Bowling team ready to rock, roll and bowl them over

Numbers are up, Maiolini’s back and there’s lots of talent

November 29, 2023 at 11:21 p.m.

Trevor Sullivan, now a senior, is back as captain of the Rams bowling team. (File Photo/Westmore News)

Port Chester's head bowling team coach Jeanine Maiolini is back after a year away because of back surgery and the Rams and Lady Rams bowling teams are ready to roll with the number of tryouts up after being down last year.

"Our numbers were extremely low last season, but that is definitely not the case this season," Maiolini said. "I have 12 boys trying out and 10 girls, and I will keep the best eight players for each team."

The numbers game

The cuts came after three tryouts. But they were necessary because only five players can play in a bowling match. So Maiolini had to whittle down the numbers so the Rams and Lady Rams rosters could be stocked with five starters and three spares on each team just in case.

That will give the teams a sense of competition that will keep the starters on their toes because Maiolini likes to make sure the hot hand gets a chance to play in the matches.

Other than senior captain Trevor Sullivan, who captained the Rams last season, and Gabriel Cueto, one of the Rams’ high scorers, every other person on the squad is brand new to the bowling team.

Soccer & Vball

And that should make the friendly team competition interesting. Especially if some of the potential high rollers can sling a ball down the alley as well as they can kick a different kind of round ball or fling it over a net that looks as though it is on stilts.

Which is to say that some of the best bowlers figure to be ex-soccer players like Rams senior All-Section standout Nick Tellez and hotshot Andrew Palacios while their Lady Ram former soccer counterparts include senior Sophia Maldonado and juniors Daisy Aguilar and Gioiella Pastena, perhaps the best player on the team. And sophomore Skylar Sams was one of the highest scorers on the Lady Rams volleyball team.

The roster depth

So Maiolini had a lot of solid athletes to choose from in selecting a Rams roster stocked with bowling prospects including juniors Nazir Demera and Tony Nievecela and sophomores Franklyn Cando, Austin Nij, Diego Vega, Leonardo Jimenez, Alejandro Mojica and Daniel Alvarado.

The Lady Rams bowlers drew from a talent base that included seniors Lesley Santamaria, Pamela Cardeal, Hailey Martinez and Kyla Haley-Williams. The junior contingent features Liseth Zaruma and Heidi Gonzalez.

That is the nucleus that will play each team twice in a league that consists of squads from Harrison, White Plains, Pelham, Mamaroneck, Yonkers, Scarsdale and New Rochelle. And Maiolini likes her team's chances against all of them.