The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 9

The Times Herald Section PORT HURON, MICH. Saturday, April 8, 1978 Sports 6) Flag wioless stfpeeak hits 9 gourdes MUSKEGON The Port Huron Flags must Flags' net and gave Muskegon a 4-2 lead at 6:55 of the third period. Bill Hamilton scored the fifth Mohawks' goal at 9:18 when, while breaking through center ice, he took a pass from McPhee. Hamilton skated In alone on Tucker and fired a 15-footer into the top of the net. Jim Gustafson scored the Flags' final goal at 19: 15 when he drilled a 30-foot shot past goal-tender Rocky Menard.

Gustafson cut in from the left wing after taking a pass from Tom Roulston. The loss left the Flags with a 31-32-15 record, the first time this season Port Huron has been under .500. Turner Cup playoffs and the Flags have had problems against Kalamazoo this season. If the Flags finish fourth, they will play Saginaw, a team which has caused a few less headaches for Port Huron. Muskegon, meanwhile, Is tied with Grand Rapids for the final playoff position.

Both have two games remaining. One thing which seems more certain is that the Flags will break the all-time professional hockey penalty record tonight. With 24 minutes Friday, Port Huron's season total reached 2,235, nine minutes less than the Kalamazoo Wings racked up last season. Muskegon scored three consecutive goals in the second period to rally from a 2-0 deficit Friday. Archie Henderson and Mark Toffolo scored for the Flags in the first period, Henderson on a 35-foot shot after receiving a pass from Toffolo.

The second goal was a 50-foot slapshot through a screen by the defenseman. Dave Miglia put the first Muskegon goal past Flags goaltender Ted Tucker on a 25-foot shot at 7:39 of the second period. Hector Marinl scored the first of his two goals at 9:30 to tie the game. Greg McPhee dug the puck out of the corner and set up Marinl for a 15-foot shot. Charlie Skjodt gave Muskegon the lead at 13:11 on a close-in shot after Marini slid the puck across the goalmouth.

Marini picked up a loose puck in front of the win their final two games of the regular season to finish In third place In the International Hockey League's North Division. But, the Muskegon Mohawks face two must-win situations in the next two nights if they are to make the league playoffs. Predictably, the team with slightly more motivation the Mohawks won Friday night's game, 5-2, extending the Flags' winless streak to nine games, four losses and five ties. The Flags, who will be in the playoffs, play at McMorran Arena tonight against the Flint Generals and Sunday evening against Muskegon. Port Huron trails third-place Flint by three points.

If the Flags finish third, they will meet Kalamazoo in the first round of the All that flap in Detroit is because Bird is back BccEioCbdl Purdue picks coach WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -Purdue University ended a month-. long, nationwide search for a new basketball coach Friday with the announcement that Lee Rose of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte had been hired to change the fortune of the Boilermakers. "I'm very impressed with Rose's style of coaching," Purdue Athletic Director George King said at a news conference here. King first saw Rose last year, when UNCC made it to the final four of the NCAA championship.

The 49ers lost to eventual champion Marquette in the semifinal round. Rose succeeds Fred Schaus, who stepped down from the coaching job last month to become King's assistant. Purdue won its last Big Ten title In the 1968 season. Schaus, who coached six years here, was expected to have his best team ever, but seven conference losses on the road killed any Boilermaker hopes of a post-season tournament. Rose's teams compiled a 72-18 won-lost record in his three seasons at UNCC.

He was also athletic director there. His former assistant, Mike Pratt, will replace him as head coach at UNCC, but the university said it will fill the athletic director's post later. Baseball Kuhn stops all deals NEW YORK (AP) Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn placed a freeze Friday on all transactions between the Cleveland Indians and New' York Yankees pending the sale of all Yankees' stock by Indians President Gabe Paul and Steve O'Neill, a Cleveland director. Paul and O'Neill were members of a group which purchased the Yankees In January 1973. They shifted over to the Indians after last season.

According to a statement from Kuhn's office, "The commisloner notified them not to have any role in the operation of the Yankees and directed all parties involved to expedite the disposition of Paul's and O'NeiU's stock in the Yankees." Kuhn's directive informed both clubs that no player transactions will be allowed between the Yankees and Indians or their farm clubs until the By JEFF JACOBS Times Herald Sports Writer Two years have passed since Mark Fidrych first learned to fly. The wings have been torn a few times, but he's back in flight. The Bird again knows no bounds. Fidrych pitched a five-hitter as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 Friday at Tiger Stadium. But, Fidrych did more than pitch at an Opening Day before a sellout crowd of 52,528.

He stalked and he talked. He ran into his own fielders. He ran into base runners. He hopped over the third base foul line. He did gardening work on the pitchers' mound with his hands.

He chased windswept hot dog wrappers around the infield. He never came down from the ionosphere. Not once. In other words, the Bird is back. Throw the contract squabbles, the player agents and Reggie Jackson back in your garbage can.

The Bird is what's right with sports. The Bird the Bird. He left the fans standing and cheering for more after his masterpiece. Finally he came out to accept the thunderous ovation. He kept on jogging over to the Blue Jay dugout for a postgame interview.

