The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page C5

3 www.tennessean.com THE TENNESSEAN Friday, April 9, 2004 5C CYANMAGYELBLK TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 5C FOOTBALL MINOR LEAGUES SKY SOX 6, SOUNDS 3 Colo. Spr.abrhbiNashvilleabrhbi Barmes ss5020Alvarez lf5020 Pena 2b4010Shmprt 2b5111 Atkins 3b4110Abad rf3010 Tracy 1b1111Mateo cf4000 Holliday lf3100Rivera 1b3211 Hawpe rf4112Truby 3b4011 Freeman cf4100delaRsa ss2010 Closser c4121McDonald c4010 Young p3010Figueroa p2000 Driskill p0000Fussell p0000 Gilfillan p0000House ph1000 Donnels ph1000Almonte p0000 Harikkala p0000Allen ph1010 Totals336943Totals34393 Colorado Springs 000 401 001 6 9 0 Nashville 011 000 010 3 9 1 de la Rosa (1). DP Nashville 2. LPB Colo Springs Nashville 8. 2B Barmes (1), Tracy (1), Closser (1), Truby (1).

HR Hawpe (1), Shumpert (1), Rivera (1). HBP Rivera. SH Pena (1). CS Alvarez (1). iphrerbbso Colorado Springs Young 1-0562232 Driskill110003 Gilfillan110000 Harikkala110000 Nashville Figueroa 0-1665334 Fussell110000 Almonte221113 (1).

HBP by Gilfillan (Rivera). BK Gilfillan (1), Almonte (1). Sky Sox 6, Sounds 3 Next: Today, vs. Colorado Springs When: 7 p.m. PCL standings AMERICAN CONFERENCE Central DivisionWLPct.GB Iowa Col.

Springs Albuquerque Omaha Eastern DivisionWLPct.GB Memphis Oklahoma Nashville New Orleans PACIFIC CONFERENCE Northern DivisionWLPct.GB Salt Lake Edmonton Portland Tacoma Southern DivisionWLPct.GB Las Vegas Sacramento Tucson Fresno PCL schedule results No games scheduled results Colorado Springs 6, Nashville 3 Memphis 5, Albuquerque 2 Salt Lake 8, Fresno 4 Iowa 6, New Orleans 3 Oklahoma 13, Omaha 5 Portland at Las Vegas Sacramento at Edmonton Tacoma at Tucson games Colorado Springs at Nashville Albuquerque at Memphis Fresno at Salt Lake New Orleans at Iowa Oklahoma at Omaha Portland at Las Vegas Sacramento at Edmonton Tacoma at Tucson Game at a glance Losing pitcher: Nelson Figueroa (0-1) Big stick: Carlos Rivera, 1-for-3, solo home run, two runs. How they lost: Four Sky Sox runs in the fourth inning were undoing. A two-out fielding error by shortstop Tomas de la Rosa allowed one run and extended the inning, leading to J.D. RBI double. What they said: felt good going into (the fourth inning), with the lead and with Figueroa pitching well That was a big part of the game; the fourth was definitely a part of it.

But Figueroa take five of Sounds Manager Trent Jewett. pitchers: Sounds LHP Dave Williams (7-4, 4.19 ERA in Sky Sox RHP Aaron Cook (1-1, 2.25 in SOUNDS ALAN POIZNER Sounds first baseman Carlos Rivera, left, rounds second base as he heads to score off of a double by Chris Truby. Behind him is Sky Sox second baseman Elvis Pena. By MAURICE PATTON StaffWriter An impressive Greer Stadium crowd of 7,664 went home disappointed last night as the Nashville Sounds fell to visiting Colorado Springs 6-3 in the Pacific Coast League season opener for both teams. think you envision losing on opening said Nelson Figueroa, who got the starting pitching assignment for the home team and took the loss.

if executed better, have had a better Nashville, which won its first eight games and 14 of its first 15 en route to last PCL championship series, lost despite solo home runs by Carlos Rivera in the second inning and Terry Shumpert in the third off Sky Sox starter Jason Young. Colorado Springs rallied from the 2-0 deficit with four fourth- inning runs off Figueroa. RBI doubles by Andy Tracy and J.D. Closser and a two-out error by shortstop Tomas de la Rosa keyed the rally. the second run scored, I kinda let myself said Figueroa, alluding to the de la Rosa play on which Matt Holliday scored.

The error allowed Closser to come to the plate and drive in Choo Freeman for a 4-2 lead. thought gotten the third Figueroa said. let up; I did- bear down. As much experience as got in those situations, got to do better than that. I fault the defense; going to be there for me more than not.

got to dig down within myself and hold them there and not give up that extra Leading by two runs, the visitors picked up another run in the sixth when Brad Hawpe hammered a solo shot over the eye in center field against Figueroa. Trailing 5-2 in the eighth, Rivera reached base when he was hit by a Jason Gilfillan pitch and scored on Chris double down the left-field line. Colorado Springs got the run back in the top of the ninth when Hector two-out balk scored Closser. felt good down two Nashville Manager Trent Jewett said. the third run, you feel as good.

