Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 61

NFL 3F HIGH SCHOOLS 10-1 IF www.pressconnects.com 3 SECTION Press Sun-Bulletin SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 1998 CHARLIE JAW0RSKI EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR 607-798-1191 1-800-365-0077 R03 CENTQRANI Mac swim wnra Commentary Perry's game in swing with mark of pro Concentration, more than times" that it doesn't matter who winds up with the higher total. "I'll probably be home on the beach Monday," he anything else, sums up Chris HOME RUN WATCH Mark McGwire belted a pair of homers Saturday, his 67th and 68th, to pull away on the next to last day of their dramatic record-breaking duel season. Sosa went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. 1998 home-run chase Player Team Games HRs Pro, McGwire Cardinals 162 68 68 ferry's breakthrough performance at the B.C. Open.

Sosa and the Chicago Cubs are tied with the San Francisco Giants in the National League wild-card race. So while McGwire is scheduled to go home to California tonight after St. Louis' final game, Sosa could get an extra shot at the record in a one-game, tie-breaking playoff. McGwire didn't know that a one-game playoff would count with regular-season statistics, but he didn't mind. Saturday, he reminded everyone that he's said a "thousand game at 6-6, but the Expos won, 7-6.

McGwire struck out on a low pitch from Hermanson in the first inning. He thought he was swinging too hard. "I had to tell myself to concentrate on going a little easier," McGwire said. "Then, the (afternoon) shadows makes you concentrate even more." INSIDE Sosa settles for a Cubs' win. PAGE 5F and better things are going home to his son Matthew, 10.

McGwire's first home run Saturday, against the Montreal Expos' Dustin Herman-son, came in the fourth inning. The low-flying shot wound up in the left field seats, 403 feet from home plate, at Busch Stadium. The second came in the seventh against Expos reliever Kirk Bullinger. McGwire hit a 1-1 pitch on the line into the center field seats, 435 feet away. The home run tied the Expos yield 400-footers BY MEL ANTONEN Gannett News Service ST.

LOUIS Mark McGwire hit two home runs Saturday and leads Sammy Sosa 68-66 in the home-run race going into the final day of the regular season. At least, the regularly-scheduled final day. i ms was not the face of a man enjoying himself. He seemed to age 10 years on the back nine last Sunday. Even with a three-shot Sosa Cubs 161 66 66 said.

"Sorry. McGWIRE I'm sure Sammy's mind is on bigger and better things, like getting the Cubs into the playoffs." McGwire would rather go to the playoffs, but his bigger lead with four holes to play, Previous record holder Maris Yankees 162 60 x-61 x-1961 season was 163 games, which includes one suspended game. Gannett News Service Perry never seemed relaxed, His demeanor showed how much mental effort goes into playing golf at the level HARVARD VS. COLGATE on d. etermaine eternise Mets' outlook bleak Shutout dims playoff hopes KIT STIER Gannett News Service ATLANTA For the first time in.

161 games, there was very little sense of hope when the New York Mets dragged themselves off the diamond at Turner Field on Saturday. A couple of hours after the Mets had lost a distressing 4-0 decision to the Atlanta Braves, their part in the wildcard formula became painfully clear. If the xMets don't win their final game of the regular season against Greg Maddux (17-9) and the 105-56 Braves today, they are through for this season. Even if they win, they need help. The Giants won in Denver and the Cubs won in Houston and are tied, one eame it takes to win on the PGA Tour.

Everyone out there had talent, but Perry a non-winner on tour prior to the B.C. had something extra. His patience was like that of a lion stalking prey. His eyes like those of an assassin, cold and focused. Mental lapses weren't allowed in Perry's final round.

He had a routine for every shot: Stand next to the ball without a club and make a preliminary stroke with just the right hand. Select the club he needed and make two short warmup swings, then a full swing. Step behind the ball to determine where he wanted to hit the shot. Finally, get over the ball and strike it. Outside of the relative gimmies, Perry's game plan on the putting greens included: Read the putt from every possible angle.

Make two practice swings and then stroke it. It requires discipline and repetition to take the same pre-shot approach every 2. ir fr Ms ahead of the Mets in the wild- STAFF PHOTO Colgate cornerback Dominic Zanot shad-. ows Harvard wide receiver Matt Mitchell during Saturday's non-league game at Colgate. Colgate won, 34-14.

