VOORHEESVILLE — The Voorheesville bowling team is looking ahead to next year.

And with eight team members planning to return, things should be good next winter.

“This year, we had a very young team and had only nine members,” said Voorheesville Coach Jim Duncan. “Three of my starters were eighth-grade boys. My other two starters were girls in 10^th and 11^th grade. The final starter basically moved around between my other team members.”

The Blackbirds finished tied for seventh in the Colonial Council with a 4-12 record. Schalmont won the league title with a 15-1 mark.

“I figured that we did fairly well since we were bowling larger schools with mostly 11^th- and 12^th-grade boys bowling on their teams,” Duncan said. “Since this was a rebuilding year after losing several seniors last season, it was a learning experience. Because of this lack of experience, we would only be competitive for one or two games and not the whole match.

“A number of them would bowl some high scores only to turn around and be way below their averages,” Duncan added. “Anthony [Scaccia] and Becca [Duncan] were the only two who had bowled a number of games last season in varsity competition.”

The lone senior on the team, Jon MacDonald, came out for the team for the first time this past season. He finished with a 100 average and bowled four match games.

Duncan, a junior, finished the season with a 190 average and bowled a team-high game 247 score. She is one of only two players to shoot a 600 series for the season. She was selected to the Colonial Council all-star team for the second straight season.

Brian Farley, also a junior, was on the team for the second year. He bowled a 150 average and had a game high of 223.

Alexa Dillenbeck, a sophomore, was also on the team for the second year. She had a 169 average and a high game of 199 this winter.

Freshman Will Smith was new to the team and new to bowling. He finished his first season with a 142 average and a high game of 199.

Brittany Fahd, a ninth-grader, was on the team for the second year. She had a 154 average and a high game of 226.

Eighth-grader Anthony Scaccia was the team for the second year. He had a 183 average and a high game of 241 this season.

John Springer, an eighth-grader, was also on the team for the second year. He bowled to a 171 average and had a high game of 233 and a high series of 605 during the season.

Tim Stewart, an eighth-grader, was on the team for the first time. He finished his first campaign with a 167 average and a high game of 237.

“I knew that the sectionals would be a challenge and it proved out as we finished 19^th out of 26 with 5,148 total pins,” Coach Duncan said.

Scaccia led the Blackbirds with a high game of 231 and a 1,199 pin total for a 199.8 average. Duncan finished sectionals with a 219 high game, a 1,144 total, and a 190.7 average.

Stewart was next for the Birds with a 167 average. Farley shot a 201 game for Voorheesville’s only other top score.

With several good young bowlers and some others with potential, Duncan sees bright things on the horizon.

“As I will hopefully have all eight of the remaining kids back next season,” Duncan said, “I hope that we will show even more improvement. While I know it will be a challenge, I hope to finish above .500 and have a much better showing in sectionals.”