The Mail-Journal, Volume 21, Number 20, Milford, Kosciusko County, 30 May 1984 — Page 8

THE MAIL-JOURNAL - Wed., May 30,1984

8

Sports

'Six-month road trip' enjoyable

By MARK WEINSTEIN Sports Writer There are many reasons why the Chicago Cubs are in first place in the National League East. Consistent pitching, timely hitting and outstanding defense have all keyed the early success of the Cubs. But perhaps the biggest reason why manager Jim Frey’s Cubs are riding high in the wind at Wrigley Field is due to the off-season acquisition of Tim Stoddard. Entering this week’s action, the relief pitcher from East Chicago, Indiana carried an impressive 3-0 record, two saves and a 1.26 earned run average. * “It’s a lot of fun playing in Chicago,” said Stoddard. “I have been pitching well, I know what my role is here, and I try to go out and do it as best as I can. ” Stoddard, who teams up Lee Smith, Chicago’s ace reliever in 1983. enjoys the one-two punch out of the bullpen “Being in the same bullpen with Lee Smith takes a lot of the pressure off me,” said Stoddard. “I know that I am to go out and keep things under control until Lee comes in the game in the eighth or ninth inning.” Last season Stoddard was a member of the world champion Baltimore Orioles. He was 4-3 with nine saves and a 6.09 ERA during the banner year. But his playing time diminished with the Orioles as Tippy Martinez (26 saves) and Sammy Stewart combined to be the stoppers out of Joe

Improvement a key to Warriors state championship hopes

By M ARK WEINSTEIN Sports Writer Memorial Day may bring back different memories for Wawasee’s golf team than it will for those rain-drenched residents in Northern Indiana. On May 28, the Warriors had a “Memorial Day” of their own as they battled several tough opponents, the wind and rainy conditions at the. LaPorte regional to qualify forj semistate action in Indianapolis. Wawasee will hope to improve on last years finish as they make their second consecutive trip to the semistate competition round. A year ago, the Warriors failed to make the cut, finishing 16th out of 20 teams. "The conditions were really tough, but we played tough” admitted head coach Rudy Cesco. “We are really pleased to be able to get through another week, and now have another opportunity to improve our game.” Improvement is something Wawasee will need to do if it plans on advancing past Tuesdays, June 5 semistate round. According to Indiana High School Athletic Association rules, only the top nine teams advance from Tuesday’s semi-final round "I know of five teams that will be in the finals already,’’ predicted Cesco. “That means

ADVANCE TO SEMISTATE — Members of Wawasee’s sectional championship golf team advanced into next week’s semistate action in Indianapolis. Pictured above are Keith Burbank, Jeff Atwood, Kim Zurcher, holding the sectional trophy; Bryan Beaty, and Dave Schacht. (Photo by Mark Weinstein) Distinctive „ . _ _ ' PRINTING p" : Press Center its W« hova th* complete focilities ond know how to *ucfl cessfully serve your every printing need, letterpress. offset. A # engraving ore oil port of our service. We print color or block ond white. Coll us. compere our quality and prices. Stotionoty * Cnfcrfogs twines* ferms • envelopes Annevneeaients • Advertising > “ Te * A "t Quantity — r THE mail -j° urnal F 658-4111 457-3666 MILFORD SYRACUSE

Altobelli’s bullpen. Consequently, Stoddard was traced to the Oakland A’s for thirdbaseman Wayne Gross. He didn’t last very long in Oakland as the A’s shipped him to Chicago in spring training for a pair of minor league players. “Oakland didn't give me much of a chance in spring training,’’ said Stoddard prior to the Cubs May 19 game with Houston. “I thought I made the team, then I was traded.” The trade bothered Stoddard to a degree, not because he was playing for the Cubs, but rather, his wife and children would reside in Oakland during the season. “We bought a house in Oakland — the sure kiss of death,” said Stoddard. “That’s why the trade bothered me. I wanted my family to be with me, but they live in Oakland. This is like a six* month road trip for me.” Stoddard’s major-league pitching experience has always resembled a roller coaster. He has enjoyed great success with the Orioles, and now with the Cubs, but he’s also seen the other side of the: sport. Signed right off the campus of North Carolina State in 1975, Stoddard pitched in 31 games with Knoxville before being called up to the White Sox. The hard-throwing righthander made one appearance for the Sox giving up one run on two hits in one inning of work. His experience with the parent club opened some eyes in the Sox organization, and they in-