Gritty desire fuels field fury for pair of S. Tier natives BY SEAN MAYER Staff Writer HAMILTON They occupy different positions and boast contrasting styles for teams in opposing conferences. Still, there is an unmistakable quality shared on the gridiron between Southern Tier natives Isaiah Kacyvenski and Dominic Zanot. Dogged determination. w.

A card race. If the Mets win and both the Cubs and Giants lose, there will be a three-way tie and playoff games. If either the Cubs or the Giants win, the curtain will fall on the Mets' season, "We can only control what we can control," said Al Leiter, who gave a good effort, but lost for the first time in six starts. "We have to go about our business and sit and wait. If we don't win, nothing else matters.

It's unfortunate we're in this situation, but stranger things have happened." Armando Reynoso (7-2) is scheduled to pitch for the Mets today. While the righthander hasn't faced the Braves this season, he's 0-6 against them lifetime. SEE METS 5F WILD-CARD RACE NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS Pet. GB GL Chicago 89 72 .553 1 San Fran. 89 72 .553 1 N.Y.

Mets 88 73 .547 1 1 GAMES LEFT Chicago: today at Houston. San Francisco: today at Col- -orado. New York: today at Atlanta. KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY staff photographer Hamilton. Kacyvenski made a nuisance of himself to the Colgate offense, but the Red Raiders won, 34-14.

Harvard linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski rushes the ball carrier during Saturday's non-league football game against Colgate in It is with that trait that each has carved a niche for himself as a starter Kacyvenski at linebacker for defending Ivy League champion Harvard and Zanot at cornerback with 1997 Patriot League title-winner Colgate. Those teams squared off Saturday, with Colgate a 34-14 winner at Andy Kerr Stadium. The' unyielding desire to succeed that has made Kacyvenski and Zanot both juniors integral components of their respective squads was prominently on display. Kacyvenski, a Union-Endicott grad Matt Policare, who relieved Vena late in the fourth quarter. Terrorizing the opposition is nothing new for Kacyvenski, former three-sport standout at U-E and 1995 Press Sun-Bulletin Athlete of the Year.

He departed for Harvard with SEE TIER 7F INSIDE College football; late field goal saves Irish. PAGES 6F-8F had to contend with a rather nasty case of food poisoning, which first struck him Friday night and caused him to get sick on the field and on the sideline during the game. Zanot, a Chenango Valley grad whose instincts and all-around athletic ability serve him well against taller and often bulkier receivers, recorded four unassisted tackles. Both also played on special teams. The duo was joined on the field by another Southern Tier native, Vestal graduate who never seems to stray more than a few feet from the football, racked up five unassisted tackles and leaped high in the air arms extended skyward to re-route a pass from quarterback Ryan Vena in the second quarter.

He now has 167 tackles in his two-plus seasons and is on pace to break Joe Azelby's school mark of 273 tackles. And if occasionally battling two Red Raiders defenders at once wasn't enough of a chore, Kacyvenski time, especially with the pressure of leading on Sunday added to the equation. Perry, who turns 37 today, looked more relieved than happy after his victory. He took this past week off, and earned the break. This tournament also proved the En-Joie Golf Club has become a greater challenge to golfing's elite.

The old En-Joie, prior to a two-year changeover that started following the 1996 event, played easier. In 1996, Fred Funk was headed toward a 20-under total before rain wiped out the final round. Before that, B.C. champs finished with totals under 270 15 times in the tournament's first 23 years. Last season, champion Gabriel Hjertstedt finished at just 13 under (275), with half of the renovations complete.

With the changes finished for this year's tournament, which was blessed with good weather conditions, Perry managed a 273 total. While watching Perry was one of many pleasant memories from this year's B.C. Open, one reporter's question was the equivalent of quadruple bogey. With first-round Chris DiMarco up in the press area, a young reporter asked DiMarco which club he thought troubled golfer John Daly used to beat his wife. Thankfully, that reporter wasn't seen again during the tournament and even better was that DiMarco completely ignored him.

