Skip to main content
The largest online newspaper archive
A Publisher Extra® Newspaper

St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 79

Location:
St. Louis, Missouri
Issue Date:
Page:
79
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

5SC July 15, 1985 The St. Charles Post Mfilhi Wins isBricft 1 All (OvL flap Legion Baseball He was 3 for 5, with three RBIs. The Most Valuable Player for the game was Crestwood's Jim Anderson. The South third baseman hit a grand slam homer in the second and later collected a single. But if they had named an MVP for the North team, "in my mind it had to be Tim," North manager Don Snider said.

Snider, of course, was a little biased, but he had a right to be. He's Kirt's manager during the regular season at St. Charles. Snider watched Kirt get off to a torrid start this summer, raising his average to over .500. A recent slump, however, pushed Kirt's average down to the high .300 range.

Snider was getting concerned. He decided to bench Kirt for Wednesday night's 10-9 victory over Stockham. "I don't want to go into details about it," Snider said. "But it gave him time to reflect. I think he's better for it." Kirt returned to the lineup Thursday and went hitless in a victory over Maryland Heights.

But he collected two hits and an RBI in a victory Friday over Thoman-Boothe. With Kirt's stellar performance on Saturday, a smiling Snider said, "I think he's back on track." For his part, Kirt said his problem was with his hitting mechanics. "I was stepping out. I wasn't stepping into the ball," the right-handed hitter said. On Saturday, Kirt seemed to be striding just right, despite the fact that he had grounded back to the pitcher on his first at-bat.

But in his second trip to the plate, in the fourth inning, Kirt rapped a two-run single up the middle off South pitcher Jerry Cooper of Ballwin, cutting the deficit to 9-5. "It was a fastball down the middle," Kirt said. "I just went with it." Kirt batted in the fifth and sent a shot off the left field fence for a double. "It was a hanging curve," he said. "I waited back and ripped it." Kirt was removed from the game in the sixth in favor of Don Mitchell of Ferguson.

Mitchell singled, stole second and third base and scored in the sixth. But he later injured his ankle. Snider said he got permission from South manager Rick Fiala to let Kirt re-enter the game. Kirt rapped a one-out double just inside third base in the seventh but was stranded. In the ninth, he had a chance to be a real hero.

The North was trailing 12-9 and had runners at second and third, with one out. Kirt fell behind South pitcher Todd Wahley of Crestwood, with an 0-2 count. "On the first two pitches, I was thinking home run," said Kirt, who couldn't connect. He eventually grounded to third, scoring a run. But the next hitter, Derrick Johnson of Thomas A.

McGuire struck out, ending the game. ft A Two of Kirt's teammates also played for the North. Pitcher Mark Ohlms worked only one inning, but he registered four "outs." Ohlms struck out South catcher Craig Colvin of Crestwood, leading off the eighth. He then got John Banjak of Kirkwood to ground to second. The next hitter, Doug Sovich of Manchester, struck out, but on the third strike, a low curve, the ball eluded catcher Tim Pinkowski of Glasgow Village, enabling Sovich to reach first.

Ohlms then induced designated hitter Steve Kovach of Crestwood to ground to third. "He's a good, smart pitcher," Snider said of Ohlms, who recently was named St. Charles' Most Valuable Player. St. Charles' designated hitter Thad Prinster batted twice.

Prinster grounded to short in the sixth, leaving two runners on base, and walked in the ninth. ir -tr The South's victory was its sixth in a row, but the North still leads the all-time series, 12-8. Snider said he couldn't explain the reason for the South's recent dominance. "The South has had some strong teams the past few years. But overall, they don't really have a dominating team this year," he said.

Said South manager Rick Fiala of defending league champion Johnny Mac-Fenton: "I think the best teams are in the South, but there's not really that big of a difference." ft ft ft The South broke the game open with a nine-run second inning. It collected six hits and took advantage of three North errors. Four of the runs were charged to the North's left-handed starter Chris Gossage of Glasgow Village. The others, including Anderson's grand slam, were yielded by Dan Martens of Thomas A. McGuire.

In all, the North committed six errors, the South four. Fiala blamed the rough infield at ABC Park for the high total, but he admitted that errors have been up around the league this year. "There's a lot of rough fields," he said. "You wouldn't see these kids making errors on the Astro-turf at Busch Stadium." ft ft ft One of the more impressive performers in the game was North reliever Robby Forbes, of Thoman-Boothe, who pitched a perfect ninth inning. That included two strikeouts and a ground ball back to the pitcher.

Forbes throws a variety of pitches, including a knuckle ball and a side-arm delivery. Alan Fredman Of The St. Charles Post Tim Kirt had plenty of reason to be discouraged, but he wasn't. The outfielder for the St. Charles American Legion team has been battling a long hitting slump.

And he was watching hopelessly Saturday night as his teammates from the North Division took a shellacking from the South in the early stages of the District 10 All-Star game at ABC Park in St. Ann. The South built a 9-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Kirt, the starting left fielder for the North, hadn't even had his first at-bat. But Kirt insisted he wasn't depressed.

