Coldwater bowling coach Rick Hartings says the MAC’s new Bowler of the Year format is adding a little extra pressure to every match.

“Yeah, and that’s happened here recently. There’s Bowler of the Year, and that’s a prestigious award to win in the MAC, along with Player of the Year, First Team All Conference, and Second Team All Conference. The coaches see the stats, so it’s different this year. The highest game on that pair of lanes gets 10 points, the second highest gets nine, and the lowest game gets one. If you take somebody out of that match, they don’t get any points. Like last week, we had a closer match with St. Henry, and I did take a couple bowlers out who didn’t bowl very well. And I thought the condition was a little harder than normal at Versailles, which was great. I like it when it’s a little harder and you have to make shots, but we do have some kids that average way higher than others.”

Hartings says it’s a balancing act, because coaches still have to make lineup decisions in tight matches, even if it costs a kid points. Coldwater has 22 boys in the program, and the staff tracks performance across varsity and JV to figure out who’s ready when postseason hits.

The Cavaliers have two regular season weeks left, then sectionals in February, with their Northwest District postseason route starting at Minster. Hartings says the end goal stays the same: win the MAC, make a deep tournament run, and win another state title.