The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 50

The Town Talk, Alexandria-Pineville, La. E-8 Friday, May 16, 1997 Four Aces remain from first deal Cole, Shade, Moran and White last 'charter members' of Aces club still on roster 1 4 He won over the fans with his hustle and his diving catches. He also had back-to-back seasons with 18 doubles in '94 and '95. White was the starting catcher in '95, splitting time at the position with Bryan Arntzen. He played in 71 of 100 games that year and batted .236.

Although he had only two home runs, one was a dramatic grand slam homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Alexandria a 10-6 win over Rio Grande. White, trying to finish the hours needed to get his health and kinesiology degree at Sam Houston State, didn't arrive until late in the '96 season. In 18 games last year, he batted .241 and had four doubles and one home run. back seasons with 10 homers. Shada is the only Ace who has not missed a game in three seasons, which totals 307 games 288 regular season and nine postseason contests.

Moran went 6-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 1994 with the Aces, but he had a breakthrough season in '95 when he went 11-3 with a 3.11 ERA and posted 13 saves, fourth best in the league in that category. He was voted the outstanding member of the team's pitching staff that year. In '95, he also struck out 92 batters in 81 innings. Last year, losing his closer's role to Jerry Santos, he started 16 games and went 8-9 with a 4.85 ERA and had one save. White played right field in 1994 and missed only five games.

fv yJj; By Bob Tompkins Staff reporter Only four members of the original Alexandria Aces of the Texas-Louisiana League will be at the team's spring training camp that starts May 15, and they have all provided their share of fine memories for Aces fans. The select four are second baseman Marvin Cole, a native of Alexandria; third baseman Kyle Shade of Richardson, Texas; pitcher Eric Moran, an Alexandria transplant from Versailles, Ohio; and designated hittercatcher Darrin White of Cypress, Texas. Cole signed with the Aces out of a tryout camp before their first season in the T-L League in 1994. He had been out of baseball for two years. The Aces resurrected a checkered professional career that started when he was drafted in the 42nd round of the June, 1988 draft by the Chicago Cubs.

The former Alexandria Senior High star batted .315 for Wytheville in the rookie Appalachian League in 1988, and he started having back spasms in 1989, the first of three straight seasons at the Class A level. In the spring of 1992, however, seemingly set to play for Class AA Midland, he was released at age 23 "to make room for some younger ballplayers." The chance at playing in the new Tex-Lou League agreed with Cole, who batted .331 with 101 hits, 17 doubles and seven homers in 1994. He was named to the league's all-star 80 MacArthur Dr. (318)487-0610 Alexandria native Marvin Cole has been a starter for trie Aces since they started play in the Texas-Louisiana League in 1 994. GOOD LUCK, ACES! Belled.

grooming" BeauA, "All breed dog IT ih Conference player at Northwestern State, was MVP of the Frontier League in 1993 and has for three years been a steady, reliable star player for the Aces. In fact, he was voted the team's most valuable player the last two seasons. He has played right field, first base and third base, a position he's scheduled to play to start this season. In the last three years he has batted .332, .338 and .317 for a .329 average. He has 371 hits in three seasons.

He had 28 doubles in '95 and 30 doubles in '96. He has had back-to- remaining Aces from the first team and helped the Aces advance to the league championship series with Corpus Christi. In '95, he played in all but three games at second base and batted .299 with 118 hits and a career-high 22 doubles. Again, he helped the Aces to the league championship series with Lubbock. Last year, he batted .312 with a 120 hits, a career high, and 20 doubles.

He struck out just 15 times in 385 at-bats, an average of once every 26 at-bats. He also made only 10 errors in 93 games. Shade, a stellar Southland pitcher Eric three of the four ST to the Alexandria Aces for a successful 1997 Season From our Team of Professionals at All Star Toyota-Kia we wish the Aces much success during the upcoming 1997 Baseball Season. LET'S PLAY BALL! Mil TOYOTA 5757 Coliseum Blvd. Alexandria 445-1486 1-800-960-2832 Infielder Kyle Shade (from left), Moran and catcheroutfielder Darrin White are team in 1 994..