Bowling was just a hobby when Joe Renzi first started. Now, the Baldwin sophomore is making a big impact on the varsity team.

“It started off as a hobby with my dad, and I decided to join the team,” Renzi said. 

He first joined the high school team when some of his friends joined. One of those friends was junior Mike Quallich.

“He’s definitely our star player and is a good motivator for the whole team,” Quallich said. 

Quallich played a big role in Renzi’s development, often bowling with him outside of practice and offering advice on how to improve. That extra work quickly paid off. At the start of Renzi’s freshman year, he was not on the varsity roster. But after consistently bowling scores over 200, he earned a spot on varsity later that year.

Renzi’s highest in-game score is 255 and his highest informally is 290. Yet he still sees room for improvement.

“I need to work on making more spares,” Renzi said. Making more spares will help him to be a more consistent bowler, he said.

Junior Copper Sturges, another friend and teammate, credited Renzi’s concentration.

“Joe is locked in during matches,” Sturges said. Renzi is a competitive player and works hard to get better and win each match, he said.

 The team practices by bowling three rounds every Monday. They then have a match every Wednesday.

“The team in practice is chill,” Renzi said. 

Renzi is not sure if he will bowl in college, but he definitely wants to continue as a hobby.

“If he wants to, he’s definitely good enough to play in college,” Quallich said. 

The team clinched a spot in the playoffs and is bowling today in the first round. They are preparing to fight their way through the playoffs if need be and are hoping to have a good run in regionals.

Renzi shared his mindset heading into the postseason.

“Just have fun, stay consistent, and do the best we can do,” he said.