there are only four teams left that can make it. We have to shoot better than we did in LaPorte, but we are capable of doing so.” Jeff Atwood keyed Wawasee’s third place regional finish with a 38-38-76. Michigan City Elston won the regional with a 323 while Merrillville was second with a 327 and the Warriors closed out third with a 329 score. South Bend Adams and Northridge both shot a 335 to earn a berth in the field in Indianapolis next week. Atwood, who earned the second low medalist trophy, had an unusual day on the links. Opening action on the front nine holes, Atwood had a double bogey before paring the remainder of the course. Whitko’s Jeff Shoemaker was low medalist with a 74 while Rudy Mihelic of Merrillville shot a 77. He turned the trick back nine as well. Teeing off at hole number 10, Atwood double bogeyed again. After that, the senior standout gained his composure and paired the remaining holes for the impressive score. “That was really amazing, I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Cesco of Atwood’s unique performance. “He stayed tough and had a nice game.” While Atwood was enjoying, for the most part, a good round of

golf, his teammates weren’t doing as well. Bryan Beaty and Kim Zurcher Jboth turned in complimentary scores to Atwood’s. Still, Dave Schacht and Keith Burbank held their own under the trying conditions and finished with respectable scores. Beaty finished the afternoon with a 42-40-82 while Zurcher closed out with a 43-41-84. From then on, the scores dropped off slightly. Schacht, who went through the front nine like a king, shooting a respectable 40, saw his game suffer on the backside. Struggling through the wind and the rain, Schacht’s game ballooned to 47 on the back nine, and 87 for the day. Burbank rounded out Wawasee scores with a 90. “Now is were the competition really gets tough,” said Cesco of his teams participation at the semistate level. “We will have to shoot better in order to get to the finals.” The state champion will be determined by the total score of the team from the semistate and state finals round. Wawasee plans on traveling to Indianapolis Monday, June 4 prior to, the semistate, and will stay until the conclusion of Wednesday’s championship round.

vited him to go to spring training. But despite the opportunity, he wound up in Knoxvill? and Des Moines, Chicago’s AA and AAA farm clubs the next two years before being released in 1977. That’s when Stoddard seriously considered quitting baseball and taking another job. “It was time for me to look for a normal job and take care of my family,” said Stoddard. “I have my wife to thank for keeping me in the game. She told me to hang in there and keep trying. If it wasn’t for her, I would have gotten out.” His career began looking up again less than a month after being released by the Sox. Baltimore’s AA farm club, Charlotte, signed the 6-7 righthander to a contract and he began working his way back to the big leagues: . Spending the majority of the following year at Rochester, the Birds’ AAA club, Stoddard was called up at the tail end of the ’7B season. He appeared in eight games for Baltimore but was less than spectacular. Still, not even an 6-1 record, and 6.00 ERA could keep him out of the Orioles bullpen after that. The following year Stoddard enjoyed a remarkable season with Baltimore. Appearing in 29 games, he had a career-low 1.71 ERA and helped the Orioles win the American League Eastern Division crown. Later he defeated the Pirates in game four of the World Series. Stoddard continued his success story from 1979 the following year. Breezing through his most productive season as a professional, Stoddard won

«>«■ Bl * JBL JF av KK ■ 4... • B a 1 VW 1 * w It ; -fl ■ 1 ~ SWING INTO SUMMER — Shannon Jordan, Milford,, takes a mighty swing at the bail during a recent game between the eighth grade girls and seventh grade boys at Milford Junior High School. Watching the action are catcher Javier Cantu and umpire Richard Bender. (Photo by Tom Charles)

