ROCKVILLE CENTRE — Liz Kuhlkin captured her third career PWBA title with a 192-190 win over defending player of the year Bryanna Cote in the championship game of the PWBA Long Island Classic Wednesday night at Maple Lanes.
Kuhlkin, seeded fifth in the stepladder finals, defeated Diana Zavjalova (215-180), Stefanie Johnson (209-205) and Dasha Kovalova (185-161) on the way to the championship game. She fired three consecutive strikes to take an early lead over Cote, but missed consecutive spares in the seventh and eighth frames to allow Cote to remain in contention. Cote finished first, and Kuhlkin needed a mark and good count to wrap up the win. She converted a 10-pin spare and then left a split in her final shot but had enough pin count to win.
“It’s been four years since I last won,” said an emotional Kuhlkin on the CBSSN broadcast. “I said when I got here what a better way to win than in New York.”
Kuhlkin, a Schalmont High School and University of Nebraska graduate, earned $10,000. It was her second televised stepladder finals of the season as she finished second in the season opener in the PWBA Rockford Open in Rockford, Illinois. She will be in the field for the U.S. Women’s Open June 14-21 at Kingpin’s Alley Family Fun Center in South Glens Falls. She is a former champion in that major event.
A’S SWEEP TWIN TOWN
ALBANY — The Albany Athletics extended their Albany Twilight League winning streak to 31 games after sweeping a doubleheader against the Twin Town Devil Cats on Wednesday at Edsall E. Walker Field at Bleecker Stadium.
In the opener, Chris Salamida tossed five innings of scoreless relief to lead the A’s to a 7-0 victory. Salamida struck out 11. Kyle DeCresce hit a solo homer and singled to lead the offense. Nate Novak added two singles.
In Game 2, Salamida combined with three relievers on a four-hitter in a 4-0 win. Tom Carroll hit a three-run homer in the second inning.
The A’s are 7-0 in the ATL and 8-0-2 overall.
