The Dispatch from Moline, Illinois • 23

Saturday. July 25 2Wi JheOswKh and The Rod Island Argus 1 sports TOUR DE FRANCE: Lance vies for 3rd place D3 NASCAR: Goodyear pleased with its tires D3 GOLF: Funk on top at Senior British Open D4 MLB: White Sox swept out of first place D5 Saturday, July 25, 2009 The Dispatch The Rock Island Argus D1 JCM Van Natta stePs in' leads After a gracious reply, Van Post 200 past Third Divi- I 1 Third Washington Van Natta's pitching line Van Natta's pitching line Natta was asked if he truly Division Tournament. "I haven't thrown in a while so I guess it was a good day," said Van Natta, who was named the tourna Mark Van Natta ment MVP. "I was on. I had all my offspeed pitches working, which is good for me because I'm not a strikeout pitcher.

I had everything working." 1 C-" Rock Island Post 200 12, Washington Post 100 2 By Daniel Makarewicz danmakqconline.com WASHINGTON As he stood behind the dugout for a postgame interview Friday afternoon, Rock Island Post 200 baseball pitcher Mark Van Natta suddenly was interrupted by a passing teammate. "Mark's the man, right fielder Brinn Bell said as he rested his arm on Van Natta's shoulder. Associated Press Engulfed by ivy Cincinnati center fielder Willy Taveras is almost lost in the ivy after catching a long fly ball from Chicago's RyanTheriot during the first inning of Friday's game at Wrigley Field. Led by Aramis Ramirez, the Cubs went on to an 8-5 victory. For complete Major League baseball coverage, see DS.

was the man. "I guess I would agree, right now," Van Natta admitted. "It's a good moment." It was one few could have predicted. Pitching in place of injured starter Michael Fisher, Van Natta stifled a resurgent Washington Post 100 lineup. Despite running into early trouble, the crafty lefthander found a groove and pitched Rock Island to a berth in the American Legion state tournament with a 12-2 win in the -'i-''L liiMiwiiwmynii iimi ii ii Holliday trade a hit for Cardinals wiiiiuiiiiiiw i njni tot-.

Boyle to play tennis at Augie Austin Boyle, a standout athlete at Moline High School, has announced that he will attend Augustana College in the fall of 2009, where he plans on being a member of the Vikings men's tennis program. Boyle enjoyed a fine career for the Maroons, playing his final two seasons under current head coach Jason Jones. He was 24-1 1 in doubles and 7-2 in singles as a senior and was also an Illinois High School State Qualifier as a junior and a senior. Boyle was honored as a Western Big 6 All- llfc 1 1 Austin Boyle 1- 'Sl- 1 New slugger goes 4-for-5 in debut as Cards win PHILADELPHIA (AP) Matt Holliday hopped off a train, joined his new team and made an immediate contribution before making good contact. Holliday went 4-for-5 with one RBI to back Joel Pineiro, and the St.

Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-1 on Friday night in a matchup of division leaders. Acquired from Oakland for a package of prospects earlier in the day, Holliday had two soft hits and a stolen base to help the Cardinals build a 5-0 lead. He ripped a double in the seventh and got his second infield single in the ninth. "I was lucky, Cardinals 8, Phillies 1 but I'll take them," Holliday said after tying a career high with his 15th four-hit performance. "How many times do you hit the ball hard and make outs?" In his biggest deadline deal as Cardinals general manager, John Mozeliak sent a jolt through the Cardinals clubhouse by completing a win-.

now July deal first considered in November. Mozeliak sent the team's top prospect, third baseman Brett Wallace, Class AAA pitcher Clayton Mortensen, and another minor-leaguer to the A's for Holliday and cash. 4 Pineiro (9-9) tossed six scoreless innings, allowing four hits. He's given up three earned runs or less in nine straight starts, lowering his ERA to 2.95. "He's been very consistent," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

"His record is deceiving." Julio Lugo homered and tripled in his first game with St. Louis, and Rick Ankiel went 3 for 4 with four RBIs. The NL East-leading Phil V-1 Associated Press New St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday connects for a double in the seventh inning of the Cardinals' 8-1 road win at Philadelphia on Friday night. St.

Louis acquired Holliday in a trade Friday, with former Quad Cities River Bandit Brett Wallace among three minor leaguers going to Oakland in the deal. Holliday, who batted behind Albert Pujols in the batting order, went 4-for-5 with an RBI in his debut. did not have jaw-dropping numbers two runs on seven hits in six innings but his blue-collar effort stymied the Washington bats. He needed just 69 pitches to record 18 outs and threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 26 batters he faced. "He struggled a bit early but settled down and had them right where we wanted them to be," Rock Island manager Tom Teager said.

See Legion, D4 lies lost for just the third time in 18 games. They entered with a comfortable 6 '4 -game cushion in the division. Philadelphia starter J.A. Happ (7-1) gave up five runs and 10 hits in six innings, breaking a string of six consecutive sharp outings. The rookie left-hander has been mentioned prominently in trade talks with Toronto regarding All-Star Roy Halladay See Holliday, D4 "Everybody made good contact," Castellanos said.

"We just have to keep consistent, and we haven't been doing that lately. All of us have to stay strong and keep going." Dorothy Wulf service: For 66 years, Dorothy Wulf could be found at the ballpark rooting on her beloved ball club no matter the team name, no matter the affiliation. If the Minor League Baseball squad was playing in that Davenport stadium on the banks of the Mississippi River. Wulf was there. Wulf died on March 27, 2008.