—Sports shorts

Tennis lessons at Wawasee Cindy Peterson and Scott Siler, head tennis coaches at Wawasee High School, will offer a pair of two-week tennis clinics at the high school this summer. The sessions will run from May 30 to June 12 and June 13 to June 27. Instruction will last for 50 minutes each day. The cost is $lO for two weeks. Classes will be offered for both beginners and intermediate level players. Beginners will work on the basics such as forehands, backhands, volleys, serves and scoring. Intermediate players will be instructed in these aspects plus drop shots. . spin serves, overheads and court strategy. If you have hot yet registered for the lessons but are still interested in participating, you may register during the lessons. According to Peterson, registration may take place from 8 a m. to noon each day during either of the two-week sessions. Deadline nears in scholarship contest Local boys between the ages of nine and 12 have until Friday, June 1 to submit their entries for the 1984 Ken Beardslee Youth Baseball Camp scholarship contest. The scholarships; each worth $225, will cover ex-

for Cubs' Tim Stoddard

five games and collected a team-high 26 saves. Tippy Martinez tied Stoddard’s 26-save feat in 1983, despite being out for a large part of the season. Since then he has struggled to regain his form from those two seasons. Stoddard suffered a knee injury in 1982 and hasn’t been the same pitcher since. During the 1982 season, Stoddard’s statistics went downhill. Although his 3-4 record was just below average, his blossoming 4.02 ERA cost him his job. He was placed on the disabled list three times during the year, with his September 7 departure, his last with Baltimore. The son of an Inland Steel electrician, Stoddard starred at East Chicago Washington High School in* baseball and basketball. Stoddard, Junior Bridgman, now with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Pete Trgovich, who played at UCLA, led the Senators to the Indiana state basketball championship in 1971. Stoddard went on to North Carolina State and teamed with David Thompson to lead the Wolfpack teams to a 57-1 record over a two-year span, including a NCAA national championship* in 1974. NC State tripped Bill Walton and the UCLA Bruins in the semifinals. At age 31, the Cubs’ bearded monster on the mound seems to look as comfortable as he did in Bird Town in the late 70’s. Should Stoddard keep up his consistency, the Cubs could be in the pennant race for a long time this year.

penses for the Ken Beardslee Youth Baseball Camp on July 8-13 at North Manchester. The camp features outstanding coaches, players and former players who serve as instructors. In order to enter the scholarship contest, youths must submit an essay of no more than 250 words on the subject ’ Why I want to attend the 1984 Ken Beardslee Youth Baseball Camp.” The essays must be handwritten and will be evaluated by a three-member panel of judges. Entries may be mailed to " Ken Beardslee Essay Contest, Box 68, r 1 Milford, Ind., 46542. Each boy must pass a physical examination in order to attend camp. Forms for this examination will be provided by the camp. Wawasee plans camp far girts' basketball players The annual Wawasee girls’ basketball camp will be held this summer from June 4 to 15, 8 a.m. to noon. Girls who are presently enrolled in fifth through eighth grades are eligible for the camp. Cost for the first family member in the camp is S2O. Other family members may participate at a cost of $lO each. The camp will be held in the Wawasee Physical Education Annex. Girls in grades five and six will participate from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and those in grades seven and eight will

practice from 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 am. Dale Brannock, WHS girls’ varsity coach, will conduct the camp. He will be assisted by Jim Hite, WHS girls* freshmen coach, and several members of the WHS girls’ varsity team. Applications are available at all of the corporation junior high and elementary schools. Track camp set - for Wawasee in late June Former Wawasee High School track standouts Mark Reiff and Dave Wollman will return to Syracuse to conduct the Cardinal and Blue Track Camp June 24-29. Reiff, field events coach at Yale University, and Wollman, a coach at Stanford University, are two of the leading field events coaches in the nation. They will be joined at the camp by Wawasee High School track coach Jerry Minton. The camp is open to male and female athletes of any skill level who are 10 years of age or older. Each athlete will be put through a series of tests to identify his/her skill level and potential. Training programs will be designed for athletes on the basis of these tests. Campers may commute daily or stay at the Oakwood Park Lodge on Lake Wawasee. Information on registration fees is available in an advertisement in this week’s Mail-Journal. Each camper must carry insurance.

