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SECTION 2 - PAGE 20 - PL AINDEALER • HER A LD, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3,1985 Sports Chris Juzwik HESSE Villanova a winner -- but so is Ewing Beautiful. Beeeee-autiful. If you watched the NCAA championship game Monday night and can honestly say it wasn't one of the best sporting events you've ever witnessed, then you must: a) be John Thompson's mother; b) wear t-shirts underneath all your apparel; c) have put a good deal of money on the Doys from D.C. with the funny looking gym shoes; d) have partaken in any combination of the above, including betting that John Thompson's mother wears t-shirts. Villanova was the perfect example of why class, courageousness and hard work always, always pay off. Georgetown had a chance to and hard work always, always pay on. ueorgeiown naa a cnance 10 make history. Rumblings of a dynasty were heard erupting from Lexington, Ky. But where did Triompson's paranoia get him and his team? Nowhere. the half was ridiculous. Horace Broadnax nulling Harold Pressley to the floor near the end of the contest was despicable. And what makes those incidents worse is that no fouls were called. The Hoya Mystique, I guess. Never has a team gotten away with more pushes, shoves and touch fouls than Georgetown has. Sure, Villanova had to shoot a tournament record 79 percent from the field to beat Georgetown by just two - but the Wildcats did it, and who's to argue? It said here last week that this final game would be a real yawner, and I've never been more happy to be so totally off base in all years of existence. John Thompson was outcoached by Rollie Massimino, that's supposed. Georgetown was outplayed by Villanova, that's ap­ parent. What's most obvious is that if the. two teams played nine more times, where would the smart money be? On Georgetown. The Hoyas are a better team. Match them up against Villanova at every position, and odds are you'd have five Georgetown players on your side when all the selecting was done. which brings us to another point: Patrick Ewing. It's hard to recall the last time such a great, great player has been so maligned by so many. What has Ewing done to deserve all the criticism? He's played hard, albeit sometimes too intensely, and turned a program from also-ran into NCAA champion. Ewing is personified as a dunce, basically because he's probably a very shy person and tends to clam up when asked a question by an intruder to Thomp­ son's 'way.' Were Ewing allowed by Thompson, from the start, to live the normal (whatever that is) life of a college basketbaUplayer, things would have come much easier for Patrick. Instead, Tliompson kept him hidden from the press, secluded from outsiders, thereby making Ewing a 7-foot enigma wide open for cheap shots from every sports writer and fan from here to eternity. Make no mistake about it: Ewing made Georgetown - the reverse is but a gaudy fallacy. Thompson probably had a lot to do with hi* big center's growth and maturity as a player. It's un­ fortunate that Thompson's manner was forced upon Ewing and the rest of the Hoyas - in addition to the public - from day one. Perhaps Ewing will be able to leave all the controversy behind him as he ventures into the NBA, a haven where he will continue his development as one of the greatest and most dominant centers ever. In college, he was just a man playing a boy's game, dominating teams and players like no one before him had quite done. And still, out of the huge shadow of John Thompson and Georgetown University, there will be better times for Patrick A. Ewing. For Villanova, it's hard to imagine it getting any better. Warrior nine making a pitch for title Wilson says defense hast of MCHS worries '« >V ,, '• * :>>U - . f f L 'h \ "'i"' ,f[ftjii - * f ̂ir -m. * x* 5&': £' f c > » -M wvs/mimsmL ^ • Plaindealer Herald photo Craig Hill, an all-conference pick a year ago, will return to lead the McHenry baseball Warriors in 1965. McHenry opened Tues­ day against Larkin in Elgin. Hill is a senior. By Chris Juzwik ' riaiwkilf If triiil ̂ inrti >ifttor . v Schedules. They can make you. Unfortunately, however, they can break you. For McHenry High School's baseball team, a 25- slate will be better one-third completed in the season's first two weeks. Should the Warriors take time getting physically started, the possibility of a winning record will be tossed out the window. But if the Warriors can begin with a bang, ol' mo - Mr. Momentum - could carry McHenry through to a Fox Valley Conference championship. Coach Brian Wilson's Warriors will play nine in the first 12 days of _ l. McHenry will have to use its Sundays to catch a breath. "We have quite a few games to start off with. Plus the conference has gone to an 18-game schedule. We used to play 21 games overall, and could never get them all in. Now we have 25," Wilson said. In the past, the FVC teams would play just 12 league games, most in doubleheaders. A bad day could kill a team's title chances. Now, the seven FVC teams will face each other three times, a factor Preview that could lead to an in­ triguing race to the top. "Now, a team with five or six losses could still be right up there," Wilson said. "It gives everybody a chance to come back. It'll be a better indicator for all the teams. I hope it's not a runaway like it was last year." Dundee-Crown raced off with the conference crown and c came within one game of the state