Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page C08

C8 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER26, 2008 THEHARTFORDCOURANT of the year and really saying something by turning to players such as Cancel and Ramon Martinez, another well-traveled veteran who also had a run- scoring, season-saving single in the eighth. They did it by listening to manager Jerry Manuel and his coaches, who came into Shea Stadium on Thursday determined to be positive. They did it, as Beltran said, for one other reason. we have said the player who drove home Jose Reyes from second, his 12th game-winning RBI of the season. me tell you Beltran said.

pretty good at leaving things here at the ballpark because if I take what happened home, then going to have a bad day with my wife. Basically, my wife was more affected because she was watching the game. She was like, believe I said, the way it is. We have to find a way to do Anight earlier, a Cub probably would have caught that liner. First baseman Derrek Lee did catch one like it Wednesday and started a double play.

A night earlier, the Mets failed to drive a runner home from third with the score 6-6. A night earlier, the Mets made this game an absolute must-win situation. Some good did come out of that 9-6, 10-inning loss. Ramon Martinez showed enough to convince Manuel to start him at second base Thursday, and Martinez responded with the eighth-inning hit that made it 6-5. says a lot about Jerry.

a said Martinez, who was released by the Dodgers this season. Manuel also saw enough to keep the slumping Ryan Church in the lineup. Church had three hits and a wild slide at the plate. Church clearly was beaten on right fielder Kosuke throw but veered way right, then reached back with his hand to touch the plate for the tying run before catcher Koyie Hill could nab him. That also allowed Pedro Martinez to avoid his 100th career loss against 214 wins.

With his contract expiring, he might not be back with the Mets and might not be back in baseball at all until he enters the Hall of Fame. He pitched well, except when he faced Hoffpauir (5-for-5), a September call-up who hit the first of his two home runs in the first inning. Maine Done For Season Manuel said John Maine (10-8, 4.18 ERA) will not pitch again this season. The righthander pitched since Aug. 23 because of a bone spur in his right shoulder that requires surgery.

Manuel said he made the decision even after medical staff cleared him to play. Beltran Delivers Game-Winner CONTINUED FROM PAGE C1 Things got so bad in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse during this discouraging season that a player reportedly threatened to outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. quoted in edition of The Seattle Times said, just believe the number of guys who really dislike him. It got to a point early on when I thought they were going to get together and go after The story went on to say that coaches and then-manager John McLaren, who was fired June 19, intervened when one player was overheard talking about wanting to him A meeting was called to clear the air. Pitcher J.J.

Putz said he remember any such incident and said there was no meeting to talk about it. very troubling if it was a player who said Putz said. have a lot of differences of opinion on alot of things, but to say something like that in the paper and not fess up as to who it is, whoever said it is a coward. You have something to say about somebody, step up and say it. hide behind Anybody can sit around and talk behind back.

I think Suzuki got off to a slow start, reached 3,000 hits combined between Japan and the U.S. on July 29 and achieved 200 hits Sept. 17 for the eighth straight season. But rumors persist that some players believe he is selfish and more interested in his hit totals than the success. Mariners manager Jim Riggleman also said he remember any such clubhouse turmoil centered on Suzuki, nor a meeting to deal with it.

hard to comprehend that someone is looking at 200-plus hits and not helping the he said. seventh-grade mentality. pettiness, jealousy, pointing fingers, deflecting responsibility, lack of accountability, lack of character. People takes shots at people in the paper. You get a feeling for who those people are and you try to eliminate those Gaston gets extension: Cito Gaston signed a two-year extension with the Blue Jays Thursday.

Toronto has a 48-36 record since Gaston replaced John Gibbons on June 20. Toronto is 83-75 overall. Sheets up in air: If the Brewers ever needed a strong outing from oft-injured ace Ben Sheets, it would be this weekend. But after throwing a short bullpen session Thursday, Sheets sure if the sore elbow that has bothered him for more than a week will be ready in time for him to face the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Giants extend agreement with Defenders: The San Francisco Giants announced they have renewed their player development contract with the Connecticut Defenders through 2010.

