“I’ve always said, when you bowl with friends, good things happen,” Barnett said. “That day was magical.”
The duo rolled their record-breaking series on November 5, 2023, but had to wait until the end of the 2023-24 season to be sure the score held up. It was a long nine months.
“I was checking pretty regularly to see if anyone was getting close to us,” Barnett said.
It was uncharted territory for the mother of two who had only recently returned to the lanes after a 12-year hiatus to focus on raising her two daughters.
“I had been trying to get her out of ‘retirement’ for years,” Hatcher said.
While Hatcher was confident in the pairing, Barnett had some doubts competing in her first tournament in more than a decade.
“I used to be very competitive, but it had been a long time,” she said. “And it’s one thing if you’re bowling by yourself, but there’s added pressure when you’re bowling with someone else because you don’t want to let them down.”
Hatcher, however, never doubted her partner.
“You don’t lose that (competitiveness), I knew she had it in her,” Hatcher said. “She’s a great teammate and a great person. And it’s amazing what happens when you have fun.”
Beyond the local titles and national recognition, the value of fun and friendship is something these veteran bowlers have instilled in their children – all bowlers themselves. Barnett’s daughters and Hatcher’s daughter and son bowl in the same youth league.
“We spent a ton of time together watching our kids bowl,” Hatcher said. “It was great finally getting to bowl together.”
“It’s fun to be able to tell my kids, ‘Look what mom did,’” Barnett said with a smile. “It is a big deal. I still can’t put it into words what this means to me.”
A national high score is something Hatcher also cherishes.
“It’s not easy,” she said. “In women’s doubles, you have to click at the right time and that’s what we did.”
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