Brian LeClair Wins First PBA50 Title at Fountain Valley Open; Jurek Finishes 4th
Wednesday, 6.10.2015
Brian LeClair (center) accepts his championship trophy for the PBA50 Fountain Valley Open from Fountain Bowl proprietors Dave Osborn (L) and Gary Forman (R) (Photo Courtesy PBA LLC)
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CALIF. � Brian LeClair of Delmar, N.Y. competed on the PBA Tour for 18 seasons without a title. But now, bowling as a rookie on PBA�s Tour for players 50 and over, he can lay claim to his first PBA title at a national level after winning the PBA50 Fountain Valley Open presented by Track Wednesday at Fountain Bowl.

The win didn�t come easy. After surviving two come-from-behind matches which included a sudden-death roll-off in the championship match, LeClair defeated two-time PBA50 Tour titlist Lennie Boresch Jr. of Kenosha, Wis., for the title with a strike in the second sudden-death frame to Boresch�s nine-count after the players tied the match with 247 games. After both players struck in the first sudden death frame, Boresch left an eight pin on his shot to hand the win to LeClair.

�I don�t know what to say,� said LeClair, whose best showings on the PBA Tour were two second-place finishes. �This whole tournament was about finding a way to get it done. From choosing the right equipment to how I played the lanes, it was all about fighting back.

�My next win could come next week or 10 years from now, but what matters right now is that I won tonight.�

And fight back he did. In both the championship match and the semifinal match, when it appeared that he might be eliminated early, LeClair came from behind in dramatic fashion by throwing the last six strikes. In the semifinal, he made his late-game run to defeat Paul McCordic of Sugar Land, Texas, 219-212, to advance to the championship match against Boresch.

Another illustration of the long road LeClair took to the title was having to claw his way through the casher�s round to even make it to match play.

�Throughout my career there have been some who may have thought I didn�t have what it took to get it done and in some cases maybe they were right,� LeClair said, �This time there was no giving up. I guess I could have had the attitude that I was beaten in those matches but I turned it around and thought if there was room for me to come back and win I could do it.�

LeClair�s second-place PBA Tour finishes came in 1996 against tournament winner Hall of Famer and all-time Tour titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr.

McCordic advanced to the semifinal match by defeating two-time PBA50 Tour and two-time PBA Tour titlist Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, N.Y., trying for his second win of the season, 237-207.

In the opening match, Jurek defeated PBA50 Tour rookie Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas, who was trying for his third win of the season, 234-199.

PBA50 FOUNTAIN VALLEY OPEN PRESENTED BY TRACK
Fountain Bowl, Fountain Valley, Calif.,

Final Standings
1, Brian LeClair, Delmar, N.Y., $7,500.
2, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., $4,000.
3, Paul McCordic, Sugar Land, Texas, $2,500.
4, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., $2,000.
5, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, $1,750.

Stepladder Results
Match One � Jurek def. Scroggins, 234-199. Match Two � McCordic def. Jurek, 237-207. Semifinal Match � LeClair def. McCordic, 219-212. Championship � LeClair def. Boresch 247-247. LeClair won sudden-death roll-off in second frame 10-9.
 
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