St. Joseph News-Press from St. Joseph, Missouri • 17

Sports Section Wednesday, May 20, 1987! Tribe baseball season ends, 10-1 Central golfers finish ninth in state tourney four games including a 2-1 decision over Central lost eight of nine before running off three of five victories including one over Suburban Small Six champion Ruskin; The Indians started the season strong, but slumped severely after dropping the City League championship to Benton. "It was a tough go there for a while," Liberty coach John Stipetich said. "Maybe it's good though, that we're reaching our peak now. I'm just happy we won today because this is one of the better ballgames we've played all For the Indians, it wasn't their worst. Blakley pointed to their eight-error, 14-5 debacle with Benton for that dubious honor.

But it was hardly pretty. However, even with the hor- The Indians will struggle no more. The loss ends their season at 13-8. Meanwhile, the 8-11 Blue Jays continue on against Oak Park, 20-9 winners over Park Hill. Before most of the approximately 75 fans had a chance to warm their seats, the host Blue Jays had scored five times.

After stringing together five singles off starter and loser Brian Fleckal, 7-3, with one out in the top of the first inning, the Jays never looked back. With the five spot, winner Richard Stegall, 3-2, retired the batters when he had to. Blue Jay hitters hit when they had to. But considering the two teams' diametrically opposed seasons, Blakley wasn't surprised. "We were dead," he said.

"I have no idea why." Liberty, which won its first Mo. After posting a disappointing 326 team score Monday, the Central boys golf team rallied with a 303 stroke total Tuesday to finish with a 629 and ninth place in the Class 4A state golf tournament, held the Univer-! sity of Missouri's A.L. Gustin course. "I'm really pleased," Central coach Jim Perry said. "I think we showed what we can do when we get on top.

of our game." Jefferson City won the team title with a two-day 581 stroke count. The remaining top 10 included: St. Louis-Lafayette 596; defending champion Pop lar Bluff 598; Springfield Glendale and Joplin 606; Blue Springs 621; DeSmet 623; Kansas City-Rockhurst 625 and Parkway Western at 630. Seven other teams rounded out the team including: St. Louis-Chaminade 633, Sedalia Smith-Cotton 634; Liberty and Springfield Kick-apoo 646; Pattonville 652; Hanibal 672 and Sikeston 688.

The Indians were led by freshman Rob Franklin and senior Jon Watsabaugh; each finished fired a 5-over 75. Franklin actually shot a 74, but signed his scorecard before the Please see GolfPage 4C rendous start, the right hit in the right situation could have changed things. The hits didn't come. Nothing changed. Fleckal, who reached on an error by Liberty first baseman Robert Pearcy with one out in the second, scored one batter later on Mark Lyford's ground single to left.

But Lyford and Phil Sarver, who had walked, were left stranded at second and third. Again in the third, the Indians had two runners on with one out. But Chad Carson lined into a double play. Then, in the fifth, Steve Mooney led off with a double and continued on to third when the ball scooted by rightfielder Kevin Noblet. He was left there.

had some chances," Please see TribePage 2C Benton eliminated in district EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. In capturing the City League championship, the Benton Cardinals lived by the comeback. That magic that carried them to an 8-1 league mark was missing Tuesday. The top-seeded Cardinals eliminated from the Class 3A. District 16 tournament by No.

5 Excelsior Springs, 6-3, one comeback too short. 1 "We went to the well one too many times," Benton coach Doq A "If it was Central or Parish scores 31 as Boston defeats Detroit By HOWARD ULMAN AP Sports Writer BOSTON The Boston Celtics had trouble gettingexcited again after one of the most exciting playoff series in their history. The Detroit Pistons had trouble getting their rhythm back after five days of rest. In a game lacking typical playoff intensity, Robert Parish scored 15 of his- game-high 31 points in the third quarter and the Celtics went on to a 104-91 victory over Detroit in the opener of their NBA Eastern Conference final Tuesday night. Boston had just one day off after edging Milwaukee on Sunday to win the conference semifinal 4-3.

Detroit hadn't played since last Wednesday, when it completed a 4-1 triumph over Atlanta. "The (Celtics') letdown was very much apparent out there," Boston Coach K.C. Jones said. "It's like trying to get over a championship type series with the Bucks and then go down and get up again. "They (the Pistons) had a five-day layoff, which affected them.

