Baldwin rolls to conference title

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A year ago Baldwin’s bowling team snapped a six-year skid and won the conference crown – stunning league foe Freeport, whose identical 9-3 record in conference included a season sweep of the Bruins, but whose pin tally by season’s end fell just shy of Baldwin’s, a fact which settled matters as a tiebreaker.
This season Baldwin left nothing to chance, going 12-0 in Conference 5 to capture back-to-back titles. And perhaps the one most stunned this time was Bruins coach Nick LaForgia, who had entered this season with muted expectations as four fresh faces replaced his entire championship roster.
“Last year I kind of had a feeling we’d be good going into the season, because I’d coached those kids since I started here, when they were all freshmen,” LaForgia said. “This year, I have to say it was surprising how well these kids stepped up, how they fought through and proved themselves when it counted the most. I’m extremely proud of them.”
As Baldwin began its title defense, it was not at all clear anyone on the club could pick up where four All-Conference graduates left off. This question dissolved in a match against then-league favorite Oceanside Dec. 16, as the teams, in their second league meeting, faced off on unoiled lanes. Bruins captain Matthew Olmedo was quick to get on top of the situation, directing his teammates on savvy workarounds which yielded an edge on the Sailors, LaForgia said.
“Matthew stepped up and led the whole team; he became like a player-coach,” LaForgia said of the junior who would set a conference high in the match with a 596 series. “From that point on, with Matthew’s leadership, everyone on the team started talking all the time and analyzing each other’s shots. Matthew pushed the team to start thinking that there was never a chance we would lose.”

With a high game of 256 and a 172 season average, Olmedo is thought to be a leading All-Conference team candidate, with the honors set to be announced in early February. And while Olmedo took the lead in setting the Bruins on a winning track, teammate Matthew Johnson, a freshman, steadily built a pace that would peak in the stretch to eclipse every Bruins high mark, posting a league-high 666 series, a team-best 174 average, and a conference-leading 258 high game – numbers likely to give Baldwin a pair of All-Conference Matthews.
“I wasn’t sure when Matthew Johnson would break out of his shell,” LaForgia said. “It ended up happening at the most important time of the season. He really came through to put us over the top.”
Senior Dan Hernandez (250 high game, 594 series) and freshman Daniel Dar (196 game, 463 series) turned in solid seasons to buttress Jonhson’s and Olmedo’s big numbers, while junior Cameron Harewood (177, 441) buoyed Baldwin in spot starts.
“This team reached heights it shouldn’t have reached,” LaForgia said. “It’s a new identity, a competitive nature like we haven’t had before.”