Great Falls Tribune from Great Falls, Montana • Page 17

Sp5l a GF Dodgers statistics 4B The Baseball Page 5B Senior Open on 6B Athletics reward Canseco 7B 3B Great Falls Tribune Thursday, June 28, 1990 Dodgers rally past Mustangs fe On a roll GREAT FALLS Ob bl 3110 IV Sjwv 0r-UTM I AlH I a 1 I II BILLINGS Rlggs2b Fllotelss Gillumlf Qulnonesrf Jones dh Velez3b Wilson lb Nichols Burroughs cf ob bl 2 0 10 3 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 4 110 4 0 0 0 4 12 1 4 110 4 0 11 3 0 0 0 Ingram dh Webb 2b Mondesi cf Buschlb Grave Griffin ph Perez Watts 3b Smith If Maurerss Blackwellrf Totals ill! A jiPH Totals 32 3 3 Billings Great Falls E-Blackwell, Nichols, LOB Billings 6. Great 000 100 200-3 ON 001 03K-4 Webb. DP-Bllllnas 1. Falls 6. 2B-Qulnones.

Burroughs, Webb. SB-Webb, Mondesi 3. S-l Billings By SCOTT MANSCH Tribune Sports Writer Tim Griffin's shoulder was smarting, but not as bad as the Great Falls Dodgers were hurting for runs. Griffin had the remedy. He delivered a two-run pinch-hit single in the eighth inning as the Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Billings Mustangs Wednesday night before a whopping crowd of 3,6 1 1 at Legion Park.

Great Falls is 7-1 this season, in first place and two full games ahead of the Mustangs (5-3) and three games ahead of the Helena Brewers (4-4) in the Pioneer's Northern Division. Griffin, the Dodgers starting third baseman, was not in the lineup because of tendonitis in his right shoulder. But he was ready when Great Falls manager Joe Vavra called. "It was very exciting. The game was on the line," Griffin said.

"In that situation you just try to control yourself and hit the ball." Griffin's bouncer up the middle IP BR BB SO 5 2-3 0 1 0 7 6 1 2-3 3 2 2 0 2 2-321100 6 23 6 3 1 2 3 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 Stewart Duff Ferry 0-1 Great Falls Hamilton Tipton HBP-Filotel bv Tipton. A 3,411. WP-Stewart. got through the Mustangs' drawn-in infield and scored Raul Mondesi and Mike Busch. Moments earlier Busch's looping single to center off reliever Mike Ferry scored Garey Ingram and shaved the Billings lead to 3-2.

it, Tribune Photo by Wayne Arnst Great Falls Dodger Lonnie Webb gets back safely to first base, just ahead of the throw to Billings Mustang Todd Wilson. See DODGERS, 4B Nets tab Coleman Guards dominate remainder of NBA draft Braves determined to go with youth Jerry Schmltz Schmitz lands CMR post By SCOTT MANSCH Tribune Sports Writer Ever since Jerry Schmitz came to Great Falls, he's been winning things. Basketball awards at the College of Great Falls, academic achievement scholarships from the NAIA, a job at a respected Great Falls public accounting firm, a wife from Lewis-town the 28-year-old Schmitz has enjoyed plenty of success since moving to Montana from his Denver home. Now he hopes to lend that winning attitude to the CM. Russell High girls' basketball program.

Schmitz, a four-year starter at CGF from 1980-84, was named head coach at CMR Wednesday afternoon. He replaces Larry Lucero, who was recently named head coach of the Great Falls High boys' basketball program. Lucero's teams performed well for four years, winning a Class AA state championship in 1986. Schmitz realizes the tradition by which he'll be judged. "Larry is a fine coach," he said.

"It will be a challenge. But I wanted this job. When I found out I was a finalist I decided to go for it. I think I can do the job." The 6-foot-2 Schmitz, one of the best city-league basketball players in Great Falls, was a guard at CGF. He was known for intensity, both offensively and defensively, and a unique ability to rebound.

He favors an up-tempo style. "I'd like to move the ball up court quickly," he said. "We'll play high-pressure offense and defense both. I think it's fun for the players to get up and down the floor and not just pound it inside. You can also expect us to play pressure defense." Schmitz said he expects a lot of players to contribute to the CMR team this year, which has no returning starters.

