6
- August 2014
SERVING THE BOWLING INDUSTRY SINCE 1967
California State
Hall of Fame
Carter And Watts
Inducted Into CUSBC Hall
Of Fame
By Phyl Knoll
It is with pride that we prepare for two very deserving
members of our bowling family to be inducted into our
prestigious Hall of Fame. The event will take place
during our Annual Convention the weekend of June 7th
& 8th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (formerly the Holiday
Inn) in Sacramento. Honoree for Superior Perform-
ance is
TORI ROMEO CARTER
of Laguna Hills and in
t h e M e r i t o r i o u s S e r v i c e c a t e g o r y
(posthumously)
DIDDY WATTS
of Pacoima.
TORI CARTER
hails from the well-known Romeo
family, with her mother Joan and sister Robin icons in
the bowling arena. She has been bowling since age
nine and won the New York State Junior Championship
title when she was 15 years old. She lettered in High
School her sophomore year for bowling and has been
an ―All Star‖ since the 1980‘s. She started bowling in
the California State Tournaments in 1982, continued to
excel and never looked back. She was a member of
the winning CWBA Team in 1988, 1989 and 2001. She
won Doubles with her sister Robin in 1992 in Modesto
and All Events in 2001. Carter owns two (2) WWPB
Merle Matthews Doubles titles; three (3) Singles titles;
Mixed Doubles title in 2008 with Vince Wood; two (2)
Professional Women Bowlers Association (PWBA) Sin-
gles title; and the Regional Players Championship in
1998. Carter was WWPB Bowler of the Year in 2001
and holds a Singles title in the Women‘s All-Star Asso-
ciation where she was on the Southern California All-
Star Team three (3) times. Prior to the merger with
USBC, Carter was a member of the Los Angeles WBA
and was on three (3) winning teams; won a Doubles
title with Virginia Norton and one All Events title. In the
Orange County USBC, Carter was once again on the
winning Team in 2002 and held the High Average in
the San Fernando Valley WBA in 1981, 1988, and
1998. Carter and her husband Jeff moved to Las Ve-
gas where while bowling the Nevada USBC State Tour-
nament in 2010 she won Scratch All-Events posting a
new state record of 2,217 and was on the wining (4
women) team setting another record with a 2,790 score
along with Wendy McPherson, Robin Romeo, and Keli
Callahan. They also set a record team game of
979. Carter rolled two (2) 700 series (795 and 742)
with five games over 250 – 279, 279, 258, 258,
257. She claims ten (10) 300 games and in 1999 shot
her first 800 series. Carter has been a member of the
California WBA/USBC for over 20 years and has been
a Personal Trainer for the last 15 years. She is married
to Jeff Carter and has one son, Dave, who is a Para-
medic. Tosh Kinjo was her coach when she first de-
cided to get serious about bowling and ever since has
been fortunate to be coached by the best: John Fantini,
Bill Hall, John Jowdy and Danny Wiseman. Tori Romeo
Carter, we welcome you into our 2014 Hall of Fame.
