Archbishop Carroll’s bowling team continued it hot streak by sweeping St. Joseph’s Prep on Dec.15 at Thunderbird Lanes in Philadelphia.
Carroll’s bowling team has been on a roll, and it looks like it’s not stopping anytime soon. However, it did stop at the wrong bowling alley. Seniors Stephen Thomson, Marco Petroccia, Patrick McGonigle, Jesse Ventre, and James Wright went to the wrong bowling alley on the day of the contest. These players got confused with the two different Thunderbird Lanes in Philadelphia, and ended up at the wrong one.
However, this did not stop the starting five, as they made their way over to the right alley with only two minutes until game time. With little to no warmup, the Pats were off to the races.
“It felt like a dream,” Thomson said. “One minute we were in the car, and the next we were bowling.”
The Pats starters showed up to the must-win game in what looked to be shambles.
“Although we weren’t thinking of it in the heat of it all, this was a very big game for us,” McGonigle said. “This was the true test to see if we were legit or not.”
The Pats came out of the gate hot. They quickly jumped to a more than 30-pin lead within the first five frames. McGonigle put up a score of 168 and starter James Klusarits’ replacement for this game, James Wright, put up a score of 161. The Pats took the first game, winning by 42 pins.
Going into the second game, the Pats were now warmed up.
“After the first game, the boys and I got a feel for the lanes and started hitting our spots,” Ventre said. “We were starting to get comfortable with how we were rolling the ball.”
The Pats kept their foot on the pedal in the second game. Petroccia racked up a score of 181 and Thomson racked up a score of 167, reeling in an easy win and going up 80 pins in all.
“I don’t want to sound cocky, but I knew that we were going to win,” McGonigle said. “We just had to keep the ball on the lane during the third game, and we would be in good shape.”
Going into the third game, the boys were in good shape, up two games to zero. The Pats took their foot off the gas a little bit and enjoyed a pizza mid-match. That pizza must have been the fuel they needed, because before that, they were losing in the third game. Thomson bowled three strikes in a row in the 10th frame to put Prep away. The Pats won all three games and the pin count.
The boys are now 3-1 and face Conwell-Egan on Dec. 20 at Wynnewood Lanes.