Times Advocate, 1996-08-28, Page 16Page 16
'1 i,,,r-AtiC,O t. te, Austut 28, 19)(i
This Week in Sports...
• Co -Op Juniors eliminated from OBA playoffs page 17
• Centennials explode with four goals - page 17
Exeter pitcher Rick Boon went head to head with Lakeside's ace pitcher Chris Adkins in the
third game of the League Championships over the weekend.
Express bow to Lakeside
in League Championship
After placing second in the league
finals, Exeter will compete in the
O.B.A. Championships this week-
end in Tillsonburg.
LISTOWEL - Despite winning the first two
games of their league championships, the Exeter
Express faltered against Lakeside and had to settle
for second place after losing to them in the finals.
Exeter took a two game lead in the series when
they beat Strathroy 12-7 in their season opener and
clobbered London 8-0 last Tuesday in Exeter.
Pitcher Dan Masse was impeccable for the Ex-
press hurling a three hit shutout against London
striking out 12 batters along the way.
'That's what you call 'having a good night," said
co -coach Doug Fairbairn about Masse's stellar per-
formance. Co -oath Joe Fulop said it was his best
performance of the year.
Exeter scored five runs in the first two innings
and one each in the next three dominating the game
offensively, as well as defensively. Rob Dickey led
his team at bat connecting for two hits including his
first home run of the season. He was followed by
teammates Fred Gregus, Dave Russell, and Mark
Russell with two hits while Marty Merner, Bill Glo-
ver and Rick Boon singled.
Exeter 2, lAkeal e 3
Going into the third game 3-0, Exeter was pitted
against Lakeside, the only other undefeated team in
the tournament.
be-
tween
dole
's Rick Boon and ai.akeside's Chris Ad-
kins with both exemplifying two different styles.
Adkins, reputed to be one of the best pitcher in
the league, relied on his patented fastball while
Boon displayed control, nibbling away at the cor-
ners of the strike zone scattering 10 hits and al-
lowing just one earned run.
"That gams could have gone either way," said co -
coach Doug Fairbairn, but it eventually went to
Lakeside as Exeter lost their first game of the series
3-2.
Exeter 6, Tillsonburg 1
Pitcher Scot Russell led Exeter to a 6-1 win over
Tillsonburg by keeping the hard hitting team off
balance allowing only one run on eight hits. He also
smacked a home run, his third of the season, which
ties him with his cousin Dave Russell who also has
three home runs. Glover, Gregus, Boon Merner and
Paul smith also hit for Exeter.
Every time Exeter has met Tillsonburg the contest
has always been verbally colorful to say the least
and this game was no exception.
But Fairbairn said the Exeter dugout was too
smart to be lured into an insult hurling contest with
them designed to break their concentration.
"We didn't get involved. We were smart and just
played the game," said Fairbairn.
Exeter 1, Lakeside 6
The win over Tillsonburg gave Exeter a berth in
the finals against Lakeside, but with only 15 min-
utes to rest between games Exeter's pitching squad
couldn't muster the same strength they found in
their last three games.
Mike Agnew started but gave up three runs in the
first two innings on three hits.
Dan Masse came in as relief but allowed three
runs in four innings on six hits.
Exeter could only manage one run against Lake-
side, a team that was well meted for the final game,
and dropped the contest 6-1.
Exeter's patience was wearing thin by the fifth
and final game of the series as same players began
to argue with the umpire on a call. Fairbairn said
once thin happened they lost their focus and die
game was lost.
"Complaining to the umpires never gets you any-
where," added Fairbairn.
The Express will take the lessons learned from the
Lcague Championships and apply them this week-
end as they travel to Tillsonburg to compete in the
O.B.A. Championships.
Exeter coaches Fulop and Fairbairn are optimistic
they have the talent to clinch an All -Ontario cham-
pionship, however their biggest challenge will come
early as the Exprel mixt Wilkespon in game one.
Hock.y. school goes beyond the
basics for Exeter Minor Hockey
By Chris Skalkos
T -A Reporter
EXETER - The Exeter Minor
Hockey Association is gearing up
for the upcoming season with an
expanded hockey school.
Held again at the Hensall arena
from September 2 to Friday Sep-
tember 6, the fifth annual hockey
school will offer young hockey
players the opportunity to brush up
on the fundamentals of skating,
passing, stick handling and shoot-
ing before the new season begins.
Three new additions to the pro-
gram this year include a body
checking clinic for ages 12 and up
conducted by Midget General
Jr
Fury tie
EXETER - The Exeter Fury tied
the Latinos 1-1 Saturday in
the best performance the
team has had this season.
Strong team defense was
the key to gaining a point
against the second place
club from London.
The Latinos managed to get
a goal In the first half on o
turnaround shot from in close
that keeper Craig Wlnbow
had no chance to stop. Win -
bow kept the score close lat-
er in the game by making a
great diving save to deflect
the ball wide of the net.
