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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1996-07-24, Page 8Page 8 Times -Advocate, July 24, 1996 is Week in Sports... • Co-op Juniors stay sharp - page 9 Hern wins race at Motorplex - page 10 Express split double-header against London Exeter begins their O.B.A. playoff opener at home Sunday in a best two out of three series against Port Elgin LONDON - After losing a close game to Lakeside on Friday, The Exeter Express split a double head- er against the London Chiefs on Sunday. Sitting on a 6-0 lead Exeter al- lowed Lakeside to come back late in the game and win by one run. Scot Russell had a superb game on the pitcher's mound striking out Mike Agnew pitched seven strong innings for the Express during their 10-4 win over the London Chiefs on Sunday. Far right, Bill Glover gets a hit against Lakeside on Friday. Baynham leads team Ontario to silver medal WINNEPEG - Brenyn Bayn- ham of Exeter led the Ontario Under 21 Field Hockey team to o silver modal at the Ca- nadian Field Hockey Cham- pionships held In Winnepeg over the Weekend. Baynham scored two goals for Team Ontario as they beat Alberta 2-1, and New Bruns- wick 2-0. A 4-0 victory over Saskatchewan followed a 0-0 tie with British Columbia, however, Ontario lost 4-1 in the finals to B.C. and had to settle for the sliver. This is Baynham's fourth year playing for the pro- vincial team and her first year as team captain. She will play for them again at the 1997 Canada Games where Ontario is ranked second. Baynham, who is a gradu- ate it South Huron Dlshict High. School, helped the Panthers to three All -Ontario Cities dur- ing her Ave years at SHDHS. She Is currently attending th& University of Toronto where she will play her second year. wiggle Varsity Blues. seven batters in eight and a half in- nings while allowing only eight hits against the defending league cham- pions. However, the inability of re- lief pitchers Paul Elston and Mike Agnew to throw strikes, and a de- fensive lapse in the ninth inning gave Lakeside the opportunity they needed to edge the Express 7-6 in the tenth. "We had a 6-0 nothing lead and we couldn't hold it," said co -coach Joe Fulop. Don Macdonald continued to hit for Exeter chalking up two against Lakeside. Fred Gregus, Rick Boon Paul Smith, Rob Dickey, Richard Schilbe, Bill Glover and Marty Meurer hit singles. A healthy rivalry exists between the two teams and Exeter could have used the momentum of a win to carry them into the double head- er against the Chiefs in London. Despite the loss they beat London in the first game 10-4 snapping a seven game losing streak. Fulop said a relaxed and com- petitive attitude prevailed among the team during this game as they put their problems behind them. Agnew came up big on the mound pitching seven strong in- nings for Exeter giving up only three runs off six hits and striking out six batters. Paul "Lefty" Elston finished the game allowing only one run off three hits. The score remained close until the bottom of the eighth when Dave Russell drove home three runners on a grand slam. Scot Russell, Rick Boon, Mark Russell, Dan Masse and Ron Elliott hit for Exeter. The second game proved to be a different story as London re- bounded to win 10-2. Masse experienced trouble on the mound and had problems throwing strikes allowing ten runs in three in- nings on seven walks and five hits. Dave Russell, pitching his first game for the team relieved Masse and shut London down for the last three innings on three hits. Exeter's first run came in the first inning on hits by Fred Gregus and Scot Russell. Their second run came in the fifth on hits by Rick Boon and Marty Meurer. Co -coach Doug Fairbairn was at a loss to explain how they could beat London by six runs in the first game and then lose the second by eight. "We've got some work to do but 1 think what we really need is a good kick in the behind," he said. Exeter will get a chance to re- deem themselves against Lakeside on Sunday when they host them for a regular league game at 3 p.m. On the same day, Exeter begins their Ontario Baseball Association playoff opener against Port Elgin at noon in a best two out of three se- ries. The Express will have their work cut out for them as Port Elgin is an all-star team consisting of the best players from Port Elgin, Han- over and Owen Sound. Losing the first game out of the series would put them in the dif- ficult position of having to win the next two games on the road. The result of Exeter's home game against Strathroy on Tuesday night were not known at press time. Tempers flare as Exeter edges Drumbo EXETER - A bench clearing scuffle erupted in the bottom of the seventh inning during an Exeter Imperials fastball game against Drum - bo last Tuesday. The incident occurred when Gavin Snell gave the Drumbo back catcher a little bit of his shoulder as he crossed home plate to score the winning run. The catcher's mask flew off as he went for Snell who stood his ground. The umpire got between them but it was too late as both dug- outs cleared out and a pushing and grabbing melee erupted. After the mess was cleaned up, the umpire disallowed the winning run and ejected Snell from the game