Brandon Parker of West Deptford is the South Jersey Times Boys Bowler of the Year, 2018-19

There is the typical year-to-year improvement expected from a high school bowler, and then there is the level of improvement Brandon Parker has made.

The West Deptford junior took another leap this past season, upping his average from 198 last year to 210.7 this time around.

Parker rolled a 653 at

Jersey sectional to qualify for the state tournament for the second year in a row, this time making it all the way to the stepladder tournament. He entered as the 4-seed and defeated Michael Liu of Livingston by just two pins,

before Joe Mahoney of Park Ridge ended his run with four consecutive strikes to cap off a 242-214 victory over Parker and bring his improbable run to an end.

For his efforts, Parker is the 2018-19 South Jersey Times Boys Bowler of the Year.

Parker often films his motion when he bowls outside of high school events, going back to break down his motion from a technical aspect.

However, he credits his increased level of success more to mental improvements than to physical ones.

“I learned not to get frustrated,” Parker said on the biggest difference between this season and the previous one. “Last year I got frustrated often, now I don’t allow it.”

Parker had plenty of opportunities to overcome his frustration, as he had to perform in several clutch situations throughout his junior season, never allowing the moment to become too big when every throw mattered.

At the South Jersey sectional, Parker just qualified for the state individual tournament, making the cut by just nine pins. At states, he started the day poorly, rolling a 182 in Game 1, but did not allow himself to get frustrated the way he would have in the years prior.

“I just told myself

two more games left and there’s still a lot of chances to make it,” Parker said on his mindset after a low opening game.

The odds were against him, as the 18 bowlers who would go on to advance to the second qualifying round combined to average a Game-1 score of 219.7, a 37-pin difference.

Parker bounced back with a 224 followed by a 238, climbing the leaderboard and sitting in 13th place after the first series to advance to the next round, something he failed to do at least year’s state tournament.

However, he still had some work to do, needing to climb from 13th all the way to fifth place to qualify for the stepladder tournament. Parker then put up one of the best series of the event, rolling a 735 and advancing by just 21 pins with a six-game score of 1,379, the fourth-best of the day.

“That was one of my goals,” Parker said on getting to the stepladder tournament. “All season long, I was reminiscing about last season and finishing 58th.”

For the record, he finished in 52nd place out of 75 bowlers last year, but that’s hardly a difference for someone as driven and motivated as Parker.

He then put on one of the most clutch performances the event would see, closing out the first game of the stepladder tournament with three consecutive strikes, each one absolutely necessary, to win a tight one over Livingston’s Michael Liu, 225-223.

Parker’s magical run would then come to an end, however, as third-seeded Joe Mahoney of Park Ridge took him down in the next round, 242-214.

Parker also performed well for West Deptford in the regular season, with his 210.7 average highlighted by eight series over 600, including a 688 against Egg Harbor, to lead the team to a 7-6-2 record.

Despite his success as an individual, Parker’s main focus for his senior campaign remains with his team.

With Parker set to return for his senior season, and Keith Perry expected to rejoin the team after being ineligible this season, he hopes to lead West Deptford to bigger and brighter things.

“Things will be better next season,” Parker said. “I’m hoping we’ll be the best team in South Jersey.”