The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Spurred on by the two Blue Jays World Series titles, baseball has never been more popular in Canada, and this has resulted in a steady parade of teams and indi- viduals through the Sportdomes all trying to find that elusive edge, whether they play pick-up or all-star, little league or old-timers, softball or hardball. ‘_ ick Johnston, a transplanted American baseball ’ star who played for years on Canada’s national i \ an_d Olympic teams and who now suits up for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty league, 18 now finding there’s something more he d rather do with his life than continue the age-old battle of trying to out- fox opposing pitchers. He’d rather teach others how to do it. And that’s exactly what he’s doing now as director of baseball operations at Oakville’s Sportdomes, a job he’s held for more than a year. No nine-to-five for this guy. He comes to work when others come to play â€" mainly evenings and weekends. With the Sportdomes’ unique facilities, which include batting cages, instructional area and a complete field under the dome, players can brush up on all aspects of their game including fielding, throwing, baserunning, catching, pitching and â€" what is probably Johnston’s favourite part of the game â€" hitting. “It’s definitely my fone,” he said, in a recent inter- view. “It’s what I enjoy the most.” A two-time MVP with the Intercounty league and a member of the Maple Leafs all-time all-star team, he has smashed out 64 homers (including five homers in six games this year), tieing him for fifth on the league’s all-time list. League records include total bases in a sea- son (122 in 1990), runs scored in a season (59in 1993) and the number of times hit by a pitch in a season (11 in 1993). At the same time, the 29-year-old athlete, who has picked up his third level national coaching certification, By NORMAN NELSON Oakville Beaver Sports Editor Transplanted American is a big hit in Canada AND RECREATION I has worked equally hard in the classroom to figure out the mechanics behind hitting a 90 mile an hour mete- orite. As most ball players suspect, “there’s no magical formula to hitting.” Just a lot of hard work. You have to learn “the parts before the whole.” And TASTE OF THE MONTH (See 'Success' page 20 Rick Johnston Warriors on a rampage The Oakville boys under-11 rep soccer team made it to the semi-finals of the mini world cup tournament held in Mississauga. The AC Express Warriors won over Epiphany 4-0 and West Rouge 1-0 before losing to London 1-0 and the Olympic Flame all-star team 3-0 in the playoffs. Scoring for AC Express were John MacKenzie, Allan Reston, Dan Murray and Fabrizio Castiglionein in the first game and Allan Reston in the second game. In league action, Oakville defeated Burlington 3-0 last Wednesday. Scoring for Oakville were Fabrizio Castiglione, Mark Bemardi and Matt McIssac 'h'evor March of Gino's Pizza tags out Noah Devine of Pizza Pizza at home plate in Oakville Minor Baseball Association action earlier this week. (Photo by Peter McCusker) SUNDAY: JUNE 26, 1994 PAGE 19 uuauerme Quality WW/ 260 S'peers Rona ©1994 McDonald‘s Restaurants of Canada Ltd