The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 11

KOKOMO TRIBUNE SPORTS THURSDAY, SEPT. 9,1999 B3 Serena Williams shows her form while returning a shot (left), then celebrates her (4-6, 6-3, 6-2 U.S. Open victory over Monica Seles Wednesday night. (AP photos) Serena Williams shoots down Seles Defending champion Davenport Survives two match points and beats -By STEVE WILSTEIN AP Tennis Writer NEW YORK (AP) Serena out-slugged, out-hustled and out-grunted two-time cham- Jpion Monica Seles, serving 15 aces Wednesday night to reach semifinals of the U.S. Open in "only her second year as a pro.

The 17-year-old Williams stayed Ton track to fulfill her father's prophesy of a final against her big Bister Venus, but first has to get past Ljndsay TM In beating the No. 4 the third time in three matches, 6-3, 6-2, and gaining a Grand jjjSlam semifinals spot for the first sitime, the seventh-seeded Williams showed a wealth of power, speed and cleverness. She blended crushing serves and groundstrokes with deft and lobs, raced down virtu- US OPEN AUSTAEVENT ally every drop Seles sent her way, and matched her stroke for stroke from the baseline. Even when it came to grunting, Williams proved louder than Seles. Williams ran her ace total for the tournament to 42, more than any other woman, while serving at speeds of up to 116 mph against Seles.

"It was always a goal," Williams said of closing in on the title. "But it's really coming true. I'm so excited that my'work is paying Seles said she'-has come to accept that she had her time as a champion and "now it's Venus' and Serena's time." "The desire is still there," she said, "but physically I can't cover the court'as well." Davenport barely clung to her reign as U.S. Open champion, thanks to the most auspicious shower and a double fault on match point by Mary Pierce that made a packed stadium groan. Davenport survived two match points her, then came back from the rain break to beat Pierce 7-5.

"I should have been on my way to Manhattan and started packing to go home tomorrow morning," Davenport said. "I'm just lucky to be here. Sometimes it just turns the tournament around. You play even better after that." Davenport and Pierce engaged in the most thrilling women's match of the tournament so far, riveting the fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium right to the wrenching end. Just as compelling was Yevgeny Kafelnikov's 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 1-6, 7-5 (7-5) quarterfinal victory over Richard Krajicek, who set an Open era record with 48 Krajiceki Goran Ivanisevic's record of 46 aces, also set in a losing effort, against Magnus Norman at Wimbledon in 1997.

Kafelnikov, seeded No. 3, will play in the semis against the winner of the late-finishing Andre Agassi-Nicolas Escude quarterfinal match. Steve Finley hits hat trick By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Steve Finley hit three home runs the first Arizona player to accomplish the feat and drove in six runs to lead the Diamondi tacks over the Milwaukee Brew- i'ers'9-1 Wednesday night, Finley had the third three-homer i game of his career. It also was the' 15th three-homer game in the majors this season, matching the jnark set in 1987 and tied in 1996. Finley hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Hideo Nomo and a (three-run drive in the seventh off Mike Myers.

Finely sliced a solo shot to left in the ninth, his 29th i homer of the season, With six RBIs, Finley tied his single-game high and matched the An- mark He has eight hits in his four games four homers, a and three doubles. 27th homer put the Dia- tmondbacks ahead 4-1 in the sixth, Luis Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk jand one out later, Finley homered into the right-field seats. i Reds 6, Cubs 4 Greg Vaughn connected for his (35th of the season fourth homer i'in two games, a two-run shot in I the fifth off Andrew Lorraine (1-4) i'that was Cincinnati's 22nd in the i six games. Sammy Sosa was l-for-4 with a and has 58 homers with 23 games remaining, Rockies 5, Expos 1 Todd Helton homered twice to reach 30 for the first time in his i career and drove in three runs to i lead the Rockies over the Expos. 1 A day' after Rockies manager Leyland confirmed he will i retire following the season, Col- 'brado dominated with the long Larry Walker hit his 35th liome run.

Padres 7, Pirates 4, 10 innings Wiki Gonzalez's two-run single in the 10th capped San Diego's third comeback of the game and the Padres scored their final five runs following Pittsburgh errors to beat the Pirates, The Padres, whose 26-46 road record is the worst in the NL, finished 4-2 on their first winning road trip of the season. Braves 5, Cardinals 4 Mark McGwire was held to a harmless single on the one-year anniversary of his record-breaking 62nd home run, and Kevin Millwood pitched the Atlanta Braves past the St. Louis Cardinals, Chipper Jones hit his 39th homer, and fourth in four games, as the Braves won for the 16th time in 19 games. Athletics 6, Red Sox 2 Kevin Appier pitched six strong innings and Oakland benefited from three Boston errors leading to four unearned runs as the Athletics beat the Red Sox In the final meeting between the wild-card rivals. Olmedo Saenz homered, John Jaha hit a two-run double, and Matt Stairs had a go-ahead RBI single for Oakland.

