By Mark Schiele
It’s no secret that Facenda Whitaker Lanes in East Norriton has seen its share of 300 games in its 50-plus years of existence. Molly Mason, a 16-year-old from Collegeville, made history back on Dec. 19 when she became the youngest female bowler to accomplish that feat.
Mason, bowling in the Saturday morning junior league, reeled off 12 strikes in a row in what she admitted seemed like a surreal experience.
“I don’t remember the first seven too much. I know four of the first six were Jersey shots,” she said. “Everything seemed to be falling right.”
Mason, who attends Perkiomen Valley High School and has a 181 average, had a previous career high game of 279 in which she threw 10 strikes in a row. But with thoughts of a possible perfect game trickling into her mind, she admits feeling some nervousness.
“In the eighth frame, someone asked me, ‘So, you going to go for the 300,’ ” she said. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, I could actually do this.’ ”
After throwing the eighth strike, crowds starting forming behind lanes 5 and 6. The buzz had spread through all 50 lanes of the center.
“After the ninth frame, I came back shaking and breathing heavy,” she said. “I knew I had to calm down and just relax. When I sat down, everyone was just leaving me alone. No one sat next to me.”
Just three strikes away from perfection, Mason tried to block out nerves. It didn’t help when her father, Dennis, who runs the youth leagues, was paged over the intercom. The reason, of course, was to watch his daughter go for history.
“When I heard that, I was like, oh no,” she said. “I was already nervous. Someone asked me if I wanted them to get my dad. I said no. I looked for him after that, but didn’t see him. I didn’t know where he was.”
Not that dad didn’t know what was going on. He was watching, through the glass door of Steppy’s bar, keeping out of sight while texting his wife, Kay, about what was unfolding.
“It really was surreal,” Dennis said. “That was the day with all the snow. It was a weird day. I didn’t even know if we were going to bowl. It was really amazing”
By the time she stepped onto the approach for the 10th frame, the texting had turned into a phone call, with Dennis providing play-by-play to Kay.
“After I threw the 10th one, I turned around and saw this huge mob watching,’ she said. “No one was bowling next to me … even a few lanes over. It was like everyone was watching me.”
The 11th strike was right in the pocket, the 4-pin the last to fall.
“I was shocked,” she said. I couldn’t believe this was happening. My knees were knocking and my hands were sweating. But when I heard everyone cheer, it calmed me down.”
The pressure on any bowler going for a perfect game is immense when it comes time to throw that final shot. Her 15-pound ball felt like it weighed 150 pounds. Her knees, she admitted, felt like jelly. Her heart was racing.
“People said I looked calm,’ she recalled. “I was just trying to stay in my rhythm. I don’t usually take a lot of time. I usually just get the ball and go. That’s what I tried to do on that last shot.”
She admits not knowing what to expect when the final ball left her hand.
“I knew I missed my mark by a board or two,” she said. “I saw it was going high, but it was going where it was supposed to go.”
The shot did drift a bit high, but not high enough to squash her dream. The pins fell, all of them, the 4-pin the last to go.
“When they went down, I just fell to my knees, I couldn’t believe it,’ she said. “Then everyone ran over to me. It was like a dream. I couldn’t believe I bowled a 300. I mean, I still look at the picture on my phone and on Facebook, and I still think I dreamed it.
“I mean, being so young, it’s crazy. I never saw it coming. I never expected it. To be the youngest female and first junior girl to bowl a 300, it feels really nice. That fact that I was the first, and the youngest, that’s something I can always tell my kids about one day.”
