Kevin Boller from Brown City and Candy Gerber from Peck collected the championship trophies at the annual Bowler of the Year Tournament sponsored by the Sanilac County News.Approximately 170 bowlers from around the county competed at Saturday night's event at Liberty Lanes in Sandusky. By DALE BALL/Huron County Press

This time around, she used a little revenge, a little luck and one big game to hoist up the championship trophy in the 27th Annual. Bowler of the Year Tournament sponsored by the Sanilac County News.

Gerber, who lives in the Peck area, emerged from a field of 43 ladies competing at Sandusky's Liberty Lanes, defeating Tracy Chalcraft, 255-162, in the title match.

Getting to that point was a little more difficult. Gerber, who bowls in league play at Liberty Lanes, tied for the seventh and eighth spots in the eight-person bracket roll-offs with Chalcraft, both rolling 592 series in the qualifying rounds. Right off the bat, she faced McAfee, the No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinals and earned a 233-212 victory. She put together six strikes in the last seven frames and stayed clean for the game. McAfee, who had a 639 series in qualifying, used a four-bagger to lead by two pins in the eighth, but an open in the 10th ended her night.

Heidi Wrathell, two-time ladies champion, awaited Gerber in the semis. In another tight match, Wrathell picked up a split in the 10th and then needed a strike to win the match by a pin. Wrathell found a pocket 8-10 split and Gerber moved on with a 180-179 triumph.

In the championship, Gerber put a string of five strikes together to open up a big lead and later added a turkey on her way to the B.O.Y trophy.

In other bracket matches, Chalcraft knocked Jaime Nicol, the No. 1 seed, 191-169; Leanne Miller ousted Crystal Cramer (Candy's sister) 182-180; and, Wrathell topped former champion Joanne Paehlig, 194-173, in the quarterfinals. Chalcraft reached the finals by edging Miller, 202-195.

Nicol made her first appearance in the bracket roll-offs after setting the pace in the qualifying shifts with a 675 series, paced by a 237 game. Gerber and Chalcraft edged out Melanie Ball, the 2007 Division 3, High School State champion, for the final spots by one stroke. Ball, who shot 591 (222) was making her first appearance in the Bowler of the Year event.