Star-Gazette from Elmira, New York • 13

Scoreboard 2C Money 6C pOTftsM0)ffl Sports Editor Karen Troxel, 607734-5151, Ext. 290 Star-GazetteTuesday, June 19, 1990 Pios hope to strong-arm way to pennant By KAREN TROXEL Star-Gazette JOANNE JONES was with Elmira last year, is back with new-found control, according to Verdi. Another youngster on the staff is Silveria Santamaria. Pitchers Verdi is still waiting to get a look at are Florida State product Gar Finnvold, Erik Plantenberg, Tim Davis and Brian Young. The Pioneers currently have two catchers on hand: John Lam-, mon, who was drafted last year but wasn't signed until this spring after playing in junior col-' lege ball in California, and backup Joe Demus.

Verdi is hoping to get a third catcher in a few weeks. See PIOS2C have gotten off to a 2-13 start. This year I've got them." Verdi also has a lot of experience some college level, some rookie professional league level and some with New York-Penn League experience. Cedric Santiago will be tonight's starter. Santiago, a lefthander, is one of the youngest players on the team at 18, but already has a year of professional experience.

"You'll like this kid," said Verdi of the opening-day starter. "He was the highest draft pick out of Puerto Rico last year. He's little guy, but he throws real hard." Verdi has scheduled another left-hander, Jim Dennison, to start In the home opener Wednesday night against Auburn. Dennison spent time in the Gulf Coast and Florida State leagues last year and some time in Winter Haven this year, but had trouble adjusting to his role of reliever at Winter Haven. "He needs to be a starter," Verdi said.

"He has this nasty knuckle-curve." Also on the Pioneers' pitching staff is right-hander Dave Ring from the Gulf Coast League, who is expected to be the early-season closer; while John Locker, who The Mike Verdi brand of baseball relies heavily on pitching and speed. Verdi, the second-year manager of the Elmira Pioneers, is hoping to get the pitching beginning tonight at Auburn and Wednesday against Auburn at Dunn Field. Verdi unveiled the 1990 edition of the Pioneers in a brief "Meet the Pioneers" ceremony at Dunn Field Monday, which was followed by some batting and infield practice. "You're only as good as pitching," said Verdi, who brought 10 pitchers with him, but has only actually seen five of them in action. The other five came straight to Elmira after being selected in the June free agent draft by Boston.

"I always said if I had 10 fresh arms, last year we wouldn't 45-year-old bests Donald in sudden-death playoff Gannett News Service U.S. OPEN 5 ft I vW Cruise intervals new craze in training "The biggest training discovery in 50 years" is what this month's Runner's World called it. Cruise intervals was one of the methods used in last Tuesday's track workout sponsored by the Twin Tiers Running Club. The workout began with a general introduction by former Southside coach Joe Molnar, followed by stretching and introduction of the concept by Ben Cardamone, distance coach at Southside. Consulting a chart listing recent 5K or 10K performance times, he helped each runner find his individual corresponding threshhold pace for V2-mile.

After warming up, participants ran a number of intervals interspersed with rest periods of 30 to 60 seconds. "It doesn't hurt the body as much as hard intervals," he said. "The body takes less time to recover. It teaches the body to become more efficient and to deal with lactic acid build-up." Cardamone credited his 33:30 10K clocking in this year's Elmira-Thon to the threshold pace idea. Molnar also worked with individual runners on their running style and form.

Workouts will be held every Tuesday in June at 6 p.m. at the Elmira Free Academy track. The sessions are open to all runners of all abilities. Bikers are also welcome. Runners had the opportunity to make a statement against racism in the "Run Against The Klan" in Watkins Glen Saturday.

The 5K run was organized in conjunction with the seventh annual event of the same name held in California at the same time. The race was sponsored by the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, which is an educational organization set up to educate the public on barriers that separate people. Topping the small field was Brian Coleman, 17, of Watkins Glen in 17:35. He was challenged for the first mile by Tim Donnell, 37, also of Watkins Glen, who finished a close second in 17:40. "I think it was a worthwile endeavor," said Mike Watson, race director.

