The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 39

The Sunday Courier-News lnsideE-3 David Wells is sharp as the Yanks top Milwaukee, 2-0. NBA, E-6 The Rec Page, E-9 3 SGOREDOAnD Third time not a Chairm Touch Gold denies Silver Charm Triple Crown 7r Belmont inside Jockey Gary Stevens, right, and Silver Charm may have lost Saturday, but the horse's owner, Bob Baffert, held his head high at Belmont E-7 The official results and payout from Saturday's Belmont Stakes. E-7 A list of other horses who have had their Triple Crown dreams die at Belmont. E-8 i 1 -4 r. but could do nothing when Touch Gold blew by him on the outside.

"Silver Charm never saw him until about 10 jumps before the wire and by then, it was too late to build another head of steam," lamented jockey Gary Stevens. Owners Bob and Beverly Lewis were denied a $5 million bonus that Visa was prepared to award for a Triple Crown sweep. They came away, though, with a keener understanding of the enormous challenge the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont pose to aspiring 3-year-olds. See GOLD on Page E-6 By TOM PEDULLA USA Today ELMONT, N.Y. Hard-charging Touch Gold foiled Silver Charm's bid to become the 12th Triple Crown winner, overtaking him in deep stretch to take the 129th Belmont Stakes by three-quarters of a length Saturday.

"I wanted to pull this off so bad," said Bob Baffert, Silver Charm's trainer. "But I think we got something done. I think we brought racing back." For so much of the grueling 1 12-mile race, it appeared as if Silver Charm would pull it off. He would have been the first Triple Crown champion mont Park history. The powerful gray son of Silver Buck put away archrival Free House in the stretch since Affirmed in 1978.

The race drew a throng of of 70,682 roaring spectators, third-largest crown in Bel Associated Press photo Touch Gold, bottom, beats Silver Charm, top, to the finish line at Saturday's Belmont Stakes. 1 myj rn Majoli wins French Open It was teen day in Paris Saturday as 19-year-old Iva Majoli, top, defeated 16-year-old Martina Hingis for the French Open women's singles championship, 6-4, 6-2. The ninth-seeded Majoli was the lowest seeded women's champion and the first Croatian male or female to win a Grand Slam championship. The French Open wraps up today with the men's final between No. 66 Gustavo Kuerten and No.

16 Sergi Bruguera. Details, E-7. Bound Brook wins state title to finish undefeated By JEFF GOLDMAN Courier-News Staff Writer TOMS RIVER There would be no narrow escape or late-inning heroics this time; there was no need. It was the perfect final chapter to a perfect season for the Bound Brook Softball team. The Crusaders saved their best for last in Saturday's Group 1 state final, dominating Walling-ton from start to finish in a 3-0 victory to capture ft NATIONAL LEAGUE More coverage, E-2-4 CINCINNAT1 10, METS5 MONTREAL 5, CUBSO PITTSBURGH 9, PHILLIES 2 FLORIDA 7, COLORADO 5 (Game 1) FLORIDA-COLORADO (ppd-Game 2) LOS ANGELES 5, ST.

LOUIS 2 SAN DIEGO 5, HOUSTON 4 (10) ATLANTA 5, SAN FRANCISCO 2 ll Ji I Si Hill il wr I 111 I- in their third state title in four years and finish 1997 at 31-0. "This is fantastic beyond our wildest expectations," said coach Steve Kania. Eleana Calderone, one of seven seniors on the team agreed: "It's a great feeling I'm so happy," said the senior shortstop, who along with pitcher Heather Yarashas and right fielder Jaime Micklos, started on the '94 and '95 state champion teams and the '96 squad which lost in the state semifinals. "I didn't realize how much winning a state champi 7 5 iM .1 AMERICAN LEAGUE More coverage, E-2-4 YANKEES 2, MILWAUKEE 0 CLEVELAND 9, BOSTON 5 DETROIT 3, SEATTLE 1 TORONTO 3, OAKLAND 1 MINNESOTA 6, ANAHEIM 1 WHITE SOX 1, BALTIMORE 0(11) KANSAS CITY 10, TEXAS 4 i.r- It; ii i.i... 'in' Immaculata STANLEY CUP FINALS More coverage, E-6 RED WINGS 2, FLYERS 1 NBA FINALS More coverage, E-6 K'Mli'Jf Vi? TGDAY Associated Press photo Red Wing captain Steve Yzerman shows the Stanley Cup to Detroit fans Saturday night.

Red Wings put Flyers on ice, 2-1 Detroit completes 4-game sweep to win first Stanley Cup in 42 years. By CHUCK GORMLEY Camden Courier-Post DETROIT Watching Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman skating around Joe Louis Arena with the Stanley Cup in his hands and tears in his eyes Saturday night made it hard to remember Eric Lindros scoring a goal against the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals 15 days earlier. Watching impish goaltender Mike Vernon flashing his pearly whites to 19,983 adoring fans after kissing the most lusted-after trophy in professional sports made it hard to remember Ron Hextall getting kissed on his masked forehead by Shjon Podein after turning back the Rangers to advance to the finals 13 days earlier. Watching, and hearing, the fans of Detroit count down the final seconds of their first Stanley Cup title in 42 years, their voices hoarse with emotion, made it hard to believe that the Flyers would be touching down at Philadelphia International Airport a few hours later, to the sound of silence. There won't be a ticker-tape parade down Broad Street next week.

William Penn will be stripped of his oversized Flyers jersey. And a puck won't be dropped at the CoreStates Center for another 14 weeks. Not after what happened Saturday night. Not after Hextall self-destructed once again, taking the Flyers along with him in a 2-1 loss to the mighty Red Wings. The Wings' four-game sweep by a composite score of 16-6 marked the third straight time a team had See RED WINGS on Page E-6 BEST BETS Basketball BULLS-JAZZ, 7:30 p.m., NBC Baseball METS-REDS, 2:15 p.m., Ch.9 YANKEEES-BREWERS, 1:35, MSG onship meant when I glle Q-T was a freshman or sophomore.

I didn't Jack Cust abov6i hit realize how much you nome mns had to go through to Saturday, but the get here. Immaculata baseball What they went team jn the through was heart- Parochial A title game, stopping victories over story on E-5 Manville in the Central Jersey Group 1 final and Florence in Wednesday's state semifinal. Saturday, Yarashas erased any sense of drama with a three-hit, 10-strikeout, one walk performance. "I think it's a little more special for me," Yarashas said of the third title. "Winning as a freshman and sophomore was a shock because I didn't know much about softball.

It's just a great pleasure." As it did in the state semi win, Bound Brook hit the ball early. Calderone, who had been mired in a mini-slump, doubled with two away in the second and scored the game's first run on freshman Liz Jannuzzi's single to center. "I have been struggling and I wanted to make my last game my best," Calderone said. "I've been in a slump toward the middle and end of the season. I just wanted to come back." Sports on TV, E-8 SOT a tip? For questions or comments, you can e-mail us at You can also reach Sports Editor Bill Price at (908) 707-3156.

Courier-News photo by J.T. Greillck Bound Brook's Liz Januzzi is out trying to get to second base during Saturday's game vs. Wallington and second baseman Kristen Skirbe. The Crusaders won, 3-0, for their third state title in four years. See CRUSADERS on Page E-5 1 IT I Uii Ii i i I I I i i DnlaCtMir r.

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