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Whitt's boot is mightier than his bark C'ville kicker hoping to land professional contract J '/ ^ y > : ; I : - •rx:¥-s By Mark Meyer Herald sports writer CARPENTERSVILLE - Re­ member the 1950s adventure show entitled. "Have Gun. Will Travel"? If you do. the chances are better of understanding the story of Car- pentersville kicker David Whitt. You see, Whitt is willing to follow his right leg as far as it will take him -- hopefully far enough to land a contract in the National Football League. "It's a dream of mine to play in the NFL. that would be super." Whitt said during a practice session last week at Carpentersville Middle School. "Not many guys make it. but if the opportunity is there. I'll take it." Whitt, a 1979 graduate of Crown High School, has already experi­ enced a run at the big time, but his stay was much shorter than he had hoped for. A brief tour of duty with the United States Football League's Houston Gamblers merely whet his appetite for a bigger piece of the professional football pie. "Right after graduation (from college), I was in contact with a couple of clubs from the USFL." recalled Whitt who kicks barefoot­ ed. "The (Chicago) Blitz phoned right away, and 1 was the last kick­ er to be cut. "After that I hooked up with Houston, and got a feeling of what it would take to stay around. 1 know there's stil|,some work to be done on my part." So what has he done? Come home, of course. Whitt now belongs to the Fox Valley Outlaws, a semi-pro team with ties to the northwest Chi­ cago area. Better vet. the Outlaws have scheduled their home games for Carpentersville Middle School. "I'm really happy about that." said Whitt. who didn't play high school football until his senior year. "Last time I played in front of the home people was my senior year at Crown. "That's a big part of the game. Playing in front of people who know you and recognize you. It makes the game more enjoyable." "*> Even more enjoyable, in Whitt's case, would be the offer of a pro "Not many guys make it, but if the opportunity is there, rlnake it." Dave Whitt contract. He's kept in touch with just about every NFL club, but so far has had only nibbles when it comes time to making a roster. However, he knows that a jump to the NFL doesn't happen overnight. A combination of being in the right place at the right time, along with some consistency, can speed up the transition rather quickly. That. too. is somewhat of a tough hurdle to jump. "Knowing some important people can cetainlv help you along the way." said Whitt. who graduated from Western Illinois in '83. "and when you get noticed, then the word gets around. Once you get the try- out. then it's time to perform. "A lot of the teams are looking for consistency. Sure, there's guys who can boot a long one every now and then, but it's consistency they're looking for. "The great thing about being a kicker is the job becomes yours, and only yours. There aren't any depth charts to worry about, be­ cause a kicker owns the job. It's your job, and only you can have it." And Whitt will try to find it. no matter how far he, and his right leg. have to go. v Herald photo by Mark Meyer A strong right leg and a lot of patience are two things that Carpentersville's Dave Whitt owns. Now all he's looking for is a professional team that needs a capable kicker. Wednesday, August 21,1985 Area racers roll at By Herald News Service WILMOT, Wis. - It was almost a clean sweep, but not quite. At Toft Auto Racing's Wilmot Speedway Saturday night, four of the five top spots in the late model sportsmen category were filled by McHenry area drivers. In the 20-lap feature race, George Dukas of Zion took the lead early in the race, and hung on until lap four when Wonder Lake's Sid Norton worked his Camaro out in front, grabbing the advantage by using the outside groove in turn two. Norton hung on to win his second main of the season, topping Dukas, who grabbed second place. In third place was McHenry's Jay Maywald, while Duke Norton of WL and Skip Martin of McHenry round­ ed out the top five. Martin won the third heat, in which Maywald finished third. Mc­ Henry's Dennis Carlton won the fourth heat. Duke Norton was the third best qualifier in : 18.44. Tony Supol of Cary won the first heat of the specatator stock race. In the late model sportsmen point standings, Maywald is fourth with 737, while Carlton sits fifth with 6%, Duke Norton sixth with 663, Martin seventh with 589 and Sid Norton eighth with 566. Wilmot is expected to host some hot and heavy action as the 1985 season for Wisconsin's Clay Center of Speed heads into its final month of action, featuring a host of cham­ pionship features. Taylor Made rolls in Rec playoffs By Herald News Service McHENRY -- Taylor Made Golf battered Old Bridge III 22-10 Sunday night to advance in the McHenry Parks and Recreation 12" Softball League softball playoffs. Taylor Made advances to face the winner of Tuesday night's Sentry Insurance-Old Bridge -- Carey Electric Contracting game Thursday night at Knox Park in a third round game. Taylor Made raced out toa 7-1 lead in the first inning Sunday, keyed by an inside-the-park homer off the bat of Ed Schulewitz, who homered again in the fourth inning to total four ttBI On the night. Fritz Larson, John Sytsma, Bill Hurckes, Jim Smith and Dave Malo all had three hits to lead Taylor Made. Mike Podpora added three RBI to help the winners. Bill Hurckes was the winning pitcher. Bears, Singletary near an agreement Down, but not necessarily out, Larry Bowa Tues­ day signed a contract for the remainder of the season with the New York Mets. The Mets, cur­ rently in a heated pennant race with the St. Louis UPI photo Cardinals, hope the 39-year-old shortstop can provide much-needed defensive help down the stretch. By Randy Minkoff UPI Sports Writer CHICAGO -- Chicago Bears' line­ backer Mike Singletary, a holdout thus far this season, met with club president Michael McCaskey Tues­ day and voiced optimism "some­ thing can be resolved" to get him to rejoin the club. Singletary, the NFC defensive player of the year who has sought a renegotiation of his contract, met with McCaskey for what seemed like "five hours" at the Bears' training camp and came away con­ fident something would be finalized Wednesday. "Hopefully, we can get something done," Singletary said. "We're just trying to reach an agreement. I think we can get something done." He said many major issues were satisfied in the talks, adding "only nitpicking" things remain to be setUed. Singletary is one of three holdouts on the Bears'[squad, which has lost its first two preseason games. Still unsigned are free agents Todd Bell and A1 Harris, both defensive players. Singletary, who went into the meeting without an agent, called the Bears about having the meeting Tuesday, which did not initially in­ clude General Manager Jerry Vainisi, who has steadfastly refused to renegotiate the contract. Vainisi BEARS - Page 13 Gambler W. survives wild playoff night By Herald News Service McHENRY - Gambler West sur­ vived a rugged night of play in the semifinal round of the Western Divi­ sion championships of the McHenry Men's 12-inch Softball League Mon­ day night. Gambler West survived a first- round duel with Lakeside Inn-River Shannon, 11-10, and then met feisty Huemann's Water Conditioning in the semifinal round, ouUasting Hue­ mann's 6-5 in the longest game in league history, 14 innings. Gambler will move on to the best- of-three league semifinal against West champ Rusty Nail Inn, which will begin Monday night at 6:30 p.m. at Knox Park. In Monday's preliminary game, Huemann's put it all together, get­ ting good offense, great defense and enough breaks along the way to smother River Shannon, 11-0. Shannon could manage just five hits in the contest, singles by Larry Jones, Ron Freund, John Doessel and Dan Conway, along with a tri­ ple by Ken Bottari. Huemann's scored all the runs It would need in a three-run first when Kris Teuber and Bill Kaliher col­ lected RBI singles, along with an error which scored Mike Janik. ; Huemann's padded its lead in the second when Joe Huemann and Aar­ on Jacobs led off with singles, Kevin Roach drove in Huemann with a DeCicco's single tallies winner in 14th inning base hit, and Teuber knocked in two more with a single. Huemann's added a lone run in the fifth, and two more in the sixth and seventh. Kaliher's two-run base hit in the seventh did the damage in that frame. For the