Tigers 5, Devil Rays 1 Dave Mlicki won his seventh straight start and Deivi Cruz had Steve Finley became the 15th player to hit three homers in a game this season. (AP photo) three RBIs, leading the Detroit Tigers over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for their third straight win. Mlicki (12-10) allowed one run and six hits in eight-plus Innings. He struck out seven and walking one Fred McGriff, leading off the ninth. Rangers 3, Indians 0 John Burkett Tim Crabtree and the Texas Rangers prevented Cleveland from clinching the AL Central title, shutting down the Indians.

The Indians' magic number remained at one. Cleveland could win its fifth straight division championship later at night if second-place Chicago lost in Anaheim, Orioles 10, Twins 0 Brady Anderson homered twice, including his 36th leadoff shot of his career, and the Baltimore Orioles shut out the Minnesota Twins for the second straight night, Western netters get first win of season Eastern cruised past Kokomo in county volleyball clash. Scott Richards finished strong to help Western's tennis team earn its first win of the season Wednesday. Western downed county-rival Eastern 3-2 in a match that was delayed by rain at Greentown. After the Panthers won both doubles matches and the Comets won the 2 and 3 singles matches, the deciding point came down to the No.

1 singles match between Western's Scott Richards and Eastern's Brandon Shawhan. Richards took the first set 7-5 before Shawhan battled back to win the second set, 6-3. After a second rain delay and a 5-5 tie, Richards pulled it out 7-6 with a 70 tie-breaker. "Scott had to make a couple of comebacks," Western coach Tom Lewis said. "He really showed what he was made of, and he knew it was down to him." was a very even match at No.

1 singles, and both players played with a lot of heart," Eastern coach Rex White added. "For us, Jed Lowman also made a nice comeback, and he played a nice match," the Comets' coach added. "His match was also delayed by rain." Lowman defeated Western's Jake Young 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 at No. 2 singles. Kokomo 5, Taylor 0 The Wildkats did not allow the Titans a shot on goal in a match that was called early because of think that is the first lime that we have never allowed a shot on goal.

They had the ball on our side for only a minute or so," said Kokomo coach Myles Geary, whose team improved to 4-1. "Jennie Martin and Abby Faunce both had tremendous games, and it was nice to see Johanna Aaron get a goal." Martin and Faunce each had two goals and a assist for the Wildkats, who had 35 shots on goal. No. 13 Western 187, Kokomo 198 Medalist Kelly Maden carded a 44 to lead the Panthers to victory at the Kokomo Country Club. Lynnsey Showers added a 45 for the victors.

Jenna McCroskey led the Wildkats with a 46. The Panthers improved to 16-2 while the Kats fell to 6-2. Eastern 191, Hamilton SE 192, Westfield 222 Beth Cantwell fired, a 45 to lead the Comets to the victory at Pebble Bro.ok Golf Course. Tiffany Eagle shot 47 and Jenny Tacheny added a 49 for the Comets, who improved to 8-9. "We had a much better effort than we had in previous matches," Eastern coach Mike Hamilton said.

"In the past matches, I think the girls were too tight. They were a little looser today and really did a good job." Eastern 15,15 Kokomo 11, 8 Eastern turned in an impressive performance to handle Kokomo. "We played very well," Comets coach Shelby Canning said. "I was very happy with the girls' performance." Stacey Childs had nine kills and two blocks and Ashley Perry had five kills and four blocks to the way for the Comets. "Stacey and Ashley are both starting to step up for us," said Canning, whose team improved to 8-6.

"Our passing was much improved." "We made way too many errors, and Eastern appeared to want to win more than we did," Kokomo coach Ron Byram said. Erica Markiewicz once again led the way for the Wildkats with spikes, 10 kills, 16 good receptions and four defensive digs. Oak Hill 15,12,15 Eastern 9,15,12 The Comets came up short Jh the match played Tuesday at Converse. Stacey Childs had seven blocks, Jennay Parsons added i 1 assists and Ashley Perry had eight kills. "Stacey was very powerful with her blocking," Shelby Canning said.

"She had a great For complete results, see the Scoreboard on Page B4. Childs New 'recruit' spearheads Kats Morgan makes the move from hoops to helmets look easy. By BRYAN GASKINS Tribune sportswriter Kokomo High School coach Willard Rice admits he wasn't quite sure what to expect this fall when junior Gordon Morgan came out for football 'for the first time. "From watching Gordon on the basketball court, we knew he was extremely quick," Rice said. "But other than that, we weren't sure what to expect" Morgan has proven to be a quick learner and a tremendous asset to the Wildkats' offense as this week's Kokomo Tribune-area statistics package shows.

