The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 7

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1989 EDITOR: KENT HEITHOLT, 459-3293 1 Saints jockey for postions: 2B Fishermen beat the heat: 4B i n.ijm.'.m aptiaDDus (Lasted! mm playffis; run-scoring singles by Roy Silver the East Division championship. Arkansas will now face west Division champion in the best-of-7 league championship series which begins Saturday in Wichita, Kan. Robertson broke a 6-6 tie in the seventh by belting his homer off of losing pitcher George Bonilla. He also had a run-scoring single in the third, a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a RBI single in the eighth when the Travs broke the game open I with three insurance runs. run an inside-the-park grand slam against Tulsa, hit a three-run shot into the right field screen in the fourth inning to spark a five-run rally which gave the Captains a 6-4 lead.

But it didn't last. The Travelers won despite leaving the bases loaded three different times. But their offense more than made up for that as they pounded out 18 hits against six Shreveport pitchers. John Lepley, the third of four Arkansas pitchers, got the victory. Mike Perez got the save.

The Captains, who won three of the last four games of the regular-season to edge out the Travs for the second-half title, were hoping to come back again and force a deciding game in the playoffs. But it didn't happen this night, although the Captains did make it interesting for a while before being swept for the second consecutive year. Arkansas took a 2-0 lead in the first against starter Rod Beck on By JOE BURCHICK The Times LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The comeback magic finally ran out on the Shreveport Captains, who were knocked out of the Texas League East Division playoffs for the fourth straight season. Mike Robertson drove in five runs, two on a booming two-run homer over the left-field scoreboard, to lead the Arkansas Travelers to an 11-6 victory and to and Julian Martinez.

The Captains got a run back in the second when Steve Decker boomed a leadoff double off the scoreboard in left field and scored on Dixon's soft two-out single to center. Arkansas, though, added a run in their half of the second on Ray Lankford's sacrifice fly which scored Dave Osteen, and made it 4-1 with a run in the third when Robertson's infield single scored Roy Silver, who had doubled. Dee Dixon, who had just one home A tale of tifwo i Mitchell knee deep in records 1 By EVAN GRANT The Times Johnson survived tough '88 By EVAN GRANT The Times RUSTON He was thrown into a cauldron of trouble, boiling with losses and routs. But Gene Johnson maintains that the scalding he took last year as Louisiana Tech's sacrificial quarterback doesn't burn. It doesn't sting his young flesh.

He just soaked it all in, and let the searing losses become a soothing bath of knowledge. "I guess I was thrown in there too early," said Johnson. "It's just not natural for a redshirt freshman to get a lot of playing time. I felt it came before I was mentally ready. I learned the hard way, but sometimes the hard way is the best." Tech really had no choice on who to play at mid-season.

When Conroy Hines was injured against Florida State, then first-year Coach Joe Raymond Peace looked around and See JOHNSON, Page 5B 1 LAFAYETTE Everywhere Brian Mitchell went, it seemed Ter-rence Jones had already been. Even if it was a swamp. Yes, Mitchell, Southwestern Louisiana's quarterback, did wade knee deep into Cypress Lake for the cover shot on the Ragin' Cajuns media guide. But didn't Jones, the former quarterback at Tulane, appear on the cover of his school's Independence Bowl guide with a similarly slimy swamp in the background two years earlier? During his junior year at Pla-quemine High, Mitchell threw for 1.300 vards in onlv six eames. in ii BY THE HUMDEnS BASEBALL AAAERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 5, Chicago 1 Milwaukee 6, Seattle 1 Boston 5, California 2 Cleveland 11, Baltimore 0 Minnesota 8, Texas6 Kansas City 3, Tigers 0 (Roundups page SB) NATIONAL LEAGUE San Diego 5, Philadelhia 1 (Roundups page 5B) Manwaring put on 15-day DL SAN FRANCISCO The San Francisco Giants on Thursday placed catcher Kirt Manwaring on the 15-day disabled list and recalled a familiar face for the stretch drive, veteran catcher Bob Brenly.

Brenly joined the Giants' roster on the final day of eligibility for postseason play after San Francisco purchased his contract from Class AAA Phoenix. Brenly, 35, played with the Giants from 1981-88 before signing last winter as a free agent with Toronto, where he hit .183 in limited action. Manwaring was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a badly bruised left foot. NLU names two track assistants MONROE Northeast Louisiana University Track Coach Dennis Groll has moved to replace Associate Coach Ralf Uebel by naming Macks Dillon and Greg Soulis as assistant coaches. The appointment of Dillon and Soulis, which is subject to the approval of the State Board of Trustees, was announced Thursday by Athletic Director Benny Hollls.