They had no games. It was weird." It also was weird that Boston's Larry Bird made only seven of 22 field-goal attempts and Detroit's Isiah Thomas hit just six of 24, "The layoff definitely hurt us," said Thomas, who still led Detroit with 18 points and 10 assists. "We did basically everything we wanted to do but convert I had a lot of shots, easy shots. I just couldn't hit them." 1 HA. By LEN LAMPUGNALE Staff Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Even before the Central Indians took the field for their Class 4A, District 16 baseball game, the writ' ing was on the walj. And unless something changed drastically, coach Charlie Blakley knew he could write off another season. Nothing changed. The Indians late-season tailspin spiraled to a merciful close with a 10-1 loss to a streaking Liberty team Tuesday at Liberty Sportsfield "The only thing we did was show up," cracked Blakley after the Indians committed six errors and managed just six hits. "We're still struggling.

We struggled all the way up until the end." Boston's Robert Parish, right, if 1 fix' urn Vr "v-j if" .1 1 SI 1 am 1 I 1 if. a tit 1 reaches for the ball along with Detroit's Bill Laimbeer. Huskers shoot for NCAA Softball crown Associated Pr9 Fifth straight win Saberhagen as KC drops Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. Bret Saberhagen pitched a six-hitter Tuesday night and became the American League's first seven-game winner, leading the Kansas City Royals over the Boston Red Sox 4-1. Saberhagen, 7-1, struck out four and walked one as the Royals won their ninth straight home game, four shy of the team record.

The Red Sox dropped to 5-17 on the road. Saberhagen allowed five singles and a double. Rick Sutcliffe of the Chicago Cubs is the National League's only seven-game winner. Bob Stanley, 2-5, took the loss. Bill Buckner's major-league hit gave the Red Sox a 1-0 MBA playoffs The' Pistons sank just 39 percent of their shots through three quarters and never threatened in the fourth, when they trailed by from seven to 15 points.

"We just wasted an awful lot of opportunities," Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said. "We didn't take open shots. We decided to pass. That's what I mean when I say we were out of sync." Kevin McIIale scored 21 points and Bird and Dennis Johnson had 18 each for the Celtics, who hit 52 percent of their shots. Los Angeles .112 .....104 LOS ANGELES James Worthy scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half and Magic Johnson, the NBA's Most Valuable Player, had 12 of his 20 in the fourth quarter as the Lakers took a 2-0 lead over the SuperSonics in the Western Conference finals.

The best-of-seven series now moves to Seattle for the third and fourth games Saturday and Monday afternoons. Johnson, who also had 10 rebounds and 10 assists, made a foul shot with 2:05 remaining and a pair of free throws with 1:14 to go to extend a 104-100 lead to seven points. After Seattle's Dale Ellis made two free throws with 1:03 left to make it 107-102, Johnson drove the lane for a layup with 48 seconds remaining to clinch the victory. think distance runs to score how I had ever pitched from a short distance my first two years." 1 Wolforth said he understands why the mound was moved back. "The effort to get more balls in play is good," he said.

"I think a lot of coaches were concerned they were losing an audience. "My personal opinion is that whether the score is 1-0 or 8-7, the game is still exciting. You will see good, tough-pitched games in Omaha. The rule has given the potential for more offense. But on the top level of softball, we haven't seen that much so far." Five Nebraska players, including Sippel, earned NCAA Midwest All-Region first team honors, making all five eligible for All-America consideration.

The other Cornhuskers honored are Lori Richins, Margie Ogrodowicz, Donna Deardorff and Rhonda Gorraiz. Ogrodowicz, a left fielder, is hitting .304, with 17 stolen bases. She has 47 career stolen bases. Third baseman Gorraiz is hitting .291, peajcing in the Big Eight tournament and regional competition where Nebraska beat Utah, 6-0, 3-2, for a 39-9 season record. Shortstop Jane Kremer is hitting .259 and leads NU in runs-batted-in with 28.

Second baseman Richins was named to the Big Eight tournament team for a third year. Her season batting average is .261. She made history in St. Joseph early this month when she became the first softball player to be a member of four Big Eight championship teams. Sippel also set a precedent as the first player to be named Most Valuable three years running in the Big Eight tournament.

