Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • 45

Sports Daily Record, Morris County, N.J., Friday, July 7,2000 D5 ets' late offensive spurt blows away Cardinals 'We haven't been swinging the bat from the get-go tike we think we are capable of. Hopefully we'll start getting some runners on In the front of the lineup and get the middle guys to drive them Jeff Shireman, New Jersey Cardinals manager An RBI single by Wilson, RBI double by Harris and a bases-loaded double by Jeremy Todd that yielded three more runs were the big hits that gave the Mets a five-run seventh inning to turn it into a rout. Todd's shot was well placed down the left-field line that spun away from Cardinals outfielder Crisp to make the score 8-1 and chase Meyer from the game. "I just remember battling with the pitcher," Todd said. "I fouled off four or five balls.

He finally left something outside that I could drive the other way and I went with it and luckily it landed in fair territory." It ended the Cardinals' chances of getting back in the game, but hopefully they have short memories. Notes Today's pitching matchup has Cardinals' Carmen Cali facing the Mets' Jason Roach. Shaun Stokes, the former Jefferson High hurler, is slated to start on Sunday. MARK KITCHIN can be reached at (973) 428-6677 or "Cole was hitting the spots, get-ting ahead of the hitters. He was painting the outside corner on the first pitch.

It looked like he made his pitches down to start the game out. We weren't making adjust ments later in the game to cover the outside pitch." The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Todd's solo homer. The lefty swinger took a first pitch offering from Meza and deposited it over the right-center field fence about 375 feet away for the first home run of his pro career. "It was my first swing of the night so I was just trying to make good contact with it," Todd said. "He gave me a pretty good fastball in so I just turned on it and it just took off.

I wasn't trying to hit it out." The free agent from an NAIA school in Tennessee made his presence known to the Cardinals and Shireman who had never seen him before. "Usually first basemen are your power guys," Shireman said. "He hit that ball a long way." The Cardinals manufactured a run in the bottom of the third, but not without a little controversy. Pittsfield Mets 10, New Jersey Cardinals 1 fare much better. Cardinals pitchers gave up 12 hits in all.

Offensively the Cardinals' bats couldn't solve 6-foot, 7-inch pitcher Joe Cole, who earned his third victory by allowing just two hits through six innings. New Jersey had just three hits for the game. Getting 12 hits in a game seemed a miracle for Pittsfield, a team batting an anemic .215 overall in the league going into Thursday's contest. "It's good for the whole team," said Todd, a burly 6-2, 210 pound lefty. "We need to start getting some more runs.

We did it tonight hopefully we could keep it up." Meanwhile, the Cardinals, who also are near the bottom offensively in the McNamara Division stats, will have to regroup. "We haven't been swinging the bat from the getgo like we think we are capable of," Shireman said. "Hopefully we'll start getting some runners on in the front of the lineup and get the middle guys to drive them in. single propels PTE to win over Wharton With one out, Mike Floyd reached on an infield single. Matt Galante followed with a single to right.

Mets outfielder Ron Acuna overthrew his third baseman and Floyd, who was approaching third came home. Surprisingly, umpire Rodney Galloway put Floyd back on third and Galante on second. Shireman argued the change for several minutes but the decision stood. Floyd would eventually score on Chris Morris' ground-out to tie the game at 1-1, but then Covelli Crisp struck out looking to end the inning. The contest was basically a pitchers' duel until the sixth inning, when the Mets opened up a little breathing room.

Chris Basak sin Flor-Mad 3, Denville 3 Mike Mould scored in the second and Travis Wilfong in the third to give Denville a 2-0 lead, but Flor-Mad got on the board in the fourth when Aaron Pond scored on Joe Healy's triple. Flor-Mad took the lead with two runs in the sixth when Mike Judge scored on a double by Pond and Jesse Novalis scored on a Zach Ellis single. Wilfong scored the tying run for Denville in the seventh on a Matt Nemeth hit. Bryan Flynn went 4-for-4 for Denville before play was suspended due to darkness. Morris-Somerset Parsippany 12, Rockaway 2 Steve Kerrer (3-1) struck out nine hitters in six innings of work and allowed just one earned run in leading the Trojans past Gearhart in Morris-Somerset League play.