Truby got the big hit, and I thought de la hit was through but the pitcher (Gilfillan) made a play on it. executed in almost every With the loss, the Sounds fell to 18-9 in Greer Stadium season openers and 13-14 in all-time season openers. Spinning turnstiles: Last attendance figure was the best Greer opening-night performance in the past six years. The Sounds drew 6,119 to last 5-4 win over Iowa on April 3, and went on to draw 387,345 for the season. Short stay: Sandy Martinez, whose solo home run provided the only offense in the 1-0 preseason game victory Tuesday over Belmont, was traded Wednesday to Cleveland just hours after being assigned to short-season Class A Williamsport roster.

Martinez, a catcher who played for Triple-A Omaha (Royals) last season, was assigned by the Indians to Buffalo where he will play for former Nashville Manager Marty Brown. Pittsburgh received in exchange for Martinez. Also assigned to Williamsport to open the season were reliever Justin Reid and baseman Daryle Ward. The Cross- cutters, of the New York-Penn League, open play in mid-June. Sounds lose opener before large crowd Rivera, Shumpert hit first homers for Nashville Beard: New hope in Denver By CHRIS LOW StaffWriter KNOXVILLE Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer entered spring practice searching for answers at quarterback.

The Vols are down to their final week of the spring, and still searching. Fulmer said following scrimmage that the quarterback race was wide open heading into next Orange and White spring game. The lead that senior C.J. Leak had to open the spring has been reduced to a dead heat with junior Rick Clausen, who has seemed much more settled the last couple of scrimmages. But the bottom line with Fulmer is that neither has given him a surplus of confidence.

no getting past the lack of consistency right now on offense. name a Fulmer said. hoping that by next week one of them will distinguish himself more than the other. But at this point, we make some really good plays and then we make some that are really Fulmer still hopes to exit the spring with a good idea of who his starter will be in the Sept. 4 opener against UNLV.

Increasingly, though, it appears that the freshman signees Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer will get every chance to show what they can do upon arriving this summer. see how it shakes out as we go through next Fulmer said. I said at the beginning of spring, like to have a starter named by the end of spring practice. But right now, I do The offense has moved the ball at times this spring, but it has sustained very few drives. As the defense has mixed it up more and utilized different blitzes, the mistakes and poor decisions at quarterback have seemed to mount.

Yesterday, Leak was being chased by defenders to the right side and lost the ball untouched. Linebacker Omar Gaither picked it up and rambled 45 yards for a touchdown. Leak also took a couple of sacks after holding onto the ball too long. The quarterbacks have remained in orange jerseys, while most of the receivers yesterday were wearing green (non-contact) jerseys. not just the Fulmer said.

the offense. We get a drive going, and the center snaps it over the head. done some good things. Robert Meachem has made a difference out here. But not nearly consistent Clausen, who admittedly had a slow start, has played with more confidence the last week.

He believes part of his rust was getting used to game speed again after sitting out last season following his transfer from LSU. you can ask for is an opportunity to win the Clausen said. a chance for one of us to take it next week. I think the most important thing for both of us is to play within ourselves. a play to be made, then go ahead and make it.

If not, just wait until the next The running game has still not been dynamic, but Fulmer said he believed it was improved yesterday. Cedric Houston had a couple of touchdown runs in the goal-line work. During the scrimmage, David Yancey had a 40-yard run and Houston a 23-yard run. Offensive tackle Albert Toeaina was held out of the scrimmage with a sore shoulder. The Vols were already missing guards Cody Douglas and Arron Sears.

Meachem, although he was wearing a green jersey, made several nice catches. Granted, the Vols are depleted right now in the secondary, but nobody was able to consistently stay with Meachem. I can get these legs back in shape be all Meachem said. my legs are tight. I run hard in so long, and trying to come out here and give a 120 percent instead of just Campbell OK: With the secondary already hurting, the Vols got a scare early in the practice when sophomore safety Corey Campbell went down in pain.

But Campbell was walking around later in the day, and the trainers said it was only a knee contusion. Wade works: Sophomore corner- back Jonathan Wade saw his most extensive action of the spring and worked with the first team. Wade, who has been running track, was wearing a green jersey as a precaution. With Antwan Stewart expected to miss the 2004 season with a torn anterior cruci- ate ligament in his left knee, Wade is penciled in as one of the starting cornerbacks. QB still undetermined Leak, Clausen showing inconsistency UT FOOTBALL Eventually, Beard realized he was the only one who could revive himself.

Less than a year later, back to his old self upbeat, confident and talking about becoming a starting running back in the NFL. On Monday, Beard reported for the first day of offseason workouts with the Denver Broncos. Making the Broncos be easy Denver has two other proven running backs on its roster but Beard finally has the big shot he hoped for. He said not about to let it slip away this time. A regrettable decision Beard said if known how things would turn out at Alabama, he probably never would have left school after his junior season to enter the draft.

But when Alabama hired Coach Mike Price, the writing was on the wall for Beard. Price loved the passing game. Beard, of course, wanted to run. Beard examined the list of draft-eligible running backs, decided it an especially deep class and made himself eligible. Price was eventually fired amid scandal, and was replaced by ground-game loving Mike Shula.