But, he signed autographs for little kids instead. "All those cheers make you feel like you're still wanted," Fidrych said with a smile. "I asked the whole team to come out with me, but they wouldn't. It's good to see the fans like that. Some guy will drive home an hour and a half all happy now." And the interview? "Well, I got over there and all their equipment was going cquishshshsh (Fidrych's impersonation of static).

I said bleep on this and left. I told them that they had a whole year to fix it. Right?" Fidrych threw 115 pitches as he struck out five and walked two. The whole thing was over in 2:04 complements of the fast-working Fidrych. In fact, the Bird was so intent on his work that he didn't see the girl In the right field stands who gave a burlesque show of her own.

I or The young blonde was arrested by police for pulling up her skirt and giving her imitation of Charo's hoochie-coochie act. The Bird later claimed the young lady's act was better than fans fighting. The Bird had a year to mend after injuring his knee in spring training and later developing tendonitis. After a 19-9 rookie season, the Bird was 6-4 in 1977. What about this year? This is your first full season.

"That's true. I don't predict. I just show up and play. You can't change the outcome. So I just come to the game.

That's right, this is my my first full year. "The team is better this year. They score runs. Yeah, THIS IS my first full season." Don't mind the Bird. He was making a big discovery.

It's his first full season with the Tigers. Fidrych is right. This edition of the Tigers will score plenty of runs. After an 18-9 record in spring training, Detroit came out swinging against former Tiger Dave Lemanczyk. Catcher Milt May hit a solo home run into the upper deck in the bottom of the second inning.

Then third beaseman Phil Mankowski hit a three-run homer in the fourth to send Lemanczyk to the showers. First baseman Jason Thompson later launched a shot off the third-deck roof against reliever Jesse Jefferson. The Bird handled the rest. After getting off to a shaky start, Fidrych regained the form that won him the Rookie of the Year Award in 1976. He allowed only three hits In the final 7 innings and one in the last 4.

The Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Rico Carty walked, John Maybcrry lined a single to right field and Tommy Hutton bounced a single up the middle to drive in Carty. "Tom Veryzer would have had it," shouted one cynical writer. Dave McKay bounced into a double play, but Mayberry scored to give Toronto a two-run lead. May cut the lead to one with his homer.

Singles by Mankowski, Rusty abled list for the past two seasons because of shoulder and knee Injuries, hit his homer with one out in the ninth off loser Dick Drago to tie the game. Lemon, then singled and came all the way home on Nordhagen's pop fly double that dropped into short right-center just out of the grasp of shortstop Rick Burleson, Carl Yastrzemksi had given the Red Sox a 5-4 lead with a run-scoring single Rutkofske believes he Is ready for the challenge. "1 think my strongest assest Is organization," Rutkofske said. "I spent these past years bettering myself as a coach. I've learned a lot from Jim Dickey, Gary Nesbitt and Bob Elliott.

I believe I am ready for the challenge now. "However, t'm still learning. I'm like a computer still gathering Information." Elliott, a former varsity assistant to Nesbitt, was recently appointed to succeed the retiring John Herring as athletic director at Central. Dickey is athletic director at Port Huron Northern. Blomberg helps White Staub and Steve Kemp tied the score in the third inning.

Then Mankowski chased the laboring Lemanczyk in the fourth. After second baseman Lou Whita-ker singled and shortstop Alan Trammel walked, Mankowski's homer to right gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead. Lemanczyk left after throwing 68 pitches in only 3 innings. The Bird got into trouble in the top of the fifth inning. "I don't think he was throwing like he's capable of," Thompson said.

"He was getting the ball up a little bit. I think getting out of that trouble in the fifth really helped him." With one out, McKay singled and then Luis Gomez bounced a ground ball to second base. Fidrych and Whitaker ran into each other chasing the ball. Neither were hurt, but there were some restless moments before both got to their feet. "We both wanted the ball," The Bird said.

"I didn't know where Lou was. I jumped, but I got him in the head I think. I was out of my area." Fidrych promplty walked weak-hitting Alan Ashby. He ran the count to 3-2 on leadoff hitter Rick Bosetti trouble right? Fidrych immediately went into his act. He talked to himself, he lectured himself, he lectured the baseball, he flapped his Then he blew the payoff pitch past the befuddled Bosetti.

Then he got Al Woods to ground out. "I'm no strikeout pitcher," Fidrych said. "I said to myself, 'just throw it in there and let him hit I figured I could get a double play." Fidrych's only other problem came in the eighth. After an error by Mankowski, Roy Howell singled to push Bosetti to third base. The Bird then stopped the rally by stiking out veteran Carty with a good slider.

Carty waved at it like a Little Leaguer. "The thing that amazes me is the way he can finish," Tiger Manager Ralph Houk said. "In the eighth and ninth he really goes after those hitters." The only thing that amazes Mark Fidrych is that this is his first entire season with the Tigers. Sox rally in the eighth inning. Brewers II, Orioles! Larry Hisle crashed a two-run homer in the fifth inning and Sixto Lezcano belted his first major league bases-loaded homer in the seventh.

