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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1996-07-03, Page 14Mow This Week in Sports... • Big hit for Shore - page 14 ational skydivers swoop into Grand Bend - page 15 Centennials beat Forrest UflIt.d Exeter Centennials are on a six game winning streak EXETER - A remarkable free plied by the visiting team. kick by Ruud Veldhuizen gave the With their regular centre de - Exeter Centennials a one goal win fenders missing, John Flanagan and over a talented Forest United team Ron Wagler had to move in from last Wednesday. the side to fill in the gap. This dy- The game looked grim early for namic duo had an outstanding Exeter who spent the early part of game directing traffic and keeping the game fending off pressure ap- Anders Millner and Shawn Rot - The Exeter Centennials extended their winning streak to six games after defeating Forest United 1-0 on Wednes- day. They will try to keep the streak alive tonight (Wednes- day) when they host either Nairn or Woodstock in the sec- ond round of Division Two Cup at Canners Field. teau in line. They were effective in forcing the Forest United strikers to shoot from the outside while working together with keeper George McEwan. Both teams exchanged shots but neither was able to find their mark ending the first half scoreless. Forest United came close to scor- ing when a striker took advantage of an Exeter defender's miscue and cruised in on a clean breakaway. McEwan came out to cut down the angle and was able to get a hand on the ball preserving his shutout. The Centennials were more ef- fective in the second half and Josh Thompson nearly scored when a pass eluded several defenders giv- ing him a breakaway. He fanned on the kick leaving the scoreless tie intact. With only fifteen minutes left to play Exeter got a break when a Forest United defender played the ball with his hands on the edge of the 18 -yard box. The free kick went to Veldhuizen who put the ball over a wall of defenders and de- flected off the bottom of the cross- bar and down into the net. The well place ball was so accurate the For- est United goalie hardly moved to make the save unable to believe Veldhuizen's ability to thread the needle. The visitors came close to tieing the game, however, when a scram- ble in the 18- yard box drew McE- wan out of his net. The ball de- flected off a defender and was dribbling toward the net when the Centennial keeper caught up to it before it crossed the goal line. The Forest united players screamed for a goal but the referee motioned to play on. They were un- able to get the equalizer as Exeter hung on to win 1-0 with a shutout going to Centennial's keeper McE- wan. The Centennials will . try to ex- tend their six game winning streak when they enter the second round of the division two cup at the Can- ners field today (Wednesday) at 6:30 p.m. against Nairn or Wood- stock. Express rally in seventh inning to beat Listowel Billy Shore sparks Exeter's come -from -behind victory with a double base hit LISTOWEL - A double Kase hit by Billy Shore drove home the winning run for the Exeter Express as they defeated Listowel 15-11 in a dramatic come -from -behind victory on Thursday. Down by six runs in the seventh inning, Exeter rallied for eight runs off five hits to take the game Listowel thought was theirs. But the victory wasn't easy for the Express who were plagued with problems from the start. Listowel's first two runs were a result of infield mistakes by Exeter who made a total of five costly errors. De- fensive problems extended to the mound as pitcher Dan Masse had prob- lems with his control allowing six runs off seven hits in six runs. He struck out three batters and walked three but was relieved by Paul Elston who didn't fair much better. He allowed five runs on four hits with four walks in only two in- nings. Co -coach Joe Fulop said both pitchers were out of character that day and are normally much more effective. Scot Russell stepped on the mound to pitch the final four innings. Entering the game with an 11-5 deficit, Russell shrugged off the pressure and shut down Listowel's offense. Listowel connected for three hits but couldn't gain a run off Russell who struck out two batters picking up his first win of the season. Eight Exeter batters provided the team's offensive surge led by Mike Agnew who connected for three hits. Mark Russell, Rick Boon, Scot Russell and Fred Gregus tallied for two and Dan Dowling, Richard Schilbe and Paul Smith added one. But it was Bill Shore who sparked the team with his out - of -nowhere two base hit in the seventh inning. After being overwhelmed by the pitcher during his first to trips to the plate a cocky Listowel sec- ond baseman yelled out for the infielders to move in closer. Shore responded by sending the hall over his head for a two base hit. "It looked good on him (the second baseman)," said co -coach Doug Fairbairn. "The pitcher threw him a fastball and Billy was expecting it...he was grinning, from ear to car when he got to second base." Fulop said the win was "sweet" because it put an abrupt end to the heckling some of the Listowel fans were giving them when they were losing 11-5. The Express went into the game off another close win over the Lon- don Chiefs last Tuesday. The game was tight defensively as both teams played the field per- fectly. Marty Merner stunned the London batters for most of the game striking out three batters and allowing only one run on four hits. Ron Elliott relieved him for the last two innings striking out one hat- ter, allowing two hits but no runs to pick up the save. London's only run came home in the fifth inning but Exeter scored two in the sixth on only one hit. They added one more in the sev- enth on two hits and a perfect hunt on the suicide squeeze by Darcy Martin. Rob Dickey, Dan Dowling, Paul Smith, Dan Masse and Richard Schilbe also hit for Exeter. The two wins advances Exeter's record to six wins and two losses. The result of their home game against Lakeside on Tuesday night was not known at press time. The much anticipated re -match be- tween' the two teams would determine who de- serves first place in the highly competitive South Western Ontario Senior Baseball League. Billy Shore 'dwe a Oohs tip? , _ Call the Times -Advocate 235-1331 Imperials will play in 'provincial fastball tournament By Chris Skalkos T -A Reporter EXETER - The Exeter