San Francisco was forced to renew its affiliation with Connecticut when the Carolina Mudcats, a Double A team outside Raleigh, N.C., reached an agreement with the Cincinnati Reds. The four franchises were the only ones at their respective levels without agreements in place for 2009. Carolina (Southern League) had previously been affiliated with the Florida Marlins. Mark Reynolds set a major league record, striking out for the 200th and 201st time this season (Ryan Howard 199 in 2007). Ryan Dempster is scheduled to start Game 1 for the Cubs in Chicago against the Mets or Dodgers in the NLDS Wednesday.

Turmoil In Seattle Players Fed Up With Ichiro; Two More Years For Gaston EXTRA BASES Staff And Wire Reports BASEBALL HIGH SCHOOLS RESULTS FOOTBALL FCIAC Wilton 48, Bassick 18 NVL COPPER Torrington 27, Holy Cross 14 PEQUOT INTER 39, Nonnewaug 19 SCC INTER Shelton 35, Cheshire 34 (OT) Lyman Hall 30, East Haven 29 (OT) SWC Masuk 41, Barlow 13 BOYS SOCCER NCCC Stafford 2, East Granby 0 Matthew Purnell, Tony Bachiochi; Shutout: Kyle Pallanck, 12. 1-5, 2-3-1. Windsor Locks 2, Granby 0 Mike Engelmann, Cory Colone; Shutout: Mark Lindberg, 16. 4-1. Coventry 4, Bolton 0 Corey Vann (2), Taylor Vann, Tim Jennison; Shutout: Andrew Maulucci, 6.

3-2. SHORELINE Old Saybrook 0, Coginchaug 0 (2OT) Alex Rose, 16. Eric Murphy, 11. 1-5-1, 2-2-3. CSC Grasso Tech 3, Goodwin Tech 2 Dylan Barnhill, John Adcock, Joe Vega; GO: Arik Wrobel, Raul Canales.

1-5, GO: 2-4. BERKSHIRE Lewis Mills 3, Wamogo 1 Chris Vollono, A.J. Rose, Evan Olson; Taylor Abbott. 5-1, 4-2. OTHERS Northwest Catholic 5, Classical 0 Jordan Daniel (3), Jack Ferrell, Omari Comrie; Shutout: Michal Kucharz and Alexander Mortillaro, 4.

2-4, 4-2. GIRLS SOCCER NCCC Stafford 2, East Granby 1 Jenna Rossi, Krista Levesque; Carlynn DeVane. 2-4, 2-4. NWC Middletown 4, Plainville 1 Katie Chase, Jessica Zingle, Ali Daganais, Lily Smith; Lexi Carroll. 4-1-1, 1-4.

Farmington 7, Weaver 0 Mary Hogan, Ashley Cheesman, Brittany Papa, Ericka Bliss, Jessica Davis, Amber Manning, Liz Chamberlain; Shutout: Alex Deluse, 0. 5-1-1, 0-7. SHORELINE Old Lyme 4, Hale-Ray 1 Tory McKnight (2), Vanessa Mesham, Tanya Price; Morgan Humble. 6-1, 1-6. CSC Capital Prep 4, Sport Sciences 0 Theresa Mitchell (3), Jadelise Yambo; Shutout: Dymond Thomas, 2.

4-1, 2-4. FIELD HOCKEY CCC INTER Hall 2, Fermi 0 Caroline Lowe, Glennis Melley; Shutout: Olivia Almon, 8. 5-2, 1-5. NCCC Granby 4, Somers 0 Liz Yanchak (2), Brooke Kumnick, Abby Bascetta; Shutout: Lauren Clark, 3. 5-0, 0-5.