"I figured it's an All-Star game," Kirt said later. "I was going to get my 'rips' (at-bats) and have fun. "It didn't matter what the score is." Kirt felt much better after the game. Although the North still lost, the 12-10 final score was at least respectable. Kirt, an incoming senior at St.

Charles West, had a lot to do with it. rn a fv 1 1 L.J 4t CteFGIh) ADD Sttas esttiFoy SdDdfltilhi Don rj'l X.v Xv-" I 7 Legion Baseball LI i Sr of them have been close. Both teams know who is going to win the only question is by how much. Saturday's game was true to form. The North scored four runs in the first inning and three in the second to coast to victory.

St Peters' shortstop Alan Wilmes was selected the game's Most Valuable Player. His two-run homer in the first inning got the North started. "We just had a lot more talent," said Wilmes, a graduate of St Dominic High. "It showed right from the start" Although the game was over from the word go, it was fun to see the North hurlers try to better one another. Bell brought nine pitchers to the contest and used one in each inning.

The group combined for a four-hit shutout and struck out eight Wentzville's Chuck Hutson, C-H's Tim Kintz and Elsberry's Kent Turn-bull got top honors for retiring the South in 1-2-3 order in their one-inning stints. Hutson threw the second inning, Kintz the third and Turnbull the fourth. C-H's Matt Lawton walked a batter, as did Brad Moore of St Peters, although neither gave up a hit. Giving up one hit in their inning were Dave Peters (St. Peters), Doug White (Wentzville), Jerry Beckermann (C-H) and Steve Roeper (St Peters).

The four pitched well despite being upstaged by their teammates. "We were kidding about who was going to give up a run," Hutson said. "After a couple of us pitched we'd get on the other guy and tell him he better not allow a hit or a run." The kidding kept the North pitchers loose. "It was fun," Kintz said. "We all threw well and we all had a good time." Because the North scored early, it was all fun and games after the opening inning.

The North pitchers were allowed to rear back and fire with a comfortable cushion behind them. "There wasn't any pressure," Hutson said. "We just pretty well did what See RONSICK, Page 7 Despite the 13-0 score, there was some competition in Saturday's District 9 American Legion all-star game. Only it wasn't between the North and South Division teams as it should have been. The real battle was between the pitchers on the North squad a battle to outdo one another.

For the fourth straight year, the Northerners embarrassed their Southern counterparts, handing them an old-fashioned whipping at Ronsick Field in Washington, Mo. As usual, the North dominated the game from start to finish. The game was decided before the teams ever took the field. "We knew we were going to win," said North manager Bill Bell, of Cot-tleville-Harvester. "It was no secret that we had the better team.

This is the strongest North team I've ever seen here and it's probably the weakest South team." The North has won the last three all-star games by a combined score of 49-11. It won 13-2 last year, 19-7 in 1983 and 17-2 in 1982. Although the South outnumbers the North in teams, five to four, the North has most of the talent. The South teams are Eureka, Sullivan, Union, Washington and Pacific. The North teams are Wentzville, C-H, Elsberry and St.

Peters. C-H is the two-time defending state champion, and St. Peters has one of the best records in the state, 25-4. Wentzville is above .500 in league play and Elsberry is capable of beating anyone, as its two victories over St. Peters shows.

Eureka, with a 10-3 league record, is the only threat from the South. "They've just got a lot of quality players up-and-down," Eureka manager Bob Strothkamp said. "We don't have that kind of depth." The series has become so one-sided in recent years that it is becoming a joke. The North has won five in a row and eight of the last nine and none i l.r,,im, UPI Scores Easily Bob Bailor of the Los Angeles Dodgers scores easily from back to retrieve a wild pitch in the seventh inning at Wrigley third base Saturday as Chicago Cubs pitcher Warren Brus- Field in Chicago. Bailor's score made it a 9-1 victory for the star waits for the throw from catcher Jody Davis, who ran Dodgers, their sixth straight.

Sit. Eiarles Deals Thoman-Boothe Loss Legion Baseball he's really becoming an excellent pitcher," Snider said. "He really set up their hitters well." St. Charles had scoring chances in the first two innings, but Thoman's defense rose to the occasion. With one out in the first, Tim Hawkins singled and Tim Kirt walked.

After The victories raise St Charles to 13-10 overall and within one-half game of the District 10 Conference Four lead. St. Charles, in pursuit of its third straight conference title, is 9-6. Tho-man Boothe is 9-5. "You hate to rely on anyone else, but we need some help if we're going to win it," Snider said.

"The main thing for us is to win our last three ballgames and put as much pressure on Thoman as we can. "Even if we don't win the conference, winning three more games like that will give us good momentum heading into the playoffs." The St. Charles club put together a solid ballgame in dealing Thoman the 5-2 defeat Friday at ABC Park in SI Ann. Pitchers Mike Taylor and Jeff Brie-gel led the way, combining for a six-hitter. "Mike was as sharp as I've seen him this season," Snider said.

