Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • Page 16

INSIDE SPORTS m. July 9, The Evening Press 19B5 Binghamton, Y. Strange moves to record with victory mctariliD uthon cha wan thp 1100.000 closer Pro golf th Strange's 10-foot birdie putt on the ninth took the lead for good. However, Nicklaus missed a two-foot putt on the 16th that would have tied the two again. It was his seventh runner-up finish in the event he never has won.

Lopez wins her 3rd of year She's only 28, but people have been talking about Nancy Lopez in "late, great" tones. So has Lopez, who has wondered in recent years if she ever again would be a dominant force on the LPGA Tour. As a rookie and sophomore in 1978-79, Lopez won 17 tournaments. No, she didn't disappear after that. Lopez has won at least two tournaments every year since 1979.

But she has felt the last few years that the drive was waning. She married. She divorced. She married again. She had a child 18 months ago.

Golf was no longer the most important thing in her life. Now, it appears, Lopez has managed to find a way to focus on both her worlds. She claimed her third LPGA From Press wire services Curtis Strange, the first three-time winner of the PGA Tour season, is assured of the best year of his career. "And it's not over," Strange said yesterday after scoring a two-stroke victory over Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman in the Canadian Open at Oakville, Ontario. "It's already my best year Now, I've put myself in position to do some things, the money-winning record, things like that," Strange said.

"I don't know when I'll ever be in this position again or if I'll ever be in this position Strange, given breathing room when Nicklaus' challenge faded in the stretch, held on with a final round of 73 and won a tourney he called "the biggest I've ever won," with a 279 total, 9-under-par on the Glen Abbey Golf Club course that Nicklaus designed. It was worth $86,506 and put him on the brink of breaking the tour's all-time, single-season money-winning record. Strange has $520,081. The record is $530,808, set Mazda Hall of Fame Championship at Sweetwater Coun-i try Club in Sugar Land, Texas, the headquarters of the women's tour. Lopez shot a 4-under 68 to come from behind and win the $45,000 top prize as well as a $14,000 automobile for taking the spring-season Mazda-LPGA point championship.

He has $274,231 in 1985 winnings. She finished two strokes ahead of JoAnne Carner and second-year player Allison Finney, after trailing Carner by three shots at the start of the round. French title to Ballesteros Despite a closing 64 by Britian's Sandy Lyle and his own highest score of the tourney, Seve Ballesteros held on to win the French Open by two strokes at St. Germain en Laye, with a 62-68-64-69263. It was Ballesteros' third French title in his collection of 11 nations' championships, i by Tom Watson in 1980 when Tour purses totaled $13 million compared to this year's nearly $24 million.

Hix next target is this week's Anheuser-Busch Classic at his home in Williamsburg, Va. "I'd like to win that and much as any other golf tournament." He also must make a decision on whether to enter the British Open, which begins four days after the Anheuser-Busch. The majors haven't been Strange's forte; he didn't finish in the top 30 in the U.S. Open last month, and his magnificent comeback from an opening 80 at the Masters is forgotten in comparison to the two water holes he misplayed to squander his lead on the final nine. Nicklaus drew even yesterday at the eighth hole, but Torrey holds off Burnsworth by 2 O-Yanks keep winning UTICA It isn't only the starters who are responsible for the Oneonta Yankees' early-season pitching mastery.

Although the New York-Penn League's Yawkey Division baseball leaders have received three complete games during their five-game winning streak, relief pitching carried the O-Yanks to a 5-2 victory over the Utica Blue Sox last night. Right-hander Kevin Trudeau, making his first relief appearance of the season after three starts, bailed starter Ken Patterson out of a two-on, none-out jam in the fifth inning and pitched the final five innings to raise his record to 3-1. Trudeau lowered his earned run average to 1.37 and the O-Yanks (15-5) boast a team ERA of 1.94. With Oneonta leading, 4-0, in the bottom of the fifth, Patterson yielded a two-run single to Andy Donatelli. Trudeau took over and escaped the jam thanks to a double play, one of two turned by the O-Yanks.

Oneonta scored twice in the top of the first when Scott Shaw's grounder with the bases loaded was mis-fiandled by Utica shortstop Alfonzo Tavaras, allowing Corey Viltz and Shane Turner to score. The O-Yanks scored two more in the second on Viltz's RBI groundout and a single by Turner. Bob Green, the O-Yanks' top-hitting regular with a .325 average, had an RBI single in the ninth for insurance. Oneonta, 6-1 against its divisional rival, had seven hits against three Utica pitchers. The O-Yanks, who lead second-place Utica by 6 games, return to Damaschke Field 7:15 tonight against the Blue Sox.

