Baker games give high school bowlers excitement to spare

Bowling has been an officially sanctioned sport of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association since the 2005-06 school year. Still, just about every year, bowlers hear the same question from newcomers to the game:

What, exactly, is a Baker game?

Most sports fans understand the concept of a team bowling match, with five individuals rolling games and then combining the points. But in high school bowling, two Baker games also are included to come up with a team total for a regular-season match.

The Columbian headed out to a recent match to tag along with Fort Vancouver, a team that rocked the Baker games a year ago to advance to state and then brought home a fourth-place trophy.

A Baker game goes quick.

In most cases, teammates don’t even sit down to watch. There is no time.

They stand, just a few feet behind the bowler with the ball in her hand, preparing to take her turn.

When bowler No. 1 is done, bowler No. 2 steps up to take her turn. Then No. 3, and No. 4 and No. 5. Then they start over for frames six through 10, in hopes of adding to the previous bowler’s spare or strike.

The Baker game gives high school bowling the true team atmosphere.

At a typical match, the individual games have the usual sounds associated with a bowling center. The roll of the ball on the lane, the crashing of the pins, the cheers, the high-fives.

It gets even louder with the Baker games, though. At least it does with the Fort Vancouver Trappers.

Cheering for each roll, the Trappers hope that one good frame will lead to an even better frame. Or, in some cases, they are trying to stop a bad string with a good roll.

A year ago, the Trappers got hot at the right time, finishing in the top three at district to qualify for the state championship. Then at state, they took home a fourth-place trophy after two days of competition. The first day consisted of individual games. The second day, though, was just Baker games — 14 in all.

“It’s a great feeling having your team right behind you,” Lauryn Heying said. “We all work very well under pressure.”

Pressure reigns in Baker games.

A bowler can survive a bad frame or two in individual scoring. Leaving a split after the first ball, or perhaps another open frame does not necessarily derail an entire 10-frame game.

However, in a Baker game, a bowler only has two frames to help the team.

Here is how it works:

This week, Fort used a lineup of Tamika Taylor, Natalya Hopkins, Hayley Wakefield, Maddi Durr, and Heying. (All five were part of the state team from a year ago, too.)

Taylor took the first frame, and then Hopkins went second and so on. For those not associated with bowling scoring, if there is a spare or a strike in one frame, total pins for that frame are determined by the next ball in the next frame — One ball if it’s coming off a spare or the next two balls if it’s following a strike.

So if Taylor gets a spare, then Hopkins’ first ball will determine how many pins for the first frame.

“If you miss a spare, ‘Oh, I just let my team down. I just lost the game,” Wakefield said.

“It’s a lot more pressure than you’d think,” Durr added.

Some days they have it; others not so much.

Last Friday, the Trappers had their best total team score in school history. On Monday, they won their match against Prairie but lost the Baker games.

“If you have a bad frame, you have to let it go,” Heying said.

A year ago at state, Fort Vancouver was in fourth place going into the Baker games. Top four get a trophy.

“We really wanted to bring something home,” Heying said.

“It was terrifying,” Wakefield said. “What if I’m off?”

The individual might worry, but the teams try to remain positive.

“It is more of a team-type setting,” Taylor said.

Negativity can pull down a squad.

“If you don’t have good chemistry, you don’t have good Baker games,” Wakefield said.

“We lift each other up,” Hopkins said.

It was all positive for Fort at state last year. It is believed to be the first team trophy for any Fort Vancouver team since the 1990 baseball squad won a state championship.

“It was huge,” Fort Vancouver coach Julie Pagel said. “It was cool for our school and really cool for our kids.”

The rush to state started at district. Fort Vancouver finished the regular season 8-10 in the regular season, then got hot at the right time to make it to state. Pagel said it was the Baker games that got the Trappers in position to make it to state.

The Trappers heard whispers that it was a fluke. Then the Trappers proved they belonged when they excelled at state.

Of course, it helps that the Trappers are so dedicated to their sport. Durr, for example, bowled 40 games last weekend.

“We all bowl tournaments,” Taylor said, referring to junior bowling outside of high school events.

“Our life revolves around bowling,” Wakefield said.

When these Trappers join forces for the high school team, it can make for some historic results for their school.

The Trappers earned a trophy, in part, by excelling in Baker games. By doing what Baker games require: Picking each other up, in good times and rough stretches.