Let's give the Los Angeles pro bowling teams the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps it's all a ploy to get the rest of the league overconfident.
And that's why the Los Angeles X and the Silver Lake (Calif.) Atom Splitters are struggling so much in the Professional Bowling Assn. League.
The third of five rounds of PBA League action was aired Sunday on ESPN and the Motown Muscle prevailed in the finals, defeating the New York City WTT KingPins, 195-193, at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
Four teams competed for the title after an elimination round was held to determine which team would join the Muscle, Kingpins and the BROOKLYN STyLES in the championship round.
The X and Atom Splitters put up a good fight in the elimination round, but Mike DeVaney won the 11-man competition to advance his Philadelphia Hitmen into the top four.
In the elimination round, each bowler rolls one ball during each round with the individual or individuals having the lowest score being eliminated (in the case of ties -- all the low scores are eliminated).
The Atom Splitters had three representatives in the elimination round. Nathan Bohr was ousted in the third round, Chris Barnes bowed out in the fourth round and Dom Barrett was ousted in the seventh and final round. Barrett went head to head with DeVaney of the Hitmen. Barrett rolled first and knocked down nine pins and DeVaney trumped him with a strike.
Parker Bohn III was the lone representative for the X and he held up until the second-to-the-last round when he was one of four bowlers eliminated with an unusual first-ball total of six pins.
After three rounds, the KingPins remain atop the standings with 32 points. The Muscle is second with 27 and the STyLES are third with 25.
The Atom Splitters are sixth with 13 points and the X is seventh with 11 points in the eight-team league.
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