Times Advocate, 1995-07-12, Page 14Page 14
Times -Advocate, July 12, 1995
i
This Week in Sports.IIP
AilExeter Thunder host strong Malton team - page
• Men's slo-pitch results - page 16
Racers power off the beach
Grand Bend hosts second annual Lake Huron Poker run featuring offshore racing boats
Chris Skalkos T -A staff
GRAND BEND - "There are a lot
of people waiting to see you out
there so lets put on a show!"
With those remarks 15 powerful
off -shore racing boats fired up their
engines and roared out of Grand
Bend Harbor in the second annual
Lake Huron Poker Run on Sunday.
Sponsored in part by Snap -on
Tools Canada, the Village of Grand
Bend hosted the second of the five
Poker Run Events organized by
Power Boating Canada Magazine.
Hundreds of people lined along
the pier in Grand Bend to see some
of North America's most exotic
powerboats skim the waters of Lake
Huron, propelled by powerful and
loud race -tuned engines.
Boaters from across the
province and the United
States arrived in Grand Bend
on July 7 to dock their boats
and register for Saturday's run;
however, rainy weather and four
metre high waves kept the poker
runners off of the water that day
• and the event was ' re-
scheduled for Sunday.
Terry McTavish, chairper-
son for the Lake Huron Poker
run explained that the event
was not a race but rather an op-
portunity for the owners to show off
their high-powered crafts and pro-
mote offshore boating in Canada.
McTavish said the event draws
hundreds of spectators and provides
a tremendous economical boost for
local business.
The object of the run is geared
more for pleasure than competition.
Each boat will stop at a tdtal of five
checkpoints where the captain is
given a sealed envelope containing
a single playing card. At the end of
the poker run the cards are revealed
and and the crew hold-
ing the
best
poker hand will be declared the
winner.
The boats departed the harbor led
by the Snap -on official pace -boat
and made short stops in Bayfield,
Kincardine and Goderich before re-
turning to Grand Bend. Crew mem-
bers mingled with spectators while
docked at their checkpoints, al-
lowing boating enthusiasts a close
look at these unique and expensive
boats.
Roger Schnabel from Lexington
Kentucky hauled his boat for
twelve hours to participate
'in The Lake Huron Poker
Run. He was running
a 31 foot Blue Scarab
wered by two 502
c inch engines
prod-
ucing up
to 800
horse-
power. His
boat's top speed
is 72 miles per hour
is sup-
ported by
his crew
Jim Cutter,
first mate
and Su-
sanne Scar-
navigations
let,
specialists, both from Kentucky.
Schnabel said he doesn't compete
in offshore races but uses his pow-
er boat strictly for pleasure.
"I do this to see different parts of
North America and have fun with
my fellow boaters," said Schnabel.
"I've only been to Ontario twice
and I wanted to see your com-
munity and Lake Huron.
Cutter, also owns a 28 foot off-
shore racing boat. He said all the
poker runners, including himself
have one thing in common - they're
all hooked on speed.
"I love to go fast. Everybody
here loves to go fast," said Cutter.
For an example; Cutter points to a
38 foot Fountain powered by two
engines 562 cubic inch engines
producing a combined total of
1,800 horsepower. The brightly
colored boat named Cardiac Arrest
was the fastest boat at the Poker
Run recording a top speed of 95
mph.
Shane Serra, owner of Hot
Knots, a high performance marine
facility has been to all five of the
Poker Runs in Ontario. He said he
was impressed by the reception the
boaters received in Grand Bend
and the other towns they docked at
along the way.
"The communities bend over
backwards for you here," said Ser-
ra. "They just roll out the red carpet
and there's no other place that goes
through this much trouble for us,"
he said.
Richard Brown from Toronto
was sporting the Poker Run's only
Catamaran. The unique v -shape
design of the hull enables the boat
to ride on a pocket of air rather than
the surface of the water. With two
900 horsepower engines his off-
shore racer is capable of speeds of
up to 85 mph. He calls his boat Wet
Dreams.
"Next year there will be more
'Cats' out here because they're fast-
er and a lot more fun," said Brown
who prefers a little bit of competi-
tion between the top boats and en-
joyed having one of the fastest
boats on the lake on Sunday. He
too was surprised at the number of
spectators that turned out to support
the Poker Runners.