"He had some trouble with leadoff batters, but he battled back and threw a real fine ballgame." Taylor, a crafty left-hander, was the winning pitcher. He went the first 5 innings, allowing just five hits and two runs before Briegel came on in the sixth. Briegel slammed the door, striking out six and allowing just one hit in three-plus innings of shutout relief. "Jeffs a real gutsy competitor and a wild pitch, Mike Guthermuth hit a grounder to shortstop Rodney El-ridge. But Hawkins got a late start St.

Charles American Legion manager Don Snider can still remember the preseason stories vividly. "They said that Maryland Heights and Thoman-Boothe were the teams to beat," he recalled. "And they said, that with Robb Osborne and Charlie Hillemann gone, St. Charles would return to the also-rans. "People forget that we've still got some pretty good ballplayers around here." The St.

Charles team proved that point with a 3-2 victory over Maryland Heights Thursday and a 5-2 triumph over Thoman-Boothe Friday. from third and was gunned down on an unusual 6-3-2 double play even though it appeared that Thoman catcher Jay Williamson missed the tag badly. In the second, St. Charles tried a See ST. CHARLES, Page 7 v- FULL SIZE FROM Junior Olympic Meet Was Coach's Delight I vflorid1 AS VACATION FLORIDA VACATION Volleyball SSI WITH EVERY VAN -mf PURCHASE MINIS FROM head coach at Warrenton.

But it was Archibald's 15-and-under team that enjoyed the most success. That team included three girls from St. Charles County Lisa Lauber, an Incoming junior at Fort Zumwalt High; Laura Boedeker, a junior at St Dominic; and Karen Cullom, a junior at St. Charles. The rest of the team Included: Janet Darpel and Patti Boulanger, juniors at St Joseph's Academy; Debbie Aikens, a sophomore at Ste.

Genevieve; Alanna Gehner and Julie Hemper, juniors at McCluer North; and Shelly Metzler, a junior at Ursuline Academy. In all, 58 teams competed in the 15-and-under division. The St Charles team finished second in its five-team pool behind a team from Louisville, called Kentuckiana. Kentuckiana also eliminated St Charles in the quarterfinals. "We were pretty confident we could beat them a second time, but we couldn't" Archibald said.

"Our kids played pretty well. That's all you can ask for." Lauber and Boedeker played key roles on the team, Archibald said. "Lisa was our second setter. She played across the back row and did an excellent job," Archibald said. "Laura played all the way around," See VOLLEYBALL, Page 7 and-under and 13-and-under teams to the competition.

Both teams advanced from pool play but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. In addition, the 17-and-under team competed in the United States Volleyball Association Junior National meet in late June in St Josesph, Mo. The team advanced from pool play before losing in the second round of the playoffs. Ruth Beardslee, the St Charles High volleyball coach, is the coordinator of the club. She also coached the 17-and-under team.

The 13-and-under team was coached by Karen Davis-Elmore, the head volleyball coach at St Joseph's Academy, and Karen Piedimonte, the FORD CHEVY DODGE Ken Archibald couldn't have been happier. "It was quite a thrill for me," he said. Archibald, a St. Charles resident and head volleyball coach at Hazel-wood West High, was talking about coaching the girls 15-and-under team of the St. Charles Volleyball Club.

The team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics meet June 29-July 2 at Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle. The meet featured more than 200 teams from 28 states in four different age groups for boys and girls. The St Charles club also tooK 17- 1 Short-Handed Falcons Lose Sixth Game Softball "We're already building for next year," he said. "There's some good young talent out there and I think we can find some girls to help us. "One thing's for sure, I think I'll fill the entire 18-player roster next time around," he said.

The Falcons will play Thursday at St. Ferdinand Park in Florissant against the Blue Blazers and Friday at C-H Park against the Triumphs. Both games ace at 8:30. "Under the circumstances, we played a pretty good game," Goodwin said. "The girls really deserve some credit They hung in there as best they could." Connie Pickering took the loss despite pitching well.

Karen Rufkahr led a scattered Falcon attack with two hits. The night couldn't be considered a total loss, though, as Goodwin talked to several younger prospects after the ing the Falcons 6-2 loss to the Roya-lettes Friday. "We hung in there for a while, but there's not a whole lot you can do." The loss drops the Falcons to 1-6. "We're into vacation time and it's tough sometimes," he explained. "I expected 10 players, but we only managed eight" The Falcons managed to keep the game tied at 0-0 with good defense early, but the Royalettes pulled away down he stretch.

I Harvester Falcons manager Jim Goodwin knew he was in for a long night. With just one win in their first six Gateway Amateur League Softball games, Goodwin knew that playing with just eight players would be nearly impossible. "Sooner or later, they're bound to find the holes," oodwin said follow mum i.

Get access to Newspapers.com

  • The largest online newspaper archive
  • 300+ newspapers from the 1700's - 2000's
  • Millions of additional pages added every month

Publisher Extra® Newspapers

  • Exclusive licensed content from premium publishers like the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • Archives through last month
  • Continually updated

About St. Louis Post-Dispatch Archive

Pages Available:
4,205,181
Years Available:
1849-2024