Having the opportunity to run for another good cause will be open to all runners in the fourth annual David Malcom Memorial Run to be held Sunday in Ithaca. The race is held in memory of Malcom, a Red Cross worker who was murdered a few years ago. Proceeds from the race have always gone to a local charity, this year being Challenge Industries. You can register at Stewart Park, Route 13, at 8 a.m. The 1-mile Fun Run begins at 9 a.m.

and the 5-mile race at 9:30 a.m., are described as "absolutely flat." More than 300 runners are expected. MEDINAH, 111. And on the 91st hole, Hale Irwin could finally rest, a fading star no longer. He had dreamed of this very moment not as a kid, but only two weeks ago. Irwin's eight-foot birdie putt Monday on the first hole of sudden death ended a titanic battle with Mike Donald through the trees of Medinah Country Club's No.

3 course, giving Irwin his third U.S. Open, and, at 45, making him the oldest man ever to win it. "I feel blessed," said Irwin, who said he was awakened two weeks ago by visions of being an Open champion. "Dreams do come true. There was nothing specific about it.

I remember it was an ordeal." His winning putt came on the first hole, the same one Donald had birdied three times in a row before sudden death. This time, Donald took a par. And that wasn't good enough. "I honest to God don't remember hitting the putt," Irwin said. "All I remember is seeing it go in the hole." When it was over in the lengthening shadows of an overtime gone overtime, after an 18-hole playoff had ended tied at 2-over-par 74 when Donald bogeyed No.

18, there was nothing to hold back. Particularly the emotions. Both men's voices cracked, something their golf games never did, not in five days of tightening pres- sure. "I don't know if I'm ready for Irwin, who had not won on the PGA Tour since 1985, and had not tasted true greatness since his last Open win in 1979. He came from two strokes back with three holes to play Monday to force the sudden death.

Irwin played the last six holes Monday at 3-under par, after going 4-over the first 13. He was like the Detroit Pistons at crunch time. For the runner-up, this was splendid misery. Donald, a one-time winner in 11 years of toil on the Tour, was close enough to a championship to touch it. The bogey on No.

18, when his 15-foot par putt slid by right by a fatal fraction of an inch, will haunt him many nights. And when his defeat was real Monday, he held back the tears. But later he said; "If you can't be happy with a week like this, then it's stupid to play golf." The battle he fought against anonymity was clear enough. As the two golfers walked down No. 8, a man in the gallery asked his friend how they were standing." "Irwin is one over," the friend answered.

"The other guy is two over." "God bless him," Irwin said of the er guy. "I almost wish he would have won." It''' The Associated Press winning the tournament KISSIN' THE CUP: Hale Irwin kisses the U.S. Open trophy after championshipMondayatMedinah.nl. Orioles club Clemens, 7-2 Valicenti, Reidy qualify for N.Y. Am The Associated Press BASEBALL ROUNDUP By DAVE POTTER Star-Gazette Toledo, was only his second in two years.

Robinson (5-5) won for the first time in five starts. NATIONAL LEAGUE EXPOS 5, CUBS 1 Dennis Martinez pitched a four-hitter and Spike Owen tied the National League record for consecutive errorless games in a sea-son by a shortstop as the Montreal Expos beat the slumping Chicago Cubs 5-1 Monday night. Tom Foley, starting his third game at second base in place of Delino DeShields, had a two-run triple and an RBI double in support of Martinez (5-4). It was Owen's 60th straight game this season without an error, tying Kevin Elster, who set the record in 1988 for the New York Mets. Elster holds the major-league mark for consecutive errorless games by a shortstop, 88, set over two seasons.

Reidy fired a 2-over par 74 that put him on the bubble, while Valicenti's even-par 72 easily put him in the field. Jim Atsedes led all qualifiers with a 3-under 69. "All you try and do out there is to stay in it. I didn't hit the ball really well, but I scuzzed it around good enough," Reidy said. Reidy played in the first group out, and completed 12 holes when a powerful thunderstorm stopped play.

That stoppage didn't seem to hurt Reidy, who came out and birdied his first hole after play resumed. "We only had six holes left, and it's an easier part of the course, so it wasn't too much of a problem," he said. See VALICENTI2C BALTIMORE The Baltimore Orioles stopped their five-game skid and snapped Roger Clemens' seven-game winning streak Monday night, chasing him in the second inning and beating the Boston Red Sox 7-2. Clemens (11-3), the winningest pitcher in the major leagues, had not lost since May 4. He was touched for seven hits and six runs three of them earned in l'a innings.

