The Archbishop Carroll boys bowling team lost its chance to go to the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs when it lost to Roman Catholic, 3-1, on Feb. 6 at Wynnewood Lanes.
With missing senior starter Patrick McGonigle, junior Ryan Cook stepped up and filled his spot. Cook was playing in a huge game for the Pats, because if they did not rack up at least three wins, they would not make the playoffs.
In fact, they did not rack up three wins and the playoffs will go on without them.
The first game started out average for the Pats, as they only had two players throw a strike in the first frame. The first game was not looking much better for Roman Catholic as it was pretty close the whole way through. That was until Roman Catholic had a frame where every single one of their players rolled a strike. Just that frame put Roman up by 50 pins, and the Pats were just trying to play catch-up. Towards the end of match one, Roman added 20 more pins to their lead and took game one by 79 pins.
“Not the ideal start we were looking for,” senior Stephen Thomson said. “With missing Pat, the rest of us have to lock in and bowl like we know how to bowl.”
Starting up the second game, Roman Catholic picked up where it left off, by having another frame where all five players rolled a strike. There was not much the Pats could do besides try to chip away at Roman’s lead. Senior James Klusarits rolled a couple strikes in a row to try to give the Pats a chance. However, it was just not enough. Three out of five of Roman’s players scored above 170 in the second game, and Roman took this one by 225 pins.
“It seems to be that every time we play a team, they bowl their personal bests,” Klusarits said. “We need a monstrous third game if we want to split this win.”
The Pats did, in fact, have a monstrous third game. Junior Kebede Miles replaced Cook in this third game, and he did not disappoint. Miles started off the game with three strikes in a row, and quickly found himself bowling strikes left and right. Along with Miles, Klusarits had a tremendous start as he bowled seven strikes in a row. Klusarits was on pace to break senior teammate Marco Petroccia’s score of 266. On Klusarits’ eighth frame, he missed a spare and now could bowl the rest of the match without everyone watching. Although missing that spare, he finished with a respectable score of 235, a personal best for Klusarits. The Pats won the third game, but not by enough.
“It’s a shame that we are not gonna make the playoffs,” senior Jesse Ventre said. “What we can do now is have fun at our last game, and wrap up a great season.”
