The Rangers faced off against the infamous Huskies this Wednesday night at Eastbrook Lanes. The final result was a 10.5-19.5 loss for FHC.

“The point breakdown makes it seem like it was not as close as it was,” coach Grant Vermeer said. “It was a pretty hard fought battle until the tenth frame of the second game, so it really could have gone either way.”

FHC did not start off on the best foot by losing the first two games. However, the Rangers pulled it together individually in their last two. The team was led by anchor bowler, freshman Cope Hungerford. Cope bowled a 154 individually in the first individual set and a 232 in the second. Ultimately, the Rangers had some open doors but were unable to capitalize in the end. 

“We need to work on getting spares, because it’s a second chance to get more points,” Cope said. “We had pretty good first shots, but then we couldn’t knock down the second pins and get the points.”

Senior Nate Deroos was pulled up to the varsity team in the middle of his third game. He was a key contributor in the near comeback for FHC. Nate was solid in relief and bowled a 164 in the final game. Nate was not with the usual crew of seniors, as Ray Beckering and Ryan Daugherty both watched on as their team fell behind.

“What [Vermeer] has done recently is take the average scores of the days prior to our matches, and whoever has the highest averages will play,” Nate said. “That’s why Ray, Ryan, and I didn’t start. Our scores were not as high as the others.”

With 11 boys this year and all of them wanting a shot at playing on the varsity starting 5, Vermeer has lots of options. It remains in the player’s hands for them to have a legitimate shot at playing though. If you practice well, then you play. Vermeer pointed out that some of his new players need to relax when in the match.

“A couple of the guys haven’t played in varsity matches, so shaking some of those nerves out is important,” Vermeer said. “You know in practice they can hit certain shots all day long, and then they come out here and they can’t.”

If only a few more pins would have dropped for the Rangers on Wednesday they may have been able to escape with a win. Instead, they will have to try and find a way to improve their 1-4 record. Their next match will be home against Lowell on January 11.

“It kind of sucked,” Cope said. “We were really close to winning. We just needed one more guy to perform well, but it just didn’t happen.”