Butler girls claim 1st WPIBL championship

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 15, 2018 | 9:45 PM

With an opportunity to close out the WPIBL team championship, Butler senior Mercedes Belch thought about the advice given to her from mentors in the past, which was to block everything out and think of a song.

“Honestly, what I was thinking in my head was ‘Don't stop believing,' ” Belch said.

The popular Journey song was an appropriate choice for the moment, and when Belch picked up a spare in the 10th frame, followed by a strike to clinch the match, the Golden Tornado could believe they were WPIBL team champions for the first time.

Butler won 161-155, which finished a 2-0 sweep of Burrell in the championship match Thursday at Family Bowl-Away in Butler.

After Belch saw the pins fall on her final roll, she turned around and was greeted by her cheering teammates.

“I knew I just had to get it on the lane,” Belch said of her final roll. “I hit my mark and it went right in the pocket. I was ecstatic. To be able to jump up and down and celebrate with my team … it's just the happiest moment ever.”

The final pitted the top two teams in average in the regular season.

After taking the first game 158-141, the Golden Tornado trailed Burrell midway through the second match. But spares by Jordyn Graham and Nicole Nebel got Butler back in the match.

“These girls have made states every year they've been here, and last year when we went out to states, out of 12 teams we finished 12th,” Butler coach Bob Cupp said. “They were very disappointed in that, and they didn't handle the moment like they did today. We talked about that and, coming into the season, they said they had unfinished business. I said to them that today was the business, and they finished it. They believed in themselves, took the advice we gave and ran with it.”

Burrell's second-place finish was the best in team history, but it almost didn't happen.

The Bucs were near the bottom of the top 10 after two qualifying rounds, but a 278 by junior Carlee Hummell helped bump them up to the third and final playoff spot. Hummell's 278 was the best game from anyone between the boys and girls finals over the last two days. She had all strikes except for a spare in the sixth.

“I knew that the team needed some motivation, so I said to myself that I was going to go out and throw as best as I possibly can, have fun and mess around,” Hummell said. “Staying positive really helped.”

Burrell swept Plum, 147-143 and 202-144, in the play-in match. Hummell closed out the first match with a strike in the 10th frame. Shayla Calvert, Brittany McDade and Cassie Beattie had consecutive strikes in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames to give the Bucs a lead in the second match.

Plum, the East section champion, has a 54-match winning streak in section and was happy with its performance.

“It was an exceptional day,” Plum coach Darryl Pilyih said. “I had two girls that hadn't ever thrown a ball before this year. I'm very proud of them all.”

The Bucs were without senior Brittany Meyer, who has an ankle injury. Bucs coach Natalie Flanagan was happy with how her team did without one of their top bowlers.

“It feels very good for us to make it this far without our anchor,” Flanagan said. “The fact that we made it this far without her was amazing.”

Butler, Plum and Burrell advanced to the Western Regional at Princess Lanes in two weeks. Hempfield, Hopewell, Gateway, Moon, Chartiers Valley and Thomas Jefferson also advanced to regionals as section champs.

Greensburg Salem, Shaler, Penn Hills, Beaver Falls, McKeesport, Montour and Armstrong moved on based on their finish Thursday.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Burrell, Butler, Plum