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Times Advocate, 1994-8-31, Page 14- - Page 14 Times -Advocate, August 31,E 1994 Sidelines by Fred Groves Gravy train is a nice ride The baseball strike has brought about some pretty weird situations - aka. Barry Bonds and his alimony cut by a judge. Bonds is the highest paid ball player, probably one of the rich- est pro athletes in the world. The San Francisco Giants' outfielder was making $4.75 million this season before the players went on strike. He's working on a six-year $43.75 million contract with the Giants but, believe it or not, he can't make his child and spousal payments. Okay, let's try and figure this out being the lay sports people we are. Bonds ex-wife, Sun (no real- ly...that's her name), was getting $15,000 a month. That must be tough to get by on, especially for doing absolutely nothing. Bonds' agent, Dennis Gilbert is pleading hardship on his cli- ents part so a judge decided to cut the per month stipend in half down-toS7,baO.-1=guess poor Sun (what did she name the kids, Moon and Star) has really got it rough now and won't be able to afford payments Jan all the cars. Here's another kicker - Sun gets access to the credit card ac- count, hubby continues to pay the mortgage, taxes and in- surance on the estate she and the two kids are living in - isnt' the gravy train a nice ride if you can find it. Sun, trying to shine as bright as she can, originally asked for $262,000 per month for child and spousal support but has dropped that to $130,000 a month. Let's see, $130,000 x 12 months = $1.56 million and the house is paid for and there is ac- cess to those credit cards. It was a nice night for ball. That's why, what with the pro- fessional baseball strike in full swing, I just couldn't get it. I didn't understand last Tues- day why there weren't more than eight or ten people in the stands of the Alvin Field. A baseball guru beside me looked up into the emptiness and said, "you know there should be 200 people here, well at least 100 anyway." The weather was nice, the di- amond, as always was in perfect condition and the game, al- though exhibition, wasn't bad. 1 watched four innings, took some photos, chatted with a couple of the players and went home to cut my grass. Summertime sports means a tough draw. Everyone it seems is preoccupied with keeping the yard up or visiting relatives or hanging out at the cottage. This Week in Sports... • Imperials in semis - page 15 • Soccer awards banquet - page 16 Exeter express seem ready for OBA Pitching is strong point as they try to regain their 1988 form By Fred Groves T -A staff EXETER - All things point to it. This could be the year the Exeter Express regain their form from the late 1980's. The senior men's baseball team travels to Kendal this weekend where they will com'te in the On- tario Baseball Association Senior 'D' championship tournament. Exeter hosted the eight -team event back in 1988 and they won the title, reclaiming it from their 1986 conquest. Although their regular Great Lakes Senior Baseball League sea- son has been over for a couple of weeks, they've been tuning up with exhibition games to keep them sharp. The past couple of years morale and attitude has been the demise of the local club, however, that doesn't seem to be a problem in the sum- mer of 1994. "It's the best its been in -five years," said coach Doug Fairbairn. "The veterans whittled out and it hurt morale." Exeter has been rebuilt, there is a good corps of veterans but a nice healthy sprinkling of youngsters that provide a big spark when need- ed. Back in 1988, the Express were deep with pitching, this year it's the same thing. Although they have several guys to go up on the hill, there are four they'll depend upon the most. Saturday in Kendal, the Express will open up against the best from Essex County - Woodslee. Fair- bairn says young righthander Scot Russell will probably get the call. "He'll likely start the first game against Woodslee. We have to get a scouting report on them," said Fair- bairn. Rick Boon, Marty Merner and Dave Atthill will all pitch and the fifth pitcher will probably be Scot Davidson. They are all right hand- ers as Exeter's only leftic is left - fielder Fred Gregus. Second baseman Rob Dickey is one—of three players (Don Mac- Donald and Atthill are the others) left over from the 1988 champion- ship team. Dickey says pitching is Exeter's strong point. "Our strength is our pitching and our weakness is the lack of a long balikthreat," he said of Exeter's lack of a power hitter like they used to have in Dave Shaw. well. We're as good, we've got bet- ter pitching but we don't have the thunder they did." Exeter's outfield is very solid with Gregus ,Pn left, the veteran MacDonald patrolling centre and Ron Elliott stationed out in right field. The -trio are fast and cover a lot of ground. "Our' outfield is pretty well set, "It's hitting left handed pitching,'_ we have some options," said Fair - said Fairbairn of the team's biggest bairn. Atthill is the other outfielder. weakness. '"1 think it's because we Solid defence: Around the horn just don't see enough of them." in the infield, Dave Russell is at The 1988 team had strong pitch- first, Dickey at second, Boon is at ing and power hitting but Dickey short and Bill Glover at third base. says the 1994 team holds their own That will obviously change when in comparison to the champions. "The last 10 games we've played Continued on page 15 Crediton captures ladies fastball title SEBRINGVILLE - Theresa Simpson not only pitched a strong game for Crediton but she also had a good game at the plate as Credi- ton beat the Exeter Greys 11-8 to win the Huron -Perth Ladies Fast - ball League championship. Sunday in Sebringville, Crediton won their fourth straight game of the tournament and it was the sec- ond time during the weekend they beat the Greys. In the final, it was a 2-1 game for the eventual champs in the first in- ning as Deanna Olmsted and Te- resa VanRaay scored for Crediton. It was still a one run game in the third as Stacey Rader, Tammy .gmith and Deb Lord had hits for