Times-Advocate, 1996-05-01, Page 21Times -Advocate, May 2, 1996 Page 21
Express will
play in new Ieague
EXETER - In a quest to bring back com- however, in the long run it will make them a the Express were ranked sixth overall and
petitive hardball, The Exeter Express broke better ball team. placed third in the All -Ontario Senior "D"
away from the Great Lakes Senior Baseball "I expect we'll hover around the middle of O.B.A. Championships. With 80 per cent of
League to help form a new and more com- the pack and scrape just to play .500 ball, but their players returning this year, Fairbairn ex-
petitive league. we will improve by the end of the season. It pects to have a strong team for the upcoming
Exeter will join Listowel, Strathroy, Lake- will make us more competitive," said Fair- season.
side, London and Tillsonburg in the South- bairn. "We'It be sharper come OBA time," he With veteran pitcher Mike Agnew returning
western Ontario Senior Baseball League added. to lead the pitching team on the mound and
which has been recognized and sanctioned by Fairbairn feels a competitive team will draw last year's heavy hitter Ron Elliot'. coating
the Ontario Baseball Association. competitive players to Exeter and probably back, Fairbairn ex
bal-
Coaches Doug Fairbairn and Joe Fulop said draw mores spectators. P�� to have a well � anted offensive and defensive team.
the expanded Great Lakes League had be- "People are going to see better ball. The Don Dowling who played for Stratford in
come "watered down" and some of the teams games should be close. I'd rather see us lose the Major Inter County League and Dan
requested an "A" and "B" division be created. 4-2 than win 20-3," he said. Masse who was invited to try out for the Cin -
"There was a big difference (in talent) be- The six teams in the Southwestern circuit cinnati Reds are expected to join them for
tween the top six teams and the bottom six will play 20 -game regular season schedules, training camp and will inject a great deal of
teams," said Fulop. with 10 home and 10 road games. major league experience into the team.
Fairbairn said the new league will be far Ready for the season The Express will play two exhibition games
more competitive because it will feature the The Exeter Express have been gearing up on May 5 and 21 before their scheduled home
best teams from the Great Lakes League. He for the 1996-97 regular season holding prac- opener on May 28.
expects it to be tough going for the Express, tices since the first week of April. Last season
Pro Comp car series coming to Motorplex
GRAND BEND - The roar of hot
rod engines and the squeal of smok-
ing tires can be heard coming from
the direction of Lake Huron as
Grand Bend Motorplex fires up the
race track for another season of
drag racing.
The track officially opened for
the beginning of the 1996 race sea-
son on April 13 with a test and
tune opener and has a full agenda
of events planned for the summer
including the Canadian Bracket
Championships in July; a Funny
Car Fox Hunt; Monster meet with
Twin Jet Dragsters and Wagon
Wheelstanders in August; Asphalt
Sled Provincial series Harley Dav-
idson races in September; and va-
riety of big shows featuring open
air concerts on long weekends.
Track Manager, Kris Bedard,
said Motorplex coordinators are fo-
cusing their attention on spectator
oriented shows this season and are
starting with a Pro Comp series
this weekend.
Pro Comp cars are dragsters,
door-slammers and altered vehicles
with large cubic engines motors on
nitros kits or superchargers. They
run the quarter mile track in six to
eight seconds reaching speeds of
up to 200 m.p.h.
"These are wild vehicles with
loud motors and long burnouts,"
said Bedard describing the Pro
Comp racers. "They're one of the
most popular cars to watch...they
are definitely a spectator favorite."
With over 25 drivers from Can-
ada and the United States trying to
qualify, Bedard said they will have
a full field of cars competing in the
event and will run them in a "quick
16" format. Only 16 of the fastest
will qualify to race. Instead of rac-
ing against the driver's estimated
dial -in time on a staggered tree, the
Pro -comps will pit themselves
against each other going one for
one off the starting line at the same
time.
"It's the way they used to race in
the old days with racers trying to
run one tenth of a second faster
than the driver next to him. It's
really an exciting show for spec-
tators to watch," said Bedard who
featured the Pro Comps last season
and were instant crowd pleasers.
Back by popular demand, the Pro
Comp Series is sponsored by
Haugh Tire in Exeter and presented
by Paul's Auto Marine also fnobt
Exeter. Qualifiers will race Su**
afternoon for the first of six Aro
Comp races also scheduled for May
26, June 9, July 14, Aug 4 and
Sept 8.
The regular Thunk Series Show
will also take place on the same
weekend along with the first High
School Nationals featuring stu-
dents and teachers of local high
schools racing street cars.
Where have all the
softball players gone?
EXETER - Registration in Exeter Minor Softball is at an all-time
low this season leaving organizers wondering what's happening to
the league.
Doug Pearson, president of Exeter Minor Softball said the number
of kids registered in minor softball are at the lowest point in 15
years and as he preparos to step down as president of the organiza-
tion he is concerned about it's future.
