Schaumburg, Hoffman still perfect through round 7

Bowling teams must spend the whole day with Hoffman Estates on their minds the day they are scheduled to play the defending Mid-Suburban League champions.

The Hawks, like Schaumburg, have not lost a point after seven rounds of league play.

While Schaumburg has five solid bowlers, Hoffman has two that few can keep up with. On Monday, the Saxons and Prospect bowled what was supposed to be the meet of the season so far. In a surprise result, Schaumburg won the meet by taking all 9 points.

"We caught Schaumburg on the wrong night," said Prospect coach Greg Troyer. "In the first game they were nearly perfect. We go 985 and get beat by 153 pins. They had two opens in the first game. That's it. I think they had four in the second game. When they throw like that, you're not going to beat them.

"The last game was about the closest. We had a slight lead in the seventh frame in the third game. We tried catching up, but we couldn't."

"They bowled real outstanding. I told them on the bus they were a very dangerous team," said Saxons coach Mark Kelly, whose team was led by Samantha Kelly, who rolled a 732 (238, 238, 256) to improve her average from 208.29 to 212.75.

"I bet we lost three to four splits all day," said Mark Kelly, whose team bowled between 602 and 732. "What a time to bowl this way, against a great team.

"Sam bowled well. She was in a pocket all day."

"We came to do the best we could," said the Saxons' Marilyn Gawlik, who bowled a 641 (228, 179, 234). As for all of her team bowling over the 600 mark, Gawlik said, "It's mostly on spares and we work on them in practice all the time. I had to really move until the middle of the second game. They (the lanes) were just drying out because we all were bowling in the same place.

"Prospect is one of the better teams. It helps show we have to bring our 'A' game against Hoffman Estates."

Both Schaumburg and Prospect still have a dual meet against Hoffman in the final three rounds of the season.

Striking fear into the rest of the league are Hoffman's Amanda and Natalie Cortese. On Monday, Amanda bowled a 762 (246, 258, 258) to raise her league-leading average from 220.33 to 225.14.

Natalie bowled a 702 to remain in second place with a 221.90 average. She came into the meet with a 219.89 average.