With a cool October breeze blowing off the Delta, the sports world is stuck in fall doldrums that only Southern California could envy. Thankfully for us here in Contra Costa County, the Scratch Draft Trios League at Harvest Park Bowl in Brentwood continues to fill the void between the ALCS and AFC championship game.

On Monday night, the Evil Empire took a step backward in its quest for a third league title while a couple of newcomers continued to persevere. Yes, if the national action doesn’t pick up soon, bookies everywhere will be forced to file for bankruptcy.

With all due respect to the Chase for the Cup, there are only two great championships left in the sports world: the ALCS and the AFC Championship. After the Red Sox’s triumph over the Indians last week, sports fans across the country are resigned to waiting for the inevitable Patriots-Colts AFC title game – not to discount the NFC champions, who likely will have survived tough playoff matchups with the mighty Lions and/or Arizona Cardinals, both squarely in the wild-card hunt.

Luckily for you, the Scratch Draft Trios league has turned the corner and will crown a new champion in a few weeks. In the words of Chris Berman, “And down the stretch they come … Rumblin’, tumblin’… Whoa, Daddy!” All right, that last one was Keith Jackson, but it seemed to flow pretty well with the Swami.

Kinder’s Meats, the only two-time champion in the league, entered position-round action this past Monday night with a 19-point lead over second-place Discovery Bay Dental. However, two games and a painful root canal later, the team from the Bay left Kinder’s Meats on the grill to burn. With a 25-3 drubbing of the two-time champs, Discovery Bay Dental was able to climb above Kinder’s, if only for a single set.

Unfortunately for the Dental practitioners, the cavity came back, as a 12-16 loss to Cimentar Corp in the second set left them in a tie for second with The Visually Impaired, eight points back of Kinder’s.

Top honors on Monday went to Lee Patterson of Team 4 and Mark Mazzulla, who shot 875 and 868 four-game sets, respectively. Denise Mazzulla of Team 4 led all women with an 812 series that included a 233 in her first game.

Although the Fall Classic ended within the week and a half the Rockies waited for it to begin, all is not lost in the sports world. You can find a preview of this year’s AFC Championship this weekend when the Pats travel to the Colts. And BC tries to remain unbeaten against FSU on Saturday, although that does seem backward, doesn’t it?

But most importantly, don’t miss position-round action next Monday night at Harvest Park Bowl, where Kinder’s Meats will try to fend off Discovery Bay Dental and The Visually Impaired for at least one more week.