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Meyers, Wakitsch win MVP honors East, West all-stars split And, in the big event... By Herald News Service McHENRY - In between the all-star doubleheader Wednes­ day, an event took place that may -- or may not -- have ac­ counted for the large crowd on hand. Rusty Nail Inn manager Kevin Bauer, and Nail catcher Don Bentz took part in a grudge match race around the bases. The match race stemmed from an incident in last weekend's Rusty Nail tournament in which Bauer pinch-ran for Bentz. In the match race, the winner was named by timed speed around the bases. And, the winner was ... Don Bentz, who proved himself in 13.2S seconds. Bauer finished in 13.65. Reports stated that Bauer did, however, stumble going around second. Any calls for a rematch? Friday, August 9,1985 McHenry Pigtail stars third in Cary By Herald News Service Covalt had two hits each in the losing effort. CARY -- McHenry's 11-12-year- Algonquin rallied from a 5-0 defi- old all-star squad finished an im- dt, and led 8-5 heading into the pressive third in the Cary Tourna- seventh. ment of Stars, which concluded last The scrappy McHenry girls came weekend. roaring back when Erin Money The locals fell to Woodstock and ripped an RBI double to score Jus- Algonquin in their final two games ten ana Bromley to bring McHenry of the two-week event. to within one at 8-7, but Money was Against Woodstock, McHenry stranded at second as the game scored six in the sixth to tie the ended. game at 8-all, and then watched as Davina Burns and Stephanie Woodstock tallied twice in the sev- Quantz each had two hits, as did enth to win, 10-8. Woodstock was the Money, Bromley and Justen. Teresa tournament champion. Escamilla paced the defense, as Kristy Justen and Brenda Brom- McHenry corralled the third place ley each had three hits to lead Mc- trophy, which was given to sponsor Henry, while Tina Buss and Becky Don's Dairy Frost. UPI photo Walter Payton makes the Bears go, and from all early-season indications, Chicago will do exactly that in the NFC Central Division. Bears big favorite to repeat in Central By Mike O'Hara Minnesota, 3-13, will need more The Detroit News than Grant to regain championship status. The team gave up the most When the Central Division of the points (484) in the NFL won't be a National Football Conference was contender this time but it will be known as the Black and Blue Divi- better with a healthy QB, Tommy sion because of ferocious defenses, Kramer. , Bud Grant ruled in the Minnesota •••••MMMH cold. He was a fixture on the sidelines, i a stoic with earphones forever at- I tached to his temples, watching his Vikings dominate the division. The scene changed. The Vikings moved indoors. Grant retired. He may never see his team dominate again but his return is the biggest development in the NFC Central. j Unfortunately for Grant, he heads a team with problems. He is not I alone. Except for the Chicago j Bears, the division has mammoth I holes to fill -- as three new coaches Chicago is heavily favored to re- i peat. The Bears were sailing i through the division last year until ! their quarterback, Jim McMahon, • was injured in the 10th game. His replacement, Steve Fuller, went j down later with a shoulder injury I but the Bears had such a command- • ing lead, they still finished first by two games. Chicago even beat De- I troit in the finale with Greg Landry • starting at QB. Landry hadn't played in the NFL since 1981. ! Chicago plays old-style football, • with a running game built around Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time rushing leader, and a defense led by E Richard Dent, T Dan Hampton I and LB Mike Singietary. Chicago sacked opposing quarterbacks 72 sacks, twice as many as its offen- | sive line surrendered. McMahon seems on the verge of stardom. He had only two intercept H tions against eight touchdown i passes. Payton shows no sign of age • (31). He rushed for 1,684 and moved • past Jim Brown's career total. The ! Bears could use help at receiver. I Speedster Willie Gault caught only • 34 passes and was dissatisfied be- • cause he didn't see the ball more • often. C-G, CLS await new gridirons By Phil English Herald sports writer CRYSTAL LAKE - When Dis­ trict 155's teams hit the grid later this month, the addition of two 'new' fields will prove to only make Fox Valley Conference football more in­ teresting in 1985. On one side of the District, Crys­ tal Lake South, after a patient sev­ en-year wait, will finally have a field to call home. On the east side, Cary-Grove, while not gaining a new field, will