Base bowling champion decided Published April 30, 2009 By John E. Banks Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- There is a new top dog at the Tinker Bowling Center. Hellifino captured the 2008-09 Commanders Trophy League bowling title on April 22. The title was a culmination of 30 weeks of head to head bowling with a total of two positional rounds of bowling. The winning team outdistanced its nearest competitor, 76th Maintenance Squadron, by 31 games. "It was a tough year for our team and we faced a lot of tough competition. I guess you can say it was in the cards for us this year," said Traci Applebee, a member of the winning team. The team took the league lead after the second week and never looked back. It was a total team effort. Team members are Applebee, Karl Dooley, Dennis March, Merle Norman, Derrell Chapman, Kevin Mayhew, Pam March and Enna M. Vaughan-Carter. Great performances by teams and individuals were seen through the campaign. Dooley was one of three bowlers to bowl a perfect 300 game in league competition. Christopher Coffman, 3rd Combat Communications Squadron, and William Perrott, Here for the BEER, were the others. "The performances by individuals and teams made this league real competitive and a lot of fun this year," said Applebee. Shirley Harmon of the Wildcatters and Dorothy Deatherage, 76th MXW, came home with top individual score on the women's side with a 247, respectively. Hellifino's dominance was noticed by other teams all season. "That team had bowlers who could roll 200 games every time and even though we finished third, it was always a struggle against them," said Mike Cumella, a member of The Cocky Walkers team. "Our goal after last year's defeat was to comeback and regain our top form and claim the title," said March.