Mike Terzo led Parsippany (7-8) at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBIs. James Hallik and John Coniglio both went 2-for-5. Hallik knocked in" three runs, two of them on a fifth inning single that broke a 0-0 tie. Coniglio scored twice. For Rockaway (8-8), B.J.

Fearon was 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. Chatham Tournament lis Randolph 4, Caldwell 0 D.J. Anderson went-for-3 with an RBI for Randolph in the tournament opener Thursday. Teammate nGame Continued from Dl for 22 walks and numerous wild pitches that enabled both teams to run the bases. "As 10-year-olds, you don't know what you're going to get out there," Thibault said.

"Although I would have rather seen a more traditional-type game, a win is a win." Florham Park took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Ryan Hinton scored on a bases-loaded walk and BY Mark Kitchin Daily Record FRANKFORD TWP. New Jersey Cardinals manager Jeff Shire-man knows it's a long baseball season. So suffering a 10-1 loss to the Pittsfield Mets isn't a memory he wants his team to dwell on for too long. "We just have to come right back at them," Shireman said. "You just have to put this one behind you and come out tomorrow ready to go." The Pittsfield Mets broke open a pitchers' duel with a three-run sixth inning and a five-run seventh to bury the Cardinals at Skylands Park Thursday night.

First baseman Jeremy Todd knocked in four of those runs with a solo homer and a bases-clearing double to vault Pittsfield to victory in the opener of a four-game series with the Cardinals. Very little went right for New Jersey, which dropped below .500 to 8-9 in the standings. Nathaniel Meza pitched five strong innings but the Mets caught up to him in the sixth and dealt him his second loss of the year. Cardinals relievers Mike Meyer and Bienvinedo Polo didn't Plescia's Michael Plescia went 3-for-4 Thursday to lead Par-Troy East to a 9-8 victory over Wharton in Little League District 1 9-10-year-old baseball action. Plescia connected for the game-winning single in the seventh inning.

Teammate Michael Pesci went 2-for-4, including a three-run triple in the sixth that tied the score at 8. Pesci also pitched four innings, striking out eight. Wharton's Derik Berta had three hits. Par-Troy West 15, Morrlstown National 13 Eric Gershey had two hits and two runs scored and Tom Bar-barite's RBI double keyed a 10-run first inning as Par-Troy West outlasted Morristown. Ryan Messmer pitched the first two innings to earn the win and Charles Matarazzo hurled two innings of scoreless relief.

Randolph 6, Rockaway Twp. 0 Derek Visconi fired a complete-game one-hitter Thursday to spur Randolph. He helped his team offensively with an RBI double. Also for Randolph, Glenn Shapiro had two hits and an RBI, and Dan Thompsen and Colin Sten-vall each had key hits. Randolph will play at Hanover Monday.

Hanover Twp. 20, Roxbury American 5 Hanover scored 14 runs in the first inning, which was highlighted by a bases-loaded triple by Ken Monteith and RBI' singles by Michael Siciliano, Mike Bizzarro and Pete Zafonte. Governor's Continued from Dl Wispelwey should feel right at home. He was 69-of-130 passing for 1,270 yards and 26 touchdowns while throwing just four interceptions for the Golden Panthers (12-0), who were as good as any team in the area and a Top 10 team in New Jersey at season's end. "Wispelwey has one of the strongest arms in the state," said New Jersey high school scouting guru Dennis McCarthy, author of the annual McCarthy Report, an in-depth look at the Garden State's best high school football prospects.

"He has a lot of athletic prowess. He can run very well. He wasn't a ballcarrier for Pequannock, but when the time comes to run, he can. He's a bright kid who'll be in the quarterback rotation at Duke." If he has his way, Wispelwey could be a part of Duke's basketball program as well. Wispelwey, who will head for Durham Tuesday and begin football practice Aug.