In three years of covering the tournament, only one other question matches that one in terms of cluelessness. That was two years ago, when Tiger Woods came to the B.C Open. Someone who didn't belong in the press area asked something like: Djd Woods plan to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jordan and experiment with another sport, like baseball? Woods just laughed. I wanted to cry. Centorani is a reporter for the Press Sun-Bulletin.

Blue Devils' QB engineers 4th-quarter knockout to beat SV BY MIKE MANGAN Staff Writer With his team's suffocating defense starting to show some cracks, Chenango Forks quar starting to shift after O'Neill's TD throw, CF responded with an 1 1-play, 77-yard touchdown drive, highlighted by Mark-ert's key third-down plays: Facing a hard pass rush on third-and-13 from his 33-yard line, Markert, throwing off his back foot, tossed a 27-yard completion to a falling Derek Schreiber for a first The Blue Devils defense, which entered the game allowing an average of only 10 points and 180 yards a game, shut down O'Neill and the rest of the SV offense for three quarters. Forks (3-1) held SV (2-2) to only 127 yards total offense before the start of the final quarter. But with the momentum providing the knockout blow in Blue Devils' 21-7 win Saturday over visiting hanna Valley in a Section 4 high school football game. The drive answered SV quarterback Billy O'Neill's 27-yard touchdown pass to Nick Tillman on the first play of the fourth quarter that cut CF's lead to 14-7. down at SV's 40-yard line.

0 Facing third-and-10 on SV's 40 and unable to find an open receiver, Markert ran 16 yards for a first down. Facingthird-and-lOfrom SV's 24, Markert fired a scoring strike to Jamaal Sanders with 7:48 left in the game. Dave Pavlick's conversion kick gave Forks a 21-7 lead. "(In the huddle) I just told the guys to hang onto the ball," Markert said of the drive. "Schreiber's catch was big.

He made a great play on the catch." SEE CHENANGO FORKS 10F INSIDE High school football. PAGES 1 0F, 1 1 terback Kob Markert took matters into his own hands. Markert made three criti cal third-down plays in a late fourth-quarter scoring drive, SCOREBOARD BOTTOM OF THE FIRST Quick hits inside pitches American Leag ue College football Davis Cup semi ends U.S. run MILWAUKEE The a -4 United States tumbled out of the Davis Cup on Saturday. National League Atlanta 4, N.Y.

Mets 0 Cincinnati 6, Pittsburgh 2 Montreal 7, St. Louis 6 San Francisco 8, Colorado 4 Arizona 3, San Diego 2 Florida 4-0, Philadelphia 3-1 (first 10 second 13 inn.) Chicago 3, Houston 2 Milwaukee 6, Los Angeles 1 -Pages 1F.5F For late scores, phone 798-1343' Todd Martin. Italy will play Sweden in the final Dec. 4-6. "It's an unbelievable feeling, Nargiso said.

He made it tolhe singles final in this summer's Frito LayUSTA Challenger tournament in Bing-hamton. The Americans lost for the first time at home in 19 Davis Cup matches. Associated Press STORY, PAGE 9F N.Y. Yankees 3, Tampa Bay 1 Toronto 5, Detroit 4 (13) Oakland 4, Anaheim 3 Seattle 5, Texas 2 Baltimore 5, Boston 2 Chicago 13, Kansas City 5 Cleveland 9, Minnesota 5 Page 5F Major League Soccer MetroStars 1 New England 0 (SO) Colorado 3, Dallas 1 Page 5F APTopIO (2) Nebraska 55, (9) Washington 7 (4) Tennessee 42, Houston 7 (5) Kansas St 62, (6) LSU 53, Idaho 20 (8) Florida 51, Kentucky 35 (10) Florida St. 30, (18) USC 10 Upstate New York Ithaca 18, College 16 Cortland St.

58, Buffalo St. 31 Colgate 34, Harvard 14 Cornell 17, Holy Cross 9 Pages 1F.6F-8F In the clinching doubles match, Italy's Diego Nargiso and Andrea Gaudenzi squandered two match points in the third set, but rallied to a 6-4, ASSOCIATED PRESS New York Yankees pitcher David Cone became a 20-game winner with 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay. STORY, PAGE 5F. -6 (7-3), 5-7, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Justin Gimelstob and.