Dillon, a graduate assistant coach at NLU for the past two years, will coach the sprinters, hurdlers, horizontal jumpers and the short relays and serve as recruiting coordinator while Soulis, a former conference javelin champion at NLU, will coach the throwing events and coordinate the strength program for track athletes. Both coaches will work with both the men's and women's track teams. KMSS to show Cowboys-Oilers Local independent station KMSS(Ch. 33) will pick up the Dallas Cowboys final preseason game against the Houston Oilers live Saturday night at 8 p.m. The station originally had planned to show the game on tape delay Sunday morning, but got permission to show it live Thursday.

Gents' Robinson pre-season MVP Centenary's Larry Robinson, a second-team All-Trans America Athletic Conference selection last year, has been the pre-season MVP in a poll of league coaches. Robinson was fifth in the league in scoring last year with an 18.6 points per game average. He was also 12th in rebounding and first in steals. The rest of the preseason All-TAAC included guards Carl Brown and James Scott and center Jeff Cummings of Arkansas-Little Rock, center Derrall Dumas of Stetson, and forward Scott Bailey of Mercer. UALR was favored to repeat as conference champion, while Centenary was picked fifth.

3 it 1 But didn't Jones, playing in four L1 muie games aim uuuwmg lur jusi Times photoTOM STANFORD Tech's Gene Johnson must stand out in '89. 200 more yards at Lutcher High School, win Class AAA Player of the Photo courtesy uslj. Brod Kemp Year honors? uSL's Brian Mitchell is a most offensive quar- See MITCHELL'S, Page 5B terback. Bossier vs. Airline: Rivalry still red hot 1 RSew generation dominates Open 9 fe4WSSfi 5 all I A ingful because of that.

It's both teams' season opener and the first game under Lanier for the Vikings. "It's the first game, and it's against Bossier," Lanier said. "If they (the players) don't realize how big it is, I bet momma and daddy have lived through it. It's a rival game for both teams." Airline senior strong safety Brian Bartee, who went to Bossier his freshman year, realizes how big it is. "Bossier has always been the biggest game for me," he said.

"I have yet to see that trophy and it would be nice to see it my senior year. I work with a lot of those guys who go to Bossier so I ha ve to put up with them the rest of the Bossier senior Kim Joseph, who starts at fullback and outside linebacker, is glad the rivalry is continuing, even though it's a non-district game. "Airline is pretty much the most exciting game to me because the rivalry has been going on for so long," he said. "I was pretty disappointed when we dropped to 1-AAA because I didn't think we were going to have a chance to play them." Ryker Robinson, the Vikings' senior punter and backup quar- See VIKINGS, Page 3B By RUSSELL HEDGES The Times Having spent all of his coaching career in South Louisiana, Airline Coach Paul Lanier naturally knew nothing about the Bossier-Airline rivalry when he took over as the Vikings' head coach last spring. It didn't take long for him to find out about it, however.

"When I first got here last spring, I interviewed the kids and asked who their biggest rival was," Lanier said. "Bossier High was the top answer." The two Bossier City schools open the season tonight at 7:30 at Airline Stadium. Lanier has also done a little research into the Bossier-Airline rivalry. He found out that the Bossier Fire Department has sponsored a trophy since 1964, when the two teams played their first game, that stays with the winning team. He also found out that Bossier, which leads the series 13-12, has been in possession of that trophy for the past five years.

For the first time since 1973, the game will have no bearing on district standings. Bossier is in District 1-AAA this year after playing in District 2-AAAA for the past 15 years. But the game is no less mean The Associated Press NEW YORK Jimmy Connors, the oldest player at the U.S. Open, showed Thursday he still has plenty of fight, while Andre Agassi and Michael Chang kept up the march of America's teen brigade. Connors, who turns 37 on Saturday, avoided the upsets that had tripped two other former champions, disposing of hard-serving but erratic 23-year-old qualifier Bryan Shelton 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in a second-round match.

