The McCallie and Soddy-Daisy boys' bowling teams are undefeated going into the delayed state semifinals Saturday at Smyrna, Tenn., for similar reasons. Both have quality bowlers throughout their lineups, and that balance and depth have enabled them to win even when one or two bowlers have off days or go head-to-head with hot opposing individuals.
"We have a lot of depth. Our No. 6 man can beat our first one," said McCallie's Jess Souther, who had the Blue Tornado's third best average during the season and finished fourth in the individual state tournament on Jan. 28.
Kevin Lutz had the best average and team captain John Mason Harbison also participated in the Division II individual state, where Harbison finished seventh. He, Lutz, Souther and Parker Nicholson are seniors joined by sophomores Brandon Robertson and Evan Speicher in the regular lineup.
The Tornado beat Father Ryan from Nashville 17.5-9.5 in the Division II boys' quarterfinals on Jan. 29, before part of the Smyrna Bowling Center caved in from accumulated ice and snow and forced the postponement of the semifinals and finals for two weeks.
At 2 p.m. EST Saturday, McCallie (14-0) will face Battle Ground Academy, which edged the Tornado 14-13 in last year's state semifinals but was one of the teams falling to the Tornado at this year's East/Middle Region tournament.
"Whoever's bowling strikes and spares will win," said Harbison, a boarding student from Greeneville, Tenn. "Two weeks ago we all were bowling pretty well, and I think we're all still bowling pretty well.
"Last year and this year are two pretty different teams for us. We had all seniors then," he added.
Josh Deitrick is well aware that McCallie has reached the semifinals all four of his seasons as coach but so far has not got past that round. Previous Blue Tornado teams won two state championships.
"It would be nice to get it done," Deitrick said. "We're all pumped up for it.
"These guys just love bowling. They're all pretty competitive, but we have fun. A lot of them are varsity athletes in other sports, so they don't feel pressure in this."
Soddy-Daisy's Trojans generally don't play other sports and are even deeper in quality and quantity, with 10 solid bowlers.
They are 19-0 after whipping Dobyns-Bennett 22-5 in the Division I quarterfinals, and they also had three in the individual state. Those were Division I bowler of the year Matt Lyon, Allyn Pickett and lone senior Wesley Williams, and Andy Holden, Cody Hunter and Kaleb Langston comprise the rest of a starting lineup familiar with 200 games, and Adam Gravitt, Joseph Leffew, Nick Matthews and Austin Massengale have put big scores as reserves.
Holden and Pickett led Soddy-Daisy against the Kingsport team with series of 638 and 634.
Like the Tornado the Trojans will drive to Smyrna on Saturday, but they start at 11 a.m. EST. A couple of the Soddy-Daisy bowlers are in the school's military ball Friday night. They practiced Thursday and will do so again today.
"We're trying to crank them back up again," coach David O'Malley Sr. said. "We had a good practice last Friday with some good intensity, but you can go flat real quick if you don't have any competition."
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