Friday would have been her 93rd birthday, and during a short service atop the Modern Woodmen Park berm, the ashes of the longtime fan were interned near the flagpole a wish granted by the Quad Cities River Bandits at the request of Dorothy Wulf widower Frank Wulf. "No woman in history of professional baseball in Davenport has contributed more, witnessed more games, worked more, rooted more and had a greater concern for the owners, manager, coaches, players, media and stadium personnel than Dorothy Wulf," read Don Grenstng, who oversaw the ceremony. "She was the Quad Cities first lady of professional baseball." Conference selection in his last two seasons at Moline. He also won the Dave Youngvourst Award in 2009. He will be joining an Augustana program that is a strong contender in the CCIW.

The Vikings finished third in the league last season and set a school record for wins for the second consecutive season, compiling an overall mark of 21-14. They finished the year ranked No. 22 in the Central Region. Sports writer Ryan Sergeant Davenport rower part of world championship finals team A men's rowing team that includes a Davenport rower has reached the Sunday finals of the 2009 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. The men's four with coxswain of Steve Matyas (Turn-ersyille, N.J.), Michael Rossidis (Garden City, N.Y.), Drew Baustian (Davenport), Christopher Frendl (Southbor-ough, Mass.) and Evan Cassidy (Westbury, N.Y.) finished second in its heat to advance directly to Sunday's final.

The crew held second place the entire way down the course, clocking a 6:30.34 to finish 2.71 seconds behind New Zealand's winning time of 6:27.63. Staff report Affliction MMA cancels next event Two days after the main event was wrecked by a positive steroid test, Affliction had to cancel its mixed-martial arts event planned for Aug.1 in Anaheim. The card, which originally was slated to pit No. 1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko against Josh Barnett, was jeopardized when Barnett tested positive for an anabolic steroid during out-of-competition drug testing. Affliction scrambled to find an appropriate replacement, even giving consideration to Vitor Belfort jumping up two weight classes from middleweight to fight Emelianenko.

Ultimately, Showtime decided that there was not enough time to promote a match with any of the potential opponents and opted to cancel the show. Affliction's next move is still unknown. The two biggest rumors circulating are that Affliction plans on merging with Strikeforce and that Affliction will be folding and once again be a sponsor of the UFC. Sports writer Brett Nesseler "We believed in the club we had," Mozeliak said after meeting with reporters at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia to announce the move. "But we felt that this kind of addition would make a strong impact on us now." The three-time All-Star outfielder significantly bolsters St.

Louis' lineup for the stretch drive. With Pineiro on the mound Friday, the NL Central-leading Cardinals didn't need much offense. River Bandit bats beat storm, West Michigan NEXT Gary Krambeck staff Quad Cities River Bandits' Frederick Parejo slides into home ahead of Whitecaps catcher Angel Flores in the fourth inning of QC's rain-shortened, 8-4 win on Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park. By Matt Veto mvetoqconline.com On the front edge of a thunderous summer gale, the Quad Cities River Bandits' lumber awoke. In the seventh inning of QC's Friday contest with West Michigan (17-10), Mother Nature's wrath draped the Modern Woodmen Park field in a translucent, monsoon-like haze, forcing the game's early conclusion, but seven innings were enough Bandits 8, Whitecaps4 to make an 8-4 Bandits lead an official victory in the books.

"We had some good at-bats," said QC manager Steve Dillard. "Guys took pitches, got hits when we needed, a couple sac flies it was much better than what we've done the last couple of weeks." QC hitters were at it from the start, loading off the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles from Jose Garcia and Alex Castel-lanos. Garcia scored when Frederick Parejo reached on an error. Castellanos scored when Matt Carpenter coaxed a bases-loaded walk from Whitecaps starter Luke Put-konen (67). Then Kyle Con- Lakes vs.

Great Lakes Sunday, 6 p.m. FM) vs. Cincinnati 1:20 p.m. 1 1 70 AM) '''4 i I at Detroit 7:05 p.m. (ESPN) -1 3 game, and the Bandits manager likes his potential.

He was 2 for-4 with a double and stolon base on Friday. Garcia was with QC briefly at the beginning of last season. "He's a lot better than he was last year," Dillard said. "It's a matter of consistency." That's the goal of so many hitters, including Castellanos. He had a 12 game hitting streak end on July 18, struggled to a couple of hits over four games, but is back in the hitting saddle with three hits in his last two games, Castellanos said developing consistency is very much a mental process.

He said a nine hit game as a team helps the psyche of all. TEAM RIVER BANDITS CUBS WHITE SOX NOW at Detroit 3:10 p.m. CARDINALS mm vs. Great 6 p.m. (WYEC 93.9 vs.

Cincinnati 12:05 p.m. (CSC, KJOC at Philadelphia 3:10 p.m. (KLJB.WRMJ at Philadelphia Sun. 12:35 p.m. 102.3 FM) ley and Jon Edwards drove in Parejo and Osvaldo Morales on sacrifice flies.

Quite a few fundamentals packed in a single frame led to a 4-0 lead QC would not relinquish. The Bandits (11-15) knocked out nine hits in the game, the most they've had in a week. "A lot of it can depend on the pitcher," Dillard said. "I don't think their guy probably had it tonight. But, those guys kept working it from there.

It just feels like so many times for us, we just need to have a little help." But the top of the QC order hasn't boon opposed to helping itself. Garcia has added nn element of speed to QC's -J Marc Nesseler (309) 757-4972 nesselerqconline.com.