"~*®’B'Br * "*** ■•**■»■»*■■**•* *****'*** '''''* ***' sv BB b* --ijiwr l ** * imau mhtmh IMMOI s" s* i’*/ .■ i v”* Jblß b nF j; i. ~ " v ]■* »*** a in i /SFaifcOWtWl * OS J > '** i » s * HP* ° v w * ... * * > BIG MAN FOR CUBS — Tim Stoddard, a hard throwing relief pitcher for the Chicago Cubs begins to loosen up prior to the Cubs' game with Houston. Standing 6-7, Stoddard is one of the "big” reasons why the Cubs are in first place at the end of May. (Photo by Mark Weinstein)

Track seasons finish at regional meets

By TOM CHARLES Sports Editor The 1984 track season came to a close for all seven Wawasee entrants in the boys’ and girls’ regional meets last week. Mike Goodspeed and Brad LeCount performed well but failed to advance past the Kokomo Haworth Regional which was held last Thursday. LeCount was seventh in the pole vault and Goodspeed was seventh in the high hurdles. “Brad did not miss an attempt until he reached 13-6,” noted coach Jerry Minton. “He had one real good effort at 13-6, but he ended up missing all three of his attempts at that height.” LeCount’s best effort at 13-6 failed when he clipped the bar at the top of his vault. “Had the standards been set a little different, he would have cleared the bar,” Minton said. “But the wind made it hard to know how to set them.” Goodspeed had to battle that 20 mph in his hurdle races. He advanced to the finals with a relatively slow clocking of 15.7 seconds. He turned a 15.3 in the finals, but that was not quick enough to put him in the top five. “Mike ran well enough to beat, everyone from our sectional,”

Milford Merchants

The Milford Merchants continued to roll through the 1984 softball season, picking up two wins last week and raising their record to 4-0 on the season. Jay Kaiser pounded out four singles, Tim Yoder had two singles and Tony McDowell had a singlke and a triple as the Merchants downed Sroufe 12-2 in the first game of a doubleheader last Wednesday, May 23. Kaiser added two singles and a triple in the second contest as the Merchants romped to a 15-0 shutout over Kieper Recaro. Steve Troup chipped in with two singles and a double, Phil * Stichter had three singles and Don Kinney and Bill Richardson each had triples in the lopsided win. The Merchants will put their perfect record on the line this Friday, June 1, as they face Erving Paper at 7:15 p.m. in Ligonier.

Minton said. “It just wasn’t good enough to get out of • the regional.” Warsaw captured the team title at Kokomo, edging Lawrence Central by three points. Karl Ottersberg and Mike Shaw were winners for the Tigers. A total of seven Warsaw athletes will compete in this weekend’s state meet. With the season now complete, Minton has released the names of the High Point, Second High Point and Outstanding Achievement trophies for the year. Scott Johnson, a senior sprinter and long jumper, won the High Point award. LeCount, also a senior, was the recipient of the Second High Point award. Goodspeed, a junior, walked off with the Oustanding Achievement award for breaking the school high hurdle record. Girls Christy Speicher placed seventh in the shot put to lead a contingent of five Lady Warriors at last Wednesday’s Fort Wayne Regional. None of the remaining Wawasee entrants, Jeanine Gunn, Jill Patty, Marcia Sorensen and Sandy Payne, placed in the top six in their events. Gunn and Patty were seeded second and third in the long jump.

Milford Merchants 12 Sroufe 2 Player AB H R S. Troup 3 0 1 D. Troup 3 0 0 L. Kaiser 2 11 J. Kaiser 4 4 2 D. Kinney 3 11 B. Richardson 3 10 T. Yoder 3 2 2 P. Stichter 3 11 D. Lechlitner 0 0 0 M. Sumpter 3 12 T. McDowell 2 2 2 Milford Merchants 15 Kieper Recaro • Player AB H R S. Troup 4 3 2 D. Troup 2 2 2 L. Kaiser 3 11 J. Kaiser 4 3 2 D. Kinney 3 2 2 B. Richardson 4 2 1 T. Yoder 2 0 1 P. Stichter 4 3 1 D. Lechlitner 0 0 0 M. Sumpter 3 0 2 T. McDowell 2 0 1 ’ 7