Avon 2, Enfield 0 Jess Portal, Avery Heelan; Shutout: Molly Burnett, 1. 6-0, 3-2. Canton 2, Suffield 0 SHORELINE Haddam-Killingworth 1, Old Saybrook 0 Marina Annino; Shutout: Lindsay Gorman, 6. 4-1, 5-2. ECC East Lyme 2, Windham 1 BERKSHIRE Nonnewaug 1, Shepaug 0.

5-1-1, 2-3-1. FCIAC Westhill 3, Norwalk 2. 5-2, 2-2-2. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL SHORELINE Coginchaug 3, Valley Regional 0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-17). Shelby Artkop, 9 aces, 17 assists; Kate Bergstrom, 8 kills, 2 blocks.

4-4, 1-7. CSC Goodwin Tech 3, Classical 2 (25-18, 12-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-9). Carmen Olivier, 11 kills, 6 aces; Sacoya Flores, 20 service points. 5-3, 2-6. Kaynor Tech 3, Whitney Tech 0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-13).

3-4, 0-6. Wilcox Tech 3, Vinal Tech 2 (12-25, 24-26, 25-18, 25-17, 15-7). 4-3, 2-5. OTHERS Berlin 3, Northwestern 1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-17). Katelyn Zarotney, 12 kills; Kelsey Twarog, 12 kills, 11 digs.

5-1, 6-1. Torrington 3, Naugatuck 0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-11). 7-0, 4-4. SCHEDULE 3:45 p.m. unless noted BOYS SOCCER CCC North: East Hartford at Simsbury; New Britain at Manchester CCC South: Bulkeley at Bristol Central; Maloney at Bristol Eastern; Newington at Platt CCC East: Hartford Public at Fermi; E.O.

Smith at South Windsor; Rockville at Bloomfield CCC West: Windsor at Hall; Wethersfield at Conard; Weaver at Farmington, 7 p.m. NWC: Berlin at Northwest Catholic; Rocky Hill at RHAM; Middletown at Plainville, 7 p.m. NCCC: Granby at Windsor Locks; Avon at East Windsor; Suffield at Enfield; Somers at Tolland; Elllington at Canton; East Catholic at St. Paul Shoreline: Cromwell at East Hampton, 7:30 p.m. SCC: Fairfield Prep at Xavier; Shelton at Cheshire ECC: Griswold at Bacon Academy, 3:30 p.m.

CSC: Sports Science at University, 4 p.m.; Wilcox Tech at Tech; Prince Tech at Cheney Tech, 4 p.m.; Vinal Tech at Whitney Tech, 4 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER CCC North: Simsbury at East Hartford; Glastonbury at Southington; Manchester at New Britain CCC South: Bristol Central at Bulkeley; Bristol Eastern at Maloney; Platt at Newington CCC East: Bloomfield at Rockville; Fermi at Hartford; South Windsor at E.O. Smith CCC West: Hall at Windsor; Conard at Wethersfield; Farmington at Weaver NCCC: Enfield at Suffield; Windsor Locks at Granby; East Windsor at Avon; Tolland at Somers; Coventry at Bolton; Canton at Ellington NWC: St. Paul at East Catholic; Plainville at Middletown, 6 p.m.; RHAM at Rocky Hill, 7 p.m. Shoreline: Valley Regional at Morgan; Portland at Haddam-Killingworth; Old Lyme at Old Saybrook; Cromwell at East Hampton, 5 p.m.