Erielackecfpitcher Mick Free-d's three-hitter with 10 runs in the second as the Cardinals blanked Niagara Falls, 12-0. Freed (3-1), who went the distance, struck out five. In the second, Carey Nemeth's two-run homer and Dennis Carter's two-run single paced Erie to 10 runs on seven hits, five walks and two errors. Thedrylook Joe DeMarco of Ontario keeps himself dry in the cockpit of his Lola Chevrolet during a thunderstorm before Saturday's Can-Am Race at Lime Rock, Conn. Expos join the 19-inning winners man Enos Cabell dropped the low throw as Law scored.

Mike Fitzgerald followed with a two-run single. The teams were tied at 2-2 from the sixth inning until the 18th, when both scored one run. The 19-inning game that took 5 hours, 12 minutes to play tied the July 4 Mets-Atlanta game as the majors' longest by innings this year. The Atlanta game was longer in playing time, listed at 6 hours, 10 minutes, which didn't include two extensive rain delays. Neither game approaches the NL records held by a 1920 Brooklyn-Boston tie at 26 innings and a 1964 San Francisco-Mets game requiring 7 hours, 23 minutes.

Floyd Youmans, 1-0, recorded his first major-league victory, but it was bittersweet for the rookie, who learned earlier in the day he was being farmed to HOUSTON (AP) It took 42 players 19 innings and almost 5V4 hours before the Montreal Expos' Al Newman managed a bunt that brought the Houston Astros to their knees. "When I went to the plate, I knew the bunt would be a tough play for the third baseman to make," said a tired Newman after the Expos downed Houston, 6-3, in their marathon last night. "I did the same thing a couple of times in the minors and our third-base coach Rick Renick was also there. Our eyes met and he knew I was going to bunt, so I guess he told Vance (Law, who then scored the tie-breaking Astro third baseman Denny Walling fielded Newman's bunt and threw to first in time for the out, but first base Boreffi ties Post 82 L.I. girls capture title with no-hitter in final Steve Torrey has made a habit of winning Oneonta Country Club championships.

He won another, one of 14 area club championships decided yesterday, when finished two strokes ahead of Kevin Burnsworth, though Old Dominion collegian Burnsworth shot a 3-under-par 69 to Torrey's 73 1 on the last day. Torrey had a three-day total of 218. Consistent play down the stretch earned Chris Dickerson of Bingham-ton the Ely Park championship. Ely Park's was one of 14 local club championships completed yesterday. Dickerson, who won his first title, shot consecutive pars on the 12th through 18th holes and watched as his competition bogeyed its way out of the race.

He finished with two-day total of 148, two strokes ahead of Bob Kollar, Bob Leahy and Jim Lacey. Kollar double-bogeyed the 17th hole, with Leahy and Lacey both bogeyed the 18th. In other championships David Springsteen re-captured the Afton title, after winning it in 1983 and losing last year, in a 36-hole match-play victoory over Chuck Pu-trino. The two were even until Putri-no bogeyed the 35th hole. At the Apalachin Country Club, Rich Robinson shot a 34 on the back nine, helping him to a two-under par 70 and two-day total of 145 for the championship.

Robinson won the 1982 title as well. In match play at Binghamton Country Club, Chris Lane won his first title, shooting one-over golf in a 3-and-2 victory over Harry Wright. Defending champion Tom Monti-cello held off Mike Jaros Jr. for the En Joie title. Monticello ended with a 72 for a three-day total of 222 and Jaros shot a 74 on the final day for 226.

Jaros birdied the 13th, 14th and 15th, but Monticello countered with birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th. Betty Bills won her seventh in a row and Joe Zwierzynski his first ever at the Endwell Greens Cham- Local baseball losses as he went 3-for-4 with three RBI in an 11-3 rout of visiting Conklin Post 1845. Jerry Ingraham added a single, a triple and three runs scored for Hillcrest, 3-4 in league play) Binghamton Northeast used the three-hit pitching of Jeff Moore and Mark DeLuca to stifle the bats of host Whitney Point in a 9-0 win. Northeast improved its Broome County record to 3-5. Endicott Mahar kept pace with Post 82, which took a forfeit over Harpursville, by improving to 7-1 with a 7-5 decision of host Johnson City Post 758.

Mark Fotuski earned the win and George Kolba took the loss. Roger McDowell. They trailed by two runs after five innings of the second game. But they scored six runs two earned in the sixth, their most productive inning this season, and went on, behind Doug Sisk and Jesse Orosco, to complete the sweep. "We thought we were going to score a lot of runs, but we've been so injured and so inconsistent.

