The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 19

ThsOourtef-Nocus inside: Religion Don't be too quick to judge others, B-10. Baseball, B-2 All-Area Girls Track, 6. Scoreboard hJ) JmPII IIS ite Yanks SJiawbesw vided the difference in the New York Yankees' 5-3 victory Wednesday night over the Baltimore Orioles. "He really does have some juice, doesn't he?" said Yan am x.i.ii Insido the ball and trying to take it up the middle. I wasn't trying to pull the ball." The Yankees bad been dormant in losing three of their last four games with injuries to Jeter and Bernie Williams factoring prominently and needed a jolt from Strawberry.

Mussina fell behind 2-1 to Strawberry and, 465 feet later, he trailed 3-0. "Mussina usually keeps the ball down," Strawberry said. "He threw me a high change-up. A change-up can go a long way if it's in the strike zone." That was a change-up? It wasn't a fastball? "It was a change-up," Strawberry repeated. "Go ahead and ask him." "It was a change-up," Mussina said.

"To hit a change-up that far, you have to be sitting on it What in the world is he doing sitting on a 2-and-l change-up? Something hit that far usually has a movie on it." "It was awesome," Orioles center fielder Brady Anderson said. "Really awesome." against the Orioles in the AL Championship Series. That history was enough to make to make the Orioles fearful. Strawberry cemented his place in Yankees-Orioles lore when he cold-cocked Armando Benitez with a roundhouse left during the May 19 brawl at Yankee Stadium that became the inspiration behind the booing he heard throughout the series and in batting practice Wednesday. "I like that," Strawberry admitted.

"I've been through that my entire career. It means everybody knows I'm in the park." Playing to the boos, Strawberry thrilled the crowd with a tremendous home run display in batting practice, including a 480-foot dive off the center-field video screen. It was the type of drive expected from McGwire, and from Strawberry during his time with the Mets. "I came out early to take some extra BP," Strawberry said. "I had a good feeling going.

I was staying with Tape-measure 3-run homer in first inning carries New York past Baltimore, 5-3. By JOHN DELCOS Staff Writer BALTIMORE There are few players with that aura. Few with an ability to stir a crowd, to turn any moment into a memory. Few that have the other team marvel in batting practice. Few with the capability to turn on a ball and drive it farther than the imagination allows.

Mark McGwire is such a player. Mickey Mantle was. So was Reggie Jackson. So is Darryl Strawberry. Still.

With the booing in his ears, Strawberry crushed a Mike Mussina pitch 465 feet to dead center for a three-run, first-inning home run that pro kees shortstop the Montreal Derek Jeter. Expos score a The drive was run in me ninth tne longest nome inning off Mel run in the seven-year history of Camden Yards. "If you're Rojas to beat the Mets, 5-4. Story, B-2. going to give up a home run, you might as well give one up like that instead of having the ball scrape the back of the fence," Mussina said.

Strawberry celebrated his return to the major leagues with two homers here in July 1996, then hit three more THE 9SthU.S. OPEN WW 1 1 If 4 during Wednesday's practice round Staying in fairway key to winning By RICK REMSNYDER Staff Writer SAN FRANCISCO After two warm and sunny days, the wind picked up Wednesday as 156 competitors got in their final practice swings for today's opening round of the 1998 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club. The wind produced many bad hairdos, and many spectators who arrived in shorts headed straight for the U.S. Open merchandise tent to buy long pants and windbreakers.

Tom Watson, who finished second to Scott Simpson the last time the Open came to Olympic, in 1987, thinks 1 things could get ugly before the final score is posted. "I think this year we are going to see over par win the tournament," Watson said. "We are due for some wind." Watson, who won last month's MasterCard Colonial at age 48, thinks the golf course will get more difficult as the week goes on. A steady diet of wind will make the greens firmer and quicker, which isn't good news to anyone who makes a living playing golf. Tiger Woods, the former Stanford University star who has played The Olympic Club numerous times, noticed something strange while playing a practice round.