It was his shortest outing since last August 6, when he left after one-third of an inning because of an elbow injury. He hadn't been knocked out since Aug. 14, 1988, when he lasted only l's innings against Detroit. With the score 1-1, the Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate in the second. Greg Walker walked, Tim Hulett singled and Bill Ripken got a bunt single when Clemens looked toward third base and then threw too late to first.

After Steve Finley struck out, shortstop Luis Rivera fumbled Mike Devereaux's grounder to let in a run. Randy Milligan then delivered a two-run single to right to make it 4-1. Clemens struck out Mickey Tettleton, but Joe Orsulak and Cal Ripken hit RBI singles, ending Clemens' night after 49 pitches. Jerry Reed got Walker on a fly ball to end the inning. TIGERS 7, ATHLETICS 2 Alan Trammell arid John Shelby homered to back the six-hit pitching of Jeff Robinson and Ed Nunez as the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 7-2 Monday night.

Shelby's homer, just hours after being called up from Triple-A WAVERLY One of the hardest things about tournament golf is patience, both on and off the course. Ed Reidy can identify with that as he had to wait out a 2Vi-hour rain delay, then sit another two hours while all the other groups finished before he found out his fate. But it was worth the wait, as Reidy and fellow Elmira Country Club member Mike Valicenti qualified for the 1990 New York State Golf Association Men's Amateur July 17-20 at Albany Country Club. "I'm just glad there's no playoff," Reidy said. "It's tough to stay loose waiting around for 2Vi-3 hours." JoAnne Jones writes a column on running that appears Tuesday.

SCORES ON TELEVISION Hoyas Thompson may go to Nuggets DENVER Georgetown coach John Thompson is considering an offer to become general manager of the Denver Nuggets. "He's been approached with an opportunity and he's deciding whether he wants to pursue it further," David Falk, Thompson's agent, said Monday. Thompson met with Nuggets owners Peter Bynoe, Bertram Lee and Bob Wussler in Washington on Sunday. "I would say I'll be coaching at Georgetown next year," Thompson said. "(But) we are exploring our options." The newspaper said Thompson was offered a contract for four or five years.

U.S. Attorney affirms Thomas' innocence DETROIT U.S. Attorney Stephen Markman on Monday affirmed that Detroit Pistons guard Isiah Thomas is not the target of a gambling investigation or federal criminal charges. "While I am not, of course, able to describe the details of any grand jury investigation, given the prominence of Thomas and the attention that this matter has received, I would like to clarify the record as best I can at this time," Markman said. He said Thomas initiated contact with the FBI after a story about the gambling investigation was aired Friday, and that Thomas has fully cooperated.

The report said checks made out to Thomas were cashed at a grocery store owned by a man being investigated for money laundering. Ex-Orangeman pleads guilty to charges CINCINNATI A former Syracuse University basketball player pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to interstate travel for drug dealing. Derek Brower, who was a forward for the Orangemen from 1984 to 1988, made a plea bargain with Assistant U.S. Attorney John DiPuccio. Brower had faced a four-count indictment that included conspiracy and weapons charges, in addition to the interstate travel charge.

U.S. District Judge Herman J. Weber freed Brower on bond until sentencing. Brower faces up to five years prison and a $250,000 fine. Officials said they found Brower, 23, in a Cincinnati motel room with cocaine last Novembei.

Brower was arrested with three other men in connection with the drug charges. TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS 2:55 p.m. Soccer: World Cup, U.S. vs. Austria TNT 5:05 p.m.

Baseball: Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves WTBS 7:30 p.m. Baseball: St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets WWOR, Chicago Cubs at Montreal Expos WGN, Oakland Athletics at Detroit Tigers, or Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays ESPN 8:10 p.m. Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves WTBS 8:30 p.m. Baseball: New York Yankees at Milwaukee Brewers WPIX 10:30 p.m.

Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants, or Houston Astros at Los Angeles Dodgers ESPN National League Montreal 5 Chicago 1 American League Baltimore 7 Boston 2 Detroit 7 Oakland 2 World Cup Soccer Argentina 1 Romania 1 Soviet Union 4.... 0 Complete listings in Sunday's TVWeek Compiled from wire reports..