CSC: Holy Family at Wilcox Tech, 4 p.m.; Vinal Tech at Grasso Tech, 4 p.m.; Classical Magnet at Parish Hill, 4 p.m.; SMSA at Capital Prep, 4 p.m. SCC: Mercy at East Haven ECC: Bacon Academy at Griswold; Windham at Killingly FIELD HOCKEY CCC Inter: Wethersfield at Maloney; Farmington at South Windsor; Glastonbury at Windsor; Newington at E.O. Smith; Conard at Southington; Shoreline: Valley Regional at Morgan; North Branford at Westbrook; SCC: Sacred Heart at Cheshire, 4 p.m.; GIRLS VOLLEYBALL CCC North: Simsbury at East Hartford, 5 p.m.; Manchester at New Britain, 5 p.m.; Glastonbury at Southington, 6 p.m.; CCC South: Bristol Central at Bulkeley, 5 p.m.; Bristol Eastern at Maloney, 6 p.m.; Platt at Newington, 6 p.m.; CCC East: E.O. Smith at Rockville, 5 p.m.; South Windsor at Hartford Public, 5 p.m.; CCC West: Hall at Windsor, 5 p.m.; Conard at Wethersfield, 5 p.m.; Farmington at Weaver, 6 p.m.; CCC Inter: Fermi at Bloomfield, 5 p.m.; NWC: Northwest Catholic at Berlin, 5:30 p.m.; RHAM at Rocky Hill, 5:30 p.m.; St. Paul at East Catholic, 5:30 p.m.; Plainville at Middletown, 5:30 p.m.; NCCC: Ellington at Tolland, 3:30 p.m.; Enfield at Avon, 5:30 p.m.; Shoreline: Hale Ray at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.; Haddam-Killingworth at Cromwell, 5:30 p.m.; Hyde at Morgan, 5:30 p.m.; SCC: Mercy at Sacred Heart, 5:15 p.m.; Cheshire at Amity, 5:30 p.m.; ECC: Bacon Academy at Windham, 5:15 p.m.

Berkshire: Nonnewaug at Lewis Mills, 5:15 p.m.; CSC: Cheney Tech at Tech, 5 p.m.; SMSA at Prince Tech, 5:30 p.m.; CROSS COUNTRY Berkshire: Housatonic at Lewis Mills, 4:15 p.m. Others: Bellringer Classic at East Hampton, 3:30 p.m.; GIRLS SWIMMING Manchester at Conard (at Cornerstone Aquatics Center), 3:30 p.m.; Hall at Southington (at Southington YMCA); Bristol Central at E.O. Smith (at Mansfield Community Center); East Hartford at Maloney; Glastonbury at Bristol Eastern (at Malone Center), 4 p.m.; Hartford Public at 4p.m.; East Catholi at Berlin (at Platt), 4 p.m.; Middletown at Plainville, 4 p.m.; Rocky Hill at Windsor 4 p.m.; Cheshire at Sacred Heart-Hamden (at Albertus Magnus), 4 p.m.; Windham at Fitch (at UConn-Avery Point), 6 p.m.; St. Paul at Suffield (at Windsor Locks), 6 p.m.; Newington at Farmington (at Miss 7 p.m. WEEK 3 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE TODAY CCC East: Rockville at Fermi, 7 p.m.

CCC North: Glastonbury at Simsbury, 7 p.m. CCC Inter: Hall at Maloney, 6:30 p.m.; Bloomfield at New Britain, 7 p.m.; Bristol Central at Windsor, 7 p.m.; Platt at Farmington, 7 p.m.; South Windsor at East Hartford, 7 p.m.; Wethersfield at Bulkeley, 7p.m. CSC East: Sport Sciences at Cheney Tech, 7 p.m. ECC Small: Killingly at Montville, 6:30 p.m.; Putnam at Stonington, 6:30 p.m. ECC Inter: Fitch at St.

Tech, 6:30 p.m. FCIAC West: Trumbull at Bridgeport Central, 7 p.m. FCIAC Inter: McMahon at Greenwich, 7 p.m.; Darien at Ridgefield, 7 p.m.; Trinity Catholic at Fairfield Ludlowe, 7 p.m. Nutmeg: Middletown at Berlin, 7 p.m. NVL Brass: Crosby at Watertown, 7 p.m.