for running the back catcher. Brawls are not uncommon in this fastball league, but, according to Imperials coach Fred Cook this was an isolated incident. "This was out of character for our team, we're a disciplined ball .club," said Cook. "These kind of things happen sometimes, but this was the first time this has ever happened to us." Exeter player Darren Kints said the game was a close battle with both teams tied at one for most of the game and the tension between them escalated when players began "lipping back and forth." The scuffle happened in front of an Exeter home crowd and Kints said it was an em- barrassment to the team. "I think the fans were disappointed because it was totally uncalled for," he said. "Besides all of that we played some good ball," he add- ed. As a result the game went into extra innings until Sean Fellow drove in Steve Cook with the winning run in the bottom of the twelfth in- ning as Exeter defeated Drumbo 2- I. Drumbo opened the scoring in the first in- ning with a home run off Exeter starter Steve Cook, who left in the second inning due to ill- ness. Kevin Gooder pitched five strong in- nings in relief, allowing only one hit. Pellow took over in the eighth inning and pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only two base run- ners. The Imperials tied the score in the bottom of the seventh as pinch hitter Glenn Hines dou- bled with two out and scored on a pass ball. Cook, who re-entered the game in the eighth as an outfielder, singled with one out in the twelfth inning, advanced to third on a Robb Finch single, and scored on a Sean Fellow base hit for the win. Kints said a rivalry between the two teams did not exist before this game, but he admits they've gained an arch rival now. Cook said the incident could have cost them the game and is concerned a repeat per- formance could tarnish the team's reputation. "Something like this casts a shadow on our team and the game...I'm taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said. Kids of steel run and cycle in Grand Bend Triathlon GRAND BEND - More than 60 children participated in the first annual Dick Kloss Grand Bend Triathlon on Saturday. Dubbed, "the kids of steel" the triathlon held at the South Beach and River Road area was inspired by Dick Kloss' swim across Lake Huron from Michigan to Grand Bend five years ago and featured young tri- athletes under 18 - years -old. The event was sanc- tioned by the Ontario Association of Tri- athletes, a non-profit organization with a volunteer board of di- rectors that operates 14 triathlons across the province. However, what was originally supposed to include swimming, cycling and running, was scaled down to a running and cycling race after high waves off the Lake forced organizers to cancel the swim- ming leg of the event. "We were a little disappointed about the rough water, despite that we had an excellent turnout," said co -organizes Bury Richman. "We were ver *NW with the number of kids that led out, es- pecially since this was the first time we did something like this. No one got hurt and ev ran smoothly," he said addi success of the event will pave the way for future Triathlons which may become an annual event in Grand Bend. "Safety was the key to the whole thing. We wanted kids to have fun and make sure this was a safe event," said co-organizer Bill Uniac. Prior to the race, the participants were given a lengthy safety pep talk and volunteer medical staff were on hand in the transition area to treat minor scrapes and bruises, Uniac said the Triathlon would not have been pos- sible if it wasn't for the many vol- unteers who came forth to help run it. Grand Bend councillor Barb Wheeldon was in charge of re- cruiting volunteers and managed to find 60 of them without any problems. "Everyone i asked said yes ex- cept for two and that's because they were leaving for their vaca- tions," said Wheeldon. "The sup- port we got from our volunteers is the reason why this ran so smoothly." A portion of the proceeds went wards the ongoing fundraiser gene research by John and %. 1 Jesse Davidson and a small bal- ance was kept to help fund next year's Triathlon. Jesse made a guest appearance at the event to thank the participants and vol- unteers for their support. Triathletes who placed in the top three positions from the Grand Bend area were: Sean Ma- guire, third in the Junior 'B" Boys division, Jeff Oke, third in the Midget "B" Boy division, Shelby Anderson, first in the Mid- get "B" Girls division, Adam Hayter, second in the Midget "A" Boys division, Shelby Musser, first in the Midget "A" Girls divi- sion and Katelyn Oke, second in the Midget "A" Girls division. Event organizers were Bill Uni- Sr., Dan Sageman Jr. and Doris ac, Barry Richman, Barb Wheel- Becker. don, Colin Kobe, Dan Sageman More than S0 children participated In the first annual Dick Kloss Grand Bend `kids of steel' Triathlon on Saturday. Rough waters forced organizers to cancel the swim- ming leg of the event, but the youngsters tested their stamina and endurance In the running and bicycling events. Approximately 60 volunteers helped coordinate the ex- tremely successful event which was Inspired by Dick Kloss' swim across Lake Huron In 1991.