Shelton, an All-America from Georgia Tech who lost to Boris Becker in the first round at Wimbledon in his first Grand Slam event, blasted 12 aces without being broken in the first set. He polished off an 8-6 win in the tie-breaker with his eighth service winner. But Shelton's serve failed him as he double-faulted at game-point at the start of the second set, and the steady, wily Connors took his measure with blazing returns, deft lobs and passing shots. Shelton managed only five aces in the last three sets and never threatened the 13th-seeded Connors in any of them. Agassi, 19, Chang, 17, and Pete Sampras, 18, who took out defend ing champion Mats Wilander on Wednesday night, meanwhile, showed they are part of a new generation of U.S.

players on he verge of taking over the game. The sixth-seeded Agassi, with flowing locks and a throng of screaming female admirers, beat South African Neil Broad in winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round. Chang, the seventh seed and French Open champion, ha odled the swirling breeze on the stadium court as easily as he did Sweden's Thomas Hogstedt in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory. There were no big upsets, for a change, as top-seeded Ivan Lendl, third-seeded Stefan Edbtsrg and ninth-seeded Tim Mayottealso advanced to the third round without dropping a set. Lendl didn't strain himself much in a snappy, 78-minute, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 victory against John Fitzgerald, a doubles specialist from Australia who charged the net futilely while Lendl stayed back and hammered forehands and backhands past him.

Among the women, the has been relatively upset-free. No. 3 Gabriela Sabatini beat Cathy AP Laserphoto The seeds had an easy day a the U.S. Open Thursday, as Stefan Edberg (pictured), Michael Chang and Andre Agassi all advanced. Caverzasio 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday, No.

6 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Cammy MacGregor 6-1, 6-3, and No. 8 Helena Sukova beat Gretchen Magers 6-2, 6-7, 6-2. Moss ready to put rumors aside and play football KENT HEITHOLT spin moves are showing up in promos on ESPN and TBS for upcoming LSU games. In the press packet distributed by WTBS, the network which shows the Southeastern Conference game of the week, three color slides were included. One was Emmitt Smith, a Heisman Trophy candidate and another was Lance Russell of Alabama.

The other was Moss. "It makes things different," Moss said. "It means people know what I can do and know to be looking for me. It could be tough on me if they try to load the defense my way. "But that's the way you get ahead.

It really makes you feel good when you hear the offensive coordinator say he's counting on you to move the football." For Tony Moss, it was even better to hear a coach say he could play football. Period. cringes. Media day was one of the worst; Moss didn't know how he would face all the questions. All he wants to do now is play football.

"It ticks me off the way people talk about us," Moss said. "Because I'm the person I am, people want to use my name like I'm the only one who got thrown out of school. "But I'm grown up. I guess I can take the heat." Moss has admitted he made a mistake, but that doesn't he has accepted the public ridicule he and his teammates have received. "I just want to forget about it and get on with the season.

Just let it die out." Which is why Saturday's season-opening game against Texas means so much to Moss. It will officially end his ordeal. Or maybe it will just be the start of it. Last year, Moss went from unproven commodity to game breaker, from obscurity to highlight film. Already his patented someone, who didn't get the test squealed.

Moss and teammates Karl Dunbar and Robert Packnett were among those dismissed for the quarter. All spiring he sat in Baton Rouge unable to compote with his teammates. All summer he waited anxiously for the official word that he was back in good graces academically. "At first I was really worried because I didn't know what was up, but when I found out what the requirements were to get back in school I concentrated on doing that," said a Moss, a fifth-year senior who earned all-conference honors in 1988. Moss made it back, though, and everything is fine.

Well, almost, there's still that lingering; stigma. Some columnists have taken shots at LSU's disciplinary process. Some have taken shots at the athletes. The Bottom 110, a weekly satire on the rankings, put the llfigers in its Bottom 15 because of the matter. Jokes have been abundant.

Every time the issue comes up, Moss Kyle Field in College Station, Texas is not exactly the safest place for a visitor. Starting with Friday night's Midnight Yell, the football stadium takes on an appearance more of a war zone than a sports venue. Texas cadets march into the stadium in waves on Saturday evening as if marching into battle. They stand throughout the game, barking out crisp, clear yells that make the visitors feel like the overrun emeny. More times than not, the Aggies win at home, too.

"Kyle Field is a tough place to play in," said LSU Coach Mike Archer, whose team walks into the stadium Saturday night. "It's a difficult place to win." And with LSU running back Harvey Williams continually popping off about the Aggies' collie mascot and freshly pressed uni- forms, Kyle Field becomes even more difficult. But as long as the cadets don't come to the game bearing loaded arms, no situation could be too rough for Tony Moss. Even Kyle Field will look good to Moss. The elusive LSU wide receiver from Bossier City has spent most of his summer trying to evade the rumors and innuendos that followed a miserable spring.

Moss was among a group of more than 20 LSU athletes and students who were suspended from school for the spring quarter because of a cheating incident on a geography test. The story goes that someone in the class obtained a copy of test befor the exam date. got around and so did the test. But Kent Heitholt is The Times sports editor..