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PAGE 22 - PLAIN DEALER - WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1984 Sports Belvidere's Rubeck stops McHenry cold Homers send Warriors past Guilford into semi-finals By Mike Lamb Plaindealer sports editor ROCKFORD - Sometimes you can't take records seriously. McHenry's 7-8 record might have fooled a couple teams in the Rockford East Regional this past week - namely the top seed in the tournament. After defeating Rockford Auburn 6-1 last Wednesday, the Warriors went on to blast the top seeded team in the regional Thursday, Rockford-Guilford, 11-7. Just when a possible Cinderella story was unfolding in the regional, Belvidere spoiled it, edging the Warriors 3- 1 Saturday in the semi-finals at Rockford's Blackhawk Field. Belvidere played Woodstock Tuesday for the regional title. The Warriors also played Tuesday, finishing up a contest with Crystal Lake Central which was postponed after seven in­ nings two weeks ago. The score was tied at 5-5 when lightning stopped the contest. "We were pretty hot with the bats. We just didn't come up with the big hit when we needed it," said Warrior coach Brian Wilson on Saturday's loss. Unlike Thursday, the Warriors had trouble with the o p p o s i t i o n ' s p i t c h i n g . Belvidere's Brian Rubeck kept the Warrior bats to only three hits. The Warriors didn't reach the left-handed junior for a run until the fifth inning. "McHenry was really blistering the baseball," said Belvidere coach Ken Anderson. "We're really glad he (Rubeck) kept them in check. They are very aggressive on base." Blistering was the case for the Warriors Thursday as Ross Vehring slammed out - two homeruns, and Mike Podpora also hit a ball out of the park. The homers were only McHenry's second and third of the season. McHenry had 12 hits against Guilford, seven going for extra base hits. The Warriors broke the game DISCOUNT DRUG HOLIDAY SPIRITS TO LIFT YOUR SPIRITS dweitcr BUDWEISER BEER 6PACK*12 0Z. 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Moore also started Saturday's contest, before again giving way to Ross Vehring in the fifth. Moore and Rubeck locked up into a scoreless pitcher's duel for the first three innings. Both hitters only gave up one hit each. Rubeck ended up winning the duel, as Moore gave up two runs in the fourth inning, and one in the fifth. "Defensively, we did a good job. It was a good ballgame all the way around," Wilson said. Wilson gave credit to the win­ ning pitcher. "He didn't walk too many and he got the ball over the plate. I think we were over swinging. We were hitting the ball pretty well. If we could have Continued en v «;* m». m • lil • llyfefei Mi !*^2? Pi «• »• •a?--* <> : ~ :<e, .;. - % f lfef •HfiSSsi mm Plaindealer photo by Mike Lamb The wild pitch sends Craig Hill to third base, and he later scores on thf* fielder's choice by Steve Cunningham. Lady Warriors bounced out - By Mike Lamb Plaindealer sports editor LAKE ZURICH - McHenry softball coach Pat Wirtz was a lonely man for six innings in the third base coaching box last week Thursday. Finally, in the seventh inning, the McHenry bats came alive and two Lady Warriors passed Writz for home plate. But it wasn't enough, and too late. The Lake Zurich Bears, behind the pitching of Jennifer Zacharski, eliminated the Warriors from the Grant regionals, 4-2. The loss ended McHenry's winning streak at seven, with its final record at 11- 5. Zacharski had McHenry handcuffed with only three hits until the seventh inning. The Warriors rallied for two runs and left the bases loaded when Betancourt flied out to left-field to end the game. "We finally started hitting. We just got off to a slow start," said Wirtz. The Warriors were at a slim disadvantage arriving late at the Lake Zurich field because of a late bus. The Lady Warriors were only allowed 10 minutes to warm-up. Wirtz wasn't sure how much <p that affected his team.' "It didn't neip us," Wirtz said. "They got those couple runs and our fielding wasn't the best." Wirtz however gave credit to Zacharski. "We faced a good pitcher. It's too bad that with a 180-foot fence, we couldn't pop one out." -- Both clubs were locked into a pitching duel the first two in­ nings. The Bears broke the scoreless tie with one run in the bottom of the third inning. After Warrior pitcher Sara Prust struckoyt Heather Husek for the Continued on page 21 Sport