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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-9-7, Page 14Page 14 Times -Advocate, September 7, 1994 This Week in Sports... • Schilbe wins Bayview- page 15 • Fury top Centennials - page 16 Sidelines By Fred Groves Future of 1995 club promising We teach our young ath- letes and coaches that win- ning is not the only thing - but sometimes that saying just won't cut it. This past weekend I trav- elled to Port Hope with the Exeter Express for the OBA championships and when these,guys were eliminated after their third game (dou- ble -knockout format), they were disappointed. Exeter went into the eight - team tournament with high expectations, and they had every right to. Good pitching, lots of speed, leadership from the veterans and consistent hitting were just a few of the advantages they had. So, what went wrong. Well, when starting pitcher Rick Boon had five runs scored against him in two in- nings, it kind of took the wind out of the Express sails. There were no downed heads and the raw, raw lets' go get em' attitude was still there. But you could sense it, the number one thing that got the team through the year, it's pitching wasn't there. While Boon couldn't get the ball into the strike zone, the same time his teammates couldn't get their bats hot. While we often say pitch- ing is the most important component in baseball, in this case it wasn't. For when the relievers came in behind him, they got the job done but the offence couldn't click in. It was like that all weekend - just not enough offence. Sure they had 14 runs against Thorold but their pitcher was quite young and all he had was a semi -fast fast ball. Against ,Woodslee only three runs and just one against host Kendal. That wasn't enough, but ball fans, don't get down. The future of this club looks very good what with everyone very keen in re- turning for 1995. Pitching is only going to get better as Mike Agnew will get more work and Scot Davidson is expected to see more innings on the hill. Bill Glover, Rob Dickey, Fred Gregus and Don MacDonald have speed which can not be compared to any other team. On the weekend, opposing catchers tried very hard to _ throw MacDonald out when he was stealing bases, they were a little surprised at his Speed. In minor sports you usually get one shot at it, kids move away, they lose interest or they move up an age cat- egory. With the Express they should all be back which makes next year's chances even better. The Lucan-Ilderton Jets are holding a reunion on Sep- tember 18 at the Lucan Are- na. Organizer Steve Storey said the 4 p.m. dinner will be followed by a reception. "So far we're expecting about 75 people but we could have as many as 100," said Storey. The Jets were formed in 1963 and played until 1980. They were in the Inter- mediate 'B' leagfle before go- ing senior when they chal- lenged for the Allan Cup. Anyone wishing more in- formation about the reunion can call Steve at 227-1136. Express disappointed at OBA Scot Russell, left; is congratulated by teammates after an rbi hit. At right, Rick Boon pulls up a little dirt and gets back to first. Come home early from OBA tournament after winning only one game By Fred Groves T -A start' PORT HOPE - Lack of a big power hitter was the buzz through the Exeter Express beehive Saturday night. But while the Express didn't have one ingredient they had a few others which they built upon and managed to win one game at the Ontario Baseball Association Senior 'D' cham- pionship tournament. However, this team had hoped to do a lot better in the eight -team event which saw them lose their opener 6-3 Sat- urday morning to Woodslee, a couple of hours later ham- mered Thorold 14-6 but Were elirtiir tdd'hatefthe sdn`ie day 6-1 by host Kendal. "I was hoping to do better, we all thought we had a better team," said a disappointed Exeter manager Joe Fulop. The Express were on the diamond at 7:30 a.m. on Sat- urday and only had five hits while Woodslee managed to get to starting pitcher Rick Boon then, in the fourth took re- liever Dave Auhill over the fence for homer. "They (pitchers) did the best they could. They didn't have the results we hoped for. This team depends on pitching, it's a lot of pressure on them," said Fulop. While Scot Russell got the win against Thorold and Mar- ty Merner went the distance in a losing cause against Ken- dal, the Express pitching staff has done better. Woodslee 6, Exeter 3 The Express started out on a disappointing note, dropping the opener to the Orioles. Although Exeter got off to a good start, leading 1-0 after three innings, Boon got into trouble and gave up five runs, walking in two of those. The Express got behind Boon geeing him a pair of runs thanks to Bill Glover's fourth inning rbi single. Glover went 6 -for -10 at the tournament at twice was named Exeter's top player of the game. "Billy's come a long way in a few years," said Fulop of the catcher -third baseman. With one out in the fourth, Ror Elliott walked and then Fred Gregus laid down a bunt down the third base line. The Orioles couldn't get Gregus who slid head first into the bag. A wild throw saw him scamper to second while Elliou was standing at third. That set the stage for Glover's hit which brought the Express bench back to lifer Aftei. Atthill pftched, Merner came on followed'by Mike Agnew and both were able to shut out the Orioles. In the seventh, Don MacDonald singled but while taking too many steps off of first was easily picked off. The best defensive play for Exeter came when first baseman Dave Russell made a diving grab in the din which would have preventecta run in the third. "We should have beaten them but we came back with lots of spunk," said Fulop. Exeter 14, Thorold 6 Scot Russell went the distance and got some good de- fense behind him as the Express won their second game against Thorold. Exeter vaulted into a big 5-0 lead in the first inning and plated two more in the third, one in the fifth, four in the sixth and two in the seventh. MacDonald had two singles including a but to start the game as well as a two run rbi double in the sixth. De- fensively he made a spectacular catch in centre in the very deep park. Boon and Gregus each had three hits while Scot Russell and Glover had two each with one each from Steve Far- quhar, Dave Russell, Elliott and Rob Dickey. Kendal 6, Exeter 1 Leaving the bases loaded in the sixth hurt the Express the most in this one as they were behind 5-1 after three innings. Exeter's only run came when MacDonald led off with a single in the first, stole second and scored on Scot Russell's rbi double. The host Eagles played well defensively turning double plays in both the second and fourth innings to stop possible Exeter attacks. Exeter only had seven hits in this game, three of those by the number nine hitter, Glover. Scot Russell had two hits .with one each from Farquhar and MacDonald. It was the third game of the day for the Express, after beating Thorold they had about a 20 minute break before taking on Kendal. Notes: • Of the eight teams in the tournament three of them were called the A's, Arva, Thorold and Little Britain. • Arva, also in the Great Lakes Senior Baseball League were eliminated in two straight. • Fulop was nursing a very swollen hand all weekend as a result of an accident at last week's practice. • Glover was 6 -for -10 and both MacDonald and Scott Russell were 5 -for -I 1 while Boon and Gregus were 4 -for - 10. • Elliott had the longest hit for the Express, a ground rule which bounced over the centre field fence. He also made some good catches in right field. Sitting In the dugout were left; manager Joe Fulop, pitcher Dave Atthill and catcher Mark Glavin. Photo above right; Don MacDonald gets ready to steal a base against Woodslee. Be- low, Fred Gregus dives safely back to first base.