The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 27

March 7, 1998 SATURDAY Today's game Who: Devil Rays vs. Reds When: 7:05 p.m. Where: St. Petersburg Around the area St. Louis vs.

Toronto at Dunedin, 1:05 Houston (ss) vs. Cleveland at Winter Haven, 1:05 Philadelphia vs. Cincinnati (ss) at Sarasota, 1:05 Atlanta (ss) vs. Kansas City at Haines City, 1 :05 Atlanta (ss) vs. Houston (ss) at Kissimmee, 1:05 COMPLETE SCHEDULE, STANDINGS 11 PORT Send comments and tips through e-mail to: sportstampatrib.com PAUL C.

SMITH, Senior Editor tor Sports, (813) 259-7753 fax, (813) 259-8148 24 days to go Until opening day for the Devil Rays The Tampa Tribune Gamecocks put away Gators 1 4 The Gators' coldness continued in the second half. UF sank one field goal in the first six minutes, and watched Nnaji and fellow post player Brent Wright each draw their fourth foul during that span. Officials appeared liberal with their whistle-blowing more than 40 fouls were called presumably to keep the simmering hostility between the rivals in check. In the teams' regular-season contest two weeks ago, USC's BJ. McKie drew a half-game suspension with an elbow to Wright's face.

briefly with flammability, going on a 12-0 run capped by an Obiora Nnaji basket that gave it an 18-15 lead. USC followed with a 12-3 run of its own, sparked by consecutive three-pointers by B.J. McKie and Herbert Davis, Despite its hot spurt, Florida sank only 10 of 33 field goals (30.3 percent) in the first half. Sophomore Kenyan Weaks, who had a career-high 31 points in Thursday's 68-64 first-round victory against Auburn, had only three at the break, on a trey at the first-half horn. both halves, the Gators (14-14) fell to the 15th-ranked Gamecocks 71-60 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

South Carolina (22-6) advances to today's 3:15 p.m. semifinal against Ole Miss. Florida, meantime, advances to the NIT if it's lucky. The Gators have a slim shot at the 32-team field, where they likely would play either Florida State or USF in the first round if selected. The Gators went scoreless the first 5:18 of the game, missing their first eight shots as USC built an 8-0 lead.

Florida then flirted ATLANTA South Carolina ousts Florida from the SEC Tournament in a rematch of the hostile Eastern Division rivals. By JOEY KNIGHT of The Tampa Tribune When South Carolina faced Florida two weeks ago, the contest was marred by a cheap elbow that nearly spawned a midcourt scuffle moments after the final buzzer. In Friday's rematch, the heat of battle was replaced by the frigidity of it at least in Florida's case. Hindered by a cold start in Martin Fennelly Rays' Jones taking life as it comes AP photo Minnesota celebrates its upset of Michigan State. Details, Page 4.

"5 if 0M heads south .4 0 FORT MYERS Bad as the Devil Rays looked in losing 20-5 Friday, it's only spring training, Manager Larry Rothschild points out. By KEVIN WELLS of The Tampa Tribune Before you go closing your eyes, or cursing their infancy, remember, it's springtime baseball the Devil Rays are playing. Expansion teams, storied teams, defending world champions whichever teams rarely "El Duque" signs are able to exit March with-with Yanks out taking a lump or two Page 11 here and there. There was Fort Myers and the Devil Rays were beaten to a pulp Friday. The Minnesota Twins terminated the Rays' modest six-game winning streak with a 20-5 thumping at Hammond Stadium.

Tampa Bay actually had a 3-1 lead and seemed to be cruising before a baseball oddity or bad omen for the superstitious took place in the fourth inning. While waving Paul Sorrento home, third-base coach Gary Riddoch strained his left calf muscle and had to be helped off the field by Twins personnel. "Things kind of fell backward when Greg got hurt," Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild said. Backward was Minnesota batting around three times, pounding out 22 hits off seven Devil Rays pitchers and combining to score 15 of their runs in the fifth and seventh innings when Rays' fielders conspired to commit each of their four errors. "It's one of those days," Rothschild said.

"Nobody wants to have them, but they happen. It was a spring training game, clearly." Fortunately for Rothschild, he hasn't wavered from his strong springtime stance. Since the day ST. PETERSBURG Nine years ago, Keith Jones held the world in the palm of his hand his right hand. The future had a new nickname: Kiki.

Now all there is in that hand is a baseball. He has a wing and a prayer. Kiki Jones, once the finest of Tampa's baseball prospects, is trying one last time. Last stop: Devil Rays. He's 27 and somehow throwing 90-mph fastballs again.

It's enough for the Rays to let him try to make one of their minor league teams. He began this week. He began a long shot. "But it would be an amazing story," admitted Bill Li vesey, Rays director of player personnel. What happened to Kiki Jones? People still ask Kiki that.

Kiki still asks Kiki that. "I once hated looking in mirrors," Kiki said. "I hated that person. But now he's gone. And I'm back." he was drafted into baseball on his 19th birthday.

He had the pitches, the attitude and the Hillsborough High pedigree, like Doc Gooden and Gary Sheffield before him. The Los Angeles Dodgers picked Kiki in the first round and paid a $175,000 bonus, a monstrous sum back then. "I was going to be the best," Kiki said. "I would dream about the world, having it all, a five-, 10-million dollar house, all the cars, all of that." Five seasons later, nowhere close to the majors, he was back home. The Dodgers had given up on him.