Imperials will participate in the most chal- lenging fastball tournament in On- tario next week. Mitchell will host the 1996 On- tario Junior Men's Elimination fast - ball tournament from July 5 to 7 featuring 32 of the best fastball teams from across the province. Imperials coach, Fred Cook re- alizes the competition is stiff con- sidering teams from the Inter- national Softball Congress travel league are participating; however, he's taking his 14 players to the tournament in hopes of gaining more than a winning record. "Personally, I'd be happy if we Sports- LiIe win one or two games," said Cook. "We have a young team this year and we're going for the experience with a view to build on what we've got. "Winning more than two games is a realistic possibility for the Im- perials who have more depth and speed than last year's team. Their 5-8 win/loss record is de- ceiving. Despite the slow start the Imperials have turned it up and are currently playing some of their best ball since the beginning of the season. "We've improved a lot since the beginning of the year and we've been playing .500 ball for the last six weeks," said Cook adding he is optimistic they will hold their own in the tournament. Unlike other fastball organiza- tions that lure high calibre players from afar with the promise of big money, Cook refuses to load up his team and likes to recruit local tal- ent. With players such as Gavin Snell, Greg Dalrymple and Greg Rutledge behind the bats who are driving runs in on a regular basis, or the consistent pitching of Steve Cook and Kevin Gooder holding up the mound, there is no shortage of tal- ent on the Exeter Imperials. "We have enough local player to make a good strong team," added Cook. The Imperials will play Mitchell, tournament hosts, in their first game on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and will meet the winner of the Scar- borough and Atwood game the fol- lowing day. Despite the high calibre teams Exeter will face, Cook is confident they will not look out of place and is looking forward to the chal- lenge. "This is exciting bail. It's like the world series for junior fast- ball...much more impressive than an OBA championship," said Cook. The Oshawa Juveniles arc de- fending champions with the Oshawa Juniors as runners-up last year. The top two teams will ad- vance to the Canadian Nationals in Newfoundland in August. Attention all minor sports coaches EXETER - Minor soccer, base - hall and softball coaches. Once again the Times -Advocate will publish results of your games in a sports box designated for each mino\ sport. Information usually contains games played, goals scored and by whom, overall record and next scheduled games. Blank gamc sheets are available at the T -A. Deadline for games sheets is Monday at noon. Anything re- ceived past this time will be pub- lished in the next Wednesday's is- sue. Please direct any questions to the Times -Advocate Sports department at 235-1331. Weigand .mins silver in provincial', championships; TORONTO - Andrea Weiganu 6T' the Exeter Lawn Bowling Club won the silver medal In singles competition at the Ontario Junior Singles Lawn Bowling Chainpion ships In Toronto over the weekend. The Ontario Bowling As- sociation and Lavin owls _Canada will sponsor her trip td _.` na to compete in the first Nati al Junior singles Championship held from August 10 to 12: In Exeter , fourteen teams com- peted in 32 degree temperatures during the Exeter Lawn Bowling Club's Annual Open Pairs tourna- ment on Saturday. Peter and Gloria McPalls cap- , tured the club title with three wins and 33. Second place went to John Brint- nell and John Batten with 32W 28. Roy and Barb Triebner took third with 1W 33+4. Dann, five -pin writer receives award By Chris Skala* T -A Repondi GRAND BEND - A senior citizen from Grand Bend has won a pre- stigious writing award for the eighth time. Ron Dann, received the Publicity Chair of the Year plaque from the Ontario Five -Pin Bowling Association during a convention in Cleve- land House Ontario. The award is given to a volunteer writer who has been most success- ful in publicizing the sport of five -pin bowling. Dann, has been a regu- lar contributor for the Times Advocate in Exeter and the Lakeshore Advance, in Zurich, writing about local bowlers from the Bluewater zone. After, wining the award for the first time in 1971, he was bitten by the literary bug and has continued to write, winning the award six times within the last eight years. Dann was a regular freelancer for the London Free Press for 15 years, writing three to four articles a week, and said he picked up a few tips along the way which have helped strengthen his writing. He credits his ability to be published regularly to his respect for newspaper deadlines. Realizing that getting his copy in early allows ed- itors more time to find room for his stories within their newspapers and they are less likely to be edited when space is limited. However, like all writers Dann has suffered from the notorious phe- nomenon known as writer's block. " Sometimes it takes five or six hours before it comes to me, other times I can sit down and do it in 10 minutes," he said. Dann's writing career began much earlier before his involvement with five -pin bowling. He received first place in a shool fair for Eng- lish Composition when he was a youngster and credits his mother, who was a school teacher, for encouraging him to read and write. As a writer, Dann values integrity and said he always wrote about his bowlers even when they lost. But as much as he loves his craft he ad- mits it's something you have to work on continually. "I really enjoy writing but you have to keep doing it," he added. Dann, an active senior who helped coordinate this year's Huron - Perth -Middlesex District Senior Games, also received an award rec- ognizing his 30 years of service as an Ontario Five Pin Bowling ex- ecutive. But there was another award he did not receive that means just as much to him as the two he already won. His wife Jean who is also an executive, was recognized for supporting her husband through his 30 year involvement with the sport. Dann used his writing skills to write an eloquent letter to the award judges outlining why she deserved the recognition. They read it and surprised her with an award during the convention. "By supporting me she is also supporting organized bowling in On- tario," said Dann. ,fi •