NVL Copper: Sacred Heart at Woodland, 4p.m. Pequot Uncas: Tolland at Windsor, 7 p.m. SCC Inter: North Haven at Hillhouse, 3:30 p.m.; Hand at Fairfield Prep, 6 p.m.; Tech at Branford, 7 p.m.; Guilford at Foran, 7 p.m.; Hamden at West Haven, 7 p.m.; Law at Sheehan, 7 p.m.; Wilbur Cross at Amity, 7 p.m.; Xavier at Notre Dame-West Haven, 7 p.m. SWC: New Fairfield at Brookfield, 7 p.m.; Pomperaug at Newtown, 7 p.m. Others: Westhill at Platt Tech, 7 p.m.; Wilcox Tech at Enfield, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY CCC Inter: Newington at Weaver, noon; Southington at Hartford Public, noon; Bristol Eastern at Conard, 1 p.m.; Man- chester at E.O. Smith, 1:30 p.m. CSC Inter: Bullard Havens at Prince Tech (at Cheney Tech), 6:30 p.m. ECC Medium: Griswold at Bacon Academy, 10:30 a.m.; Plainfield at New London, 7p.m. ECC Inter: Tech at Waterford, 6:30 p.m.

FCIAC Central: Norwalk at Harding, 1:30 p.m. FCIAC East: Fairfield Warde at St. Joseph, 1:30 p.m. FCIAC Inter: Stamford at Staples, 1:30 p.m.; Danbury at New Canaan, 2 p.m. Nutmeg: Plainville at Memorial, 11 a.m.; St.

Lewis Mills at East Catholic, 1 p.m. NVL Brass: Ansonia at Wilby, 7 p.m. NVL Copper: Naugatuck at Kennedy, 1 p.m. Pequot Sassacus: Cromwell at Haddam-Killingworth, 1 p.m.; North Branford at Old 1 p.m.; Valley Lyme at Hyde, 1 p.m. Pequot Uncas: Tech at Avon, 1 p.m.; mogo at 1 p.m.; Windsor at Canton, 1 p.m.

SWC: Bunnell at Weston, 1 p.m.; New Milford at Immaculate, 1 p.m.; Oxford at Bethel, 1 p.m.; Stratford at Notre Dame- Fairfield, 7 p.m. Others: Woodstock Academy at Capital Prep, 1 p.m. SUNDAY NVL Brass: Wolcott at Seymour, 4 p.m. MONDAY ECC Large: Ledyard at Windham, 6:30 p.m.; NFA at East Lyme, 6:30 p.m. Nutmeg: Rocky Hill at Northwest Catholic, 4 p.m.

Pequot Sassacus: Wolcott Tech at Morgan, 3:30 p.m. CHESHIRE Ryan DeAngelis scored a 1-yard touchdown with 30 seconds remaining, capping off an 80-yard drive that forced overtime and led to a 35-34 victory over Cheshire in an SCC interdivision game Thursday night. Cheshire (1-2) went ahead in overtime, scoring on a 10-yard pass from Billy Ragone to Brian DeBiss- chop, but a missed extra point allowed the Gaels (3-0) to pick up the victory on a 5-yard touchdown run by Joel Youd and a conversion by Jamal Mitchell. Ragone finished 13-for-24 passing for 227 yards and four touchdowns, adding 52 yards and a two-point conversion on 12 carries. Dan Sweeney had 11 carries for 58 yards, made 12 tackles and recovered a fumble for Cheshire.

Cheshire Loses In Overtime Staff Report SHELTON 35 CHESHIRE 34 ristol Eastern running back Mike Zeigler had a career-high 307 rushing yards and three touchdowns last Friday night against Bloomfield. was one of those unforgettable games in coaching because of what you were Bristol Eastern coach Paul Philippon said. It would have been more impressive if a holding penalty against the Lancers negated a Zeigler 60-yard touchdown run in the 35-6 victory. trying to check back in old records, but his rushing game is in the top five all-time Philippon said. Zeigler, a 5-foot-8, 200-pound senior who also plays linebacker, scored from 27, 38 and 11 yards.

a powerful player, able to lower his shoulder and run through defenders. Philippon said Zeigler can bench press 300 pounds and deep squat 475. aJerome Bettis-type, strong and thick, but he also has a lot of Philippon said. Philippon said Zeigler (363 rushing yards this season) is attracting interest from colleges. On Saturday, Bristol Eastern (1-1) plays at Conard-West Hartford (1-1), a game that will bring out emotions for Philippon.

