JOHNSTOWN — The Fulton-Montgomery Community College bowling teams opened their season by hosting eight men’s teams and four women’s squad in their Second Annual Baker Format Tournament Saturday at Perry Lanes.
The Baker format is a team comprised of five members, the leadoff bowler bowls in the first frame and then again in the sixth frame. The second member bowls in the second frame and then in the seventh, and so on. This format is partially used in many tournaments but the FMCC tournament is the only one that uses Baker exclusively.
In the Men’s division, Erie Community College captured first place with a pin total of 7,033 with Corning Community College second with 6,742. The FMCC Raiders finished third with a 6623 pin total. New Jersey Institute of Technology finished fourth, followed by Sacred Heart University, Paul Smith’s College, Castleton University and FMCC JV.
On the Women’s side, Corning captured first place, followed by Erie CC, FMCC and Paul Smith’s.
“Initially I was a little disappointed with the results but upon reflection, we have a lot of first year bowlers on the teams and this format and size of the tournament was a new experience for them,” FMCC head coach Tom Rathbun said. “I think we gained some valuable experience that I believe will benefit us later this season,”
Due to the large turnout of male bowlers this year, FMCC was able to field both a Varsity and JV team this season, the only team in the tournament that did so.
The Raiders will be back in action when they travel to Syracuse on Saturday for a two-day tournament hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology.
