Ladies Bowling:Guttersnipes sneak up on the Odd Balls
BY LOIS LANES
The soaring scores that marked week six of ladies bowling waned as scrappy play carried the day ahead of the Thanksgiving break.
Individual scoring was grounded and closely grouped. To wit, the most total pins over average for a series was just 28 (compared to Stephanie Tybaert’s 91 last week) and two bowlers scored it. That’s right — Stephanie has relinquished the Bowler of the Week crown, and it is being shared by Linda McCarthy of the Odd Balls and Melissa Steinmuller of the Guttersnipes.
These honorees and their teams kicked off the action on Monday night. The Snipes were not intimidated by the top team. Mary Dudley, busy at Town Hall most weeks, returned to the lanes and made her marks for the Snipes. She picked up three spares right out of the gate, and added two more mid-game. Making the most of the final frames, she threw a strike on 9 and a spare plus a bonus strike on 10 for a 156, the best score of the week. Her teammates added three marks a piece and the Snipes racked up 702 points.
Pins were dropping for the Odd Balls as well. Linda McCarthy, Jenn Wissemann and Kelly Michalak all bowled over average, with Kelly throwing three strikes and spares for a 140. But when all the pins were added, the Odd Balls tallied 691 and the Snipes took the game.
The Bowlers of the Week stole the game two spotlight. Melissa Steinmuller picked up the frame 1 spare, and added two more spares and two strikes for a 133. Linda made her first mark with a strike on frame 3, followed it with a spare and repeated that pattern on 6 and 7. She picked up the spare on 10 for a 139, a score her teammates couldn’t approach. The Snipes prevailed again.
Cathy Driscoll led the way in game three, starting with a spare and picking up three more and a strike for a 134. Melissa picked up a tricky 5-7 split on frame 6 in her above average game; the other Snipes were mostly markless. A steady performance by the Odd Balls, with three to five spares each and three strikes for Kelly, added up to a game three win by just two pins. With the most total pins and highest game, the Snipes took 8 of 11 match points, and are right behind the Odd Balls in the standings.
Mama P’s Chicks looked good in the first game of their match against the Fabulous Five. Ellie Labrozzi threw a couple of isolated strikes early, then got into the spare zone with four in a row to close her 139 game. With just one spare less than Ellie, Lynda Steinmuller had a solid above-average game. Jules Best joined Ellie in the zone and matched her score, a 139. That score repeated yet again in the other lane.
The Fabulous Donna Cass picked up double spares early, added one midgame, and then finished in style with a spare on 9 and a strike and bonus spare on 10, again, for a 139. Essie Simovich picked up a difficult split, and Rookie Denise Clausey scored well over average with two each spares and strikes. But the final score favored the Chicks and they took game one.
The Fabs came back in game two with Denise leading the way. She closed six frames, one with a strike, for a team-high game two score of 134. Her teammates added three marks a piece. For the Chicks, Ellie had her best game of the night, with strikes on frames 1, 5 and 10, plus three spares for a 146. Julie added four marks, but the other Chicks contributed just two more, and the Fabs came out on top.
Game three opened with a thud, as each team closed only two of the first four frames. Essie and Donna kept it together for the Fabs with spares mid-game. Essie then hit a double on 10 to add 27 pins to her score. Donna bagged the big one, taking down a turkey with strikes on 8, 9 and 10 plus a bonus spare for a 148. Besides Ellie’s five marks, the Chicks scratched up just three more, and the Fabs won the game and 7 of 11 match points.
We’ll be bowling in the holidays after a happy Thanksgiving.
Week 7 standings
Team Won Lost Total Pins
Odd Balls 35 31 12419
Guttersnipes 33 33 12282
Fabulous Five 32 34 12288
Louie’s Shear Delights 29 26 10204
Mama P’s Chicks 25 30 9904
