The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 109

THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN Section April 1, 1990 3 College Baseball OU, OSU Favored, But Watch Iowa St. BU Milestone Hits Home Forever and 1,000 Wins Not Enough for Simmons By Murray Evans Staff Writer When Seminole Junior College baseball coach Lloyd Simmons recently won his game, the feeling hit him. All of a sudden, he was a "veteran." "It was the first time I'd ever felt like I'd been coaching a long time," Simmons said of his squad's 16-14 win over Indian Hills (Iowa) on BASEBALL STATS By Mike Baldwin Staff Writer Oklahoma and Oklahoma State dominated Big Eight baseball during the '80s. OU or OSU has won the past eight regular season titles, and OSU has won nine consecutive tournament titles. The Big Eight race got into full swing Saturday.

OU coach Stan Meek says the Sooners and Cowboys are favorites once again, but he says there's a sleeper to watch. "Don't be surprised if Iowa State is right there," Meek said. "Iowa State beat Texas in Austin, and Nebraska beat Wichita State. Missouri always has a solid bunch, and Kansas has solid pitching. I really don't know much about K-State." Big Eight coaches expect a competitive race, but win-loss records heading into the conference's first full weekend weren't anything special: Nebraska 18-8, Missouri, 10-10, Kansas 11-11, Iowa State 7-7, and Kansas State 8-1 1.

OU, 17-7 overall and 1-0 in Big Eight playing heading into a weekend series 1979 56-11 .328 2.13' 12th 1980 63-17 .309 2.80 4th 1st 1st 1st 4th 1981 78-7 .340 2.33 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd .349 3:49 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1983 80-18 .325 2.68 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1984 74-10 .342 2.99 1st 1st 1st 1st 1985 70-6 .354 2.66 1st 1st 4th 1986 70-17 .359 4.00 3rd 3rd 2nd 1987 89-13 .381 2.42 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1988 85-15 .360 3.61 3rd 1st 1st 1st 4th 1989 79-23 .363 3.53 12th 1st 4th 1990 44-2 OKLAHOMA Batting Player AB 2b 3 Scott Campbell 90 28 43 7 Brent Bohrofen 79 IB 3) 2 John Kosenski 50 13 18 5 I Rich Sametlnskl ....85 21 29 vUkeHlckey 47 7 16 5 A. Champagne 91 27 30 14 Steve Dean 28 5 9 0 Matt Burke 67 16 II I Byron Mathews 59 17 18 3 Bryan Greltak 63 14 17 5 Pat Toiler .41 3 10 1 Greg Ward 41 9 6 0 (Less than 20 at bats Brady Carrtrell 7 1 1 1 Joey Green 23 5 3 1 1 Brian Cavalli 27 2 3 1: Greg McKltrlck 5 0 0 0 1 Trey Forkenway 4 0 0 0 1 Team Totals tot 1U 257 59 9" Bw Leaders: Bohrofen Mathews 9, Champagne 3. Hlckev Pitching BB SO W-L Era March 19. i ne time seemed to pass so quickly from year to year, but after that game, I felt like I'd been coaching forever!" It only seems like forever to opposing ju-co teams. Since Simmons began at Seminole in 1976, his teams have compiled an amazing record (an .838 winning percentage).

His 1987 squad holds the national juco record for consecutive wins with 55. This year's team has an ongoing 36-game win OVERALL RECORD: Player IP El C. Menoennall ....24.0 19 9 5 MattRuebel 29.1 23 12 10 11.2 12 4 4 Kevin King 41.2 53 30 21 Korey KetlngZ 25 17 JimHusita 9.2 8 7 7 John Kosenski ...22.0 26 20 17 Rick Bennett 10.2 19 14 12 Lance Yates 7.2 17 13 11 (Less man 5 innln Clint Whitworrh ....4.2 4 5 4 Steve Dean ............4.2 4 4 4 Joe Pease 1.2 3 2 2 Team Totals 202 121 143 101 Most Home Runs in a Season Most Wins in a Row Most Hits Most Runs Most Runs Batted In 63 (79) 33 ('82) 716 ('81) 666 ('83) 569 ('81) 180 ('87) 127 ('82) 83 ('83) 55 ('85) 42 ('87) 36 ('90) 1020 ('87) 824 (82) 733 ('83) 930 ('87) 861 ('82) 714 ('81) 832 087) 832 ('82) 577 ('83) Lloyd Simmons OSU BASEBALL STATS OKLAHOMA STATE Batting Won 500th Game March 1 1984, against Miami Dade Central, Fla. Pitcher: Chris Sarmiento; 2nd Game: Won 700th Game Aprrit2, 1086, against Rose State; Pstchr: Dale DeVaghan; 2nd Game. Soora; Worn SOOth Garnet AB 3b HR RBI Avs 13 May ttifft.

