The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 11

SPORTS TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 1989 3B THE TIMES The dream lives for Michigan's Fisher fW if By BOB WOJNOWSKI Gannett News Service ANN ARBOR, Mich. The secretary dropped another crate of unopened mail on the floor of Steve Fisher's cramped office, next to the framed USA TODAY front page trumpeting Michigan's national championship. "Geez, how much mail you going to get?" she muttered. "You better hire somebody to clean this place out." Sometime soon, Fisher will clean it out himself. When he does, he won't have far to move.

It's about five feet from the tiny assistant's office on the second floor of the athletic building to the larger, emptier office once occupied by former coach Bill Frieder. After taking Michigan from Atlanta to Lexington to Seattle, where it won its first NCAA basketball title, Fisher now will take the shortest and sweetest trip of all across the halL On Monday, exactly one week after U-M defeated Seton Hall, 80-79, Fisher picked up a $52,500 raise, dropped his "interim" title and became the school's 13th head coach. "The dream lives on," Fisher, 44, began after Athletic Director Bo Schembechler made the announcement before a packed news conference at Crisler Arena. "I've said before, 'Pinch me on Tuesday, I don't want to wake up before I still don't want to wake up. To have this opportunity defies description and words.

There is no finer job in America." Fisher made his case in a three-hour meeting last Wednesday morning with Schembechler and Associate Athletic Director Jack Weidenbach. On Friday morning, Schembechler met with University President James Duderstadt. When Schembechler and Fisher met again later that morning, the decision was sealed. No one else was interviewed, although Schembechler said he talked to others, including Indiana Coach Bob Knight, about possible candidates. "I wasn't going to make an emotional decision," Schembechler said.

"I wanted to be cool and calculated and study it from every angle. And every time I did, it came up Steve Fisher. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that we had the guy right here." Schembechler grilled Fisher about his history, his relationship with players and his recruiting policies. Sources said Schembechler also asked pointed questions about Fisher's involvement in rumored improprieties in the program. In making the announcement, Schembechler made it clear he believed there would be a clean break from the Frieder era.

"I know that Steve is going to bring to this program a fresh new approach, and that we'll continue to have the success we've enjoyed," he said. "I don't expect national championships, but the discipline exhibited by the team shows the type of program you can expect. "I went to all those (tournament) games, I watched him operate and I was very much impressed. That was a different Michigan team. They were well prepared.

I saw other times when Michigan teams didn't respond, and the difference had to be due to someone. I thought it was Steve Fisher." Fisher will work on a year-to-year basis, which is standard for U-M coaches. His salary will rise from $42,500 to $95,000, with a shoe contract, radio and TV contracts and proceeds from summer basketball camps expected to raise his annual income to about $450,000. He immediately named Mike Boyd, a U-M assistant for 10 years and the program's top recruiter, his No. 1 assistant.

He also promoted Brian Dutcher from a part-time assistant to full-time, and said he would try to fill the part-time opening by the end of the month. After Fisher replaced Frieder, who accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State March 15, and led U-M to six consecutive tournament victories, his appointment was considered by many a foregone conclusion. No rookie coach, let alone an interim coach, had ever led a team to a national title. Fisher, an assistant for three years at Western Michigan and for seven years under Frieder, dismissed any notion that he's under-qualified. Before the NCAA Tournament, AP Loserphoto Michigan Athletic Director Bo Schembechler (left) congratulates new coach Steve Fisher.

his only previous head coaching ex- compiled a 141-70 record in eight perience was at Rich East High seasons. He moved to WMU in 1979 School in Park Forest, 111., where he and to U-M in 1982. Captains take first loss to Travelers 4-1 Battery Sale 4 Year Import Sizes 24-24F 29.95 Young's Discount Batteries 222-5687 Evers follows through on vow to use everyone All the scores in The Times Continued from Page 18 "We've got to manufacture runs any way we can," Arkansas manager Gaylen Pitts said. The Travelers' three-run outburst ended a streak of 27 scoreless innings by Shreveport pitchers. The victim was starter Dean Freeland, making his 1989 debut.

Freeland retired the first six batters he faced and allowed just three hits in his six innings, but consecutive walks to start the third proved costly. Mike Robertson and Mike Fox got the free passes to start the big inning. Robertson advanced from first to third on Freeland's wild pickoff throw. Len Picota, the starting and winning pitcher, attempted a sacrifice bunt that proved to be the inning's key play. Picota popped the ball up in front of the plate, but Freeland's try for a diving catch failed and first baseman Craig Colbert couldn't pick up the ball, leaving the bases loaded with no outs.

