ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — A teenager from Coram bowled a perfect game in a recent tournament.
Joseph Caliendo, 17, got the elusive 300 game during the Peter J. LaSpina, Sr. Memorial Scholarship Tournament at Maple Lanes RVC.
“I’ve been doing for the last six years of my life,” Caliendo told Patch.
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While he’s bowled in many tournaments, this was the first time in rolled the 12 straight strikes. It’s also the first perfect game in the tournament’s 38-year history.
“I was very surprised when I heard that,” he said. “I didn’t believe it.”
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Caliendo said he remained poised as the strikes kept coming. It wasn’t until the ninth frame when nerves began to play a role.
“When you start to feel nervous, you want to distract yourself,” he said. “Talk to someone about anything other than bowling, or focus on someone else’s bowling. That’s what I did.
He was able to keep the anxiety in check. “I wasn’t overthinking anything,” he said.
Caliendo has come close to a 300 on a couple of occasions, with his average before the perfection, at around 220.
Although he has thought about turning pro, “the level of dedication that it would take to become professional, like what you’d see on TV, is so hard.”
Instead, the junior in the Longwood Central School District, is focusing on his academic life with a focus on mathematics.
Watch the full “Patch Weekly Spotlight” with Caliendo below.
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