The Post-Crescent from Appleton, Wisconsin • 48

F-4 POST-CRESCENT, APPLETON-NEENAH-MENASHA, WIS. MONDAY, MAY 22, 2000 relievers tattler earniiig's the priority for I report Rattlers relievers IP ERA Sv Danny .14 23 to 3.86 2 PeteDuprey 12 16 4.86 1 EnkGrunwald 13 17 2.55 0 Julio Mateo 13 20 5.23 3 Kevin Oiore 12 20 7.20 0 Juan Ramos 9 20 2.70 1 Matt Thornton 10 29 3.72 0 By Jim Oskola Post-Crescent staff writer GRAND CHUTE Linescores put up by the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers relievers haven't been pretty, but there is improvement being made. As Rattlers pitching coach Rafael Chaves says, it's part of the educational process for the pitching staff. "We're trying to make major-league players," Chaves said. "All of it is development.

"This is where vou learn. RATTLERS6, WHITECAPS3 It's like kindergarten. You go to school and, eventually, you become a doctor. Right now, these kids are in elementary school. They're just learning." The learning process has produced some erratic performances.

"They're not going to get the job done every time," Rattlers manager Gary Thurman said. "But it is frustrating taking the lead into the seventh and eighth innings and coming out with a loss, or going into extra innings. "It's frustrating for those guys, too. They're out there trying their best. Sometimes, it doesn't work out, but we're going to keep run- WISCONSIN 6, WEST MICHIGAN 3 THE GAME camp The Timber Rattlers begin I I I I a 10-game, three-city road trip today hbp bv Lopez vargasi.

bv La Roties). wp Man. Two home runs by Shawn that will take them to South Bend, 32 A4 56a McCorkle and a sterling pitching lnd for four games; Dayton, Ohio, STANDINGS effort by Rafael Soriano helped the for three games; and Clinton, Iowa, midwest league Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeat the for three games. Eastern Division West Michigan at Fox Sunday's attendance: 4,563. West MKhjgan p6f9 Cities Stadium on Sunday.

2000 attendance 53,990 Dayton (Reds) 21 is 5 Soriano, making his second start SZZgSZ: 5 7 since cominq off the disabled list, 1999 attendace 55,422 Michigan (Astros) 19 .472 7 South Bend (O backs) 17 23 .425 9 pitched seven innings and allowed western Division four hits, while striking out seven. BOX SfczZ 2 1 Aquilino Lopez, who was activat- ouadaty (Twins) 23 19 .548 4 ed from the disabled list before the WSC0NSIN abrhb( qame, Pitched the final tWO inninqS, Richardson 2b 4 100 Durangc.2b 42 11 Cedar Rapids (Angels) 17 24 .415 9V4 a Sarrwqoss 4010 Qundrum It 5 0 2 0 Burlington (White Sox) 15 26 .366 1114 allowing three nits and three runs. a 4000 snemngci 4001 peona (Cammais) 15 26 .366 nv McCorkle put the Rattlers ahead jr; an2' lcZS "2 Saturday. La g. Orobiak dh 4 0 0 0 McCorkle it- 323 Lansing 8.

Burlington 7. 10 innings 2-0 with a two-run home run. Ariel mcm, mo chnsnanson at, 4110 Anthony It) 4010 Hernandez rt 4 0 0 0 u. Durango made it 3-0 with a home Va.gas 2100 Robies 3021 w.ccn.in west Michigan 3 innn Quad City 3. Cedar Rapids 1.

1st game run leading Off the third, and l2 RaZL Cedar Rapids IS. Quad City game McCorkle made it 4-0 in the fourth 35372 w. IXicSe2 WPQT uirHinAM OOO 000 030 3 uayion 1 1 tvncniydfi with his second home run of the Wisconsin Tirai 101 io Ka cunv 1 Lansing 4. Burlington 2 game and MIS SIXth OI the SeaSOn. Rlvera Anthony.

Durango. Ramirez DP WM 1. Clinton 6. Peoria 3 LOB W8. WM 5 2B McKmney.

Anthony. Jimenez. Rob- Today's Game. NOTES 'es 36 RobieS HR SB Duian- South 6 p.m. go, Rooles CS Christianson.

Michigan at Quad City lp Kane County at Cedar Rapids TO make rOOm On the rOSter for Z7L 5 6 4 4 2 1 Lansing at West Michigan. 2 Lopez, pitcher Kevin Olore was sent 22220 anion at Dayton aw 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 Peoria at Fort Wayne down to the Mariners' Peoria, Wisconsin Beioit at Burlington jump mil i 1 g-ii miu mi wnej mwf -j 1 i -X- I r'i UW-Whitewater, Marian eliminated have great outings just pitching away, but at a higher level, where guys know that you only pitch away, now you don't have a chance. How are you going to protect the inside part of the plate if you've never done it? "I made it mandatory that they pitch inside on certain counts. It's that way, and that's it." Another factor that will help the Rattlers bullpen is that it won't be used as much when the starters continue to pitch deeper into the game. Through the first 41 games of the season, the bullpen has made 80 appearances, allowing 76 runs in 131 innings.