Talk by Mike Lamb Sports Editor Ballpark personality makes baseball more challenging One of the features of baseball that makes the sport so ap­ pealing to sports enthusiasts is the ball park itself. Take Boston's Fenway Park. It has the Green Monster, a huge left-field wall. It's a shorter distance from home plate to the left- field wall, but you have to hit the ball pretty far up to hit a homerun. Otherwise, the ball bounces off the wall for a double, or sometimes a long single. Other parks have artifical turf, and others have regular grass. The type of surface makes how the game is played, fielding wise, different from one park to the next. Different parks also have their fences set at different lengths from home plate. A homerun at one park, would not be a homer in another. Some ball parks have upperdeck seating along the outfield wall. How many times have you heard or read of Bill Luzinski hitting an upperdeck homer? Another example is Chicago's Wrigley Field. Ivy vines coat the outfield wall, making for a nice looking outfield wall. The wall looks more like it belongs around the Lincoln Park Zoo, but it adds a different characteristic not seen at other parks. Now, other sports might have some different looks to its paries, but not to the extent of baseball. Football fields may vary in surfaces, Dut au 01 tnem must be 100 yards long. All goal posts must be stationed in the back of the end zone and in the middle. Basketball courts promote different color courts, but the same length court lies in every arena. Name the sport, Hockey, soccer, tennis, etc., it's all the same, boring standardization. That's what makes playing baseball at McCracken Field and the Johnsburg Community Club field unique. Both fields have personality. What makes McCracken Field unique is the warning track. Well, it isn't exactly a warning track. It's a track for track-and- field events. It lies in centerfield. If a ball is hit hard enough, the ball can fly over the outfielder's head, roll onto the track and possibly roll onto the football field. An experienced outfielder has to learn exactly where the track is, so he keeps on running after the ball without tripping over the track. Now it might make some sense to put up a fence, closing in the playing area along the outfield. In that way, if the ball reaches the track, it's a homerun. But, why ruin a good ballpark characteristic. It's different. Now, Johnsburg's Community Club field has even more per­ sonality. Again, it all has to do with the outfield area. Ordinarily, out­ fielders just have to flag down an occassional fly ball, or pick up a rolling single. Sometimes, the outfielder has to run hard after a deep fly ball. At Johnsburg, the outfielder has to learn to deal with some unusual challenges. He has to learn to field a ball off a large tree, and learn to find a baseball in tall grass and brush fast. If a batter gets hold of a fast ball and rips it into center field or left-center, the ball might carry into a tall grass, brush area. Ordinarily, with a fence, it probably would be a homerun. But at Johnsburg, if he can retrieve the ball out of the brush and fire the ball back into the infield he can hold the runner to a triple. Another nice little feature, is the Fenway Park aspect. But, instead of a huge left-field wall, Johnsburg has a huge tree. It stands right along the third base line. A ball hit far enough down the line will be assured of running right smack into the tree or one of its branches. In last Wednesday's game with Streamwood, a Johnsburg player slugged a ball down the third base line, hitting a branch, and brought the ball down right to the outfielder. The Stream- wood outfielder played it perfectly, firing the ball into the infield and holding the Johnsburg player to a double. If the ball would have been allowed to travel its present course without in­ terference, the Johnsburg player would have had a triple, Continued on page 21 EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT LAKE GENEVA RACEWAY V«MILE ASPHALT Fri. June 1 -1:00 PM - WISCONSIN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MUD SOGGIN I.T. 7:00 PM - RACING 8:00 PM LATE MODELS-HOBBY STOCKS , RACEWAY LOCATED SOUTHEAST OF LAKE GENEVA, WIS. ON BLOOMFIELD ROAD 24 HOUR WEATHER t INFORMATION: PHONE (41412414 RACE RACE VEHICLE CONTEST OF ORMSOY PMTIAC-OMC, CRYSTAL LAKE. 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