Josie Rodriguez is fully aware of the stakes. And yet, she’s cool about it. Bring it on.
Rodriguez, a senior Trinity bowler, rolled through an IHSA regional Friday at Bowlero River Grove with 1,078 pins, advancing for the fourth straight year to Saturday’s sectional at Bowlero Lyons. It’s another opportunity for her to move on to state competition, something she’s never done. And yet Saturday sounds like it will be just another outing for the Quincy University commit.
“From the last three sectional appearances I have made, I feel a lot more confident in myself now because of the amount of time I have put into becoming a better bowler,” Rodriguez said. “My plan is to stay focused and try my best to make my spares and make good shots all day while remembering to have fun.”
Cassandra Schneider is her coach, and said one word described Rodriguez’s performance Friday, where she took 11th overall and third among advancing individual bowlers: Consistency.
“In matches she’ll drop down a little bit, but she was around the same level of pickup and scores as last year,” Schneider said. “She’s knowledgeable about her equipment and at sectionals, I’m mostly there to help her be level-headed.”
Rodriguez, who threw 205 in her first game, wasn’t the only Trinity bowler to advance to the sectional Friday. So did senior Sophia Gonzales, with 1,002 pins, a shade ahead of fellow sectional qualifiers Mariya Mason (945), a Fenwick senior; Oak Park and River Forest junior Sophia Thompson (936); and Fenwick junior De’Ondrea Almond (935).
Rodriguez said it will be an advantage to have Gonzales at the lanes Saturday.
“This is my first year having a teammate with me since advancing with my team freshman year, so it feels amazing,” she said. “The last two years have felt so lonely and it made me feel like I was stuck with my thoughts and [that] affected my scoring and confidence a lot. Knowing another senior is coming with me is great because we will both be experiencing our last sectional together.”
Ditto for Gonzales.
“I think it is important because we can be there to lift each other up and support each other,” she said.
With 4,442 pins, Fenwick was 37 pins away from a team sectional berth in fifth place. And the Friars were exactly 100 pins ahead of sixth place Trinity. In addition to yeoman’s work by Mason and Almond, junior Millie Ramirez was just shy of also qualifying as an individual, needing three more pins, with a total of 911 across six games.
“Even though the girls did not repeat school history by advancing as a team to sectionals again, Mason and Almond are excited to continue representing Fenwick and are striving for state,” Fenwick assistant coach Michelle Walker said.
OPRF’s Thompson saved her best game for last, throwing a 168 in her final outing Friday. She finished 17th overall and eighth among the individual advancers. Her teammate, senior Siofra Pellettieri checked in at 35th place with 760 pins.
Those two, along with their teammates, are a fun, happy-go-lucky bunch, and their coach, Daniel Solis, had a special chant Saturday.
“I would yell ‘Huskie!’ obnoxiously, and they would yell ‘Pride!’ back at me,” Solis said with a chuckle.
Hey, whatever works. It was especially motivating for Thompson.
“She had a great day,” Solis said. “She was reading the lanes well, she didn’t panic and stayed calm throughout the whole time.”
Like Rodriguez, Thompson’s focus is on consistency.
“I’m still a junior so making it to sectionals for the second time is very exciting,” she said. “I think the same can be said for any big event. I am a little nervous, but the excitement overpowers it. I’m trying not to overthink it. I’m trying to keep everything as consistent as possible.”