We've had a lot of people slumping at the same time," Hernandez said. "Because we weren't hitting, we've been as erratic as I think this team can be. But we've won 44 games despite that. We have two more games before we get to the halfway point. If 00 rill I Call or I Write A Club golf pionships.

Bills shot a total 172, eight strokes ahead of Maggie Holowinski. Zwierzynski was bolstered by a 2-under-par back nine of 34, giving him a 71 and even-par 144 over the two days. At Ford Hill, only four players finished the championships final round with Bill Lewis beating Bill Stearns by three strokes for the title. Darlene Bianco won the women's title. Mike Csigi, held on to win at Genegantslet despite shooting a 76 on; the last day to finish at 224.

A charging Fred Johnson was a stroke back after shooting 70. Paul Simek, tied with Csigi for the lead entering play yesterday, shot an 81 to finish fourth. Csigi's father, Mike has won at Genegantslet many times. A back nine of 33, after shooting 43 in the front nine, propelled Joe Kressler to the Maple Hill Golf Club title. Kressler won for the first edging Bob Gates' 239 by one stroke.

Eight-time champion Bob Gros tied Jeff Hill for third. Brad Volkert won his first Sidney Golf Club championship, leading from start to finish despite a 77 on the final day. The Bainbridge golfer shot 222. Tom O'Neil had the day's low round, a 70, to earn second place. Tioga's Adam Schumacher successfully defending his Tioga Country Club title with a three-round 214, four strokes ahead of Dave Nash.

John Govern reclaimed his 1983 title at Vestal Hills with a three-round 218 and final round 74. Dave Greblick twice came within two strokes of Govern, a former All-American at Hamilton College. Greblick eagled the 4th hole birdied the 14th, but Govern birdied the 17th as Greblick parred and Greblick bo- geyed the 18th. HR mark CVBL: With an 11-8 lead enter- ing the bottom of the ninth, visiting Kirkwood likely figured it had a Che-' nango Valley Baseball League victory tucked neatly away. Oxford's Jason Webb had other plans.

Webb stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and promptly depos-: ited a pitch over the right-center fence to give his team a 12-11 trimph. Kirkwood had scrapped back with two runs to grab the lead in its half of the ninth. But Oxford's Tom McMuk len was hit by a pitch, Tim Ross, walked and Denny Christian singled-; to set the table for Webb's first homer of the season. The win gave Oxford a 4-1-1 re-, cord. Elsewhere in CVBL play, The Nor-, wich Old-Timers won their second against four losses, 5-3, at Morris-.

vQle. we win one of them, we'll be right on course for 90. 1 don't think we can be, as erratic in the second half, so it's a' good sign." The two victories produced the Mets' first sweep of a four-game road series since 1979 and extended their winning streak to six games their longest of the season. The method of winning prompted memo- ries of their winter and spring-train- ing predictions. 1m only negative factor in the sweep was a possible leg injury suf-, fered by Ray Knight, who had his most productive dav of the season.) WALT DAVIES.

PI 797-6785 BOX 244-VESTAL, N.Y. 13850 i Jud Preskitt in oss with a bee injury. TCLC plays at Southern Division co-leader West Genesee 1 :30 p.m. Sunday. Mets believe they're on course now It's taken him just 27 games, but Fran Boreffi has already made it clear that he'll likely finish the season as Endicott Post 82's all-time single-season home run leader.

The Union-Endicott senior sent No. 11 over the wall yesterday in a 64 non-league American Legion baseball victory over visiting Utica. The homer equaled the previous season best set by Scott Denmon in 1981. Denmon set the record in a 49-game season. Boreffi also pulled closer to the team's RBI record of 58 set by Eric Jankowski in He has knocked in 40.

Also joining the home run parade for Post 82 were Paul Kovarick, who hit his fifth, and Dennis Hayes, with his first. In Broome County League action, Ted Zawerton led Hillcrest Post H94 to its 12th overall victory against four ble-header sweep of the dreary Atlanta Braves. Winning twice was wonderful in itself; winning by scores of 4-0 and 8-5 was even better. In each game, the Mets' starting pitching could have been more effective. Sid Fernandez (3-5), the winning pitcher in the first game, allowed merely one hit in six innings but walked seven batters.

Ron ling (8-2), the winning pitcher in the second game, allowed 10 hits and four runs in five innings. But in both games, the offense provided a substantial margin for error, and a sweep of the four-game series was achieved. The condition of the Mets' offense improved dramatically in the 16-13 all-nighter victory in the first game of the series. That was followed by victories by margins of five, four and three runs. "It took the worst night of the season to get us going," Keith Hernandez said.