Playing a tight man-to-man
defense helped shutdown the
Latino forwards in the second
half and when Pete McAllister
converted a pass from Tom
Westervetd to tie the score
the Fury appeared to have
the momentum on their side.
Exeter kept the pressure on
Latinos
the horde team's defenders
but were unable to come up
with any more good scoring
chances.
"That was the most amount
of time we played good soc-
cer all at once -all year," said
coach Jeff Playfoot about the
team's performance. "Our
man-to-man defense was
more sound then it has ever
been."
The hard-fought tie keeps
Exeter's slim playoff hopes
alive with a 5-5-4 record and
Playfoot feels a playoff berth
is within reach.
"We're going to have to
come up with some good
soccer for the rest of the sea-
son If we want to pull it off,"
he said.
The Fury play at home Sep-
tember 8 at 3 p.m. against In-
gersoll.
Soccer
roundup
tr
Exeter Eagles
August 22
Exeter 1 vs. Delko Brydge (1) I
Goaltender. Nate Holmes
Goal: Costas Kofias
Exeter Homes
August 21
Delko Blizzards 1 at Exeter 6
Goaltenders: Aimee McCann, Sarah Nee -
vel
Goals: Lisa Hakvoon (3), Anne Gregus,
Neeed. Jamie Darling
Assists: Prances VanOss, Brittany Taylor,
McCann
Playing well were: Amanda Overholt,
Brieanna Harburn
Exeter Bees
August 21
Exeter 2 at Naim Gems 2
Goaltenders: Nicky DeBont. Nicole
Muller
Goals: Danielle Long, Karly Pinder (on a
penalty kick)
August 22
Delko Brydge Lasers 1 at Exeter 2
Goaltender: Fragiskos Fragiskatos
Goals: Ryan Campbell, John Edwards
Assists: Jonathan wagler, Campbell
The Hotspur% continued their S -game win-
ning streak by beating an undefeated
team.
Imperials
EXETER - Exeter Imperials lost
their third game in a row last week
as they dropped an 11-7 decision to
Moorefield in their Ontario Junior
Men's Fastball League round-robin
playoff.
Eight runs in the first four in-
nings proved to be the difference as
starting pitcher Sean Fellow and re-
liever Steve Cook were unable to
stem the tide.
Exeter scored three runs in the
first and four more in the sixth but
were unable to make up the differ-
ence. Darren Kints led the way of-
fensively for Exeter as he reached
base four times and scored two
runs.
Sean Fellow and Chris Kennedy
both had two hits and Fellow also
scored two runs. Steve Cook
walked and singled and Glenn
Hines reached base twice. Kevin
Gooder singled twice and scored a
run as the offence was much im-
proved from the previous four
games Ili which they only scored
nine runs.
Exeter now travels to Moorefield
for their final playoff game. Should
Moorefield prevail, they will cap-
ture the 'B' championship. Should
the Imperials win, Atwood would
be the champion.
Even though their third playoff
game against Moorefield doesn't
mean anything since Exeter is al-
ready out of contention, coach Fred
Cook said they are still playing to
win.
"We'll put our number one team
on the field. 1 wouldn't mind
knocking off Moorefield," said
Cook.
coach Dave Dalrymple, a power
skating clinic taught by figure skat-
ing coach Jeff Loosley and a goal -
tenders school with former NHL
goaltender Stephen McKichan.
Exeter Minor Hockey president,
Roger Dougall said the association
is always seeking new ways to im-
prove the young players coming up
through the ranks and the hockey
school will provide a forum for
them to hone their skills.
"We've always had good goal-
tending and we thought this was a
good way to bring out their talent,"
said Dougall adding they may hold
another goaltenders school from
September to December.
The power skating element in the
school will also provide a boost for
the youngsters who want to
strengthen their skating.
"In the past we have heard some
concerns that our skating doesn't
seem to be as strong as other cen-
tres. We would like to improve our
skating throughout the organiza-
tion," Dougall said.
The body checking clinic is
geared toward teaching the older
players how to deliver and take a
hit without hurting themselves.
"That's a scary thing for a kid
coming into the body checking lev-
el," said Dougall adding those who
get a taste of hitting before they en-
ter the Pee Wee level are more con-
fident in their checking.
Exeter Minor Hockey will feature
two Midget teams this year. In the
past the association had difficulties
finding a league for the Midget tier
two team to play in. This season the
second team will join the tier one
team in the Shamrock League
which Exeter is affiliated with and
has a greater say in how the league
is run.
Dougall said they are imple-
menting stricter rules for the 1996-
97 season which will make the mid-
get level more skill oriented. The
league wants to eliminate fighting
and clamp down on the number of
penalties usually seen at this level.
"When you get to this age level it
can get a little rough and some-
times there's quite a difference be-
tween the size of the players," said
Dougall who believes taking the
+' Continued on page 17
out, but not down
Rion Philter controls a wild pi• ch1during an
als fastball game last nresdgy.
Exeter lmperi-