"They were watering the rough and not the greens," he said. "I found that kind of interesting. The greens are already starting to dry out and starting to bounce a little bit." At a mere 6,797 yards, Olympic's Lake Course isn't one of the typical monsters that has been chosen to host major championships lately. But in the previous three Opens held on the Bay-area course, par hasn't taken a beating. Jack Fleck and Ben Hogan finished at 7-over 287 in 1955 through 72 holes in the first U.S.

Open at Olympic. Fleck won the 18-hole playoff. Olympic's routing hasn't changed much for subsequent Opens. In 1966, Arnold Palmer blew a seven-shot lead over the final nine holes and tied Billy Casper at 2-under 278 before Casper prevailed the next day in a playoff. Simpson shot 3-under 277 to beat Watson by one in the 1987 U.S.

Open. The Olympic Club is really a par-71 course that has been turned into a Nets' Williams to lost golf event The Jayson Williams Foundation's annual celebrity golf outing Twill be held Monday at Cherry Valley Country Club in Skillman. The New Jersey Nets' All-Star center has held the event for the past three years, with proceeds benefiting charities for abused and children and The day includes golf, autograph 'signing, food, contests, awards and a memorabilia auction. Scheduled to appear at the event ralong with Williams are team- mates Keith Van Horn, Kendall Gill and Brian Evans. There are no golf spots left, but dinner tickets at $125 each are 'available.

For more information, call Chip Santye at (908) 704-1400. AMERICAN LEAGUE More coverage, B-2 YANKEES 5, BALTIMORE 3 BOSTON 12, WHITE SOX 5 DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 2 KANSAS CITY 4, CLEVELAND 3 I TAMPA BAY 2, TORONTO 1 1 OAKLAND 3, TEXAS 2 ANAHEIM 4, SEATTLE 2 NATIONAL LEAGUE More coverage, B-2 MONTREAL 5. METS 4 PHILLIES 3, PITTSBURGH 1 MILWAUKEE 6, CUBS 5 SAN FRANCISCO 6, COLORADO 3 ARIZONA 4, CINCINNATI 1 2 ATLANTA 6, FLORIDA 2 "5 HOUSTON 6, ST. LOUIS 5 LOS ANGELES-SAN DIEGO (n) IWORLD CUP SOCCER "Coverage, B-5 ITALY 3, CAMEROON 0 I AUSTRIA 1, CHILE 1 "Coverage, B-5 CHICAGO 1, DALLAS 0 Briefly JVoorhees adds Thompson wrestling staff 3 The North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional Board of Education on Tuesday approved the hiring of 'former Franklin High School 'wrestling coach Rick Thompson as i an assistant coach for the 1998-99 -season. Thompson, a longtime coach at Phillipsburg High School before serving as Franklin's head coach for the last two years, will assist veteran Voorhees coach Bob Hall, i who will retire after next season.

"Rick is a great educator and motivator. We're glad to have him as an Voorhees Athlet-. ic Director Sal Patti said. In other wrestling news, North Hunterdon recently hired Phillipsburg assistant coach Jason Hawk as an assistant wrestling coach to longtime Lions head man Dennis Haughey. Today BEST BETS Baseball YANKEES-INDIANS, 7:00, WPIX METS-MARLINS, 7:00, WWOR Golf jU.S.

OPEN, 3:00, NBC, 5:00, ESPN Sports on TV, B-5 fGotatip? For questions or comments, you can e-mail us at I You can also reach the Sports department at (908) 707-3156. Associated Press photo UP AND OVER: Pierre Wome of Cameroon jumps over Italy's Dino Baggio. Italy won, 3-0. Story, B-5. ATLANTIC LEAGUE Patriots win 2nd straight By JERRY CARINO Staff Writer NASHUA, N.H.

The field at Holman Stadium was all wet, and so was the Nashua Pride's lineup after Somerset Patriots pitcher Mark Zappelli got done with them Wednesday afternoon. Zappelli gave the Patriots 7 13 quality innings, allowing one run on six hits and one walk to spark Somerset to a 4-1 victory and raise his record to 4-0. "My goal is to go out there and make them swing the bat," said Zappelli, who came into the game with a 1.42 earned run average the second lowest in the league. f. "They're a VArv IroD.

swinging team. You don't have to go out there Box scoreB-2 and try for strikeouts. Usually, batters get themselves out, not pitchers." The win improved the Patriots to 11-13 and moved them within a game of third-place Nashua (11-11) in the Atlantic League's standings. Somerset will go for a sweep the three-game series in tonight's 7:05 finale. Ken Arnold put the game away for the Patriots with a two-run double in the top of the seventh inning to make it 4-0.