"But it seems to have done the trick." The Braves' unreliable defense assisted the Mets in both games. The Mets scored four runs one earned in the fifth inning of the first game and eventually eased to their victory behind three scoreless innings by The Southern Tier Royals won two playoff games, but were blanked in the Binghamton Round Robin 18-and-under girls' fast-pitch softball tournament final yesterday. Kathy Delgais of Levittown's Long Island Express tossed a no-hitter, allowing only one base-runner in six innings to win, 10-0. The 10-run margin rule ended the game after the Express scored four runs in the top of the sixth. Kris Hackley of Endicott was the losing pitcher.

Long Island was 6-0 in the tournament. Hackley had pitched the Royals, 6-1 in the tournament, past pitcher Holly Aprile of Afton and her 15-and-un-der Dine-A-Mate Blue team, 5-3, in the semifinals. Levittown ousted the Binghamton Oilers, 6-4, in the other semi. To get into the semis, the Royals had to defeat the Apalachin Bombers, 12-11 in 10 innings, in a playoff for the wild-card berth. Albany's McDonald's is headed to Binghamton as the New York State representative in the August Amateur Softball Association women's national modif ied-pitch championships.

McDonald's won the state tournament at Stamford, beating Yorkstone Pub of Voorheesville, 4-3, in the second final of the double-elimination event. Yorkstone Pub, which came out of the losers bracket, had defeated McDonald's, 6-3, to force a second title game. Two Broome County teams had vied for the title, with Arnold Meyer Signs of the Kattelville Athletic Association reaching the losers bracket semis before losing to the St. Pauli Girls of Troy, 5-4. Along the way, Meyer Signs eliminated another KAA team, Hawkins Housing, 6-4 in a 16-inning game.

Kathy Ellis hit a two-run triple in the top of the 16th to win it. Two errors had given Meyer Signs a 4-2 lead in the 12th, but Chris DePersis' two-run homer in the bottom of the inning re-tied it. Hawkins Housing had two players injured in the lengthy game. Debbie Mosher tore tendons and ligaments in her right knee, but finished the game because Hawkins had no other second baseman. Debbie Lindsey broke her left hand.

Local focus Mary Bishop tossed a one-hitter and struck out 15 to lead Endicott Orange past Vestal, 10-1, in the final of the Johnson City 12-and-under fast-pitch tournament. POLO: Todos Locos of Connecticut won the Northeastern Intra-Circuit Tournament with a 7-6 victory over host Village Farms at Gilbertsville. Rick Sears scored the winning goal with five seconds left. Village Farms was led by Charlie Bostwick, who had three goals. MOTORCYCLES: Tom Burge of Johnson City earned his first victory of the season by taking the six-lap handicap main by a Dike-length over Mike Warren at Grand Sport Speedway in Owego.

Warren, of Apalachin, who also took fourth in the four-lap scratch main, qualified for both main events for the first time this year. In the Division II main, Mike Bu-man of Binghamton made it a repeat performance from last week as he sped home in front of Steve Watson of Coudersport, Pa. SOCCER: The Binghamton Soccer Club was three minutes away from its third loss of the season until Bernie Student took a pass from Mike Kuryla and scored his team's only goal to salvage a 1-1 tie with the visiting Dodge City Soccer Club. The deadlock left Binghamton with a 4-2-3 record and in first place in the Syracuse and District Soccer League's American Conference. The game was the opener of a five-game nomestand at the state University Center at Binghamton.

Next Sunday Binghamton will host the Macedonia Soccer Club at 5 p.m. LACROSSE: Skaneateles player-coach Ron Doctor led by example at the state University Center at Binghamton, scoring four times to lead his club past the Triple Cities Lacrosse Club, 14-7, in a Central New York Summer Association game. TCLC (1-1) was led by Don Giblin, Jack Davis and Jud Preskitt with two goals apiece. Preskitt left the game By MARTY NOBLE Newsday ATLANTA This is the way it was supposed to be from the beginning of the New York Mets' season some pitching, some, defense and enough offense to compensate for whatever deficiencies arose. These are the kinds of results that were anticipated when the Mets' batting order was reinforced last winter.

Four-run innings were to become commonplace. Victories by margins of three and four runs were to become routine, and victories in general were expected to come in bunches. Now the. Mets appear to have mastered the desired technique. Now, two games short of the midpoint of their season, they appear ready to pursue the high point of their season.

"We're finally playing according to Plan Wally Backman said, referring to the Mets' recent domination of the opposition. "It really doesn't matter how you win, but it's a good sign for us to be winning this way." Backman's remarks came yesterday in the afterglow of the Mets' dou bbbnlibbcdl.