Now, with pitchers like Rafael Soriano, Craig Anderson and Cha Sueng Baek going seven innings in each of their last starts, the bullpen can concentrate on finishing games instead of middle relief from the fifth through eighth innings. The bullpen also is being bolstered by the addition of Aquilino Lopez, who came off the disabled list after five solid starts, as the closer. "Lopez has got the job of closer right now," Thurman said. "He has got three quality pitches and the mentality to do it. He closed a little bit last year.

We had slated him to close for us from the beginning until Soriano got hurt." A SAMPLING of Ken Holtz's golf WOODS: Holtz's From F-1 these clubs are more than 70 years old, they have a value of $5 to $20 apiece. "What determines the value is simply how old it is, who made it and what condition it's in." So, Holtz set out to find who the true shapers of the game were, and his goal was to have a collection that depicted each era of growth. While it's an ongoing process, Holtz is well on his way. He has hundreds of clubs representing different eras, including a track iron, which was made to play the ball out of the tracks created by the horse-drawn carts that drug gravel and stone that helped shape the early courses (in other words, playing it where it lies was serious business); and clubs with grooves so deep you could imagine putting so much spin on the ball it could fly backward over your head. But his prize product is a McEwan wood, made by a family that got into the club-making business in the 1700s.

His club dates back to 1860 and is worth between 1 twv i- ning them out there because it's about development. At the same time, it's about winning." Part of that development is getting the entire pitching staff working the inside part of the plate. It's easy for a pitcher to pitch over the outside part of the plate, but that leads to the batter crowding the plate so he can take outside pitches to the opposite field. "The first couple days I got upset, because we were getting beat on 0-2 pitches," Chaves said. "I told the pitchers that from now on, we're going to pitch inside." The initial results are that opposing batters aren't quite as comfortable at the plate, knowing that a fastball may come close to unbuttoning their jersey.

"We may hit a couple of batters by mistake, but these are the minor leagues and these guys have to learn here," Chaves said. "You may NCAA Division 111 baseball MIDWEST REGION Sunday's games Marian 5, UW-Whitewater 3 St. Olaf 14, Benedictine 3 St. Thomas 6, Marian 4 Today's games St. Olaf vs.

St. Thomas, 10:30 a.m. Same teams, 1 :30 p.m., if necessary MID-ATLANTIC REGION Sunday's games Montclair State 14, Allentown 11 Rowan 8, Ursinus 2 Elizabethtown 6, Allentown 5 College of New Jersey 12, Ursinus 5 Today's games Montclair State vs. Rowan, 11 a.m. Montclair StateRowan vs.

College of New Jersey, 2 p.m. MIDEAST REGION Sunday's games Mount St. Joseph 12, Allegheny 3 Allegheny 9, Mount St. Joseph 2 (Allegheny advances) NEW ENGLAND REGION Sunday's games Southern Maine 6, Bridgewater State 5 Suffolk 7, Trinity 6 Bridgewater State 11, Suffolk 5 Today's games Southern Maine vs. Bridgewater State, noon Same teams, 3:30 p.m., if necessary NEW YORK REGION Saturday's late game Ithaca 3, 1 Sunday's games SUNY-Cortland 6, Ithaca 0 4, Old West-bury 3 Ithaca 12, 0 Today's games SUNY-Cortland vs.

Ithaca, noon Same teams, 3:30 p.m., if necessary NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS At Fox Cities Stadium, Grand Chute Friday's first-round games Midwest winner vs. Emory (33-14), 10 am. New York winner vs. Mid-Atlantic winner, 1:15 p.m. Allegheny (36-8) vs.

Chapman (31-10), 4:30 p.m. New England winner vs. Wartburg (40-7), 7:45 p.m. prep boys' tennis FIRST TEAM No. 1 singles: Scott Green, Appleton North No.

2 singles: Andy Schaller. Neenah. No 3 singles: Ryan Fischer, Neenah. No. 4 singles John Costello.

Neenah. No 1 doubles Wes Butler, sr -Spencer Mai, Neenah No 2 doubles Andy Hudak jr -Garrett Mason, Neenah. No. 3 doubles: Tyler Stevenson, so-Mike Van-Lieshout. Neenah SECOND TEAM No.