"I've been to all the other poker
runs and tourists don't get involved
nearly as much. Even the mayor
and the harbor master were out
helping us dock our boats," said
Brown.
Anne Lindenfield from Exeter
was in Grand Bend to see the boats
begin their run in the morning and
then returned later that afternoon
with her husband to watch them
roar back with their poker cards.
"1 enjoy watching stuff like this. I
really like boats with power," said
Lindenfield. "It's exciting to have
something like this going on so
close to Exeter," she said.
At the end of the run the boaters
handed in their cards and met at the
Grand Bend legion to see who
would take home over $3,500 worth
of cash and prizes.
Vaskin Jakarezian of Richmond
Hill with the 26 foot Baja won first
prize, Chris Ridabock from Lake
Simcoe with a 27 foot twin super-
charged Stinger won second prize
and Sam Maye from Pefferlaw with
a 38 foot Fountain won third prize.
Roger Schnabel from Kentucky
took home a consolation prize for
having the worst poker hand out of
the group. Schnabel said he had bet-
ter luck last year at the 1000 Islands
Poker Run where he won third prize
but the Grand Bend run was a much
more memorable experience.
"It's all for fun," he emphasized.
"However, it's always nice to win a
poker hand and I'll be back next
year to try my luck again."
Roger Schnabel from Lexington Kentucky powers his
31 foot Scarab across the waters of Lake Huron during
Grand Bend's second annual Poker Run on Sunday.
Poalo Rossi from Etobicoke Ontario catches air under
his 28 foot Warlock offshore racer named Black Thin --
der. His boat has a top speed of 85 mph„
Mark Laye Jr. pitching perfect
Chris Skalkos T -A staff
Every pitcher dreams about pitching the perfect game.
The "no-hitter."
Most pitchers agree, they're rare, and only accomplished by seasoned
veterans late in their careers.
But for 11 year-old Mark Laye Jr. from Crediton, it came a little ear-
ly.
Laye pitched a perfect game recently, recording the first no-hitter of
his very young baseball career. Laye plays minor baseball for the Dash-
wood Tigers in the WOBA - Mosquito league and he pitched for five
straight innings, striking out 10 batters during Dashwood's 20-2 victory
over Clinton on June 26.
"I didn't expect it...really," said Laye about his no hitter. He said he
didn't even realize he was pitching a perfect game until he overheard
his coaches talking about keeping him in for the entire game.
"It feels pretty good," he said, adding he felt better about beating
Clinton because they lost to them earlier in the season.
Fully modest and slightly shy, Laye is quick to credit his team and
coaches for his stellar performance.
"The guys on the team are good at defense, they're good at the bats
and they're good friends," said Laye "They didn't say much after the
game but through the game they were talking it up trying to get me to
feel good."
He said the team coaches, Marty Becker and Tom Hayter have helped
his ball playing by guiding him through better ball delivery techniques
and pitching stances.
As a safety precaution, Laye and his fellow pitchers are only allowed
to throw fastballs so Laye and back catchers Jesse Schroader and Leroy
Finkbeiner are working on placing the ball in different spots over the
plate as well as varying the speed of his pitches.
Laye was only four years -old when he stepped onto a ball diamond to
play T -ball. But every time he takes to the field, it's the pitcher's mound
he feels most comfortable on and that's where he's played for the last
five years.
If pitching a no-hitter wasn't good enough, Laye also belted a home
run and hit a triple late in the game.
With two out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Laye was at -bat with
a full count. Two strikes and three balls.
"The pitch came straight down the plate and it looked pretty good so I
swung with all my might," said Laye describing his home run. "I almost
missed third base I was so excited."
He got the signal to keep going, so Laye drove for home sliding be-
tween the catcher's legs beating the ball to the plate in a cloud of dust.
"I was almost out," he said about the play at the plate.
Laye, who considers himself a better batter than pitcher, said the
home run was a confidence -booster that affected his pitching.
"After my home run 1 was pretty happy and I just threw more strikes
for the rest of the game," he said.
He's young, but he's old enough to appreciate his father, Mark Laye
senior, for introducing him to the sport of baseball.
"I'm glad he got me started because I have fun pitching and really en-
joy playing ball," he says.
Laye practices three times a week with his father in the backyard and
he can always count on Dad sitting in the bleachers watching every
game and cheering him on.
"My Dad was pretty happy about my no.hitter. He took me to McDo-
nalds and said he was proud of me."
A
1