add night football to its fall schedule with hopes of greater gate receipts and more enthusiastic results. «• Both fields have provided their respective coaches and athletic di­ rectors with their share of mi- granes. But all sides agree that with the past behind them, the road to August 30 will be a pleasent, down­ hill glide. For South, the share of problems started last year, with the construc­ tion and purchase of bleachers for the home and away fans. The bleachers were taken care of by purchasing the dormant stands of defunct Dundee High School. The only problem was working around it all. "The only problem we had, as far as the stands went, is that the area in front of the home bleachers was not paved," South AD Len Larson said of the stone and dirt built up from the bleacher construction. "They were scheduled J do that last Thursday, but got rained out. Now, it could be done by the end of the week. "I honestly feel, that in the seven years that we've had the field, that we have the best turf in the confer­ ence," he added. "It's so thick and soft. It hasn't been used for seven years and it's been watered everyday." on that field every weekend," he added. "Now this will allow it to be relieved a bit." Seven years is a long time to wait for your own field. But try waiting for as long as Cary-Grove High School has. For 24 years, the Trojans have played their night games away from home, and reserved their home games for Saturday after­ noons. Not anymore, says C-G foot­ ball coach Mike Buck. "This place looks impressive," he said with a certain amount of pride. "I don't mean to pat myself on the back, but it really looks great. We have people who just drive through the parking lot to check it out. "A lot of people haven't even seen this yet. This was 24 years in the coming. I haven't really felt this excitement yet, I've been too busy. But I know it will be there when we flick the switch for the first ball game." Cary battled its 'fight for the light' the best way it could. When the Trojan boosters got the OK to help fund a lighted field project from the Board of Education in May, it was straight to the drawing board and full steam ahead. Over the weekend of July 27, Buck and all of the volunteers managed to put in an H-hour Sunday and by Monday afternoon, all four light fix­ tures were in place. "We've got four poles in the ground and all we need now is some power. We're probably within a week of flipping the switch," Buck said. "Now it's Just a matter of picking things up and keep prodding Commonwealth Edison a bit." Hie Cary boosters'plan of action included the Buy-A-Light program, in which community businesses or members, could pay the price of one light fixture, in return for an honor­ ary plaque in their name to be placed on the light pole. The program has proven wily a little above half successful at pre­ sent, with 30 out of the 50 needed ^tt'sone oTthe last little things we have to bring together," Buck said. "We have some verbal agree­ ments left for the remaining lights, but what we need is the hard, cold cash. But we're pretty much as­ sured of coming out on budget. "I think we surprised a lot of people that we got this all ready by the first game," he added. "If things continue to fall in place like they have already, we'll be ready to go soon." Both South and Caiy's projects have one thing in common: both are pretty much guaranteed to be ready for the season opener, but not yet finished. ~ But with the amount of work ac­ complished in the last two months, and the long wait already endured at both schools, what's another three weeks? Larson agreed that the thought of another season of playing 'home' games at Crystal Lake Central's Metcalf field was not too pleasing for players or fans. "For seven years, we've been playing our home games at Central, but we've always kind of felt like it was an away game all of the time," Larson said. "It's Just nice to have our own facilities. "The games will be played on Saturday afternoon, which do not do too well (in attendance)," he added. "Friday night is the ideal time to play a game, but the students think it's great to be playing at home. Whether the crowds will be the same as before, we won't know." From the other side of town's perspective, Larson is sure that the Central team and fans would be Just as glad to let their field have a bit of a rest from the usual madness of the football season. "In the past, there has been at least one, If not three games played Cary-Grove's A1 Bohrer field is one of two District 155 football fields that will be undergoing a change for the upcoming season.