Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 9

BUSINESS Kellogg credit union workers to unionize9B sromrs Sports Editor: Bill Broderick, 966-0678 Battle Creek Enquirer Saturday, May 8, 1999 IB FRIDAY'S SCORES Cats return home with a 10-4 victory BATTLE CATS UPDATE FRIDAY: pitch and Scott Chapman and Kevin Jordan each had one-run doubles to cap Michigan's scoring in the seventh inning. Oswalt a right-hander, picked up the win in his first appearance as a Battle Cat He gave up four earned runs off four hits, walked two and struck out seven in six complete innings. Left-hander Charlie Jones (2-2) picked up the loss, as the Silver Hawks ended a four-game win streak. "When you've been playing as well as we have, you're going to have games like this," said South Bend manager Mike Brumley. "I'm just glad to get it over with." the third inning.

Aaron McNeal and Nicholson each had RBI singles in the fifth inning for added insurance and a 7-3 lead. John Adams hit his second solo home run of the game in the sixth inning to pull South Bend to within 74 in the sixth. Michigan reliever Garrett Zyskowski walked and hit a batter in the seventh, but -ended South Bend's threat by starting a triple play on Greg Valera's li-neout back to the mound. Colin Porter put the Cats on the scoreboard with a two-run homer over the right-field fence in the first inning. Luis Lopez scored on a wild ning, but ended up with just two runs because two runners got caught up in run downs to prevent a rally and leave the bases loaded.

"I think the hitting was fine and the situational hitting was clutch," Pedrique said. "But the fifth. They're young guys and they're going to make mistakes. We've got to stay on top of them and keep explaining the same things over and over again. I'm sure they'll be OK." Nicholson was one of those who helped make things OK with a clutch hit He drove in what proved to be the game-winning runs with his bases-loaded triple with two outs in comer Roy Oswalt in Midwest League action Friday before a crowd of 1,067 at CO.

Brown Stadium The Cats improved to 15-11 and South Bend fell a game back with a 15-13 mark in the Eastern Division standings. "If really nice to come back," said Michigan's Derek Nicholson, who went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and hasn't played a home game since April 27. "We're looking forward to this big series. "We can't let down, especially against a team like South Bend. TheyVe got a good club and we definitely have got to stay focused for nine innings." IN HQ New pitcher tops Silver Hawks Crystal Evola The Enquirer What do you do if you're a first-place team facing an opponent mere percentage points behind in the standings? A solution could be get a new starting pitcher, forget about an eight-game road trip that produced just three wins and defeat the threatening opponent to get some breathing room.

The Michigan Battle Cats did just that by handing the South Bend (Ind.) Silver Hawks a 104 loss behind the pitching of new 1 IHtags rr. DOUG AUENIHE ENQUIRER Harper Creek's John Kerry jumps 19-feet, 3-inches to help the Beavers win the long jump relay at the Pennfield Lions Relays on Friday. Harper girls win in lions Relays PRO BASEBALL Home team in capital letters AMERICAN LEAGUE BOSTON 6, Anaheim 0 TORONTO 9, Texas 6 CLEVELAND 20, Tampa Bay 11 Baltimore 9, DETROIT 4 NEWYORK 10, Seattle 1 CHICAGO 7, Oakland 1 Kansas Gty 5, MINNESOTA 1 NATIONAL LEAGUE CINCINNATI 3, Chicago 1 HOUSTON 5, Montreal 2 SI LOUIS 4, Pittsburgh 2 Philadelphia at COLORADO, late New York at ARIZONA, late Atlanta at SAN DIEGO, late Milwaukee at SAN FRANCISCO, late Florida at LOS ANGELES, late PRO HOCKEY Home team in capital letters: NHL PLAYOFFS Pittsburgh 2, TORONTO 0 Detroit 3, COLORADO 2, OT QUICK HITS COLLEGE FOOTBALL Broncos get new offensive line coach Sam Pittman, offensive line coach at the University of Oklahoma the past two seasons, will join the Western Michigan University football staff in a similar capacity. While at Oklahoma, Pittman's lines produced the 18th- and 34th-best rushing attacks in Division I during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, respectively. A native of El Reno, Pittman worked at the University of Cincinnati during the 1996 season, coaching the offensive line and tight ends.