Captains shortstop Paul Blair made a diving stop on Bernard Gilkey's grounder in the hole, but Blair's throw to third base was wild. XSsn. ipsa Lady Demon catcher honored in SLC TIRE AND AUTO CENTER NATCHITOCHES Freshman -catcher Rhonda Rube of Northwestern State is co-recipient of the Southland Conference "Player of the Week" award. Rube batted .357 in six games last and had a .786 slugging percentage. She shared the SLC honor with Andi Rice of Northeast Louisiana.

I "Rhonda is a leader in action," said Lady Demon coach Rickey McCalister. "She is strong and decisive, somebody who plays hard and doesn't play any mind games. Rhonda comes to play." The Lady Demon catcher cracked a solo home run off Louisiana Tech All-America pitcher Debbie Nichols last Wednesday and later scored the 'eventual winning run in North-western's 5-4 upset of the country's lOth-ranked team. Rube, a product of Belaire High in Baton Rouge, is Northwestern's top power threat with a .543 slugging percentage. She is second on the team with a .337 batting average.

allowing Robertson and Fox to score. Picota scored the third run on Craig Wilson's suicide squeeze bunt. The Captains rallied for a run in the fourth, but it could have been a more productive inning. Greg Conner and Craig Colbert both singled. Erik Johnson hit what appeared to be a double-play grounder, but Picota dropped the relay at first base, allowing Conner to score.

Blair followed with a single, but the inning ended when Freeland and Gregg Ritchie both flew out. Shreveport had a pair of mild threats that were stamped out by Arkansas pitching. Picota didn't strike out anyone in six innings, but he allowed just one run. Mike Perez struck out two in the final two innings to earn a save. Blair reached third base in the sixth, but pinch-hitter Rich Aldrete's sharp grounder up the middle was deflected by Picota to second baseman Wilson, who threw Aldrete out easily.

And in the seventh, Ritchie led off with a walk and stole second. But he was stranded there with three straight fly balls. AREA BRIEFS Rube was forced to sit out North-western's conference debut last weekend because of a mild concussion sustained last Thursday in a collision at the plate. She will return to the lineup Wednesday when the Lady Demons, 21-19, play host to Centenary in a 2 p.m. doubleheader.

Rube leads the team in slugging percentage, RBI (17), home runs (3) and doubles (8). NSU rescheduled NATCHITOCHES Heavy weekend rains forced Louisiana College to reschedule Tuesday's twi-night doubleheader in Pineville against Northwestern State. Head coaches Johnnie Emmons of Northwestern and Billy Allgood of LC reset the games for May 1 with a 4 p.m. start. "Billy said the field just took too much water over the weekend and it probably wouldn't be playable by to the Final Four for the third straight season and a 32-4 record this season.

His career record of 211-23 (.902) is tops among all women's collegiate coaches. A Kodak All-American, Lewis averaged 18.3 point and 10.9 rebounds for the Lady Techsters. Hudson, a junior college transfer, led NSU with 20.2 ppg and 9.6 rpg. Woods, an all-Southeastern Conference selection, averaged 15.1 ppg and 6.2 rpg, while Upshaw, who ranked among the national leaders in blocked shots and field goal percentage, had numbers of 17.0 and 10.2. On the second team were Dana Chatman of LSU, Linda Grayson of Northwestern State, Jab Johnson and Veronica Ridgell of Northeast Louisiana and Debra Johnson of Louisiana College.

The third team consisted of Tarcha Hollis of Grambling State, Lisa Washington of Southeastern Louisiana, Sheila Ethridge and Pam Wells of Louisiana Tech and Evenda Barnes of Tulane. Jim McLain only in The Times caught and played third base, Craig Colbert has played first base and third base and Erik Johnson has played second base and third base. The Captains made their live television debut Monday night on KMSS-TV, the first of 26 broadcasts during the 1989 season. KMSS will show 15 games; the remainder will be on the Cablevision (cable TV) public access channel. The Captains and Travelers are on KMSS tonight at 7.

Four Captains away games will be televised on KMSS: April 18-19 at Arkansas and August 17-18 at Jackson (Mets). The Captains announcers Dave Nitz on play-by-play and Doug Joubert with color are heard on both TV and radio in a simulcast. Joubert, Northwestern State University's radio announcer, is making his debut as Nitz's partner on telecasts. State on Sunday and will follow pitcher Debbie Nichols into Tuesday's 6 p.m. single game.

