Banner Graphic, Volume 17, Number 223, Greencastle, Putnam County, 22 May 1987 — Page 7

Messer claims sectional title

TERRE HAUTE - South Putnam High School boys’ track coach Wayne Schuetter scratched sophomore distance runner Todd Messer out of the 1600-meter run Thursday evening during the Terre Haute South Sectional. AND, THE DECISION turned out to be a magnificent one as a fresh Messer posted a first-place finish in the 3200 later in the day to become one of three Eagles that kept thenseasons alive around the oval. Greencastle High School also will be represented at the North Central (Indianapolis) Regional in two events. Messer was the only Putnam County representative to claim a sectional title, but other local performers came through with two second places and two fourths as South’s Chris Bombei and Brian Bridgewater and Greencastle’s Robert Lewis and the 1600-meter relay team will all continue their postseason trek next Thursday in the regional competition. MESSER’S TIME IN the 3200 was 9:50.9, his best time of the season by 14 seconds. He was four seconds faster than the runner-up in the event. “Messer was at his best,” Schuetter said. “He passed the guy that finished second just before the gun (final) lap and pulled away with his kick. He did a very good job.” Messer was also the Putnam County and West Central Conference champion in the event, but also was king in both meets in the 1600 as well. "WE SCRATCHED HIM from the 1600 so he could be fresh in the 3200,” Schuetter said. “We wanted him to be fully rested and ready to go and we felt the 3200 is his better event. We wanted him to go after it and he did.” In sectional competition, the top four individuals and top two relay teams advance to regionals. Bombei placed second in the shot put after a best throw of 49-8. He was in the top position heading into the final throw, but the winning distance of 51-10 was recorded at that time. BRIDGEWATER RACED TO a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.4. The winning time was 20.9. “All three (that qualified for regionals) did a good job,” Schuetter said. “Two out of the three (Bombei and Bridgewater) got out of the sectional without a personal best effort and Messer did have a personal best time and he won. “It’s just real nice to have three going on to regionals. ” LAST SEASON. BOMBEI and Brian Meek represented SPHS at North Central. For Greencastle, Lewis placed fourth in the pole vault with a best effort of 12-6, well below his personal best performance of 14-0. The winning height was 13-6. “I’m pleased that Robert got out and will vault again next week,” said GHS coach Charlie Dobson. “He’s had such a tough year and I’m happy that he has kept it going. ” THE OTHER THRILL of the day for Dobson was presented to him by his 1600 relay team, which passed the baton around the track in 3:31.6, which only trailed Terre Haute North. And, the season-best time was earned by a different combination. Shawn Tharp ran the first lap of the race, before handing off to Steve Storey - a replacement for an in-

At Indianapolis Speedway

Foyt crashes, but will still start for 30th time

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A.J. Foyt, the most experienced driver in the history of the Indianapolis 500, should have taken his own advice. “I had a meeting with all my rookies and told them, ‘Don’t be out there racing cars in traffic.’ And then I turn around and do it myself,” Foyt said. Heading his first four-car race team since 1970, Foyt crashed during the final two-hour testing period Thursday, sending his crew back to Gasoline Alley for round-the-clock repairs to the damaged car. The track is closed today and Saturday. The next time the 33 cars are fired up on the track will be just before the 11 a.m. EST start of the race on Sunday. Foyt, at age 52 the second-oldest driver in the lineup, has motored more than 10,000 miles around the Speedway’s 2M>-mile oval, and he has won the race a record four times. He will be making a record 30th consecutive start on Sunday and, although his car sustained moderate damage in the crash, he said it is repairable. Foyt had just cautioned his rookie

jured Joe Buis. Storey gave way to John Hurst, who placed the baton into the hands of Wes Trout en route to the No. 2 finish. “I’m also very excited about the relay team,” said Dobson, “especially since they did that well with a different combination. It’s really nice to be able to put in a different lineup and still have good results and come up with a seasonbest time.” THE PREVIOUS BEST time by the GHS relay squad was 3:31.8, posted at the WCC meet in placing first there. “I’m just happy to have another week tacked on to the season,” Dobson said. The eight points the relay team earned and the four Lewis was awarded placed Greencastle in a tie for ninth in the team standings with 12 points. SOUTH PUTNAM finished in seventh place with 29 points as three other events had the Eagles listed in the placings. Cloverdale managed one point, a sixth-place finish by Jeff Mannan in the pole vault. His top height was 11-6. For South Putnam, its 1600 relay team placed fourth with Todd Nichols, Wes Evans, Chris Sullivan and Bridgewater doing the baton passing in 3:34. Evans recorded a 19V/z leap in the long jump, good enough for fifth place overall; while Tony Cash placed sixth in the shot put with a best throw of 46-5. Terre Haute South won the team title with 89 points, 25 better than cross-town rival Terre Haute North. Southmont was third, West Vigo fourth, Crawfordsville fifth and Northview sixth. Two girls from Greencastle and one from South Putnam will join the boy qualifiers in regional competition next week. Last Tuesday, Natalie Porter and Charlene Brown of the Tiger Cubs and Stacy Broadstreet of the Eagles earned spots in the regional field.

