Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia • Page 23

1 1 4-i i Nx 1 sL-ji w. MkJ Julie Croteau: Baseball player 1 I I EXHIBITION: The Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-female touring baseball team, will play against an all-star team from the Virginia Baseball Congress, a local 30-and-over men's league. WHERE: The Diamond in Richmond. WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m. TICKETS: Prices range from $2-6.

For information, call 1-800-849-4627. in her voice sounding like that of a child. "It's like a late-night movie or something. What I went through to get here made me a better, strong person and, yes, this was a nice pot of gold to find waiting for me." Croteau has been preparing for this summer her entire life. That fact was underscored on Thursday, when the Sil Tammie Green, above, closes her eyes as her putt 8th hole misses.

All Sheehan had to do was sink did, leading to a celebration with caddie Carl Laib, 1 i ir her inai star High to the a i 0" Swede suffers golf's cruelties with a passion Are you not one of those people who really (swoosh), really (swoosh), really (swoosh) loves golf? No problem. You can learn to love it, and also develop a hatred for it, by watching somebody like Helen Alfredsson. Alfredsson is the unfortunate Swede who seemed to have the U.S. Women's Open in her pocket through 43 holes. She'd shot a historical 63 to open on Thursday, and a solid 69 Friday.

She was 13-under-par, coming off three consecutive birdies, and led by seven strokes going to No. 8 Saturday. And then, somehow, everything went to hell. On the brink of ascending a throne, Alfredsson instead fell off a cliff. It's hard to watch anybody go from 13-under to finishing 1-over, from leader to off the board.

To watch somebody so likable do it is truly painful. There are a lot of reasons to like Alfredsson. For one thing, she does what most of us do when things aren't working out. She swears. Except it's in Swedish, so nobody gets offended and the TV people don't have to cut away.

Fortunately for us, when she's instructing the ball, she does it in English, probably assuming the ball isn't multi-lingual like she is. She talks a lot to the ball and expects it to listen, except when she tells it to do the wrong thing. Then the ball better think for itself, and fast. Friday at the Open, Alfredsson hit a great shot onto the green at 18. Except she didn't know it was great.

She implored the ball to "Sit up! Sit up!" Then quickly had a change of heart and added, "Or do whatever you have to do." The ball did, leaving her a short birdie putt, and she doubled over laughing. Watching this woman play golf is just plain fun. Helen Alfredsson is as good a theater as Helen Hayes. She finishes a swing in the position of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Carlton Fisk never used this much body English.

She has a reputation for being, uh, what's the word? Goofy? You have to root for anybody whose college mentor called her "uncoachable" and kicked her off the team three times in four years. This Swede is much more like John McEnroe than Bjorn Borg. She gets mad at the injustices on the course like McEnroe used to get mad on the tennis court. The difference is, she doesn't yell at anybody but herself and inanimate objects. She doesn't come off as obnoxious, but rather as passionate, stubborn, charming and funny.

When she's playing well her one LPGA title was a major, the 1993 Dinah Shore, and she was a top player in Europe before being named LPGA rookie of the year in '92 she can beat anybody. When she's three-putting from 4 feet, like in her horror-show 76 on Saturday, she just beats herself. The difference between great and gross in a round of golf at this level is ridiculously small. Consistency is encouraged; emotion discouraged. Alfredsson, 29, has been advised to calm down and play like so many of the robots in pro golf do.

But that's just not her personality, and the tour shouldn't want her to change. Her emotions sometimes may be her undoing. But they also make her a great draw, because fans can relate. She admits this capricious, frustrating sport gets to her. The disappointment she must feel is tremendous.

The Open is the biggest prize in women's golf, and she's had her heart broken in this tournament two years in a row. But despite her reputation for being hot-tempered, she handled her weekend collapse with as much grace as you could ask. She said she didn't understand what had happened to her game. But somehow she simultaneously lost and gained composure. You love golf when a Helen Alfreds-son is winning.

When she's coming unraveled, you keep your hands over your eyes on the putts and yelp a lot. ver Bullets played in Boston's Fenway Park, one of the sport's most beautiful and beloved cathedrals. "It's so ironic," she said. "Fenway Park is where I saw my first baseball game. I was 8 or 9 years old, and that day when I first said, 'I'm going to grow up to be a professional baseball She was raised by parents who taught no dream was impossible, that deter- -mination would always be rewarded.

There were many times when she came to think her parents were wrong. She was 12 when she got her first hint3 me wouia noi always De iair 10 a female in an all-male sport. She had the second-highest batting average in her summer league that year, but the other w-players declined to vote her to the all-; i team. When she arrived at Osbourn Park School in Manassas, coaches andj school officials assumed she would switch to softball. It's cute for a little girt.

play baseball, she was told, but now boys are too strong and a girl could hi to tie Patty Sheehan for the lead on the short putt to win the tournament and she left AP-- i mm THE WINNER P. Sheehan 66-71-69-71277 THE FOLLOWERS I T. Green 66-72-69-71278 I Neumann 69-72-71-69-281 I T. Abitbol 72-68-73-70-283 I A. Dibos 69-68-73-73-283 SELECTED OTHERS lAAIcott 71-67-77-69-284 I King 69-71-72-72284 I Andrews 67-72-70-76-285 I H.