There are only four teams playing softball this year. Two girl
teams in the Peewee and Bantam age division and two boys teams
in the Midget and Junior mens age division.
Pearson said the four teams will take on as many players as they
can but with not enough numbers to form a second team, many will
be referred to Usborne, Varna or Crediton.
"We hate to give them up, but the idea is to get them involved and
it doesn't matter where they go as tong as they are playing," said
Pearson who is at a loss to explain the sudden decline. In the past,
they have usually had enough registrants to fill seven teams. "Our
numbers have been very consistent with the exception of this year,"
he said. The organization is also short of volunteer coaches.
Costing only $35 for kids over the peewee age and 525 for those
under, softball is the most inexpensive sport available -to youngsters
in the community; however, that doesn't seem to have an impact on
this year's registration.
An absence of a year -ending awards banquet may have deterred
some people, but Pearson said cutting out a banquet is a way for
them to keep costs down and currently, the organization is fi-
nancially secure.
"I don't think kids who get involved in team sports are in a be-
cause they are looking for rewards at the end of the season," he
said.
Pearson said other organizations across Huron -Perth are also re-
cording low numbers and he suspects it may be a cyclical phe-
nomenon and remains optimistic things will turnaround next sea-
son.
"We are existing for now and hopefully we'll get back some of
these people next year, but there's not a whole lot we can do."
SOuth Huron Badminton
LONDON - Four members of the
South Huron District High School
senior badminton team competed
in WOSSA in London last Wednes-
day.
After placing second in the Hu-
ron -Perth finals last month, the
South Huron senior boys doubles
consisting of R.I. Milne and Kevin
Beierling placed fifth out of six-
teen teams and Andrea Weigand
and Chris Straw also placed fifth
in seniors mixed doubles.
Coach Pat Rowe said both team's
fifth place finish was very re-
spectable considering there were
16 teams competing in each entry.
The top two teams advanced to
OFSAA.
Individual winners in the Lucan Wednesday mixed bowling
league are shown above. Back, left, Don Cunningham, Dave
McGee and Kevin Rollings. Front, Annie Van Hopydonk, Dale
Fisher and Karen Smeekens.
The"B" playoff champions in the Lucan Wednesday mixed
bowling league were the Flame Throwers, Back, left, Gore! Fish-
er, Doug Beaudoin and Lany Bice. Front, Heather Dobinson,
Sally Martin and Karen Smeekens
The Misfit Alleycate won the "A" playoff championship of the
Lucan Wednesday mixed bowling league. Back, left, Rudy Van
Hooydonk, Kevin Haw and Frank Smeekens. Front, Ann Marie
Beaudoin, Steve Ackworth and Greg Thompson.
The Plckwlcka were Lucan Wednesday mixed league bowling
champs. Back, left, Don Cunningham and Kevin Rollings.
Front, Pat Jones, Linda Thompson and Deb Davies. Missing
was Tom Dobinson.
South Huron District High School sports wrap
EXETER - In high school sports
over the past week, the South Hu-
ron junior boys soccer team lost
both opening season games drop-
ping a 1-0 contest to Wingham last
Monday after a bizarre kick
bounced of the South Huron goal
post and dribbled in the net with
only four minutes left to play.
The juniors lost their second
game 3-1 to Clinton on Wednes-
day. Trevor Skinner, Rob DeVries
and Dave Robbilliard teamed up
RED CROSS SWIMMING
LESSONS
Tots, Yellow -White, Adult
lessons with certified
instructor,'Il'acy Riley.
Spring session begins May
1st at Pinedale Motor Inn,
Grand Bend. Summer
sessions available, 5 minutes
north of Parkhill. To register
call 294-0145. Both pools
heated.
for South Huron's only goal.
With only three returning players,
the junior team will struggle to de-
fend the Huron -Perth title they
earned last year.
Rugby
The South Huron Rugby team
lost 17-0 to Westminster last week.
The rugby team is still looking for
their first victory this season but
they are starting to develop well in
this relatively new sport to South
Huron.
Friday Night Mixed
Dart League
Banquet & Dance
Exeter Legion
Sat., May 4
Musk provided by:
"2nd Chance" Band
9 a.m. $5Jnetson
Senior Girls Soccer
The girls senior soccer team beat
Seaforth 2-0 last Tuesday with j
goal scoring sensation Helen Theo-
philopoulos notching both goals
for South Huron and narrowly
missed scoring her third goal of
the game.
Also, last Tuesday, the junior
girls soccer team held off St
Anne's in Clinton to a 0-0 tie.
Exeter carpet
bowling
scores
April 29
Marion Dearing
Lawrence Russell
Ray Smith
Don Maguire
Ray Hodgson
Wilmer. Wein
3W46
3W39
2W,1T,36
2W,IT,29
2W36
2W20
wog may for yolr�me.,.
A Standard Auto Glass Depot at
586 Main St. Exeter (Art's Garage)
For appointment call
1-800-265.5178
st�ititiiril
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