Winner Jerry Augustine checked the Orioles on six hits until the ninth inning when the Orioles scored twice and had the bases loaded with one out. Rutkofske does not Inherit a floundering program, but neither does he acquire a championship team. "We had about 120 kids Involved in the program last year, including 41 on the varsity level," Rutkofske said. "That's a good building block. The program will not change a great deal.

The Cougar coach says he loves the offensive aspects of the game and is partial to the I-fnrmation. Rutkofske, however, says he will wait to see what kind of personnel he has before deciding how to run his offense. "I am oriented toward the offense and have had experience coaching the back- Iffl Mill I tl tl littNl trWt II to i sit ii AMI VsV WOtlH Hit The Times Herald LARRY PEPLINSK! TAKE THAT Mark Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers yells toward the plate after striking out Rick Bosetti of the Toronto Blue Jays to help escape a tight spot in the fifth inning of the Opening Day game at Tiger Stadium. By The Associated Press Ron Blomberg's home run, his first hit in three years, tied the game in the ninth Inning and Wayne Nordhagen's fluke double scored Chet Lemon with the winning run Friday to give the Chicago White Sox a 6-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox fore a record opening day crowd of 50,754 in Chicago. Blomberg, who had been on the dis stock issue is settled.

Connors defeats Stockton ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) Top-seeded Jimmy Connors defeated defending champion Dick Stockton 3-6, 6-4. 6-0 and reached the semifinals of a $175,000 World Championship Tennis tournament Friday. Stockton started the match well and delighted the crowd with some fine shots. But after losing the first set, Connors got his game together in the second sot. In the third set Stockton found it more difficult to get his returns in.

Earlier, second-seeded Bjorn Borg of Sweden withdrew before his quarterfinal match following hospital treatment for an infected toe on his left foot. Racing Lauda injures thumb VIENNA (AP) Niki Lauda of Austria, the world Formula I driving champion, tore a tendon in his right thumb In a ski accident and it is doubtful he will be able to drive at Monte Carlo next month, Kronenzel-tun, an independent Vienna newspaper, reported Friday. There was no official confirmation. However, Heinz Pueller, author of the report, Is known to be a close friend of Lauda. Kronenzeitung said Lauda fell and hurt his thumb as he was being pulled up on the tow lift on the Arlberg Mountain.

The diagnosis of a doctor was that the tendon was torn which would normally mean six weeks in a plaster cast, It was reported. Training training for the Monte Carlo race was slated to begin in four weeks. The rate is on May 7. What team came closest to defeating Duke during the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament before Ihe Blue Devils reached the final? Yesterday's question MIMiav M-jntln la Iho nil. limp lead.

I'll i' Ing home run hitter among switch hit lers. wno is secona: Reggie Smith rite 4 aHo I mr'f n'M i i The Timej Herold LARRY PEPLINSKI THAT KIND OF SEASON? Rick Bosetti of the Toronto Blue Jays looks at a roll of toilet paper thrown into the Tiger Stadium outfield by a fan. Rufkofske accepts Central grid challenge II limn ii field players," Rutkofske said. "However, 1 realize this is not a one-sided game. Obviously you must have a sound defense, too.

"We still have two assistant coaches' openings to fill. I'm looking for people who are defensive and line oriented." Rutkofske expressed concern over the weak Central kicking game during recent seasons. "Kicking is a big part of the game and we've done poorly in this area," Rutkofske said. "I never point fingers at anybody I don't believe In it we must improve hre. It will give us much better field position, something we Something New! Mushrooms, Deep Fried fU didn't get a lot of times." Rutkofske, bom in Vallejn, California, coached local Junior high schools before arriving at PHC.

He characterizes himself as a "mushy sort of guy as far as loyalty to his school is concerned. "I'm very dedicated to the program. My philosophy Is kind of idealistic. I want football to be an honor for these kids, not Just throw on some pads and spikes and run on the field. 1 want them to get something out of playing the game.

Rutkofske may be mushy as far as loyalty Is concerned, but he also said he is a disciplinarian. Port Huron Central had to look no further than Its own social studies department for I new head football coach. Lonnie Rutkofske, head junior varlsty coach for six years at I'HC, wai appointed Thursday to direct the Cougars varsity. Rutkofske guided the JVs to a -1 record last season, losing only to Mary-iville. Rutkofske, a 196(1 graduate of Michigan State University, will replace Gary Nesbitt as Cougar varsity coach.

Central was under Nesbitt in 1977, Includ-' record In the St. Clair Area League. For Th Dltr And DIET FOODS Featuring! Muffins, Brownits, Pics, Chefs Cakes, ITC. mm (norTfulsT? SPECIALS CHICKEN or FISH DINNERS 1 93 SAVE 40' I Fish, Chicken Shrimp, Stafood Dinntrs. Buckets, Barrels I Tiki Outs, Eat Hirt! chicmjoY! 111 VUMTJU tOMm sviVaY (Ofrn PHONf 985.81 81 706.24th St.

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