Mavs bowling off to strong start

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Mavericks bowling team is sitting at 5-3 on the season and is second in the Big 9, right behind Eastmont. The Mavs look to improve upon the season once they return from winter break. 

“So far we’ve got a pretty solid team this year which I haven’t really had in the past,” said Mavs head coach Dan Stevenson. “We’ve always had one or two bowlers that were real new and get them to maybe average 100 might be a challenge, but I think our team average (per game) is about 765 so that’s pretty good for us.” 

The Mavs started the season’s league play off strong, going 4-0 against Eisenhower, Wenatchee, West Valley and Davis. The team then fell to Sunnyside and Eastmont in back-to-back weeks before coming back last week to earn another win over Eisenhower. 

Moses Lake’s varsity bowlers are freshman Lizzy Cochrun, juniors Allie Biles, Abby Vasquez and Jayla Pierce and senior Jenna Zemke. Stevenson said the team is also strengthened by juniors Odalys Santos-Martinez, Presley Guerrero and Annmarie Kagele. 

Pierce sits as the highest average bowler on the team at 165, with Cochrun averaging 153. Cochrun has also bowled an all-spare game and finished with 15 consecutive spares, which the coach said is not seen very often by any bowler. 

He said the bonds of the Mavs players this season have been strong and everyone has been doing their part when it’s time to compete. 

“I’ve been really lucky with girls that just get along; they all bond really well,” said the coach. “We’ve got a smaller group, but it’s still a really good tight team that they all get along well and support each other. It’s really good to see.” 

This year’s team consists of 14 players total, which he said the Mavs assistant coach Victoria Weber has been doing a great job this season working with and keeping each of them dialed in and ready to play when the time comes. 

At the start of the season, Stevenson said he told the team that it would be important to keep things simple as the players strive for success. For the group of returners were returners, many of them didn’t get much bowling in during the offseason and there was a large group of new players with little experience, so it was important to start out at the basics. 

“Don’t overthink stuff, just go with the drills and what we’ve been working on so far,” he said. 

Since then, the Mavs have made great strides in their improvement as they sit as one of the top two teams in the league. With the team moving into winter break, the coach said it’ll be important to try and work around the holidays to get the players in to practice as much as possible. 

“The main thing is find a way to get down here and practice, even if we don’t have practice, they can always come down and do it on their own, but not get lazy like they do with their schoolwork when it’s winter break,” he said.  

Following winter break, the Mavs will go on the road to Eastmont at 2 p.m. 

Mavs Roster:  

Name, Grade 

Hennicy Peterson, 11 

Odalys Santos-Martinez, 11 

Jayla Pierce, 11 

Presley Guerrero, 11 

Ally Presley, 11 

Jenna Zemke, 12 

Abby Vasquez, 11 

Kayloni Blair, 11 

Annmarie Kagele, 11 

Allie Biles, 11 

Anna Wise, 12 

Ezme Zambrano, 12 

Lizzy Cochrun, 9 

Bennet Vigil-Olson, 11 

    The Mavs team sits together in a circle at Lake Bowl prior to starting their competition at a previous meet this season. Head Coach Dan Stevenson said this year’s team has a very strong bond which has helped with their success.