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TODD MESSER Sectional champion

New starting lineup in scoreboard, A-9 teammates, Stan Fox and Davy Jones, not to take any unnecessary chances during Thursday’s practice when he got caught in the turbulent air behind drivers Derek Daly of Ireland and Dick Simon, the oldest driver in the starting field at age 53. ‘‘The car was running good, just a little loose,” Foyt said. “I was going to pull it in and I thought I’d see what the car does in the dirty air, and it just took off.” The rear end of Foyt’s Lola wiggled to the right and the car took off into the first-turn wall. He suffered a leg cramp but was checked at the Speedway’s infield hospital and was cleared to drive. Foyt’s top lap in Thursday’s practice was 205.714 mph. The fastest speed was 211.515 by pole-winner Mario Andretti. Assuming Foyt’s car can be repaired by Sunday, he will keep his starting spot on the inside of the second row. But another crash on Thursday, by former Formula One

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Members of the West Central Conference champion Greencastle High School baseball team are from left, front row: Eric Twigg, Tom Sutherlin, Neil Masten, manager Diane Kendall, Chris Hanson, Kent Flint, manager

Cubs WCC champions

Fast start gives GHS win over Clovers

By KEITH E. DOMKE Banner-Graphic Sports Editor Cloverdale High School junior pitcher David Kempf slammed the barn door on the Greencastle High School baseball team during the last five innings of play Thursday at DePauw University’s Walker Field. HOWEVER, THE COWS had already gone out to pasture as the Tiger Cubs - by scoring six runs in the first inning - posted their eighth conference win of the season and ninth overall as they defeated the Clovers, 7-5. The win asured GHS of a firstplace finish in the West Central Conference, a spot the team has had in six of the past 12 seasons. "We scored a lot early and made it stick,” said winning coach Stan Ward, who is now 9-9-1 on the diamond this season. "Kempf got off to a bad start, we hit it sharp early on and it got a little out of hand .. "WE’RE VERY HAPPY to be conference champions.” Greencastle sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning in scoring the key, six runs. Only four batters recorded hits, but two walks issued by Kempf and a Cloverdale error helped pave the way for the big inning. “Kempf was unprepared emotionally to start this game,” said Cloverdale coach Ken Williams, whose club is also level this spring at 9-9, but without the tie. “Kempf just wasn’t ready to go mentally. That’s al there is to it. That’s all I can say. ” BUT WILLIAMS STAYED with his big right-hander after the disastrous first inning, an inning that ended with a 6-3 tally on the scoreboard as the Clovers pushed home a trio of runs in their half of the inning. The Tiger Cubs added a single rim in the second for a 7-3 lead and managed a leadoff hit in the top of the third. However, that was it for the Purple and Gray as Kempf suddenly got tough on the hill and retired the final 14 batters in a row - eight of them on

champion Emerson Fittipaldi, forced him to the back of the field and set off a shuffling of the rest of the lineup. Fittipaldi’s car was damaged too severely to be repaired, and car owner Pat Patrick said a backup would be substituted for die race. It’s the second straight year that a crash during the final practice period forced a lineup change. Last year, Dennis Firestone crashed and had to withdraw altogether because he had no backup car. Simon, who then was the 34th fastest qualifier, got into the race as the first alternate. “We’ll definitely use the backup,” Patrick said. “We’ve had plenty of time to test it. We tested it last week, and it’s ready to go.” Fittipaldi qualified for a fourthrow start, but the backup car would have to start the race in the 33rd position. “I just lost the back end, and the right rear hit (the wall),” said Fittipaldi, who spun once in turn three, went 400 feet into the wall and continued along the wall another 420 feet. “I don’t know why it happened.

Duane Emery. Second row: Chris Hutchings, Scott Rehander, Mike Watts, Kyle Finchum, David Bottoms, Joe Mazur, Pete Huber. Third row: Coach Stan Ward,

sports

strikes - hoping his teammates’ bats would come alive. They did, by scoring two runs in the fifth that made it a 7-5 count before the Clovers strung together three hits in a row in the bottom of the seventh to load the bases. BUT, WINNING PITCHER Doug Hedrick retired the final batter on a groundout to preserve the triumpf and the conference championship. “I don’t understand this game sometimes,” Williams said. “How can it be the same pitcher who pitches that badly in the first and that well in the third through seventh innings? He just couldn’t have been mentally ready to start.” Kempf only walked two men all afternoon, but it was Greencastle’s first two hitters in its lineup as both Chris Hanson and Kent Flint drew bases on balls to begin the game. A wild pitch sent them to third and second, respectively, before Joe Mazur squibbed a grounder to first off his bat that turned into an RBI infield single. Flint moved to third on the play, where he scored as Thomas Miller reached base on an error, giving GHS a 2-6 advantage. SCOTT REHLANDER WAS next for the Cubs and soon the score was 4-0 as he lined a double to left field that scored both Mazur and Miller. Rehlander then came home on a double to right-center off the bat of Neil Masten before Tony Meyer closed the bodes on the half-inning with an RBI single of his own. "We came out and got the job done early,” Ward said. “It wasn’t a mat-