Hie Bearcats led Conference USA is rushing that season. PRO BASKETBALL Arrest warrant goes out for Strickland WASHINGTON Washington Wizards guard Rod Strickland failed to appear in court Friday on a drunken driving charge and an arrest warrant was ordered. His lawyer, Mike Statham, had been in the courtroom but was not there when the case was called. He refused to comment when asked why Strickland didn't show up. Once Strickland surrenders or is arrested, he must post a $5,000 bond to stay out of jail.

He's charged with reckless driving and clriving under the influence. Strickland ran three red lights and changed lanes without signaling before he was stopped on April 24, police said. STE3SgCBnE3Y ALL-TIME LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS BASKETBALL TEAM SFDonny Manning, 6-10 1988-94 1 972-76 CSwen Nater, 6-11 1977-81 Sfi World B. Free, 6-1 1978-80 PQ Randy Smith, 6-3 1971-79 (One of a series of all-century teams running in the Enquirer.) BEST BET NBA PLAYOFFS WHAT: Detroit at Atlanta TV: 8:30 p.m. (TNT) ON 2B: NBA playoff schedule HOW TO REACH US Have a story tip or idea? Here's how to reach us 24 hours a day.

SPORTS HOT LINE: 966 0678 FAX: 964-0299 GREAT LAKES FREE-NET: Leave a message in the Battle Creek Enquirer conference area. E-MAIL Michigan 10, South TODAY: South Bend at Michigan, 2p.m.(WBCK930-AM) ON 3B: The 'Cat Box' ON Battle Cats page The Cats stayed focused enough to win their fifth straight series opener, but Michigan manager Al Pedrique expects a bit more. Michigan got two hits and drew five walks in the fifth in on a shot by Colorado Avalanche period. orado the Avalanche took a 2-1 lead. Detroit scored first After gaining a 5on-3 advantage for 22 seconds as a result of penalties against Colorado's Adam Foote and Sylvain Lefebvre, Steve Yzerman chipped in a shot from just left of the net at 3:54.

Colorado had its own 5-on-3 advantage for 21 seconds later in the period but couldn't capitalize. But Theo Fleury tied it on a power play at 10:51, taking a rebound and bouncing the puck off the post from just right of the net Less than two minutes later, Colorado's Adam Deadmarsh, fighting off Chris Chelios inside the right circle, redirected a shot from the point by Foote for a go-ahead goal at 12:34. and do all the things I like to do on the court" be said. "I'm in a situation where I'm appreciated. I never got a chance to do those things in Detroit" Laettner was an All-Star for the Hawks in 1997 but lost his starting job to Henderson the following year.

He was never close with his Atlanta teammates, who seemed relieved when he was traded to the Pistons after the lockout ended. "I was tight with the team trainer," Laettner said dryly when asked whether he had any friends on the Hawks. like Long, Laettner insists that he won't turn the playoffs into a personal vendetta. "Not at all" he said. The goal is to go down there and win both games.

I've heard talk about us trying to steal one MBfll Jt Detroit Red Wings goalie Bill Ranford, left, makes a save Podein is bit from behind in front of the net during the first Nick Wentworth The Enquirer The Pennfield Lions Relays saw the Harper Creek girls' team win easily, by 34 points on Harper Creek won with 118 points, Pennfield took second with 84, Delton third with 70, Bellevue finished with 68, while Parchment ended with 18. "We wanted to come and win," said Harper Creek coach Andrea Struckmeyer. "It was a good team atmosphere." Brittany Becker led Harper Creek as a member of four first-place relay teams pole vault long jump, 800 run and 400 run. REDWINGS UPDATE FRIDAY: Detroit 3, Colorado 2, 0T SUNDAY: Detroit at Colorado, 2 p.m. ON 2B: NHL schedule player, Peter Forsberg, who was assessed a game misconduct late in the second period.

Detroit's Bill Ranford, who started in goal in place of the injured Chris Osgood, (sprained right knee), had 37 saves. Roy finished with 31. Game 2 is scheduled in Denver on Sunday. In a tightly officiated first period that featured eight penalties five of them against CoV 4 -r The boys' competition was closer than the girls as Delton won by only 12 points over Harper Creek. Delton won the boys' title by winning five of the team events.