She won both games against Utah, pitching 10 in-' nings and allowing only one earned run. -v a ilJUUUipMM" A I a- 1 I 77. JTf Lafayette, we probably would have come from behind and beat them. But we didn't play smart, i and we paid for it." Thp Cardinals finish the seat- snn 12-fi Excelsior Serines, 8-13, plays Kearney, 14-6 winners ove Platte City, in today's district fir nals. 1 The kev nlav of the same came with two out in the top of the fifth and the Cardinals trailing 4-3i With Ryan McClurg on first and r.

i II' I inns HaiDiri on seconu, iuna Thompson laced a two-strike single to right. The Tigers set up for a relay to the plate, but right fielder Shaine Pennington gum nprl arrnss the field to third. nailing McClurg. Halbirt missed scoring by a half-step. "That changed things that we could do.

Crank said. I hat Please see BentonPage 2C wins 7th Red Sox lead in the fourth. Don Baylor was hit by a pitch and went to second on Jim Rice's single. Baylor scored from second on Buckner's single. The Royals scored three in the bottom of the fourth.

Juan Beni quez drew a leadoff walk and went' to third on a single by Danny Tartabull. Frank White lined an RBI single into right, with Tartabull: stopping at second, and then'' Angel Salazar singled to score Tartabull and put White at sec-; ond. Slump-ridden Steve Balboni singled home White. Willie Wilson singled and scored the Royals' fourth run in the seventh on a two-out double by Beniquez. The Cardinals scored three runs off Rick Mahler in the first innino Vince Coleman.

Ozzie1 Smith and Terry Pendleton sinj ed to load the bases Detore Clark's two-run single. Another run came in on Willie McGee'; groundout. Thp Rraves cot two runs in the third on a two-out walk to Albert Hall, who moved to third on pitcher Joe Magrane's wild pick-off throw and scored on Rafael Ramirez's double. Gary Roenicke singled Ramirez home. Atlanta tied the score 3-3 in the fourth when Virgil hit his 13th home run of the year and sixth in seven games.

St. Louis took a 5-3 lead in the seventh. Tom Herr singled with-one out for the Cardinals' first hit since the first inning and went to third on Curt Ford's single. Pinch hitter Rod Booker squeezed home the tie-breaking run and Tom Pagnozzi, another pinch hitter, followed with an RBI single. 1 Atlanta edges Cardinals on Simmons' RBI single: 1 villi Coaches don't will allow more From staff and wire reports OMAHA, Neb.

The NCAA rule that moved the pitcher's mound three feet farther from home plate this season probably won't affect run production in the Softball College World Series, two participating coaches said Tuesday. The eight-team double-elimination series begins today in Seymour Smith Softball Complex. The distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate was increased from 40 to 43 feet this season after coaches complained that softball had become too much of a pitcher's game. "As far as the top 10 or 12 teams in the nation, I don't think the rule has made much of a difference," said Ron Wolforth, interim coach for third-ranked Nebraska. "I think the top pitchers have been just as good as in the past." And better at Nebraska, where the team ERA has improved to 0.51 from last season's 0.60 mark.

Junior Lori Sippel leads the Cornhuskers with a 19-2 record and a 0.36 ERA. Junior Donna Deardorff is 15-4 with a 0.37 ERA. Nebraska's first-round opponent today, is No. 6 Fresno Stats, which has posted a 0.65 team ERA. Fresno's top pitchers are senior Lori Romero-Gardner (25-5, 0.53) and junior Melanie Parrent (23-8, 0.57).

Sippel, today's starter, overcame some early em-barrasment this season because of the new mound role, but has become fond of the change. Following her selection as Big Eight Tournament Most Valuable Player for a third straight season, Sippel said, "My drop and curve were falling before they reached the plate for the first couple of games, but once I adjusted to the longer distance I wondered i --m i it I 41 I lit If1 (rji if Associated Press ATLANTA Ted Simmons' single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning snapped a tie and gave the Atlanta Braves a 6-5 victory over St. Louis Tuesday night, ending the Cardinals five-game winning streak. Simmons' line drive to right field off loser Todd Worrell, 0-2, scored Dion James, who doubled. Gene Garber, 5-2, got the victory with one scoreless inning of relief.

The Braves tied the score 5-5 in the eighth on pinch hitter Graig Nettles' two-out, two-run single. Dale Murphy opened the in-, ning with a walk off reliever Ray Soff. Worrell came on and issued a single to Simmons before Andres Thomas' sacrifice. Ozzie Virgil; who homered earlier, struck out but Ken Oberkfell walked to load the bases before Nettles' ground single that hopped over the glove of first baseman Jack Clark. 8Un Photo by IVAL LAWHON Sippel was the Big 8 tournament MVP three times..