Elizabethtown bowlers pull away for L-L League crossover shutout of Manheim Township

Across the lane from each other were two of the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s top bowling teams from a year ago: one the defending league champ, the other the defending state boys champ.

And while Thursday’s Manheim Township vs. Elizabethtown match at Clearview Lanes looked like it would be a good one, for the most part, it was lopsided, with the Bears winning 7-0.

The defending league champion Bears — the current Section Two leaders — roared to easy wins in the first two games, 1,186-889 and 1,098-983, then survived 1,020-1,015 in the third game of the crossover match with the Section One leaders.

“I just had to strike out and make them work for it,” said Elizabethtown senior Evan Kimble, who led the way with a 696 series, including three key strikes in the 10th frame of the last game. “That’s all I can do. I can’t control what everyone else does. Just do what I do, and it makes them show up and bowl.”

“We’re just worried about ourselves,” he said of the match. “In our section, we’ve just got to win one game at a time. We’re the team to beat right now.”

Actually, on paper, it did look like an uphill battle for Township. The Bears came into the match averaging a league-best 1,067 pins per game. The Streaks were actually just third-best in Section One, at 966 pins.

Elizabethtown, which was also coming off a 7-0 win over defending Section Two champion Ephrata Tuesday, improved to 52-4 overall. The Bears are five points up in the loss column over Conestoga Valley (40-9).

“I looked up and I kept saying to myself, ‘They need this,’ ” Elizabethtown coach Frank Telenko said of the tight third game. “I said, because if we don’t have a challenge somewhere, the way we were able to win there and know we can do it, what’s going to happen when we get to the competition where we’ve got to have a shot?”

The challenge came from strong finishes by several Blue Streaks, though they ultimately lost with a pair of opens in the 10th and Kimble striking out. Elizabethtown had leads of 274-253 after three games and 521-493 after six. Manheim Township was up 850-834 going into the 10th and with a string of strikes from Hope Broich, Logan Wenger and Peyton Scheuerman. Only Wenger had a mark in the 10th, striking out.

It came down to cleanup bowlers Bethany Jaquith for Township and Mason Moore for Elizabethtown. Both got spares, meaning Moore needed eight pins for a tie and nine to win. He got a strike and Jaquith seven pins for the five-pin margin.

The Blue Streaks, last year’s boys champs at the Pennsylvania State High School Bowling Championships, came into the match with some momentum, having defeated defending Section One champ Hempfield 7-0 on Wednesday. They’re still in first at 38-18, but the lead is down to four points over Penn Manor (34-22), a 7-0 winner over Cedar Crest on Thursday.

“I was pleased with our entire three-game series,” Manheim Township coach Steve Schulz said. “We showed steady improvement the whole time. This wasn’t an easy team to play and this isn’t an easy place to play. We fought to the end and I’m proud of that.”

All five Elizabethtown bowlers had 600s, led by Kimble and Derek Deardorff (694). They were followed by Declan Lentz (652), Moore (637) and Ella Eberle (625).

“Staying slow and calm. Rolling the ball, one at a time,” Kimble said of his series. “If I open or make a bad shot, just move on to the next frame.”

Scheuerman led Manheim Township with a 656 series and Jaquith had a 606.