I wasn’t going fast. I was trying some new tires. “I was by myself and there was no traffic,” he said. Foyt’s car hit the wall, crossed the track and came to rest in the infield. Foyt got out of the car by himself, limped a few steps and fell to the ground. After a few minutes, he got up and walked to an ambulance. He said he was limping because of a leg cramp. Otherwise, he was unhurt, and was pronounced fit to race. “A.J.’s OK,” car sponsor Jim Gilmore said. “He went through the hospital OK. He’s limping a little bit, but he’s fine. I think what’ll have to be done is the men will have to put in many good, hard hours to put the car back in shape. I would say the car is in need of repair from front to rear. ” Thursday’s crashes increased to 23 the number since practice for the race began May 2. Four drivers were hospitalized, including Firestone twice. His latest crash, last Friday, totaled his race car and sent him back to the hospital with neck fractures and a concussion.

ter of us being more prepared to go then Cloverdale, we just came out and hit the ball. "IT WAS A good thing we did, too, because we needed every bit of it. ” And while Kempf wasn’t sharp on the mound for Cloverdale, Hedrick also wasn’t at his best pitching for the Tiger Cubs. John Nees singled to open the CHS first srid stole second before a wild pitch moved him to third. Teammate Darin Price walked and stole second, before both boys moved up 90 feet on another wild pitch, moving the score to 6-1 and placing Price on third. KEMPF WAS NEXT and he, too, walked before Brian Allee singled to center, driving in Price with the second Cloverdale run. Scott Stansbery walked to load the bases and a Dwayne Lowes sacrifice fly drove home the third tally of the frame for the hosts, slicing the Greencastle lead in half. Kempf should have been out of the second inning with no damage as he struck out the first three batters. But, a dropped third strike on the second hitter of the frame - Mazur - gave Greencastle an opportunity it took advantage of. A wild pitch moved Mazur to second, before Rehlander moved him to third with an infield single. Rehlander then tried to steal second and the throw from Nees - the catcher - to the bag was off target, allowing Rehlander to score, moving the count to 7-3. HEDRICK MADE THE last out of the inning and Masten led off the third with an infield single, before Kempf totally took control the rest of the way, mowing down the 14 consecutive GHS batters. Only one ball off a GHS bat in the last five frames made it out of the infield.

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Cloverdale leadoff man John Nees comes up with a stolen base in the bottom of the first inning Thursday as the throw from Greencastle catcher Thomas Miller pulls Tiger Cub

May 22,1967 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

Thomas Miller, Doug Hedrick, Tony Meyer, assistant coach Glenn Hile, assistant coach Gene Wiese. (Banner-Graphic photo by Keith E. Domke)

But Cloverdale wasn’t having much better success against Hedrick as he also began to settle down some. A leadoff single by Price in the bottom of the third was wasted, and the Greencastle ace sandwiched 1-2-3 innings around the four men he faced in the third. But in the fifth, Nees dribbled a single into the grass at third. He stole second and moved to third on a fly out by Fayne Custis, before Kempf also knocked a fly into the outfield, scoring the fourth CHS run. BETWEEN THE FLY outs, Price had walked and moved to second on a stolen base, setting the stage for Stansbery, who lined a single to center that made it a 7-5 game. Allee had also walked in the inning, putting two runners aboard with two out. But Hedrick pitched out of the jam with no further damage and retired the Clovers 1-2-3 in the sixth to keep his two-run cushion intact heading into the seventh. In that last inning, Hedrick retired the first batter before Price singled to center. A second out was recorded, but Allee and Stansbery also rapped out hits, loading the bases with two outs and placing the tying run in scoring position. BUT HEDRICK MUSCLED up and got Lowes to ground into a game-ending force out. "Every team in the conference goes for the same thing*” Ward said of claiming the WCC title. “And things looked bad for us after we lost our first (conference) game (to Cascade). But, we beat five pretty good teams in Edgewood, Cloverdale, Danville, Owen Valley and South Putnam, which is quite an accomplishment to knock all of those down. It’s a nice accomplishment for this team to win the conference.” Rehlander and Masten both knocked out two hits for GHS in three at-bats. Price was officially 2-for-2 at the plate for Cloverdale while Allee and Stansbery both were 2-for-3. Hedrick ended up striking out five while Kempf fanned 12 in all. Greencastle 7, Cloverdale 5 Greencastle 6100000-760 Cloverdale 300 0200 - 5 7 3 Hedrick and Miller; Kempf and Nees. W. - Hedrick. L - Kempf. 2B - Rehlander, Masten (G).

second baseman Chris Hutchings away from the bag. Nees ended up scoring in the inning, but GHS won the game, 7-5. (Banner-Graphic photo by Keith E. Domke)