DIDDY WATTS
began her bowling career in the mid
70‘s when she showed up at to bowl at Starlite Lanes
on Lankiershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Watts be-
came a very well known bowler at the center and even-
tually, with the urging of Starlite‘s Manager Ernie
Wargo and Pat Shatt, Director with the local Women‘s
Bowling Association, agreed to become the center‘s
Youth Coach and also a Delegate for the local WBA. It
was a sad day when Starlite Lanes closed their doors,
however, Watts was offered the position of Youth Di-
rector by Bill Mossontte, proprietor of Mission Hills Bowl
in Mission Hills. Not only did she join a league and en-
joy a 154 average but immediately went to work and
over the 29 years she served Mission Hills Bowl‘s
Youth Program it proved to be a prime example of what
a dedicated center could do for youth bowling. Both her
sons, Dean and Randy grew up in the program and she
could see the wonderful value that bowling was offering
the youngsters. Watts proved to be a leading force
wherever she offered her services. While a member
of the San Fernando Valley YABA, she was a Director
18 years; President 12 years; AJBC and YABA Certi-
fied Coach 29 years; Special Tournament Director six
(6) years; Co-Chaired Youth City Tournament/Awards
Banquet 11 years; Delegate to CSYABA Convention
10 years; Youth Leader four (4) years. Watts was also
a sanctioned 31 year member with the San Fernando
Valley WBA. where she served as a league secretary
25 of those years. She served as SFVWBA Director
four (4) years, and was elected as a WIBC Delegate
one (1) year. During her service, she participated in
the SFVWBA Tournament 10 years, the WIBC Tourna-
ment five (5) years and the California WBA Tourna-
ment four (4) years. Prior to the merging of ABC/
WIBC/YABA, Watts was a member of the all important
CSYABA/USBC Merger Committee and immediately
following the merger in 2006, she became a certified
member and Director on the North Los Angeles County
USBC Association board serving (six) 6 years on the
Youth Committee, City Tournament Committee, and
Awards Committee. Watts was elected to the USBC
California Association Board of Directors and California
Youth Committee where she served for six (6)
years. During that time she served on almost all of the
USBC committees i.e. Marketing, Tournament, Ancil-
lary Tournament, Product Fair, Convention, Legislative,
and Youth State Scratch Tournament (as Director). As
CYC Director of District #5, Watts worked the Coca-
Cola District Tournament for seven (7) years; State
Coca-cola Tournament and Pepsi Tournament six (6)
years; State Scratch Tournament three (3)
years. Watts worked nearly all the committees: Schol-
arship, Meritorious Service, Nominating, Special Stud-
ies, Site Selection and was CSYABA Youth Leader
Advisor five (5) years. Regretfully, Diddy Watts fell ill in
2011 and although she never lost her spirit, she lost
her battle to regain her health on November 16, 2012.
She will always be remembered for her dedicated ser-
vice and special passion for the betterment of the
Youth Programs. Indeed, a true Hall of Famer.
California Bowler Rolls Perfect Game
at 2014 WC
By
Reno, Nev. -
After a slow start during her team event, Jeri Espinoza of South San
Francisco, Calif., pulled out all the stops on the way to the second perfect game of
the 2014
n Mon-
day.
The 53-year-old right-hander started her day at the Reno-Sparks Convention Cen-
ter with games of 154 and 155 before switching back to the ball she started with.
That helped her become the 22nd bowler in the 95-year history of the USBC
Women's Championships to achieve perfection on the championship lanes. She
finished with a 609 series.
"I wasn't thinking about it because I bowled two not-so-good games to start,"
Espinoza said. "I normally don't look at the scoreboard, but I happened to glance up
and saw I had five in a row. I didn't pay much attention until after number eight. I
buried the ninth one."
In the 10th frame, Espinoza benefited from a Brooklyn strike on her first delivery
and a late trip of the 4 pin on her second shot,
before sealing her place in tournament history.
"I buried the 11th one, but the 4 pin stood up,"
Espinoza said. "All of a sudden, a pin rolled out of
nowhere and knocked it over. I just lost my mother
-in-law, so I knew she's the one who kicked that
out for me. We bowled together for three years,
and I know she had a hand in this for me. Because
of her, I got up and threw the 12th one."
The perfect game was the first of Espinoza's ca-
reer and a moment she surely won't forget. She
added sets of 554 in doubles and 547 in singles to
end her 2014 Women's Championships with an all
-events total of 1,710, placing her just outside of the top 10 in Division 2. Mallory
Nutting of Monmouth, Maine, leads with 1,853.
"Being my first 300 game makes it more special," Espinoza said. "It was on my
bucket list, so I can knock that one off. It was an honor to make it happen here."
Bowlers competing in Division 2 have entering averages between 175-189.