"I don't think you can go with just five players," he said. "You've got to get a lot of kids contributing." See SCHMITZ, 4B O'f' tiiiiZalil iummmirmwmrX, (' By BILL BARNARD AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK Derrick Coleman went to the New Jersey Nets with the first pick before the NBA draft took on a shooter's look Wednesday night. Coleman, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound All-American forward, was the all-time leading rebounder in collegiate history and Syracuse's all-time leading scorer with 2,143 points. He was a starter for four years for the Orangemen and was almost universally considered the best NBA prospect. With Coleman taken, big men became a scarce commodity.

Of the remaining 26 picks in the first round, 13 were guards or perimeter players. Seattle took 6-3 Oregon State point guard Gary Payton and Denver followed with LSU's 6-1 Chris Jackson, a 29-point scorer in his two years in college. Not since Detroit took Isiah Thomas with the No. 2 pick in 1981 has a guard been taken as high as Payton. Then came 6-7 Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech, an outstanding perimeter shooter who was taken by Orlando, and 6-5 guard Kendall Gill of Illinois, selected by Charlotte.

The string of shooters was broken when Minnesota selected 7-0 Felton Spencer of Louisville and the Sacramento Kings grabbed 6-7 Player of the Year Lionel Simmons of La Salle with the first of their record four first-round picks. The Kings later selected guard Travis Mays of Texas at No. 14; 7-0 center Duane Causwell of Temple with the 18th pick; and forward Anthony Bonner of St. Louis at No. 20.

The seventh pick was the Kings' own after they finished with a 23-59 By Tribune Staff It is no secret that many past problems of the Atlanta Braves can be traced directly to a sub-par farm system. The Braves have cultivated few All-Star players in recent years, with the exception of outfielder Dale Murphy and third baseman Bob Horner. Now, the organization seems determined to go with youth for better or worse. Indeed, many knowledgeable baseball people believe the Braves' young pitchers, i.e. Steve Avery, Tom Glavine, Kert Mer-cker and Tommy Greene, are bona fide stars of the future.

That remains to be seen. But even so, the Braves of 1990 seem woefully inadequate in the key positions up the middle. Their catching, shortstop and center field play has been inconsistent. It is to shore up at least a few of those important areas that the Braves have drafted recently and baseball fans in Great Falls have seen some of that philosophy at work. The Idaho Falls Braves of the Pioneer League finished 27-40 last summer, and highly touted catcher Tyler Houston Atlanta's No.

1 in 1989 was not a consistent producer. Houston batted .244 with 4 homers and 24 RBI after being selected No. 2 overall and signing for a then-record bonus of $241,000. This year the Braves had the top choice overall in the free-agent draft, and used it to select AP Photo NBA commissioner David Stern, right, congratulates Derrick Coleman, the number one pick in the NBA draft. prep shortstop Chipper Jones.

Atlanta immediately signed Jones to a package which included a $275,000 bonus. The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder was given college money, a life insurance policy and other perks, making the total package worth an estimated $400,000. Montana baseball fans won't be able to check out Jones for themselves, since he was assigned to Bradenton of the Gulf Coast League. The team's No. 3 and 4 selections this June were center fielders, Lance Marks of Dana Point, and Johnny Walker of the University of Texas.

Houston was a disappointment a year ago. He did not throw well and seemed over-matched by Pioneer League pitching. However, he's rebounded this year at Class A Sumter (South Atlantic). Although Houston was hitting in the last month, he had 6 homers, 7 doubles and 28 RBI. recovers from an injured knee.

Willie Burton, a 6-7 forward in college, then was grabbed by Miami, which acquired the ninth and 15th pick from Denver in exchange for the No. 3 selection. Atlanta, which had switched first-round picks with Golden State earlier in the day, then took Michigan point guard Rumeal Robinson. Robinson was the first of three Michigan players taken in the first See NBA DRAFT, 4B record this season. The other picks were acquired in trades with Dallas and Utah.

The Mavericks sent the 14th and 18th picks to the Kings in a deal that brought Rodney McCray to Dallas. After Simmons, three more players slated to play guard in the NBA were chosen. Bo Kimble, the nation's leading scorer at Loyola Marymount with a 35.3 average, was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers, who can use him as insurance while Ron Harper Becker, Graf post easy victories at Wimbledon headed toward another of the upsets that claimed No. 4 John McEnroe and five other seeds. Masur, a gritty Australian who beat Becker in five sets at the Australian Open three years ago, pounded serves and volleys to keep pace with Becker throughout the set.

