe the most pressure-filled shot any bowler has faced this season.

The only thing was that Patrick had no idea the magnitude of it, even if everyone else watching with bated breath did.

Mired in the Division 2 singles championship match against New Boston Huron junior Hunter Wyszynksi, Patrick in the 10th frame needed a mark and then four pins to win the title after Wyszynski finished his day with three strikes and a spare over the ninth and 10th frames. 

With the whole building watching after the girls final ended just moments before Patrick started his 10th frame, mouths dropped and gasps were heard after Patrick’s first ball, which knocked down just seven pins and left a tricky spare that saw the 10, 6, and 9 pins still standing.

The scenario was simple: Pick up the spare, or finish second to Wyszynski. 

Patrick stepped up and got the spare, drawing more oohs and ahs from the crowd. He then delivered a strike to prevail by seven pins over Wyszynski, 462-455, and wrap up the title, although he had no clue that was the case.

Patrick had a 252-220 lead after the first game, and ended up with a 210 in the second game after Wyszynski bowled a 235.

“I thought I already lost it,” Patrick said. “I didn’t know I needed to make that spare. I just made it. I had no idea. Then I remembered I was up by (32) pins from the last game. When everyone congratulated me (on the spare after the match ended), I was like, ‘Wait a minute, was that big?’”

Lake Shore boys bowling coach Jim DeLong said he knew exactly what Patrick needed to win going into 10th frame, but by design didn’t tell him. 

“I do the math in my head all the time, but I didn’t want him to know nothing,” DeLong said. “I wanted him to just be loose and hit a good shot. He had enough pressure on him, instead of ‘I have to make this. I have to make this.’ He stayed pretty calm all day. We were working on his breathing and just keeping him in the moment without getting ahead of himself.”

The story gets even better on a couple of fronts. One, Patrick said he had a dream about winning the state championship the night before.

“I dreamt of it the night before when I went to sleep,” he said. “I dreamt about winning it in the exact same way. Not the exact same spare, but the same way.”

Not only that, but this was Patrick’s only full year on varsity after bowling primarily on the JV team his first three years of high school. 

“It’s my only (full) year on varsity, it was my last year of high school bowling, I made it to states and won it,” he said. “It’s a Hollywood story. I was on JV for three years.”

Seeded No. 14 out of the qualifying block, Patrick beat Flint Kearsley junior Chase Parr by five pins in the round of 16, Adrian junior Aiden Voelkle in the quarterfinals and Bay City John Glenn senior Cody Minor in the semifinals by 10 pins. 

Until the final, Wyszynski was the top bowler all day, starting when he finished as the top seed out of the qualifying block. 

Wyszynski beat Portland freshman Wyatt Spear in the round of 16 and the Macomb County champion, Warren De La Salle Collegiate senior Jacob Fester, in the quarterfinals to set up a highly-anticipated semifinal matchup with Kearsley senior Jameson Vanier.

Vanier has been the anchor bowler for Kearsley over the last three years and is a Mr. Bowling Award candidate, but Wyszynski earned a 514-357 win.

Wyszynski bowled well in the final, but just simply fell victim to tremendous shot-making by Patrick. 

“I was able to force him to mark,” he said. “I hit some good shots and some unfortunate breaks for me. But it felt good to be able to force him to mark in the 10th frame.

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