The game was moved from Friday night at Muzzy Field because of expected bad weather. played for and coached with Rob Cersosimo for 15 years, and he had a tremendous impact on me in many Philippon said. of my best friends coach and teach at the school as Blocking For Berlin offensive philosophy: running right at you; try to stop us. Neither Ledyard nor Plainville could. Berlin (2-0), the top-ranked team in The Courant area ratings and No.

8 in the state, has a trio of talented runners in Max DeLorenzo (319 rushing yards), Kevin Tatro (174) and Taylor Tavarozzi (101). credit to our DeLorenzo said after running for 221 yards in a 34-7 victory against Ledyard. knocked people off the ball, and there are holes to Across the line are left tackle John Marzi, left guard Kyle Johnson, center Steve Nelson, right guards Nick DeLoia and Andrew Carlson, right tackle Pat Murphy and tight ends Mason Powers and Doug Campbell. hit the weight room and are genetically coach John Capodice said. teams run the ball.

We pride ourselves on Middletown (1-1) tries to contain the running Redcoats tonight in a Nutmeg Conference game at Sage Park in Berlin. Dynamic Avon running back Mike had to sit out the second half of the season opener at Cromwell because of cramps, and the Falcons missed him in a 21-0 loss. But a second team All-Courant player last year, was at full strength against Windsor He rushed for 219 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries and caught two passes for 24 yards in a 48-0 victory. our free safety and has 12 tackles and an coach Brett Quinion said. studies the game plans well and is a coach on the field.

a multipurpose back, and we miss him when not in Coaching Statements Weaver coach Rob Fleeting and Southington coach Bill Mella each merit praise. Fleeting knew his chances of upsetting Southington would diminish when he suspended four starters because they had missed practice earlier in the week. Nevertheless, he did it, the Beavers dressed only 23 players and lost, 35-14. But ateam rule was of greater importance. Mella, meanwhile, showed sportsmanship.

With his team having a third-and-goal at the Weaver 2-yard line, he directed it to take a knee on the final play of the game. Lewis Mills Building Up Lewis Mills-Burlington is playing its first junior varsity season with 47 players. Athletic director Dave Tanner said the school expects to start varsity play in 2010 or 2011. Coach Jude Kelly is happy for Lewis Mills, even though his team is a co-op of St. Paul-Bristol, Lewis Mills and Goodwin Tech-New Britain.

have only a few upperclassmen from Mills on our team and the younger ones are with their JV Kelly said. goal of all co-ops is to build your own program. So Mills is moving in on that. great. We want to do that, and I hope to see Goodwin Tech do it, too, Nonnewaug-Woodbury, under first-year coach and former major league first baseman Rico Brogna, won its first varsity game Saturday against Wolcott Tech, 50-22.

CCC Votes To Expand As expected, the Policy Board of the Central Connecticut Conference voted Thursday to add six teams from the Northwest Conference: Berlin, Plainville, Middletown, Northwest Catholic-West Hartford, East Catholic-Manchester and RHAM-Hebron. The new members, which play in the Nutmeg football conference, begin CCC competition in all sports in the fall of 2009. The addition of the NWC teams gives the CCC 30 teams. Division alignments with the new members will be determined at a later date. OING HE ARD ORK Powerful Zeigler Has Moves, Too HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TOM YANTZ PATRICK RAYCRAFT THE HARTFORD COURANT MIKE ZEIGLER gets a block from Dylan Oakes (56) in picking up some of his 307 yards against Bloomfield.

BOX SCORE, C7.