His mom was home sick when Brayden Siders bowled a perfect game for Airport, but she got to watch thanks to the team's coach.
FLAT ROCK — Carrie Siders is starting to think she is a jinx.
She loves to watch her son Brayden Siders bowl, but she wasn’t there the first two times he rolled a perfect game.
She was sick and had to stay home for a recent Huron League match at Flat Rock Lanes when Brayden did it again.
But mom did get to see this 300, thanks to Airport coach Kristi Hill.
“I had his mom on Facetime,” Hill said. “I let her watch it. She was home sick, which is a shame because she’s one of our biggest cheerleaders.”
One of Siders’ other biggest cheerleaders was there to witness the event.
His father, Mike Siders, was one of the first to greet him as he came off the lanes.
“He really loves being there to watch,” Siders said. “He used to bowl when he was my age, then picked it back up when I started bowling. We’ve been able to bond over it.”
Siders became the first Airport bowler to reach perfection during a sanctioned high school event.
He is the second in Huron League history to achieve the feat. The first was Johnaton Cole of Riverview in 2017.
Another Riverview bowler pushed Siders to this 300.
The Pirates were Airport’s opponent on this night and Riverview’s Ryan Cox matched Siders shot-for-shot through the first nine frames.
Cox finally was stopped when a 10-pin refused to fall on his first ball in the tenth.
“That helped,” Siders said of battling Cox, who finished with a 267. “We were going at it. It’s good to have to keep up with someone.”
Siders started to sense that perfection might be possible about halfway through the historic game.
“After getting through the front six, the pressure starts hitting me, but I was throwing really good,” he said. “I thought I had a chance.”
So did his coach.
“He usually starts fast, but anything can happen once he gets through the transition,” said Hill, referring to the time when the oil pattern on the lanes starts to break down forcing bowlers to make adjustments. “When he got through the seventh and eighth, I thought, ‘Here we go.’”
Hill who has three perfect games of her own, knew Siders had the mental toughness to complete the 300.
“I’m never nervous for him,” she said. “I just sit back and watch.”
The coach might not have been nervous, but the bowler was.
“I tried to step back after every shot and take a few deep breaths,” he said. “I wanted to take my time and not rush it. My heart was racing and my legs were shaky.”
Many bowlers will admit to having at least one lucky strike during a 300. But on this day, almost every shot was perfect.
“Most of them were good,” he said. “There was one where I almost left a 9 pin, but another pin spun out of the gutter and hit it. That was a little bit of a lucky break. The last one I hit (the pocket) a little flush, but it worked.”
Siders let out a yell, pumped his arms and immediately went to celebrate with his teammates after the final strike.
“It’s just an amazing feeling, especially since the whole bowling alley is looking at you and cheering you on,” he said. “It’s hard to explain how good a feeling it is.”
Siders nearly repeated that feeling in the next game when he shot a 279.
His only non-strike in that game came midway through when he left a 10-pin that he spared up, then completed the game with strikes.
That gave him a league-record 579 series. The Michigan High School Bowling Coaches Association lists that as the third best in state history.
On top of that, Airport shot a 1,081 team game — the best in the league this season. Tyson Hill rolled a 254 and Wess Barton a 212.
The Jets beat Riverview 24-6 to take sole possession of first place in the boys standings with an undefeated record.
“This one means a lot more than the first two (300s),” Siders said.
Siders also is an outstanding golfer for Airport.
He said the two sports pair together well.
“In some aspects, I feel like I’m a better golfer than bowler,” he said. “There are so many ways you can get lucky in bowling and there is only a maximum score you can hit. In golf you can always go lower. I am better in that environment.”
But unlike bowling, Siders has never experienced perfection on the golf course.
“I’ve been super close, but I’ve never had a hole-in-one,” he said. “My closest was within a few inches.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Mom watches from afar as Siders bowls a perfect game for Airport
Category: General Sports
