ALLEY OOPS SETS COUNTY 4-MAN RECORD

Alley Oops team members, from left to right, are Tanner  Laughman, Eric Smith, Jacob Hawkins and Paul Wolfram.

By Barry Sparks

The night got off to an ugly start for the Alley Oops bowling team in the Yorktowne Match Play league at Suburban Bowlerama as Tanner Laughman's first ball hit his ankle and ended up in the gutter.

Things got better, much better, however, as the night progressed.  The 4-man team of Laughman, Eric Smith, Jacob Hawkins and Paul Wolfram tallied a 3,013 match, which set the York County record and rates as the second highest in the country this season.  A team from Lexington, Ohio,  boasts a 3,057 total.

Smith set the pace with an 810 series, while Wolfram finished with a 795.  Hawkins added a 713 and Laughman chipped in with a 695.  All four bowlers average 225 or higher.

"We have a lot of talent on our team," said Wolfram.  "Everything just clicked for us.  We kept pushing each other, and we fed off of each other.  It was a super night."

At one point in the match all four bowlers struck for four consecutive frames.  Smith put together a string of 20 consecutive strikes, stretching from the second to the third game.

"We have good team chemistry," said Smith.  "We are very competitive, but we have fun, too.  Although no one was aware of what the county record for a 4-man team was, we knew we must have been close."

Hawkins believes the 3,013 match is even more impressive because it wasn't bowled on a fresh lane condition.  Alley Oops competes in a league that starts at 8:30 p.m., after a league has already rolled at 6 p.m.

"We never know what the lane condition is going to be like when we bowl," he said.  "That's always a challenge.  We have to figure out the condition as quickly as possible and make the necessary adjustments."

Laughman said once team members start striking, it becomes infectious.  "It's a lot of fun when everyone is striking.  You don't want to be the guy not to strike."

Can Alley Oops improve upon its 3,013 match?

"Getting to 3,000 is difficult," stressed Wolfram.  "But, we do have a lot of potential."

Laughman is more convinced than Wolfram that the team could improve its record.  "All I have to do is keep the ball out of the gutter," he said.

ALLEY OOPS

Tanner Laughman      248      233      216      695

Eric Smith                  241      290      279      810

Jacob Hawkins           233      254      226      713

Paul Wolfram             279      237      279      795

                                                           Total    3013