8, hasn't ruled out trying out for Duke's basketball team. "We'll see how things go," he said. Wispelwey is one of six area players to have been selected to participate in the overnor's Bowl. Here is a look at the others: CLARENCE CURRY, Par-sippany The Villanova-bound Curry is one of New Jersey's best defensive backs but he knows he needs to make a complete adjustment when he suits up for the Wildcats. "Morris County is good, but all I had to do was play Cover 3 or man-to-man, Curry said.

"In college, you have to hide stuff. I never knew that. College is going to be a lot different. I talked to the guy who recruited me at Villanova, Joe Trainer, and he told me to be ready." "Don't be shocked I'm making this prediction that he picks one off and brings it in in the Governor's Bowl," said McCarthy, who to a got up as I gled and came home when Acuna doubled to right-center field to give the Mets the lead. Meza than walked John Wilson.

A fielder's choice by Tim Flannagan advanced the runners and Todd was intentionally walked to load the bases. Pittsfield's Cory Harris took advantage of it by singling home Acuna to make it 3-1. The hit ended Meza's day. Mike Meyer came in to pitch and got Bubba Casteneda to hit into what looked to be a double play. However, Cardinals first baseman John Gall juggled the relay throw.

Wilson scored on the fielder's choice to make it 4-1. Mets' Robert Mclntyre lined out to end the inning. L.J. Travaglia also went 2-for-3. Anderson also picked up the pitching victory, working three innings and fanning six batters.

Brent Anderson pitched the final three innings in relief. Randolph will play Chatham tonight. Parsippany Tournament lis Roxbury 10, Morrlstown National 9 Jarred Bakker scored the winning run when Mike Spagnola walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning as Roxbury outlasted Morristown National Wednesday at Taylor Field in Parsippany. Todd Burdette's fourth inning RBI single tied the game completing Roxbury's comeback from a 9-3 deficit. Joe Shanley threw the final three innings in relief of Burdette to record the victory.

Joe Matta was 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Roxbury. Randolph 36, Chester 1 L.J. Travaglia went 5-for-6 with five RBIs to power Randolph past Chester Wednesday. Teammates Robert Krai and Mark Zaziski both had four hits and D.J. Anderson went 3-for-5 with six RBIs, including a three-run homer.

SOFTBALL 19-Under Rampage 4, Force Rampage 4, Force 3 The Rockaway Rampage (21-12) swept a doubleheader from the Oak Michael Thibault crossed home on an error. Jefferson tied the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning. Ned Marini and George Warburton both drew bases loaded walks. Florham Park seized control of the game by scoring four runs in the top of the fourth to open an 6-2 lead. Wehman and Andrew Walsh both had two-run singles.

"Wehman and Walsh had the key hits for us in the fourth inning and all of the walks we got helped us out a lot," Jerry Thibault said. Jefferson's Jimmy Kascia had an ZZZZZZE or bring to Daily Record Home Run Contest, 800 City E-mail Daily Record yes no August 10 August 15 August 24 MORRIS COUNTV'S NEWSPAPER land (N.J.) Force behind the pitching of Kristyn DePasquale and Chris Karbowski. DePasquale (6-5) went five innings to win the opener. She allowed two hits and struck out four. Katie Smith went l-for-3 with two RBIs, and Ellie Hendrick-son was l-for-2 with a double and an RBI.

Karbowski (8-4) scattered five hits over five innings in the second game. Ellen Manning went 2-for-3 and drove in a run, and Melissa Sokora was l-for-2 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI. District 1 10s Rockaway Borough 15, Wharton 12 Laura Urbanowicz, Sara Robinson, Tara Zander, Morgan Griglik, Michelle Bauer, and Courtney Smith each had two hits as Rockaway Boro outslugged Wharton in five innings. Minors Mendham Twp. 12, Hopatcong 2 Mendham's Jen Schmitt had a grand slam in Thursday's game.