The two teams will meet again in a 6 p.m. double-header on Wednesday. Tech in action RUSTON Louisiana Tech's baseball Bulldogs get back into action today when hosting the Ouachita Baptist Tigers in a 4 p.m. doubleheader at J.C. Love Field.

Tech brings a 20-10 record into the twinbill after winning just one of three American South Conference games from New Orleans this past weekend, Bulldog head coach Pat Patterson, now just six wins away from the 700-victory plateau, will send righthanders Robert Vavrik (0-0) and Kenny Winzer (0-1) out to start against OBU. Tech third baseman Ken Sham-burg continues to lead the team with a .408 batting average, 10 home runs and 33 runs batted in. More Value For Your Dollar mi MMDUrTII in iiu. hashiun. imi.

inn. riMis. vust. ti ou coufun urn SHOCKS 4 FOR HEAVY DUTY '48" GAS SHOCKS '69" ALIGNMENT Adpttl ctnm, COMbCf, Mt ME" TWIN STEEL 41.000 Mill WARRANTY EXECUTIVE 40.000 Mill IIMITIO WARRANTY P16580R13 ri9575RI4 f20575RI4 rZ1575nl5 rZ2575R15 P23575R15 22.99 28.99 29.99 33.99 34.99 36.99 ilAS-NON RADIAL 3O.O0O Mill IIMITIO WARRANTY LIGHT TRUCK RADIAL fl6510BI3 H9575314 rZ0S7SBl P21S71BI4-15 f22b71B15 P23S7SB IS 23.99 28.99 30.99 31.99 33.99 34.99 72.99 79.99 69.99 76.99 61.99 89.99 1 By NATHAN HUANG The Times When manager Bill Evers talked before the season about making use of his entire 23-man Shreveport Captains roster, it wasn't lust another coaching cliche. After the first four games, each of the 13 non-pitchers has started at least once.

The final player to get his shot was outfielder Mike Senne, who opened Monday night's game against Arkansas in right field. Senne, however, played in each of the first three games. The only players to start all four games were center fielder Gregg Ritchie and shortstop Paul Blair. Evers also has made good on his vow to take advantage of his players' versatility. Senne has played left field and right field, Markus Owens has Tuesday evening," said Emmons.

The Demons, 9-18-1, will try to snap a nine-game losing streak Wednesday in a 2 p.m. home doubleheader against Louisiana Tech. Outfielder Sonny Terrill, a senior from Jonesboro-Hodge, continues to lead the Demons with a .384 batting average. Kevin Gilbreath's 3.25 ERA tops Northwestern's starting pitching rotation. Techsters host Indians RUSTON Louisiana Tech's lOth-ranked Softball team will try to improve its 8-2 record against instate opponents today when the 20-24 Lady Indians of Northeast Louisiana visit the Lady Techster Softball Complex.

Tech, 23-6 overall, has had to struggle with Louisiana schools in recent games, dropping one to Southwestern Louisiana on Saturday and splitting with Northwestern State last week. But the Techsters swept Nicholls Gillette We Give You TIRES Join our Bmt Ckito for KtMKtod warranty on your tira Invaatmant. CIHel'a I 2 Wheal Tire nlers Irak Ssrvica 49" 1333 Southern Ave. Telephone 222-0020 bmol fat fuM Co. 1ua tooi, fxxt tivrt leanfigt.

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true rnfnrr and fist Your money 's worth and a whole lot more. Slisfctron guaranteed or your monty back Sea' Hot-Suck snd Co 1989 Lady Techsters hog All-Louisiana honors nil CHANGE BUwoslcars National semifinalist Louisiana Tech placed two members on the All-Louisiana women's basketball first team and took the "Player of the Year" and "Coach of the Year" awards in balloting by members of Louisiana Sports writers Association, while Northwestern State placed one on the first team. Tech placed junior center Lacy and senior forward Nora Lewis on the first team, while Lacy received "Player the Year" honors and Leon rBarmore was named "Coach of Lacy the Year." Rounding out the first team were Pam Hudson of North-. western, Patricia Woods of LSU and Carvie Upshaw of New Orleans. Hudson was also named the state's "Newcomer of the Year." Lacy, who led Tech with 21.3 ppg and 11.9 rpg, and was named American South Conference "Player of the Year." The Chattanooga, native was also named the Midwest Regional MVP and to the all-Final Four team.

Barmore led the Lady Techsters install up t0, 0 nOW (1 i i.ltor Lube chassis visual checks Sears Auto Centers Open 7:30 am 1 pm-6 pm Sunday.