The inning began with Somerset holding a 1-0 lead and Victor Hernandez walking against starter Ed Riley, who had tossed six solid innings. After Andrew DiOrio sacrificed Hernandez to second, Louie Napoleon singled him home. Pride manager Mike Easier then replaced Riley with Jay Mal-donado, but the move backfired. Maldonado's first pitch hit Donald Broach in the back. Arnold then took him to deep right-center for the decisive double.

"After he hit Donald, I knew he was going to try to throw a fastball right down the center of the plate to try and get into a groove," Arnold said. "He put it right there and I hit it to the gap. That was good, because I hadn't been swinging the bat all that well." After several days of heavy rain, including a downpour late See PATRIOTS on Page B-2 best in the country last year, winning the prestigious Golden West Invitational and recording the seventh-fastest time (13.38) in U.S. history. "This year, Charmaine was gone and it was Lakeema's turn to take over and establish herself," Plain-field coach Payton Hine said.

"She always bad good technique in the hurdles. It was a matter of her getting more confidence." Going into the season, Lewis knew the onus was on her to help Plainfield continue its stellar track tradition. She had always been a solid performer, having posted a 57-second 400 and 17-6 long jump as a junior. But Hine called on her to raise the bar a notch. See LEWIS on Page B-3 "I las' nil Associated Press photo for the 98th U.S.

Open. So where did the Plainfield track team have this senior gem hidden? Lewis simply emerged from the shadow of graduated Cardinals star hurdler Charmaine Walker. Lewis is The Courier-News' Girls Track Athlete of the Year. "I think I surprised a lot of people," Lewis said. "I don't think anybody looked for me because I didn't do it for long.

"I was the captain, so I had to step up. We had to prove to ourselves that we were still good without Charmaine." There was no need for Lewis to hurdle before this season because the Cardinals had Walker dominating that department. Walker, now running at Villanova University, was the u. i -iZ4 Xxx Lr. ft --v KP v' Tiger Woods signs autographs par-70 layout for one week.

The uphill 468-yard, par-4 17th is played as a par 5 the rest of the year. "That is a great hole," said Casey Martin, who has been the center of attention this week because he is being allowed to ride in a cart due to a rare circulatory disease in his right leg. "Obviously, it is not a par 4, but at the same time, everyone has to play that hole. And, whether you name it a par 2 or a par 6, it really doesn't matter." Jack Nicklaus, the sentimental favorite who nearly pulled off a victory at the Masters in April at age 58, says the hillside course will pose many problems for today's young stars. "The golf course is certainly a formidable test," he said.

"The ability to score on the golf course is going to largely involve manipulation of the golf ball, and patience." Nicklaus finished third in the 1966 at Olympic and tied for 46th in 1987. "It is certainly a golf course that most of the young kids today will not have experienced," Nicklaus said. "That doesn't mean they can't play it. They just won't have experienced it." Experienced or not, keeping the ball out of Olympic's lush rough figures to be the key factor. Staff photo by Kenny Pang Associated Press photo Casey Martin drives his cart up the second fairway during a practice round Wednesday.

Martin, who sued for the right to use the cart, will be the first to use one in a major championship. U.S. GIRLS TRACK Lewis picked up the slack it. i ijjjbwiij mi I Til II .1 mil mi r. a Plainfield senior's performance made up for the loss of standout Charmaine Walker.

By JERRY CARINO Staff Writer Lakeema Lewis seemingly came out of nowhere this spring to post the area's top effort in four events: the 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles, long jump and 200 meters. In the 100 hurdles an event she never really ran before April Lewis clocked a 13.8 and finished second at the Meet of Champions. Lakeema Lewis of Plainfield recorded area-best performances in the 200, the 100 hurdles, the 400 hurdles and the long jump..