One 300 deserves another
BUTLER TWP — Jordan Harmon learned bowling from his stepfather. He just hasn’t had a chance to bowl with him much.
“M whole life, he’s dad,” Harmon said. “He used to take me with him to watch him bowl on league nights when I was little. He pretty much taught me the game.
“But between his work and league nights, my school, playing volleyball and working myself, we just never have the opportunity to bowl together.“
A junior on the Armstrong High School bowling team and a longtime Butler youth bowler, Harmon carried a 191 average in high school this past season. His stepfather, Josh Sullivan, bowls in the Monday night league at Belmont and in the Tuesday night City League at Sherwood Lanes. He is averaging 224 and 219 in those leagues, respectively.
When the Butler Area Adult/Youth Doubles Tournament took place recently at Family Bowlaway, father and son were finally able to bowl together.
“That meant the world to me. That’s one day I’ll never forget,” Harmon said.
It was during that tournament that Harmon rolled his first-ever perfect game. He also rolled a 717 series, the highest of his career.
“All I could think of as I was rolling that 12th ball was, ‘don’t leave the 7-pin.’ When I spin the ball a little too much, that tends to happen,” Harmon said. “When all of the pins went down and I turned around, my dad was the first one I saw.
“There was no one else in the world I would have rather seen at that moment than him.”
“I was happier and more excited about it than he was,” Sullivan said.
Harmon and Sullivan wound up winning that tournament. They bowled the morning shift and Harmon went to a friend’s birthday party afterward.
Sullivan wasn’t done.
He had rolled six 300-games in his career. He was about to roll his seventh.
He teamed with Eric DeVore, one of the top bowlers on the Butler High School team, in the afternoon shift of that same tournament — and Sullivan came up with his seventh 300-game.
“Eric wanted to bowl with me and he’s such a good kid and great bowler, I couldn’t refuse,” Sullivan said. “When I got that perfect game, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know whether to call Jordan on the phone or wait until we were both home to tell him.
“Everybody there convinced me to call him.
Harmon couldn’t help but smile when he heard the news.
“It was hard to believe,” He said. “I told him he couldn’t just let me have that one day for myself. He had to trump me. We laughed about it ... just a great day all the way around.”
The pair have no idea when they’ll bowl together again. Harmon is looking at Robert Morris University as a potential school to continue hius academic and bowling career.
Sullivan is looking farther down the road.
“I don’t know where life may take Jordan, whether he leaves the area or not, but I’m hoping we someday have the chance to bowl in adult leagues together,” Sullivan said. “That would mean a lot to me.
“I remember bringing him to watch me bowl when he was 5 years old. He was always into bowling. He grew up on bowling at Family Bowlaway. For us to win that tournament together and him to get his first 300 in that house ... That was a neat thing.”