Crediton. For Exeter M.K. Stapleton made it to bast four times with a double, single and two walks. Jodi Berg had a double and a single with Shannon. McBride had a single and a perfectly laid down bunt. Tanya VanSteelandt had two sin- gles and played a good game in left field making three catches. Pitcher Patti Down struck out four. Crediton continued to score in just about every inning as they had two in the fourth on hits by Angie .Gould and Rader and two in the fifth as Lord and Jill Sararas scored off of Olmsted's double. The winners opened the tourna- ment with a big 16-4 win Friday over Kirkton. Crediton 14, Sebringville 11 Sunday was a long day for Credi- ton as they started with a 14-11 win over the hosts in a game which saw Crediton trail 4-1 in the first inning. The first run for Crediton came when Gould tripled to send Simp- son home. The momentum carried on as Crediton scored two more in the second and a home run by Gould scored both herself and Van- Raay who had gotten on with a bunt. Sebringville rallied back and plat- ed five runs in the fifth but in the sixth, Olmsted and Lord scored for Crediton. With the is up 11-7 in the seventh and final in Credi- ton came back and scored seven of their own to win the game. Crediton 9 Exeter 0 -Although Crediton scored seven runs in this game and Exeter had four, the game went down officially as a 9-0 forfeit win as the Greys couldn't finish the game because of lack of enough pitching. Unofficially, Smith had a home run for Crediton and Lord clubbed a double. For Exeter, Berg, McBride and Bonnie O'Reilly each had two hits. O'Reilly had a home run in the first as Exeter led 4-2 at one point. Exeter 5, Sebringville 2 In their first game played Friday night, the Greys got by Sebringville as pitcher Patti Down had five strikeouts in the defensive battle. Offensively, McBride, Skinner and O'Reilly all had three hits each with singles fromioanne McCarthy and Sherry Harburn. Exeter 12, Kirkton 2 In their third game Stapleton led the attack with a home run, double and a single while O'Reilly had a home run, triple and double. Kris- ten Thomson and Hill Betties were on base four times each and Lisa Forrest had a double and played a strong defensive game. Du struck out 12 and catcher Harburn tossed out one runner. "> The Crediton Classics ladies fastball team were playoff champions on the weekend going un- defeated for the whole toumey and defeating Exeter twice. Shown back left to right, Sue Coates, Stacey Rader, Angie Gould, Theresa Simpson and Jill Sararas. Front, Deb Lord, De- anna Olmsted, Tammy Smith, Kelli Kennedy and Teresa Van Raay. Absent: Helen Theo- philopoulos, Rose Glavin and coach Brenda Wilds Swap meet held in Dashwood Used equipment may be the way to,_go for those on a tight budget By Fred Groves T -A staff EXETER - Labour Day - when baseball ends and hockey begins. It's a day marked on many people's calendar as parents prepare their kids to head back tei school and for many, it means a trip to the local sporting goods store to stock up on the latest hockey gear. Hockey, although Canada's favourite past time, is an ex- pensive one. Forget about the cost of registration, forget about the cost of travel, meals and accommodations, just getting the boy or girl fitted into the protective gear can put a strain on the bank account. While used hockey equipment swap meets, like the one in Dashwood on Saturday, continue to be popular, the cash registers still clang with sales at the sports shops. "What had happened is 1 moved into the area two years ago. I coached pre -tyke and 1 went out and bought equip- ment and realized how expensive it was," said Pam Bieman one of the organizers of Saturday's swap meet which was hosted by the Stephen Minor Hockey Association. She has seen other such events work and felt that local parents could get some good used equipment at reduced costs. However, while the equipment may not be right off the rack, the organizing group stressed that helmet and neck protectors be up to currem standards. "When I lived in Milton they had a hockey swap meet at registration. It was put on by the hockey moms." Bieman added that last year at three pre -tyke games, par- ents brought in food donations instead of paying admis- sion,to be given to the food bank. "We're not doing it for the profit," she said of the swap mot." We want to do atmethina for the community." Getting used hockey equipment is a good idea for those who are either on a tight budget or those who have kids just trying the game out for the first time. It's kind of unnecessary if the kid is going to go and play when he or she is five years -old and then never go out on thc ice again. Probably other than motorcross racing or elite figure skating, hockey is the most expensive sport. Although it was the first year of the Stephen Minor Hock- ey Association swap, Bieman said earlier reports were very positive. "It's our first year, thc people 1 spoke to last year who were trying to make ends meet, they thought it was a good idea." Over the past 10 years, hockey equipment hasn't really changed that much. The only real big differences are wood- en sticks versus the fiberglass ones with the replacement blades. if you've got a kid who takes a lot of shots and breaks a lot of sticks, the replacement blades arc no doubt the way to go. Last year the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association made it mandatory to wear a new certified neck guard. Ba- sically it had to have a stamp on it although many ques- tioned whether or not it gave any additional protection. Just how much does new hockey equipment cost, well, here is an itemized list for the 1994-95 season for a 10 - year -old: skates, $50-185; helmet, $60; facemask, $25; pants, $45-125; gloves, S35-75; sticks, $30; replacement blades, $12; socks, S14; practice jersey, S12; jock, S10-30; shoulder pads, 515-50; neck guards, $12; elbow pads, $15- 35; suspenders, $10; shins pads, $ 15-40; hockey tape, $2. Toto on the lower scale - S325. D#splaylnlg some of the equipment he had for sale on Saturday at the swap meet was Matthew Mat- tuccl of Exeter.