The Mariners followed suit in the spring of 1993. Kiki didn't pick up a ball for four years after that. Four years. He pointed to his damaged rotator cuff. Baseball people pointed to his heart.

So do some people who say they love Kiki. "Work ethics," said Sheffield, who always hung with Kiki when they were younger. "It was just a matter of Kiki not wanting it bad enough." Kiki invested his bonus money in real estate. He and his wife, Daphne, are converting some Tampa commercial space into a restaurant, a hair salon to showcase Daphne's talents and a recording studio. So Kiki was never broke.

Only bitter. He thought some friends deserted him as he fell from baseball. Like Sheffield. Still, even as he prepared a comeback, Kiki went to a party in January at Gary's new home in St. Petersburg.

Kiki walked around dazed. He saw the palms and the hotel-sized pool and the antique cars and the 25-seat theater. All those millions. "The man sleeps on marble," Kiki said, shaking his head. "There was a time when that's all I wanted.

But not after what happened." WHAT HAPPENED BEGAN on May 21, 1995, another birthday. That's when Keith Jr. Kiki Jr. was born. And almost died.

So did Daphne, who nearly bled to death delivering Kiki Jr. three months prematurely. He weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces. A few months later, meningitis attacked. The coma lasted a week.

Doctors told Kiki Jones that his boy would die, or that he'd be blind and deaf, and never walk. Kiki and Daphne prayed with their pastor, Cynthia Forde, talked to God and waited for a sign. Kiki held onto five tiny fingers, hoping for a squeeze. A world in the palm of his hand. Keith Jones Sr.

might make it back. The Rays have nothing to lose with giving him a chance. They're waiting to see what happens. Meanwhile, at the Jones home in Wimauma, this is happening: Kiki Jr. is trying to walk.

"He's struggling," Kiki Jones said. "He sees and hears fine. But the walking is coming more slow. I stand over him and hold his arms and we try it together. It's one step at a time." JOCK FISTICKTribune photo See RAYS, back page Brad Pennington struggled on the mound Friday in the Devil Rays' loss to the Twins.

Unheralded Bradley shares Doral lead MIAMI Michael Bradley's 6-under 66 gives the Valrico resident a share of the second-round lead at Doral. 4 1 v. U'r- Who: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks. Wherewhen: GM Place, Vancouver, British Columbia: 10:35.

TVradio: Sunshine Network; WDAE-1250 AM, FM. Scouting report 8 Keeping the faith: Lightning still have big hopes for forward Steve Kelly 8 Tribune earns 3 awards from APSE TAMPA Three Tampa Tribune sports-' writers earned top-10 finishes at this year's Associated Press Sports Editors' contest. David Whitley was judged among the top 10 in column writing, and Martin Fennelly and H.A. Branham each won in the feature story competition. The three awards were the most ev-.

er won by the Tribune in the annual APSE national contest. The contest does not rank the winners, but rather groups them according to circulation size in two categories of "top 10" and "honorable mention." The Tribune was judged against other newspapers with a daily circulation of more than 175,000. On Father's Day, Branham wrote of his experiences after taking his son on a road trip to the Michigan home of Mu- hammed Ali. Fennelly's winning article mused on whether the legendary Vince Lombardi could coach the modern athlete. Columnists were judged on three entries.

Whitley wrote on the tragic Super Bowl XXXI bungee jumping accident; the hard luck of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster on the day of his Hall of Fame induction in Canton, Ohio; and the final NHL game played in Hart-ford, Conn. Tribune staff By MICK ELLIOTT of The Tampa Tribune Michael Bradley walked off the 18th green Friday at the Doral-Ryder Open and was asked about his second-round pairing. "Yeah, a couple of guys whose names I've seen somewhere," he said. Bradley, the sixth-year PGA Tour pro from Martin loses ground Valrico, had just finished but gains a fan a day as the unknown Page 3 golfer. He was the face- less third man in a threesome that included first-round co-leader Curtis Strange and another guy named Greg Norman.

Adding to Bradley's anonymity, the Doral leader board didn't even post his correct score, shorting him one stroke for most of the day. It didn't matter to Bradley. "You know me, I just want to go hit it," he said. And Friday he hit it very, very well better than the old-what's-their-names who filled out his group, particularly Norman, a three-time former champ who missed the cut for the first time in 10 Doral appearances. Not only did Bradley out-shine his marquee partners with longer tee balls and tighter approach shots, with a 6-under-par 66 he earned a share of the second-round lead, joining John Cook (66) and Tim Jlcrron (68) at 7-under-par AP photo Michael Bradley watches his approach shot on the 11th hole.

137. One shot back at 6 under are Scott Hoch (66), Rocco Mediate (67) and Stewart Cink (68), while nine golfers are tied at 5-under, including Jim Furyk, who shot a 10-under 62, former Doral champion John Huston (69)L Tiger Woods (69), 55-year-old Raymond Floyd (68) and Strange (71). "That was the first time I'd played with Greg on tour, so it was kind of fun," Bradley said. "You don't want to go out there and embarrass yourself. But if you're playing the tour you're not going to embarrass yourself." Still, Bradley hadn't exactly been proud of his recent efforts.

He arrived at Doral with a tie See DORAL, Page 3 BOXING: Chavez meets Gonzalez tonight in WBC super lightweight bout. Story, Page 3 MOTORSPORTS: Head leads Top Fuel qualifying in Gatornationals. Story, Page5 PRO FOOTBALL: Free-agent DB Mark Collins visits Bucs. Story, Page 8 Preps 6 NBA 9 Pari-mutuels 10.