PORTLAND, Maine (July 10, 2019) ­– The three-time PBA League champion Go Bowling! Silver Lake Atom Splitters will look to defend the Elias Cup when the annual five-player team tournament airs live in prime time for the first time Tuesday through Thursday, July 16-18, on FOX Sports FS1 from Bayside Bowl.

The Atom Splitters are led by last year's Mark Roth MVP Chris Barnes and return three other star bowlers from last year's triumphant team: Jesper Svensson, Tom Daugherty and A.J. Johnson. PBA Tour veteran DJ Archer rejoins the squad after competing for Silver Lake in 2017.

“The core of our group has been together for a while now and everyone on our team has been a part of this squad before," said manager Mark Baker, who has guided Silver Lake to Elias Cup titles in 2014, '15 and '18. "Although individually we are all fairly unique, our team chemistry and our love for the incredible atmosphere that is Bayside Bowl is the bonding force."

Baker says his team thrives in the electric atmosphere in Portland, Maine. Bayside Bowl has hosted the PBA League Elias Cup tournament every year since 2015.

"Bayside Bowl is the perfect atmosphere for this event. The crowd fires up the players, the players fire up the crowd. The energy that goes back and forth is amazing," Baker said. "Can't wait to be in that arena again."

The week kicks off Monday when the seven other PBA League teams (Dallas Strikers, NYC KingPins, Brooklyn Styles, Philadelphia Hitmen, Motown Muscle, L.A. X and hometown Portland Lumberjacks) will join the Atom Splitters for a critical eight-game round robin seeding tournament at 10:30 am ET, which will place the teams into an elimination bracket. The seeding tournament will be covered live, free on the PBA’s official Facebook page.

Then an unprecedented three consecutive nights of prime time national TV coverage on FS1 begins on Tuesday with four hours of quarterfinal round coverage beginning at 7 pm ET. Tuesday’s winners will advance to the semifinal round on Wednesday at 9 p.m., with the two finalists bowling for the Elias Cup Thursday at 9 p.m.

Barnes, a PBA Hall of Famer and member of the Atom Splitters since the League's inception in 2013, was also the PBA League’s Mark Roth MVP in 2014.

“I’m really looking forward to this year once again,” Barnes said. “The Elias Cup is an event our core looks forward to every year. Jesper looks to be back in form after leading a tournament in San Marino last week and the ‘Rebel’ Tom Daugherty is always rock solid for us. When you add in two guys in DJ and AJ Johnson who thrive in the rock star arena that is Bayside Bowl, we have a combination of youth, power and experience that leaves us very excited to coming back to the home of the Elias Cup.”

A limited number of tickets are still available for the three nights of FS1-televised competition at: https://www.baysidebowl.com/products/pba-elias-cup-tournament-tickets-1-ep9j2-7gtmx.

2019 PBA LEAGUE TEAM ROSTERS
● Portland Lumberjacks (manager Tim Mack): Ryan Ciminelli, Wes Malott, Kyle Troup, Kris Prather, Mitch Hupe’.
● L.A. X (manager Andrew Cain): Jason Belmonte, Stuart Williams, Jakob Butturff, Dick Allen, Anthony Lavery-Spahr.
● Brooklyn Styles (manager Johnny Petraglia): Walter Ray Williams Jr., Sean Rash, Rhino Page, Andres Gomez, Brad Angelo.
● New York City KingPins (manager Carolyn Dorin-Ballard): Pete Weber, Marshall Kent, BJ Moore, Kyle Sherman, Darren Tang.
● Motown Muscle (manager Del Ballard Jr.): EJ Tackett, Anthony Simonsen, Josh Blanchard, AJ Chapman, Mykel Holliman.
● Dallas Strikers: Player-manager Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Bill O’Neill, Andrew Anderson, Brad Miller.
● Philadelphia Hitmen (manager Jason Couch): Dom Barrett, Tom Smallwood, Matt Sanders, Shawn Maldonado, Patrick Girard.
● Go Bowling! Silver Lake Atom Splitters (manager Mark Baker): Chris Barnes, Jesper Svensson, Tom Daugherty, DJ Archer, AJ Johnson.

HISTORY OF PBA LEAGUE ELIAS CUP CHAMPIONS

2013    NYC KingPins (Tommy Jones, Jack Jurek, John Szczerbinski, Scott Norton, Pete Weber, Kelly Kulick).

2014    Silver Lake Atom Splitters (Bryon Smith, Chris Barnes, Dom Barrett, Wes Malott, Tommy Jones).

2015    Silver Lake Atom Splitters (Mika Koivuniemi, Chris Barnes, Craig Nidiffer, Tom Daugherty, Dick Allen)

2016    Go Bowling! Dallas Strikers (Norm Duke, Bill O’Neill, Shawn Maldonado, BJ Moore, Tommy Jones)

2017    Dallas Strikers (Bill O’Neill, Norm Duke, Rhino Page, BJ Moore, Tommy Jones)

2018    Go Bowling! Silver Lake Atom Splitters (Jesper Svensson, Dick Allen, AJ Johnson, Tom Daugherty, Chris Barnes)

2019 PBA LEAGUE ELIAS CUP FINALS SCHEDULE

Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine, July 15-18 (all times EDT)

 

Monday, July 15 (livestream on PBA’s Facebook page)

10:30 a.m. – Baker team format seeding tournament, eight games round robin match play

Tuesday, July 16 (live on FS1)

7 p.m. – Quarterfinal Match One: Team #1 vs. Team #8

8 p.m. – Quarterfinal Match Two: Team #5 vs. Team #4

9 p.m. – Quarterfinal Match Three: Team #2 vs. Team #7

10 p.m. – Quarterfinal Match Four: Team #6 vs. Team #3

Wednesday, July 17 (live on FS1)

9 p.m. – Semifinal Match One: Winner Match One vs. Winner Match Two

10 p.m. – Semifinal Match Two: Winner Match Three vs. Winner Match Four

Thursday, July 18 (live on FS1)

9 p.m. – Elias Cup Championship: Winner Semifinal One vs. Winner Semifinal Two