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D espite the relative youth of her team, Granville bowling head coach Cathy Kilby expects to see a competitive squad after it gets all the “new-ness” worked out.
“I have a lot of new ones. I’ve got a few back after not bowling last year,” she said. After several years with the usual suspects making up the squad, the team has a bit of new look this season as new bowlers fill varsity roster spots. The team has a youth movement going on with underclassmen filling up its ranks.
“I think we’ve got some … just a few seniors, three, but most everybody who’s here will be back next year,” she said. Kilby said the loss of travel league bowling and the off-season training might have hurt the team a bit because some players are bowling less in the off-season, but the team will still have veterans.
“We will bring a lot of experience back to the lanes this season and most of those will be able to return for the following year,” Kilby said. “We have a lot of experience, but we’re young. I think on a good day we can roll with the best of them.”
Despite an opening game shutout loss to Schuylerville, Kilby said, she is optimistic for the season overall.
The reason for the optimism showed the following day when the team bounced back from being shut out and posted a shut-out win of its own.
“We still have to figure out who we are; for the last few years my varsity has been the same few (guys), so we’re still figuring out who needed to be bowling with who and who needed to be anchor - we’re still figuring that out,” Kilby said.
“I think we’ll be OK,” she added.
Kilby said she really doesn’t pay attention to what other teams lose in terms of players, so she was not sure where Granville stacks up in the league and who is out in front for the chase for a Wasaren League title.
Schuylerville remain dangerous with a combination of talented bowlers and a home alley or house advantage. Hoosick Falls is a similar team, she said, and both represent a big challenge for Granville.
Kilby said making adjustments to the various “houses” the team visits will be as important this year as it is every year, but said the team is sometimes slow to adjust.
Roster:
Pat Loomis
Tyler Williams
Adam Gordon
Matt Bernard
Derek Devino
Russell Martelle
Tim Garrick
Marisa Hoard
Giniqua Crawford
Cody Dekalb
Ashleigh Loomis
Alexis Martelle
Ethan Barnes
Cole McCullen
Alex Bernard
Sarah Bourgious
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