game, Roach, Teuber and Gary Fairchild had three hits each, while Kaliher had two safeties. Teuber and Kaliher each knocked in three runs. In the evening's other first round contest, Gambler West held an ex­ tremely comfortable 11-2 entering the top of the sixth inning, but sud­ denly, things got a little bit hot under the collar. Lakeside Inn-River Shannon scored four runs in the sixth, and followed that up with lour more in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to overcome Gambler's lead, as Lake­ side fell, 11-10. Jim Althoff ripped a two-out, two- run homer in the first to stake the winners to a 2-1 lead, and they nev­ er trailed thereafter. Gambler West erupted for five runs in the bottom of the third. After two were out, Jim Frantz and Althoff singled. John DeCicco fol­ lowed with a routine grounder that would have been the third out, but the ball was thrown wildly, allowing Frantz and Althoff to score, and opening the floodgates. Gary Wagner followed with a two- run, inside-the-park homer to left. Matt Oik and Tony Huemann fol­ lowed with base hits, and a two-base error on Huemann's hit scored Oik with the fifth run of the inning. All five tallies were unearned. Gambler padded its lead with two in the fourth when Scott Ledzster doubled, scored on a Phil Oeffling triple, and then watched as Oeffling came across on a single by Frantz. Quiet for five innings, Lakeside busted loose in the sixth inning. Brad May, Mike Rogers and Ron Cass all singled to lead off the fray. Tom Roach was then safe on a two- base error, with two runs scoring. Jim Szamlewski and Dave Schmidt then followed with hits to close the gap. In the seventh, Ron Cass deliv­ ered a two-run single, Mike Rear- don reached on an error which scored two runs to make the score 11-10. Szamlewski then followed with a deep drive to left which was hauled in by Frantz on a great running catch, leaving the tying and lead runs on base. Left fielder Wagner also made a spectacular catch in the third. With two out and two on, Rogers lined a deep drive down the line which Wagner grabbed with his back to the crowd. Errors were costly to both clubs and figured heavily into the final outcome. Eight Gambler West runs came across on errors, while five tallied for Lakeside on miscues. Frantz had three hits to pace Gambler West. Althoff, Wayne Frantz, Oeffling and Oik all had two hits apiece. Wagner scored two runs. Rogers had three hits for Lake­ side. Cass had two safeties and three RBI, while Szamlewski added two hits and Schmidt collected two RBI. And then, in the league's longest game ever, Gambler West, which hadn't scored since the sixth inning, scored one in the bottom of the 14th to snare a thrilling victory over Huemann's. Tim Frantz staked Gambler to an early lead with a two-run homer in the fifth, but an error scored Bill Kaliher, and a double by Aaron Ja­ cobs tallied Joe Huemann for Hue­ mann's in the second. After each team posted lone runs in the third, Huemann's scored two in the fourth when Gary Fairchild singled, Kurt Teuber followed with a double, and Joe Huemann and Jacobs followed with RBI sacrifice flies. An infield single by Tony Hue­ mann scored DeCicco in the fourth, and then Althoff smashed a triple to the fence in right center in the sixth and plated on a single by DeCicco to tie the game at 5-all. Both teams had chances through­ out the seven extra frames, but Gambler put the only run on the board. Jim Frantz led off the 14th with a single. Fairchild followed with a great catch of Tim Frantz's liner for two outs. Althoff then sin­ gled Jim Frantz to second, and De­ Cicco followed with a base hit to score Frantz with the winning run. Kurt Teuber had four hits to lead all batters. Jacobs chipped in three, while Kaliher, Fairchild and Kris Teuber added two apiece. For the winners, Oeffling, De­ Cicco, Gary Rosing and Wagner all had three hits. Jim and Tim Frantz and Althoff contributed two apiece. Wednesday night, beginning at 6:30 p.m., Fox Hole Tap will face Jack's Snack Shop in a doublehead- er beginning at 6:30. The winner of the best-of-three Eastern Division championship will move on to the* league finals. In game three Wednesday night, Gambler West will face Rusty Nail Inn in game one of the West finals.