It’s only two rounds.
Perhaps that’s the best that can be said about our local pro bowling teams after the second of five rounds of Professional Bowling Assn. League action was aired Sunday on ESPN.
The first week, for those who remember, did not start particularly well for the two teams.
The Silver Lake (Calif.) Atom Splitters played in the first match of the day two weeks ago and were eliminated by the nearly flawless Dallas Strikers, 278-171. And the Los Angeles X fared even worse, failing to qualify among the top five teams for the stepladder finals.
During ESPN’s action Sunday at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich., both L.A. teams failed to advance to the four-team stepladder finals although the Atom Splitters made it close.
In an elimination round to qualify one team for the finals, 11 players representing four teams took part in a showdown competition. The L.A. X had the most players in the showdown, but all four bowed out early.
Finally, it came down to two players – Rhino Page representing the Dallas Strikers and Chris Barnes representing the Atom Splitters.
Each player would take one shot and the higher score would advance his team to the finals. That player was Page, who threw a strike, while Barnes managed only nine pins.
Sunday's format was a tad complicated and a bit zany, but the PBA League is buttressed by a lot of glitz and the glamour of eight celebrity owners.
The New York City WTT KingPins, owned by Billie Jean King, wound up winning the Carmen Salvino round by defeating the Philadelphia Hitmen, 222-198, in the championship match.
So after two rounds of league action, the Atom Splitters and the L.A. X are fittingly tied for sixth place in the eight-team league with nine points. The KingPins are atop the standings with 24 points.
But there was a kernel of good news for the X during Sunday’s ESPN telecast. Colombia’s Andres Gomez, a member of the X, defended his title in the Carmen Salvino Classic by scoring a 246-197 victory over D.J. Archer of Friendsworth, Texas.
Gomez opened with six strikes and was never headed.
Gomez’s victory, however, didn’t count for points in the PBA League.
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