1 singles: Paul VandenBoogard, Oshkosh North. No 2 singles: Craig Burt, Kaukauna. No. 3 singles. Ryan Wagner, Appleton East.

No. 4 singles: Steven Komerotsky. Appleton North. No. 1 doubles Kipp Pennau.

sr. -Bob Post, Fond du Lac No. 2 doubles: Peter Chen, sr-David Savides, Appleton North. No. 3 doubles: Matt Harer, so -Dan Wendlandt, jr.

Appleton North. HONORABLE MENTION No. 1 singles: Jeff Wtllihnganz. Oshkosh West; Chart Eggert, Appleton East: Drew Adams, Neenah No 3 singles. Paul Tremi.

sr Fond du Lac. No 4 singles: Sudip Bmgwaia. Oshkosh North. No 1 doubles: Jeremy Ploerderl, sr. -Andy Borchardt.

Kaukauna; Ertk Gabbey. jr. -Justin Rosin, Menasha; Pat Weller, jr. -Dean Verstegen, Appleton East No 2 doubles: Scott Bur sr. -Kevin Mooney, Kaukauna Adam Hardgrove sr -Khs English, Fond du Lac.

No 3 doubles: Adam Alger. so-Enc Michelson, Oshkosh North. collection, which helps to illustrate golf memorabilia is history OSHKOSH The nation's top NCAA Division III baseball teams will come to Wisconsin later this week, but Wisconsin won't be represented. The state's last surviving regional qualifier lost Sunday night when Marian College fell to the University of St. Thomas 6-4 in the Midwest Regional Tournament at E.J.

Schneider Field. The Tommies' Nate Sundberg broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning. St. Thomas (31-12) scored five runs in the inning on six hits and three Marian errors to take a 6-2 lead. Mike Honsa scattered eight hits and allowed only two earned runs.

The Sabres (27-23), who appeared in their first NCAA tournament, totaled six errors. St. Thomas and St. Olaf will play today for the region title. St.

Thomas is undefeated in the regional, while St. Olaf has one loss. Marian 5, UW-Whitewater 3 Keith Burdick blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the 1 Ith inning as the Sabres eliminated the Warhawks. With one out, Burdick sent the first pitch from Whitewater's Ryan Hoffman over the left-field wall. It was Marian's 10th win in its final at-bat and the 17th time it came from behind for a victory.

Marian's Scott Stettbacher pitched all 11 innings, allowing 11 hits and no walks while striking out six. Hoffman also went the distance for Whitewater (27-16). Jason Bischoff hit a two-run single in the third for the Sabres. St. Olaf 14, Benedictine 3 Tim Thoreson drove in five runs to lead the Oles (36-6), who eliminated the Eagles.

Youth clinic registration Area youth baseball players may participate in a free clinic as part of the NCAA Division III baseball championship on Monday, May 29 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute. The clinic will be directed by Appleton North High School baseball coach Bruce Erickson and Oshkosh West coach Tony Ger-harz. Participants will receive free admission to any session of the championship, which concludes May 30 at Fox Cities Stadium. The first 200 registrations will be accepted.

For more information or to register, call University of Wis-consin-Oshkosh athletics director Al Ackerman at 920-424-1034. Neenah is dominant on kMVAteam Conference champion Neenah tlominated the selections for the all-Fox Valley Association boys' tennis team, taking first-team spots at all lut one position. Rockets players on the first team Jncluded: Andy Schaller at No. 2 singles; Ryan Fischer at No. 3 singles; John Costello at No.

4 singles; Wes Butler and Spencer Mai at I doubles; Andy Hudak and parrett Mason at No. 2 doubles; jnd Tyler Stevenson and Mike Van-Ueshout at No. 3 doubles. I Appleton North senior Scott fcreen received first-team honors at JN3. 1 singles.

I Selections were based on votes Jy coaches. Post-Crescent photo by Knstyna Wentz-Graff in the making (www.oldlinks.com), and one of his objectives is to get other curiosity seekers interested in the business. He also just doesn't collect these clubs, he plays them. "I have two handicaps at Ridge-way," he said. "I have a nine handicap with my titaniums, and a 13 handicap with my hickories." He said he plays his "commons" about once a week.

"I think it helps my game, I really do," he said. "You have to swing these clubs really slow and you have to sweep the ball." Holtz plans to continue his newfound passion upon retirement, looking to add to his collection while helping others begin one. "I think rarely do you find the kind of passion that can also be a hobby," he said. "You can have hobbies that are passions and then you can have activities in your life. But when you can combine the two into a passion, that makes it special." You can e-mail Mike Woods at michael.woodstlwmnews.com.

fresh Salads, Sandwiches Pizza Plus Many Many More Menu Items Check Out The All New Cheyenne's Sports Bar Grill Open 10 am to Close Lunch Specials Daily 124 N. Appleton St. 920-731-8S8S Fax 920-731-8M6 Minimum 3 people wluniforms or score cards. Limit I Nt WASHINGTON St the history of the sport. feather balls, in use for some 400 years, then the ensuing smooth Gutta-Percha, flew like a knuckle-ball until someone finally discovered that the more you marked it up, the straighter it flew.