She also pitched three innings for the victory. Bi-County 13-14 Hopatcong 6, Byram 5 Shannon Padula pitched a complete-game with eight strikeouts to lead Hopatcong over Byram in nine innings. Amanda Roe drove in the game winning run in the ninth for Hopatcong (4-0). RBI single in the fourth to make the score 6-3 but Florham Park tacked on three more runs in the fifth on three bases-loaded walks. Hinton finished the game with three runs scored and Derek Spicer had two hits for Florham Park, which improved to 2-0.

"We had two innings where we let the game get away from us and all of the walks hurt," McCormick said. MAURICE BROOKS can be reached at (973) 428-6681 or Jefferson Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054. For State I I I I wuiw.dailyrecord.com 4 with a homer and three RBIs and Jason Prisco added two hits and two RBIs. Madison 7, Chester 2 Madison's Andy Chiminec retired 10 straight batters Wednesday. He struck out seven of the first nine he faced, and fanned 14 altogether.

Chiminec allowed just two hits in the contest. He helped his own cause at the plate with two singles, a triple and three RBIs. Also for Madison, Ken Hughes went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Marc Napp went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Gary Hennings and Joe Lynch each had a hit for Chester. American Legion Chester 6, Mount Morris 0 Jason Hackelberg allowed just two hits and two walks over seven innings and Doug Smith hit a two-run triple to lead Chester over Mount Morris at Chubb Park in Chester.

Jake Wolf and Vinnie Avenoso had RBI singles for Chester. Wharton 12, Lincoln Park 11 Bob Howland's RBI single plated Matt Smedberg with the winning run as Wharton (10-10) outlasted Lincoln Park. Smedberg went 4-for-4 with three RBIs. Also contributing to the Wharton attack were Mike Salvatore who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs and Steven Rice who went 2-for-3 with a triple. Bob Chandler was 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored for Lincoln Park.

Valley Smolyn, an All-Area place-kicker last fall, will handle the kicking duties and will be a backup punter to St. Peter's Prep's strong-legged Joe Nolan (Penn State). Smolyn (6-4, 235), who boomed 58-of-60 extra points and 38 yards per punt over the last two years, has worked on his kicking on the side. "We've been practicing since the Fourth of July," the Johns Hopkins-bound Smolyn said. "I missed the fireworks, but that's what you have to do sometimes.

We had one session that night and then three more (Wednesday). It's been nothing but eat, sleep and play football. Sometimes we're too tired at night even the kickers to do much else." "Versatility is a big key in this game and Chris has that," McCarthy said. "He can do the kickoffs and punting and he can play some tight end if we need him. He's also a good defensive lineman.

But the main thing for us will be his kicking. Just call a kid like Chris JAMAHL COCHRAN, Morristown Cochran (6-0, 225) was chosen to play in the game but the University of Maryland demanded he report last week. The defensive end was also kept from participating in last week's North-South game at Rutgers. Cochran was one of five New Jersey players' unable to attend practice this week because of college demands. The others included Eastern's tandem of offensive tackle Justin Barton (North Carolina) and strong safety Darryl Scott (Duke), Hobo-ken wide receiver Carlos Perez (Florida) and Camden-Wilson receiver Rashad Baker (Tennessee).

"Jamahl is as quick as a cat and we could use him, but Maryland wanted him," said McCarthy. "We wanted him because we wanted to have a quicker guy on the right side. Jamahl is quick enough to catch anybody from behind." JOE HOFMANN can be reached at (973) 428-6674 or Local Roundup Monteith pitched three innings for the win. He struck out eight. Michael Conrad, Austin Dubos and Chris Pinnix each had an RBI for Roxbury American.

District 1 12s Roxbury National 2, Jefferson 0 Ryan Corragio fired a one-hitter with 16 strikeouts to lead Roxbury National over Jefferson Wednesday. Eric Weaver and Mark Donatiel- 10 both had RBI hits for Roxbury. Jefferson pitcher Chad Beaudry threw a six-hitter with five strikeouts. Mendham 4, Boonton-Mountaln Lakes 3 Dan Bruno scored the winning run on a past ball for Mendham, which scored two runs in the fifth inning to rally for the win Wednesday. Bruno was also the winning pitcher, throwing a complete-game with seven strikeouts.