1S87, agamst Mertmac Mo: Cent. Playoffs, in Kansas Orty, Kan. Michael Daniel 70 27 28 Steve Dailev 52 14 19 Bobby Carlsen 96 25 35 Manny Gaoliano ...39 16 14 Jeromy Burnlrz 91 31 32 Manny Cervantes .57 14 20 B. Beanblossom 97 21 34 Mitch Simons 105 32 34 BradDolelsi 41 22 13 NellSzeryk 67 15 21 GregWalberoh 25 6 7 ning streak and a 44-2 record. The Trojans have finished as national run-ners-up three times in his career and have made, two other Juco World Series appearances.

The numbers go on and on a testimony to the winning attitudes Simmons builds in his players. "Playing for coach Simmons is a great privilege," current Trojan player Danny Zahl said. "You come out of here a winner, and not only are you a better ballplayer, you're a better person." Simmons said the players deserve the credit for helping him become only the second junior college coach to reach the plateau. "It's the players who have gone out and won the games. We've had some really outstanding individuals come through here, and it would be wrong for me to take most of the credit," Simmons said.

Still, you can't dispute Simmons' ability. Over 70 former Trojan players have signed pro contracts, and about 30 are still playing. Three have reached the major leagues: Don Carmen and Keith Miller of the Philadelphia Phillies and Steve Peters of the San Diego Padres. Two others, Eric Stone (Detroit Tigers) and Jimmy Rogers (Toronto Blue Jays) are on spring 40-man rosters. His three best teams, he said, must have been the 1981, 1982 and 1987 squads who each made it to the national title game.

All three fell short of bringing Simmons his long-hoped-for national title. 1.000 College Notes at Kansas State, was riding a 10-game winning streak. "We're starting to play more consistent baseball every time we go out," Meek said. "Playing those top teams early is paying off." The Sooner attack is coming around. "We don't have as much speed as we've had in the past, so we'll have to hit the ball in the gaps more and produce more home runs.

I was glad to see the four home runs against Oklahoma State. We have the potential for power in this lineup." The top slugger has been junior college transfer Bryan Grejtak. OU's catcher has slammed a team-high sLx home runs, including two in the Sooners' 7-6, extra-inning win last week over OSU. "He hits the ball in the air a lot and pulls a lot, which in our ballpark is conducive to home runs," Meek said. "He's streaky.

When he's swinging well he's really tough. And he's tough mentally." OU's strength may be an experienced pitching staff. Right-hander Jim Huslig was feared to have shoulder problems in the winter, but his return bolsters the starting rotation. Meek said he planned on throwing Kevin King, Huslig and Korey Keling at Kansas State and would probably use John Kosenski in the fourth game. "Down the stretch he (Huslig) could be a difference-maker," Meek said.

"It boosts our whole staff. I think all he needs to do is build up his stamina. He might be able to go the distance pretty soon." While the remaining six Big Eight teams opened conference play, Oklahoma State was in the midst of a rugged stretch of games. OSU will play its initial four-game conference series this weekend at Missouri. OSU, 23-5, closed its eight-day trip to Hawaii with games against Georgia Tech, Hawaii and Creighton.

The Cowboys face defending national champion Wichita State three times this week. OSU hosts the Shockers on Tuesday night and travels to Wichita for games Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. With No. 1 starter Earl Wheeler having missed three starts due to a tender elbow, OSU's pitching rotation is up in the air this week. The Pokes are expected to throw their top pitchers against Missouri.

"We needed to plav a lot of games and still do," said OSU Gary Ward. "We're starting to get a good look out our pitching. The trip to Hawaii has Brian Kelly 18 8 7 1 0 3 11 .389 Eric Stinkard 18 5 5 1 1 0 5 .276 Ritchie MooOv .2 1 0 0 0 1 .000 Team Totals 901 275 301 65 7 16 247 .335 Stolen Base Leaders: Simons 13. Burnlrz 11, Beanblossom 6, Dolelsl 5. Carlsen 4, Daniel 3.

Dailev 3. Purvis 2. Pitching Pitcher IP ER BB SO W-L Era Kelly Reavis 11.0 7 3 3 3 6 2-0 2.45 Gordle Tioton 30.3 27 13 11 9 31 3-1 3.26 RonGerstein 22.7 18 9 9 13 20 2-0 3.57 Dennis Burbank. 25.0 19 11 10 16 10 3-0 3.60 Todd Pendleton. The Oklahoman Graphics ical come-from-behind Seminole win." Simmons has no plans to leave Seminole.

"As long as the junior college and community wants the program, I'm happy here. The first player I ever recruited asked, "Where's that at?" when I told him about Seminole. Now people know where Seminole is at. "I had three goals when I started coaching. One was to win a national title.

Another was to win 1,000 games without losing 200, and the last was when I decide to quit coaching, to have won 80 percent of my games. "I've reached two of those goals. I hope to end my career with a national championship." "It really made me mad to know how hard those guys had worked, just to have to watch another team point their fingers at them and yell, 'We're No. That for me was the toughest part," Simmons said. The win was almost a microcosm of Seminole baseball under Simmons.