So, they started to use hammer claws, then knives, then Finally machines to help make the golf ball what it is today. He has golf balls with dimples in various designs and patterns, and a golf ball with pimples. He also has some of the first molds used to make balls. "The clubs basically started to conform to handle the ball," Holtz said, "otherwise the clubs just kept breaking." He has a replica of the feather ball, but hopes to one day get his hands on an original. "You can get into one for about $1,000," he said.

"But it's pretty rough, and is exploded with feathers hanging out. For a nice one you can spend $50,000 to $60,000." While collecting is his forte, Holtz is also into the selling and trading of such items. He began his own Web site about a year ago in baseball St. Mary Central vs. Sheboygan Lutheran.

11 a.m. Region 3 championship Kettle Moraine Lutheran vs. SMC-Sheboygan Luther-an winner, 1 p.m. Girls' soccer St. Mary Central will play at Wisconsin Lutheran in Milwaukee in a WISAA girls' soccer first-round game Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Xavier received a bye in the opening round. The Hawks will play the winner of the Winnebago Lutheran-She-boygan Lutheran game on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Green Bay Notre Dame. Opening round Wednesday's gams St Mary Central at Wisconsin Lutheran, 7 p.m. Second round Saturday's games Xavier vs.

Winnebago Lutheran-Sheboygan Lutheran winner at Green Bay Notre Dame, 5 p.m. St. Mary Central-Wisconsin Lutheran winner at Green Bay Notre Dame, 7 p.m. Quarterfinals May 30 gams Second-round winners at Wisconsin Lutheran, 7 p.m. $3,000 and $5,000.

Holtz also has several tee molds. He explained that tees used to be just makeshift piles of sand, but that the aristocrats playing the game didn't take kindly to getting their hands dirty, so tiny molds were developed, in various shapes and sizes, where they could just dip into some sand and cure that all-important problem. And those tripod golf bags that have become so popular the past few years, Holtz has one from 1890, called the Automaton. It's patented, too. He also has a club with a bore-through hosel, that same "technological advancement" a couple of major golf manufactures were ready to go to war over about a year ago.

It actually came to light about 100 years ago. "There's really nothing new in technology, except in the metals and the weighting," Holtz said. Of all his items, though, his true passion is the golf ball, which was more responsible for the way the game took shape than any club ever developed. Holtz explained how the old WISAA TOURNAMENTS pete in the WISAA Softball regional. The Hawks will play Green Bay Notre Dame in the Division Region 3 championship, while the Foxes will face Winnebago Lutheran in the Division Region 4 title game.

Both games are scheduled for 5 p.m. The Zephyrs will play Sheboygan Lutheran in the Division 2 Region 3 semifinals at ll a.m. WISAA DIVISION 1 Region 3 championship At Lakeside Park, Fond du Lac Xavier vs. Green Bay Notre Dame, 5 pm. Region 4 championship At Lakeside Park.

Fond du Lac Fox Valley Lutheran vs. Winnebago Lutheran. 5 p.m. WISAA DIVISION 2 Region 3 semifinals At Lakeside Park. Fond du Lac Kettle Moraine Lutheran receives bye fVL mil McDonell Fox Valley Lutheran will play Chippewa Falls McDonell in the quarterfinals of the WISAA state baseball tournament Friday.

The Foxes (13-5) will face the Macks (20-1 at 4:30 p.m. at Bukolt Park in Stevens Point. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Saturday. Friday's quarterfinals Green Bay Notre Dame (19-3) vs. Milwaukee Lutheran (8-11), 11 am.

Wisconsin Lutheran (17-4) vs. Watertown Luther Prep (14-4). 1:30 p.m. Chippewa Falls McDonell (20-1 vs Fox Valley Lutheran (13-5), 4:30 p.m. Burlington Catholic Central (21-1) vs.

Stevens Point Pacelii (15-5). 7 m. Saturday's semifinals Wisconsin Lutheran-Watertown Prep winner vs. McDonell-FVL winner. 10 30 a.m.

Burlington Catholic-Pacefli winner vs. Notre Dame-Milwaukee Lutheran winner, 1 p.m. Saturday's championship Semifinal winners. 4 pm. Softball Xavier, Fox Valleyutheran and St.

Mary Central will travel to Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac to com-.