Harper Creek achieved second, winning only two events, but finished second four times. Delton finished with 102 points, the Beavers had 90, Pennfield finished with 79, Bellevue had 73, while Parchment ended with 36. Pennfield took three first places. The Panthers finished out the night with a dramatic win in the 1600 relay by two tenths of a second over Delton. TIGERS UPDATE FRIDAY: Baltimore 9, Detroit 4 TODAY: Baltimore (WRCC1400-AM) ON 3B: Baseball standings, box scores.

3 2-3 innings. Thompson walked three, and all three scored as his career record against Baltimore dropped to 1-7. A walk and J. Surhoff single set up a sacrifice fly by Belle that gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the first Belle hit his sixth homer, a drive into the left-field upper deck, for a 40 lead in the third. Johnson's two-run homer helped finish Thompson in the fourth.

Jeff Conine added a two-run double in the same inning off Nelson Cruz that made it 8-0. Kapler, a rookie, has hit safely in all eight games he's played since he was recalled April 28 fiscal Maltby scores in OT in 3-2 victory over Colorado Associated Press DENVER Kirk Maltby scored 4:18 into overtime, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over Colorado in the opening game of their second-round playoff series Friday night Maltby, stationed just right of the goal, took a pass from Kris Draper behind the net and put it past Patrick Roy to give the Red Wings their fifth consecutive win in the postseason after a first-round sweep of Anaheim Both teams survived five-minute penalties against them, but the Avalanche couldn't overcome the loss of their best Laettner Orioles top Detroit for fifth win in a row .3 ASSOCIATED PRESS left winger Shjon Podein as Detroit made it 2-2 in the second period. Claude Lemieux's apparent goal early in the period was disallowed because of a hand pass. Then at 16:30, Detroit's Vy-acheslav Kozlov punched in a rebound of a shot from the right circle by Sergei Fedorov on a power play. At 10:00 of the third, the Wings' Darren McCarty was assessed a five-minute boarding penalty for slamming Lemieux into the boards from behind, leaving a stunned Lemieux lying on the ice for more than a minute.

Mccarty's penalty gave Colorado a 5m-3 advantage for 32 seconds and a 5-on-4 for the next 4:28, but the Red Wings killed it off, thanks to several outstanding saves by the veteran Ranford. playoffs down there. I want to win both down there." PISTONS IN SEARCH OF SITE If the first round NBA playoff series between the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons goes beyond three games, both teams will be scrambling to find a home court Detroit would have home-court advantage for Game 4, but their home building, The Palace of Auburn Hills, is booked for a Dave Matthews Band concert on the same date, May 14. The band has sold out two concerts at the venue, and refuses to sever the contract with The Palace. If the series goes a full five games, the Hawks are probably faced with playing the game at Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

faces old team in Associated Press DETROIT Albert Belle homered and drove in four runs, and Mike Mussina again beat Detroit as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Tigers 94 Friday night for their fifth straight victory. Charles Johnson hit a two-run homer and Jeff Reboulet scored four times for the Orioles, who have won seven of 10 games after a 4-14 start Bill Haselman hit a three-run homer and Gabe Kapler had a solo home run for Detroit Mussina (5-1) improved to 15-2 lifetime against Detroit including 7-1 at Tiger Stadium He has beaten the Tigers more than any other team Mussina gave up three runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and four walks in seven-plus innings. Justin Thompson (4-3) saw his career-best four-game winning streak end. He allowed seven runs and seven hits, including two homers, in just NBA PLAYOFFS TONIGHT: Detroit at Atlanta; Game 1 of best-of-5 series TV: 8:30 p.m. (TNT) ON 2B: NBA playoff schedule limited playing time.

He signed with the Hawks after the lockout and became one of the team's most valuable players, filling in frequently for the injury-plagued Alan Henderson. The 33-year-old Long was grateful for another chance to play in Atlanta, where he spent two seasons before a trade to the Pistons nearly scuttled his career. "I never doubted myself, but if just great to run and shoot Atlanta to. host Detroit in first round contest Associated Press ATLANTA Atlanta's Grant Long must keep his emotions in check, which won't be easy facing his former team in the first round of the playoffs. Ditto for Detroit's Christian Laettner.

Long and Laettner, who switched places after last season, come together again when the Hawks meet the Pistons in the best-of-5 first round. The first two games are at the Georgia Dome, beginning Saturday night Long spent two miserable seasons in Detroit averaging less than five points per game with MJ.f'U.1.1 2.