HAMMER NEWS

NEW YORK CITY WTT KINGPINS GO ON STRIKE BINGE TO WIN PBA LEAGUE DON CARTER ROUND

ALLEN PARK, Mich. – The New York City WTT KingPins’ Tommy Jones, Jack Jurek, Pete Weber, Scott Norton and John Szczerbinski struck on eight of their first nine shots to run away from Jesse Williams’ BROOKLYN STyLES, 243-199, in the title match of the PBA League Don Carter round at Thunderbowl Lanes.

The PBA League Carter round finals, and the championship match of the Don Carter Classic, aired Sunday on ESPN.

The KingPins, owned by women’s sports legend Billie Jean King, clinched a berth in the inaugural PBA League Elias Cup Finals with their win in the Carter round. The top four of eight PBA League teams, based upon points earned in five preliminary rounds, will compete for the first PBA League championship on Sunday, March 31, at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis as part of Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions week. The Elias Cup Finals will air on ESPN on April 7 at 1 p.m. ET.

“I think I’m liking my team a lot,” KingPins franchise player Pete Weber beamed after making a surprise lineup change that worked to his team’s advantage. He moved Norton, a left-hander who had been a dominant player in previous PBA League rounds, to the No. 4 position in the lineup and he placed Team USA member and former Wichita State collegiate star John Szczerbinski in the anchor position.

“I know Scott was bowling well (in the anchor position), but Szczerbinski averaged 257 on the Don Carter lane condition in qualifying, so I talked it over with the team and they all agreed to make the change and have John bowl anchor,” Weber said. “It isn’t me; this is our whole team agreeing to what we’re doing. After every shot we communicate and try to help each other.

“I have all the confidence in the world in all of my players. We got a few breaks, but without breaks you don’t win. Tomorrow we might not get them, but today we did and we took advantage of them.”

In the semifinal match between the KingPins, who won the Salvino round earlier in the PBA League series, and the Roth round-winning Motown Muscle, neither team put together consecutive strikes until the KingPins started a string of seven strikes in the sixth frame to run away with a 249-192 win.

In the opening match, owner Jerome Bettis’ Motown team got a string of four strikes from Tom Smallwood, Mike Scroggins, Ronnie Russell and Mike Fagan to take the lead, and they held on for a 210-199 victory over Chris Hardwick’s Silver Lake Atom Splitters when Silver Lake anchor Chris Barnes was unable to double in the 10th frame.

With their second PBA League stepladder win, the KingPins have earned 44 points to lock up no worse than the No. 2 stepladder position for the Elias Cup finals. The PBA League Anthony round – the final qualifying round heading into the Elias Cup finals - will include Terrell Owens’ Dallas Strikers, Chris Paul’s L.A. X, Jerome Bettis’ Motown Muscle and a fourth team that will advance from the Clash eliminator round. The Anthony round and the championship match of the Earl Anthony PBA Players Championship between top qualifier Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., and Norton will air on ESPN on Sunday, March 24, at 1 p.m. ET.

PBA LEAGUE DON CARTER ROUND
Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich.

Final Match (five-player Baker team format)
New York City WTT KingPins (Tommy Jones, Jack Jurek, Pete Weber, Scott Norton, John Szczerbinski) def. BROOKLYN STyLES (Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ryan Ciminelli, Ryan Shafer, Sean Rash, Jason Sterner), 243-199.

Semifinal Match (Baker team)
New York City WTT KingPins def. Motown Muscle (Mike Fagan, Jesse Buss, Tom Smallwood, Mike Scroggins, Ronnie Russell), 249-192.

Match One (Baker team)
Motown Muscle def. Silver Lake Atom Splitters (Nathan Bohr, Stuart Williams, Dom Barrett, Josh Blanchard, Chris Barnes), 210-199.

Clash Eliminator (in order of players eliminated based on low one-ball total per round; last surviving player’s team advanced to stepladder finals):
Round One – Norm Duke, Dallas Strikers, seven pins.
Round Two – Jason Belmonte, L.A. X, seven pins.
Round Three – Parker Bohn III, L.A. X; Bryon Smith, Silver Lake Atom Splitters, eight pins.
Round Four – Amleto Monacelli, Dallas Strikers, seven pins.
Round Five – none (all strikes).
Round Six – Rhino Page, Dallas Strikers, five pins.
Round Seven – none (all strikes).
Round Eight – Dan MacLelland, Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits, six pins.
Round Nine – Mike DeVaney, Philadelphia Hitmen, nine pins.
Round 10 – Wes Malott, L.A. X, six pins.
Round 11 – none (all strikes).
Round 12 – none (all strikes).
Round 13 - Mike Scroggins, Motown Muscle, eliminated Osku Palermaa, Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits, 10-8.

ELIAS CUP POINTS STANDINGS (after four of five rounds)
1, New York City WTT KingPins, 44.
2 (tie), Motown Muscle and BROOKLYN STyLES, 33.
4, Dallas Strikers, 20.
5 (tie), Philadelphia Hitmen and Silver Lake Atom Splitters, 18.
7, L.A. X, 14.
8, Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits, 6.

About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,200 of the best bowlers from 17 countries who compete in PBA Tour, PBA International Tour, PBA Regional and PBA50 Tour events. Nearly one million ESPN viewers watch PBA Tour on Sundays during the tour season and thousands around the world watch PBA activities on Xtra Frame, the PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel. PBA sponsors include Barbasol, Brunswick, Ebonite International, GEICO, Jack Link’s, MOTIV, Storm Products and the United States Bowling Congress, among others. For more information, log on to http://www.pba.com.

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• 03/04/2013
  NEW YORK CITY WTT KINGPINS GO ON STRIKE BINGE TO WIN PBA LEAGUE DON CARTER ROUND

  ALLEN PARK, Mich. – The New York City WTT KingPins’ Tommy Jones, Jack Jurek, Pete Weber, Scott