Alfredsson 63-69-76-77285 I Merten 748-75-69-286 I Davies 68-68-75-75-286 I B.Daniel 69-74-71-73-287 INSIDE ON D5 Steve Liebler caps his homecoming by winning the Eastern Amateur. COMPLETE RESULTS. D5. I I U. 4 Virginian never gave up on dream of lifetime By Mike HoHzclaw Daily Press Julie Croteau spent most of her life listening to people tell her to give up her dream of becoming a professional baseball player.

It's impossible, they said. Never happened, never will. Women can't do that. That's why this spring, as she applied for a telephone credit card, she smiled when it came time to list her occupation. With great satisfaction, she wrote "baseball player." At age 23 five years after suing her Manassas high school for leaving her off the varsity baseball team, four years after being spit on as the first woman to play college baseball Croteau is playing first base for the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-female team that tours the country playing exhibitions, including one Tuesday in Richmond.

"Isn't that cool?" she says, the wonder ,111 SILM 1 LUlSL'iJJ. I i 1 x-' i. Julie Croteau, the first woman to play college baseball, is a pioneer again, this time with the Colorado Silver Bullets. Steve Babineau jib' ft'l hi Sony team rallies for beach title By Tara Finnegan Dairy VIRGINIA BEACH Not even Superman could help Team Nike on Sunday afternoon. Dean Cain a.k.a.

Clark Kent on the TV series "Lois Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" cheered hard for friend and Team Nike captain Gabrielle Reece. But in the end, scrappy Sony Autosound fought off a late Team Nike rally to win 15-13 in the final of the $30,000 Outdoor Products Virginia Beach Shootout four-woman beach volleyball tournament By winning the tournament, Sony Autosound won the overall title for the 10-city women's tour, which is part of the $1 million Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. Sony Autosound took home $9,420 for winning at Virginia Beach. Sony Autosound, which lost 15-9 to Nike in Sunday morning's rounds, regrouped to battle its way to the final. Facing elimination, Sony Autosound trailed Paul Mitchell 11-7 in the semifinals.

But strong play by middle blocker Kim Oden and captain Tammy Liley helped the team rally to a 15- Please see BachD3 With par putt, Hall of Earner wins title for second time From wire service reports Lake Orion, Mich. Patty Sheehan is, above all, a survivor. She has bounced back from a catastrophic defeat that might have ruined her career. She has picked up the pieces from an earthquake that ruined her house. And Sunday, on this rolling countryside north of Detroit, she survived a final round of the U.S.

Women's Open that seemed determined to test the fortitude of even the toughest players. Sheehan shot an even-par 71 at Indianwood Country Club on a day when even-par was an accomplishment. It gave her a record-tying 277 total, a one-stroke victory over tenacious Tammie Green, a $155,000 winner's check, and her second Open championship in three years. For this, Sheehan missed her 20-year class reunion of Wooster High School in Reno, Nev. Instead, she had a reunion with the championship cup.

Green's final chance a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th green slid over the right edge of the Please see SheehanD5 'Mr. Excitement' wins at Talladega Spencer tops Elliott; Irvan leads in points ill 1 A RACE LEADERS 1 Jimmy Spencer Ford 2. Bill Elliott Ford 3. Ernie Irvan Ford 4. Ken Schrader Chevrolet 5.

Sterling Martin Chevrolet POINTS LEADERS 1. Ernie Irvan 2,739 2. Dale Earnhardt 2.723 3. Mark Martin 2,481 4. Rusty Wallace 2,447 5.

Ken Schrader 2,382 Trie Associated Press TALLADEGA, Ala. The last time Jimmy Spencer raced at Talladega Superspeed-way, he was roundly criticized for getting in just about everybody's way. He reacted by angrily saying that none of the other competitors would work with him. Sunday in the DieHard 500, Spencer, known as "Mr. Excitement" from his days as a NASCAR Modified champion, was surgically precise as he sliced cleanly through most of the field after early handling problems and wound up outracing and outma-neuvering teammate Bill Elliott for the victory.

"I made a lot of mistakes in May," Spencer said. "I tried to defend myself and said some things I probably shouldn't have. But that's all in the past Today, every one of the competitors out there worked with me. Everybody respected me and I respect them 1 1 1 COMPLETE RESULTS. D2.

anrl thar raallv wacn't ft lem." Defending race champion Dale Earnhardt Talladega's win- i ningest career driver with seven Winston Cup victories, led five times for 41 laps, but went out I with a burnt piston after 80 laps' and wound up 34th. Combined with Ernie Irvan's Please see SpncrD2 HOCKEY. The National Hockey League suspends and fines Mike Keenan, but he can stay with the St Louis Blues. Briefs, FISHING. The cobia run in the lower Chesapeake Bay is still on.

Chris Steuarf fishing report, D2. REDSKINS. Heath Shuler is still a no-show at training camp. Story, Warner Hessler'i winners and losers. D6.

1 jrfsWsWBlBBBBBlBWMBHlBBWSBMB 828-llll(800)881-00 Category 3111 for a list of top categories. Jerry Micco. Sports Editor 247-4638 Sony Aut sound's Kim Oden goes up for a kin against Team Nike in the championship match of the Outdoor Products Virginia Beach Shootout PwwtaMntarDalyPFBSt.