I had known that was going to happen, I probably would have stayed in Beard said. people said I got bad advice and came out, but that was all The biggest mistake of young life was yet to come. Less than a month before the NFL combine, where top prospects are invited to workout and meet with NFL teams, Beard was in Atlanta working out with a friend. They were also having a good time, including smoking marijuana. Not long after he arrived at the combine in Indianapolis, Beard realized he would have to pay for his poor judgment and this time for some bad advice.

even know I was going to take a drug test. I had no idea. I am not blaming anyone but myself, but a guy I was working out with in Nashville told me that I going to have to take Beard said. knew I going to pass it. I knew I had smoked and there enough time for it to get out of my system.

I knew right then and there I was going to fail A few weeks later, a letter from the NFL confirmed his fears. His buddy in Atlanta, another draft hopeful, got a similar letter. Beard began to brace for the worst. Downward spiral Before the combine, Beard thought he might be drafted somewhere in the first three rounds. After the drug test, he still believed be selected around the sixth round.

At Alabama Beard rushed 678 yards as a sophomore and 811 yards as a junior. Despite splitting snaps with other running backs he had provided flashes of brilliance for the Crimson Tide, including a five-touchdown game against Ole Miss and a 199-yard outing against Auburn. But it was all for naught in the eyes of NFL teams, who were more concerned about his drug test and a DUI arrest in 2001. He was also deserted by some of those who earlier had cheered him on. had some fair-weathered said his aunt, Helen Beard.

had some friends that wanted a piece of him when he was in the limelight, but when his limelight shattered, they Pressure from others on the street made things worse. He could outrun defenders on a football field, but he outrun reminders of his mistakes. seemed like everywhere I went, people had something to Beard said. was like, how could you do that, Or you blew your People should have been trying to encourage me, instead it was like, Santonio, you blew could be at a restaurant, at the movies, or walking down the street. Somebody would notice me and have something negative to say.

I was like, my God, got to get out of here. I knew I blew it. I need people reminding me of A few weeks later, Beard packed up and went to Dallas. He moved in with his uncle, Ed Brown, and began to get his mind right. Upward swing Beard flinch last May when the Green Bay Packers invited him to tryout and then passed on him.

He knew the tryout was a favor because former Alabama assistant coach Sylvester Croom was a Green Bay assistant at the time. Other teams also expressed interest in Beard, but nothing panned out. He switched agents and eventually landed on the practice squad for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League. It a glamorous job, but Beard said he got his spark back during those two months in Canada. Late last year, the Oakland Raiders signed Beard to their practice squad, but they released him a week later because of a matter related to his CFL contract.

Finally, in February, the Broncos signed him to a three-year deal. He felt the same surge of adrenalin he felt while rushing for 5,630 yards and scoring 91 touchdowns back in high school. has always been a great athlete, that has never left said Maurice Fitzgerald, coach at Pearl-Cohn. I think once you peel away some of the exterior things of his life and he gets down to the core, he might have found out some things about himself that maybe he know, because he never had to dig down this deep. has an NFL body, he has speed, he has vision.

He has all those things other backs have, and it is just getting in there and taking advantage of the opportunity. To do that he has to be totally in shape and totally clean and all those things that go with it and that is with any job. You mess up and they are going to dismiss you. think Santonio still has passion and still has hope and now he has a marvelous His big chance Beard said he make another mistake like the one that dented his NFL dream. be completely honest with you, all that stuff was probably the worst thing that ever happened to me, but it was also the best thing that ever happened to he said.

gave me a new perspective on a lot of things I really serious about. I was on this high horse and it kind of humbled me back to where I needed to With the Broncos, Beard will try to get noticed on a team that recently traded star running back Clinton Portis to the Washington Redskins. Denver signed 11-year veteran Garrison Hearst to compete with Quentin Griffin for the starting tailback job, and Beard wants to get in that mix. Another former Alabama back, Ahmaad Galloway, is also a Bronco, but currently playing in NFL Europe. Beard will get a chance to prove himself over the next few months.

The Broncos hold minicamps in May and June, followed by training camp in July. Beard, 24, said things have never been easy for him. He fought his way from fourth string to first string as a sophomore at Pearl-Cohn. He attended a prep school in Connecticut to get his grades up so he could play for Alabama, then a knee injury ruined his second season with the Tide. But events of the last 16 months forced him to do more soul searching than ever.

Beard envisions himself back in the fast lane, even if he had to take a detour and lose part of his cheering section to get there. am fighter, man. I had to persevere through a lot of stuff and what I did. It was tough, and it was a long haul, a real long he said. I still have a dream to play in the NFL, and I want to live it.

lived out my dream through high school. lived out my dream through college and I am going to live out my dream in the pros. watch, I am going to run out there with an NFL jersey on that has on the back. I am out to show people that not Jim Wyatt is a staff writer for The Tennessean He can be reached at 259-8015 or FROM PAGE 1C AP Santonio Beard works out in front of a mirror in a Dallas gym. Beard is hoping to put his recent off-field troubles behind him after signing with the Denver Broncos.

Davidson.