"It was a great ball game," Simmons said. "It was exciting and it was frustrating. We went from playing terrible, to playing good, to playing great. We had to come from three down in the sixth. We went four runs up, and they scored twice in the seventh.

It was just a typ- 18 20 3-1 19 14 2-0 12 0-0 11 9 0-2 Dave wtiick, 27.0 27 15 12 Todd Manly 28.0 24 19 16 BradGore 15.0 17 11 11 Billy 13.0 14 16 11 Earl Wheeler 24.0 28 22 22 Derek 20 14 11 Orlando, Twins Partners In Prosperity been invaluable. There's enough offense on this club, and we play good defense. This gave us a chance to look at our young pitchers." The trip to Hawaii allowed OSU to take on some standout teams. Georgia Tech. ranked No.

1 last week, had a 2-4 record on the trip heading into Friday. Hawaii, using speed and pitching, is dangerous on its spacious home field. Creighton is also competitive. "Georgia Tech is defenitely a postseason team and a potential World Series club. They're solid," Ward said.

"We needed to play some good games. It was a good trip for us." NON-ABRASIVE mm While the Johnsons bemoan the Twins' departure, the city of Orlando believes most others won't. Somewhere along the line, as the Twins became more and more important to Minnesota, they became less and less important to Orlando. "We've outgrown the need to be a spring training base for a major-league team," said Joe Mittiga, assistant to Orlando mayor Bill Frederick. "Our effort now is to attract a major-league baseball team of our own." The Twins sold their minor-league team to a local group led by William duPont III.

He owns the Orlando Magic, like the Minnesota Timberwolves an NBA expansion team this year. The Orlando Twins have been renamed the SunRays. "The city is geared up for major-league sports now," said SunRays administrator Shereen Samonds. "The only reason Mr. duPont bought this team was to eventually get Orlando a major-league club." Bell and Pohlad struck a deal with Fort Myers and Lee County.

Ironically, the very Gulf Coast county that wasn't willing to give the Royals a few million dollars of ballpark improvements in the 1980s is now building the Twins a $14 million facility in time for 1991. So next Thursday afternoon, after they play the Astros at Tinker Field, the Twins will pack their bags and leave Orlando for the last time. A marriage that lasted 52 springs only two fewer than the Detroit Tigers' relationship with Lakeland will end in bitter divorce. "It's sad to see an era end," said Jamie Lowe, who will move into the Twins' front office after spending the last two years as general manager of the Twins' Class AA affiliate here. "It won't affect the Twins that much, or the city of Orlando.

The people it affects are the fans." Laura Johnson has lived here for nine years. Her husband is from Minneapolis. Her 7 -year-old son wants to be a ballplayer when he grows up. "We're very sad to see them go," she said while standing in line to buy tickets for one of Tinker Field's final exhibition games. Wat to be one of Minnesota's wealthiest men by settling for quaint.

He and his team president, Jerry Bell, saw deals that other clubs were cutting and wanted a piece of the action. The Houston Astros went from Cocoa to Kissimmee. The Kansas City Royals from Fort Myers to Baseball City. The New York Mets from St. Petersburg to Port St.

Lucie. The Cincinnati Reds from Tampa to Plant City. The Texas Rangers from Pompano Beach to Port Charlotte. All the new sites Included state-of-the-art facilities, with several ballfields, room for major-leaguers and minor-leaguers, and many amenities. The Twins asked Orlando to improve Tinker Field, add an executive office and make room for their minor-leaguers, who trained in Melbourne.

They estimated cost of the project at $5 million. Orlando offered $3 million to improve the field and clubhouse and add some training facilities. Negotiations became public and acrimonious, with the Twins painted as villains in Orlando and the city being called the heavy by the Twins. Last spring, the Twins were upset about noisy construction at the Florida Citrus Bowl, which is adjacent to Tinker Field. Finally, after Orlando and the Twins broke off talks last year.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Long before Walt Disney World and Sea World, one of the only worldly attractions Orlando had to offer was the annual southern migration of the Washington Senators. In 1936, Clark Griffith began bringing his baseball team here for spring training. The club returned to tiny Tinker Field each year from the Great Depression to the AIDS outbreak, from the decade before World War II to the decade after Vietnam, from FDR to the Broccoli Kid. Together, the city and ballclub grew.

Orlando (population 27,330 in the 1930 census) has become a thriving center of commerce and tourism, with a metropolitan-area population of 1,057,503. The Senators were handed down to Calvin Griffith, who in 1961 relocated in Minnesota and called the team the Twins. In 1982, the Twins moved into the Metrodome, which has become a symbol of the downtown Minneapolis power base. Two years later. Griffith sold to banker Carl Pohlad, who hired slick management that made the Twins more of a marketable commodity than a ballclub.

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