Strong effort for MSL-leading Saxons

Posted December 10, 2007 10:00 pm

By Kathy Rudolph Daily Herald Correspondent

There is a pattern that the Mid-Suburban Bowling League seems to follow each year.

The top teams -- Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Prospect, Palatine, among others -- show their strength by settling into the top of the MSL standings.

Once there, they are almost impossible to move out. The same is true with the teams at the bottom who, once they are there, have virtually no chance of moving up. The only ones with any chance at all are the teams in the middle of the pack -- teams like Rolling Meadows, Conant and Hersey, who at times take a run at the leaders but in the end seem to finish below them.

In round six of the league, Schaumburg remained undefeated with a 54-0 record after beating 10th-place Wheeling 9-0. The Saxons maintained a slight edge over Hoffman Estates, which improved to 45-0.

Leading the way for Schaumburg was anchor bowler Samantha Kelly, who bowled games of 245, 237 and 225 for a 707 series.

"She has a new ball," said Saxons coach Mark Kelly, whose team is coming off a first-place effort at the Plainfield North Invitational on Saturday. "She was shooting over 600 three weeks ago.

"She made an adjustment. Only one time tonight in 30 frames was she out of the pocket."

Jodi Gawlik, who was up among the leaders early in the season but ran into some rough times, seems to have found her game again. Gawlik bowled a 691 (222, 259, 210) on Monday.

"She struggled a little bit, but that's the freshman mentality," Mark Kelly said.

Also coming up with a strong meet was Marilyn Gawlik, who bowled a 628 (211, 206, 211).

Prospect also had three bowlers over the 600 mark in its 9-0 win over Meadows. Anchor Hannah Wrenn finished with a 709 (276, 238, 215); Ashley Ruszczak rolled a 669 (213, 209, 247); and Alyssa Collins ended up with a 606 (211, 232, 163).

"Rolling Meadows gave us a shot," said Knights coach Greg Troyer. "At the beginning of the first game we were down to them until we started getting together in the fifth frame. The second game was a little more of the same. We won 1,027-962."

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