tournament. One of the Chargers' losses came at the Warriors' hands. McHenry was 9-11 .overall in 1984, 4-8 in the circuit. Back from that team is all-conference first baseman Craig Hill, along with second sacker Steve Cunningham. The two seniors will be the Warriors' co-captains in '85. Catcher Brad Snyder also returns, as does outfielder Frank Blinko, pitcher- outfielder Jeff Schuster, and pitcher Pat Dunne. All aire seniors. Junior Bob Nolan will also be back from the BASEBALL--Page 19 JHS softball experience a plus It will some ci the etzstein cotssd By Barb Ansel! »m team alsobe a surprise in Hie shot events*v . i f that low 9|>#MCtion of some of 'Vgoals. decrease of team will hurt us as far winning meets," ex- com not just By Barb Ansell PlalndMlar-Htrald aportgwiiter JOHNSBURG - As tht girls' softball season opens at Johnsburg High School, not only does one find more players than in previous years, but a new coach as well. Todd Lewison, who has been an assistant football coach for the past two years, has taken on the respon­ sibilities of head man for the girls' softball team, replacing Bob Schmitt, who had manned the position for six vears. The varsity Skyhawks have 17 members, which is quite an improvement. The five senior returnees include: Cris May and Annette Freels (third base), Deb Tvaroh (short­ stop) , Patti Schmitt (second base-outfield) and Roberta Kucharski (catcher). The returning junior members also include: Deb Linn and Cindy Lane (first base), Linda Bartmann (second base) Patti Butler (catcher) and Jill Jurik (outfielder). - "I'll be looking to the seniors, as well as the juniors who have played before, to provide leader ship for this year's team," Lewison said. In looking at the team, Lewison said he is very positive and has found many areas of strength with which to begin their season. Preview sC* "Our infield is very ex­ perienced, with many of last year's starters returning," Lewison commented. "I m sure this team can provide a solid defense. "We have a lot of girls with strong arms, especially in the outfield, and I m very 8leased about that. We have iree catchers also with strong arms, and I'm hoping that will pay off. I'd like to see us keep the runners from advancing and hold the hits to singles. Lewison said he believes the team has average speed on the bases, but expects to make the most of the talents of certain players. I've seen^some very do a lot of running. I hope to use their speed to steal bases. "We're going to lifer ff running team," Lewison continued. "We're going to do whatever we can to open up situation^ and create advantages for ourselves. We can't wait for breaks to happen* we must make them happen." Pitching is the area in wbich Lewison is most uncertain of. "Our pitching is weak. We are building a new staff of pitchers uf (junior) Cindy Swartzlol and (sophomore) Tracy Schleer. Lewison said his pitching strategy is not to go for the strikeout. "I'm working on control - not speed - with our pitchers, he said. "The girls have eight other immates who can back SOFTBALL--Page 17* "We have some freshmen and us now and in the added The _ team of ate several a year liurcfees hopes leaders!#; and jbr their underclass : teammates* , \ * Returning are^semors ivo, junior* Laura Oe$» VickL DuBeau and iddons and lore Dawn W< the season, Hurckes team will be concentrs on building a base off conditioning, which they can later work off. "WearestrengB heart and increasing stamina, so we can do some thing* in a few weeks*" he However, as the season ns, Hurckes will be I .M felling flnteam toilKi DuBeau, Laura how - and if - things do and Shefi Scavo to * indeed come together, way with their ««it should he an in- irship*" Hur- : Not only will the trio help lead the team, but Hurckes will also count on them to through in their jtive events. will compete in and the k Oeffling season. Iww well the . do until after we have a couple of meets under our belts,tile e "I expect fo look for our team to finish somewhere in the m middle of the pack in the big meets. Not because p I v dash and the Mle. we don't have the we nave some v< K We just re should have two good teams, the 400-yarf and the 800-yars., said Hur- ' • 0 - v . / with a . home "meet "against Hebron and Crystal Lake South Wednesday at 4 p.m. Johnsburg's Linda Bartmann will be one of the Johnsb mainstays of the Skyhawk softball team as the against season begins under new co^ch Todd Lewison. Plalnd<$aler-Herald photo Wednesday at home urton,at4p.m. more difficult as he to reconstruct the 19S4's 16-2 squad, is left wim one senior, three intaors and over SO underclassmen, but there's no reason to fret - Pasztor doesn't have to spend teaching his players how to how a They alna^jr kno# •v.-k ' ' I said, **Tikey ipow m they're doing. I don't ha> start I from scratch all j 4*l have a lot of n^ Mfce Ŝ̂ l̂ ir^thne they've nanas. M^^e guys'have ; over the winter, and „ . in tournament before." Pasztor ha* Utie lrftfrom the quality team of a secured fellow classmate pav* Hendrixson will be^n the season on the Wjtihgyfc*, however. is as good J^The - other spoU pretty much vtefor grate," PaSor said. "We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores going for varsity spots, andgthat very in- guys varsity matches, and that s a little extra incentive." H Pasztor's name sounds familiar, it's because he was the he&i girls' trackloadt ; a < thei im. ̂majority i§ frtHio trnot ingyear, but I've V