Bowler rolls two perfect games, back-to-back

Barry Wright When Jim Lapointe headed to his regular Thursday Night Men’s League at Marcin Bowl two weeks ago, he told his son he was tired and really didn’t feel like bowling. Little did he know what was about to happen in Point Edward.

Barry Wright

When Jim Lapointe headed to his regular Thursday Night Men’s League at Marcin Bowl two weeks ago, he told his son he was tired and really didn’t feel like bowling.

Little did he know what was about to happen in Point Edward.

Lapointe, 44, became the centre of attention when he bowled two perfect games, back-to-back, part of an 845 triple on the evening.

In doing so, he became the first Sarnia ten-pin bowler ever to record the feat in sanctioned league play.

“It was a very fun night,” said the Home Depot freight manager, who has been bowling from the age of four.

The 300 games were the third and fourth of his career. He previously bowled perfect games at Sarnia’s HiWay Bowl in 1998 and 2007.

While admitting to some nervous energy as the night wore on, Lapointe said everything was “solid pocket” over the two perfect games, with the exception of his 11th ball in the second game.

“I pulled it a little bit,” he said. “I turned around and didn’t even watch,” thinking his unbelievable string of strikes had come to end. “But then my teammates all started yelling at me that (the pins) were all down.”

Lapointe, who took an average of 218 into the record-setting night, said a few people came to congratulate him once the first perfect game was in the books. But the other lanes came to a virtual standstill with a large gathering watching his every move when he got close to pulling off the back-to-back achievement.

“The place was loaded,” he said. “It was quite the crowd.”

Lapointe said the fact his 16-year-old son Ben, also a scratch bowler, witnessed the extraordinary accomplishment and was the first to offer his congratulations, made the evening even more noteworthy.

“It was pretty special,” he said.