In the tie-breaker, with Becker serving the third point, Masur benefited from a backhand net cord that Becker lunged fof but couldn't quite reach. Masur went ahead 4-1 on serve, but Becker won the next three points to tie it 4-4. After Masur held to 5-4, Becker's undoing came on a double-fault, his first of seven in the match. Masur then served out to win 7-5. "He really played well," Becker said.

"It wasn't that I wasn't playing so good. In the tie-breaker, he played two, three shots which went on his side. But I was able to be up there for the whole match, and he couldn't play like he was playing the first set for the whole time. If not he would be in the top 10. So I guess that's tlje difference." The difference became apparent in a strange second set, which was almost the opposite of the first, with Becker breaking all four of Masurs services and Masur breaking Becker twice.

Masur continued his mid-match "walkabout" an Australian term for wandering in the outback as Becker broke him for a fifth straight time in the third set and moved on to an easy victory. Californian Derrick Rostagno, McEnroe's conqueror in the first round, remained a dark horse to win Wimbledon by notching a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Britain's last hope, Jeremy Bates. Rostagno said he was worried about a letdown after the tumultuous triumph over McEnroe. "To come back right away the next day and play was a little bit of a surprise," he said. "But I knew that it would be very probable that there would be a letdown, and I tried to fight it off and get excited to play again, which I did.

I think 1 did pretty well in that respect David Wheaton, andther American longshot to win, reached the third round by surviving a long battle against Paul Annacone, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7-3), 6-4. By STEVE WILSTEIN AP Tennis Writer WIMBLEDON, England The red-haired guy no one seems to recognize each year at Wimbledon's gate really is Boris Becker. Check out his credentials: Photo ID, big bag stuffed with rackets, a page in the player guide that shows he's won three championships. Everyone knoWs Jennifer Capriati's dimpled smile and long brown hair, even though the 14-year-old Floridian is a newcomer to these hallowed lawns. She walked right in Wednesday, no problem, won her second match, no sweat, and left the crowd charmed as if she were a princess.

Becker? He had trouble getting through the gate and trouble getting started on Centre Court, but once he sorted it all out he brought order where chaos reigned the day before. "They stop me every time," he said after beating Wally Masur 6-7, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in a second-round match. "I had my pass. It just took a minute to show it to her and she believed me that I was the one." Becker and Steffi Graf, the defending champions from West Germany, ended the disappearing act of seeded players after nine vanished in the first round. All the-seeds in action Wednesday won.

Graf, the women's top seed, raced through a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Meredith McGrath in 44 minutes, allowing the 19-year-old former Stanford star only six points in the final set. Monica Seles, No. 3, took the cue from the champs and beat Camille Benjamin 6-3, 7-5. Zina Garrison, No. 5, crushed Cecilia Dahlman 6-2, 6-1, and Helena Sukova, Ho.

10, won the last three games of her match against Nicole Jagerman to win 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. No. 12 Capriati, the youngest seed in Grand Slam history and youngest player to reach Wimbledon's third round, beat Julie Halard of France 6-2, 7-6. Capriati breezed along until she, served for the match at 5-3 and was broken. "I think I lost my concentration," she said.

"I just didn't close it out. Then when she started coming back in, I did start to think about what happened last week (when) I let (Gretchen Magers) come back from being up 6-2, 4-1. 1 said, 'Don't let that happen Capriati wound up losing to Magers on the grass at Eastbourne, but this time was determined to "just fin 1 t- AP Photo Defending champion Boris Becker flies through the air to return a shot from Wally Masur aunngsecond-rouna action Wednesday. play tough." She won the tie-breake 7-2 and set up a third-round match against 26-year-old Californian Robin White. Capriati remains confident that she has a shot at winning and said she's feeling more comfortable on I grass despite growing up playing on hard courts and clay.

"I didn't have to make so many changes (in) my game," she said. "I've been practicing my serve a lot and my net play mostly, and I feel comfortable on the grass." No one looks more comfortable on grass than Becker, who revels in rolling on Centre Court after leaping for seemingly impossible shots. He complained about the court being wet and soft when he slid all over it during his opening match, but he was frolicking on it joyfully Wednesday. Becker's victory over Masur began as if it were.