Bowler Mike Hahn has fun and a milestone as well

It was a thrill even for a league bowler who averages an impressive 178.

It was a thrill even for a bowler who blistered a 290 game two years ago.

For a bowler who goes to the lanes once a week, rolling a 600 series is no ordinary feat.

And so it was for Reseda’s Mike Hahn, who finished at exactly 600 during league play Tuesday night at AMF Woodlake Lanes in Woodland Hills.

What was intriguing about the 600 was that Hahn wasn’t even aware of it as it was unfolding.

First, Hahn bowled a 178 in his first game, marked by a turkey (three strikes in a row) from the sixth to eighth frames. Then he revved up his game with a sizzling 219 in his second game – a clean game (no opens) punctuated by another turkey.

Hahn then virtually sealed the 600 with a torrid start to his third game by running off seven straight marks, including a four-bagger from the fourth to seventh frames.

Then came near-disaster.

Inexplicably, Hahn – a notable spare marksman – opened on his next two frames by missing two straight one-pin spares. So it all came down to the 10th frame as Hahn needed a spare and nine pins for a milestone 600.

He got his spare, knocking down the 10 pin on his second ball, then got his nine pins on his next shot and got his 600 series.

“I don’t even know if I would have gotten [the 600] had I known I was that close,” joked Hahn, who has bowled a “handful” of 600s but none in recent memory.

Only four months earlier, Hahn banged out a 581 series, eliciting this comment: “It’s the story of my life. I always come up short. All my friends were 6-2 and I was 5-9.”

Hahn has been bowling for years – “too many,” laughed Hahn, who confessed to bowling consistently for more than 15 years.

Now with his 600 in hand, Hahn said he may focus on improving his average.

“I know if I took it seriously and concentrate, I’d probably improve on it,” he said.

On the topic of goals, Hahn allowed that he would like to exceed his 290 with a 300 sometime in his lifetime. But in any event, Hahn knows what keeps him going back to the lanes.

“Basically, I’m just out for fun more than anything,” he said.