Plywaczewski rolls 300 for St. Charles East

What's in a name?

The study of names is called onomastics. When referring to the meaning of a name, it is called etymology, which is its original literal meaning.

Every name has a meaning, whether it's your first name or last name which is also called a surname.

According to Ancestor Search, the surname Peters means the son of Peter. O'Reilly means the grandson of Reilly. Kirkpatrick means the church of St. Patrick. Smith means blacksmith. Reid means red, and so on …

I'm no genealogist, but I wouldn't be surprised if the meaning of my surname (Brueske) has something to do with beer.

And I'm definitely not smart enough to figure out the name origin of Plywaczewski.

But I do know that in bowling terminology, Plywaczewski means perfect game.

Two weeks ago, St. Charles East senior Joey Plywaczewski experienced the thrill of a lifetime when he rolled a perfect 300 game as part of a career-best 779 series during the Saints' boys bowling match against Elgin at the St. Charles Bowl.

Not only did Plywaczewski achieve perfection for the first time in his young career, it occurred during the Saints' first Upstate Eight Conference match of the season and it happened in a team victory over the Maroons.

“Having it happen during an actual match made it an even greater achievement,” said Plywaczewski. “It had always been a dream of mine.”

Plywaczewski, who carries an overall average of 212 (220 in conference matches), admittedly started feeling some nerves shortly after reaching the midway point of his game.

“I started thinking about it after the seventh frame,” said Plywaczewski. “I usually don't make it that far.”

However, it wasn't the first time that Plywaczewski flirted with perfection. In fact, just a month and a half earlier, he recorded 10 consecutive strikes before “settling” for a 282 his previous career-high game.

With each passing frame, the news of Plywaczewski's strike binge spread throughout the St. Charles Bowl.

“As the game went on, I noticed more and more people watching,” he said. “I was trying to stay focused but I saw that there were members of the JV team, more parents and even some bowlers from other lanes looking on.”

It was a crowd that included Plywaczewski's dad, Wally, who was just trying to stay out of his son's way.

“He was throwing the ball really well,” said Wally, himself an avid bowler who recorded nine strikes in a row during a game several years ago. “He was hitting the pocket consistently.

“I was calmer than I thought that I'd be,” he added. “I was trying to stay in the moment and take it one ball at a time, and I was just hoping he wouldn't get a bad pin stand up on a good roll.”

After recording his 11th straight strike, the right-handed Plywaczewski toed the line and let loose a 12th time one strike away from a perfect game.

And then it happened. Barely.

“On my very last ball, I had a wobbly pin the four-pin,” said Plywaczewski. “When it finally fell, I kind of walked back and thought to myself, ‘did that just happen?' It was total shock and awe. I started getting a little lightheaded.”

“Before his last throw, the whole bowling alley was in a state of shock,” said Wally. “When that final pin fell, it was pandemonium.”

As if the odds of bowling a perfect game (11,500 to 1, according to Funny2.com) weren't enough, Plywaczewski's chances of even being on a high school bowling team seemed astronomical just a few short years ago.

St. Charles East didn't have a boys bowling team until last year.

“During my freshman and sophomore years, I had two meetings with our principal (Robert Miller) and explained the benefits of having a bowling team at the high school,” recalled Plywaczewski, who began bowling in second grade. “Some of the other schools in our conference already had bowling

teams.”

Led by Plywaczewski, the Saints carried a 6-2 record into this week's action. St. Charles East will take on rival St. Charles North Dec. 9.

With the 300 game under his belt, Plywaczewski admits some things have changed.

“I do feel the pressure now to show the rest of the guys on the team that I'm not going to let them down just because of my 300 game,” he said.

“Personally, my goal always was a 300. Now it's an 800 series.”

To me, it's all in a name perfect, as in Plywaczewski.