Teammate Brady Schermerhorn had a two-run single and Andrew Kastner added a RBI for Mendham (1-2). Boonton-Mountain Lakes' Dan Wach went 2-for-3 with an RBI and took the loss on the mound despite 11 strikeouts. Denville 12, Rockaway Boro 2 T.J. Lagerman had a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts, including the last seven batters of the game, for Denville Wednesday. Teammate Drew Ash went 3-for- helped assemble the New Jersey team.

"Just when you think it's safe go in the water, Clarence is quick enough to step up and take it in. He's such a great athlete. I told the Villanova coaches not to be surprised if he was the first defensive back picked in the NFL draft from this New Jersey class of 2000. He's that good." TIM JOHNSON, Delbarton The New Jersey coaching staff has the Penn State-bound Johnson lined up as a standup defensive end, position foreign to the All-State linebacker. "I'm not used to it," said Johnson, a 6-4, 240-pounder who had 159 career tackles and 31 sacks for the Green Wave.

"It's hard to adjust. It's a totally different defense than what I've been used to at Del-barton. Our system has the defensive end trying to bounce the ball outside so we could use the speed of our linebackers. Everything is coming together, although it was a problem at first." JOHNNIE MORANT, Syracuse The 6-5, 227-pounder was double-teamed from the moment he off the bus for Parsippany Hills last season but still caught 28 passes for 784 yards and 10 touchdowns. With all of the talent the New Jersey team has assembled, Morant figures to thrive if left in single coverage.

"I've been running my slants, doing most of the receiver stuff," Morant said. "I want to show that I can play with the big boys. I showed here (Wednesday) and I've been learning the offense here. As soon I learn it, I think I'll do well." Morant might even see some time as a tight end in the Governor's Bowl. Is there a linebacker alive who can blanket Johnnie Morant? "He's as good as they come and we're chomping at the bit to see Johnnie catch the ball with the quarterbacks and the line that we have," McCarthy said.

"Athletically, don't think he even needs four years of college ball for the pros." CHRIS SMOLYN, Lenape Enter the Daily Record Home Run Hitting Contest and you could be selected to try to hit one outta there! Two contestants will step up to the plate at selected New Jersey Cardinals games at Skylands Park in Augusta, NJ. If they hit a homer, they'll win To enter, just fill out the form below and indicate which date you'd like to take a swing at it. If you're selected to participate, you'll be notified by telephone. Or, come to the Cardinals game on one of the dates below and fill out the form at the Daily Record booth. One contestant will be selected from entries submitted to the Daily Record and one will be selected at the stadium on game night.

BUTTER UP! ft Please fill out this coupon completely and mail questions, call (973) 428-6685. Name. Address Phone Do you receive home delivery of the (please circle one date only) I am available to take i swing for $5,000 July 1 July 4 July 7 July 31 on: 'Rules and Restrictions apply Valid home run determined by Cardinals onsite day of game No purchase necessary lo enter Sweepstakes are open to residents. 1B years or older, except employees of I Ihe Dairy Record its a'tated companies or members of their respective families To oaMtcipate completely fill out and mad or bring to the Daily Record Home Run Contest 800 JeHe'son Road Parsippany. NJ 07054 before 12 PM 2 days betore the game of your choice 0'ficiai entry forms are also available at Ihe Daily Record Parsippany office one entry-'personday Sponsor is not responsible lot I late lost or misdirected mail technological errors andor failures ol the telephone systems or (or Dating errors any advertisement entry form or rules All pnes will oe awarded No prize transfers Prizes may not be substituted oi redeemed tor cash Dai'y Record reserves the right to make changes in the rules of the contest which will become effective upon announcement Prize winners roust execute and return an affidavit o( eligibility and liabilitypublicity release within 10 days or will be awarded to an alternate Offer subject to federal state and local regulations and laws and is void where taxed.

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