Morgan, following last week's five-catch effort against Muncie Central, leads the KT area with 12 receptions, good for 150 yards and two touchdowns. "I think he's starting to live up to what we thought he could do," said Rice, who credits assistant coach Sam Watkins for his work with Morgan during practice. "When you don't play the game Morgan for a while, it takes you a little while to get a feel for the game and an understanding for the routes. "Because of that, the first two games were a learning experience for him. But last week against Muncie, he played a great game and really stood out He still has a long way to go, but he's going to be a great receiver." Rice notes junior quarterback Blair Crawford Morgan's back- court mate on the basketball court played a key role in recruiting the receiver.

"Give Blair credit he's the guy that landed the recruit" he said. "We think we have an outstanding receiving corps with Gordon, David Barrett Stephen Floyd and Frederick Humphries," he added. "And sophomore Kishum Tyler has a bright future, too." King tops KT rushers Tipton senior tailback Matt King took over the KT-area rushing lead with last week's 343-yard effort against North Daviess. King, whose awesome effort also ranks as the state's top single-game effort through Week 3, has 561 yards on the season, which is good for seventh in the state according to the IHSAA. Western senior Walter Vaughn ranks second in the area with 505 yards.

In addition to King, five other area athletes received notice in the IHSAA rankings. Eastern's Scott Voorhis and Kevin Middlesworth along with Clinton Central's Brandon Pullen all have four interceptions, good for second in the state; Taylor's Ted Secrease ranks fourth in punting; and Eastern's Chris Brock ranks ninth in punting. Other area leaders are: King (38 points); Northwestern's Nathan Gibson (363 passing yards); Peru's Blane Holland (41 tackles); Western's Brad Schroeder (four sacks); Carroll's Jonathan Sheagley (three fumble recoveries); Taylor's Joe Keck (20.4 kickoff-return average); and Peru's Prentiss Bennett (31.0 punt-return average). For a complete look at the area stats and standings, please refer'to the Scoreboard on page B4. (Gaskins coordinates the Tribune stats package.

He can be reached through the sports department or by e-mail at Kicker sets national PAT record Jimtown player has goalpost in his backyard. By STEVE HERMAN AP Sports Writer Years of practice have paid off, Jimtown's Robert Menchinger, so serious about kicking the football he has a goalpost in his back yard, set a national high school record last week for career extra points and is rapidly approaching another national marjc for kick scoring, 'This hasn't happened by accident" Jimtown coach Bill Sharpe said Wednesday, "He really works hard at it." The 5-foot-lO, 160-pound Menchinger started kicking the football for the Jimmies about midway through his freshman year. Last year, as a junior, he became a starting safety. This season, following the loss of all but one starter on offense from a team that won two straight Class 2A championships, he also is Jimtown's quarterback. 'This poor kid is our quarterback, our safety, our punter and our kicker.

The only time he comes off the field is on punt returns and kickoff returns," Sharpe said. Menchinger, who also starts for Jimtown in baseball and basket- 'ball, has converted 218-of-242 extra points, one better than the former national high school PAT mark of 217 set by Mike Wilson of Marlow Central, from 1992-95. Menchinger also has made 15- of-22 field goals and has a total of 263 points, 16 points short of the national kick-scoring record set by Shayne Graham of Pulaski from 1992-95. "I've never seen a kid get a ball as high as he gets it as quick as he gets it. That's the thing he does that amazes me," Sharpe said.

"On extra points and field goals, that ball is up high immediately. He's very good at placement and he can kick the ball into the end zone. "He's definitely a college-bound kid. He's getting a lot of letters t)ut nobody has offered anything firrn. Somebody's going to gelt a greh't kicker," the coach The Jimmies started the season with a 30-game winning streak but lost the opener to NorthWoocj.

Now 2-1 and ranked No. 4 in 2 fa, Jimtown is still struggling, Sharpe said. An injury to fullback-linebacker Adam Johnson, the only returning starter on offense, isn't making things easier. "Everything we do, we worjk for," Sharpe said. 'The good news is, in the last two games we've only had one turnover.

We're getting better, it's just going to take awhile to get there. And nobodyls feeling sorry for the I'll tell you that." Jimtown plays at Knox Friday night. 'The coaching staff is working real hard, the kids are busting their hind ends and I think there's going to be a time in the year when we're going to be pleasantly surprised," Sharpe said..