The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 37

Spokane, Wash.Coeur Sunday, August 6, 2000 Page C) Area sportsFrom the Front Page Triplett to conduct clinic at Washington State Area roundup junior club. He is having his best year on the PGA Tour, currently ranked at 10th in prize money with $1.8 million. He won his first official tournament in Los Angeles earlier this year and finished second in last weeks John Deere Classic. Tuesdays events in Pullman begin with an 8:30 a.m. breakfast at the Hilltop Restaurant with 60 ticket holders.

Breakfast tickets, which will include admission to afternoon events, are $60 and are available at the WSU Golf Course. Following the clinic, Triplett will play a five-hole challenge match against teams of junior golf club members. Info: A1 Sorensen, (509) 595-8999. Baseball Jake Adams went 3 for 5, with one run batted in and one run, and the Spokane Heat defeated defending champion Hammond (La.) 12-8 at the NABF U-18 World Series at Wilmington, Del. Aaron Sedler was 2 for 2 with three RBIs and Brad Ross was 2 for 4 with two runs for the Heat.

Spokane, 1-2 in pool play, will meet the Bonnie Jays of Ontario, Canada, today. Golf Spokanes Sarah Bassett finished tied for 11th place at the AJGA Izzo Colorado Junior Roundup, which ended Friday after a two-hour rain delay at Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster. Bassett shot a final-round, 6-over-par 78 to to finish at 235, 11 strokes back. Erin Andrews of Las Vegas and Brooke Shelton of Dallas both shot 224. Andrews won the playoff.

JPGA Tour professional Kirk Triplett will conduct a swing clinic at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Washington State University Golf Course. Tickets for the hourlong program are $8 in advance and $10 at the gate. Children under 18 will be admitted free. All proceeds will support the Pullman Junior Golf Club.

A 1980 graduate of Pullman High School, Triplett began his competitive golf career as a member of the d'Alene, Idaho Blanchette: Status takes time Cougsoff to fast start for 2001 WSU football notebook The 7th Annual Pro Classic is today and Monday at the Creek at Qualchan Goll Course, which is a par 72, course There is no parking on the tournament grounds Free parking is available at the lot adjacent to Tidymans Latah Creek Grocery Store Shuttle service to the course is provided by STA for $1 round- trip per person You must have a gallery ticket to board. another first-time winner. But last week, I really felt the impact of that win, Triplett said. Im leading going into the last round and no one is asking me, How are you going to win? or What are you going to do to win? or just Can you win? It's the question theyve been asking me for six, seven, nine years, and I dont get it anymore. The genesis of his Nissan Open victory, he recalled, could be found the previous week in San Diego, where he made the final group for Sundays round.

And I was playing lousy, he said, but I hung in there and finished fourth or fifth. I didnt lose control of my game or lose my composure, which Id done in the past. Triplett has always been one of the more approachable, accommodating pros on the Tour, full of dry, desert wit and an easy candor particularly when it comes to detailing his own shortcomings. And, as a golfer, he only seems to have two. Hes no gorilla off the tee, and hes been known to feed his inner ape when things go bad.

Emotional management is the phrase. And its huge on a golf course. But its not just golf, its every sport, he insisted. Its just magnified in golf because its not an action-reaction game. You have time to think about it.

I spent plenty of years finding ways to tell myself what an idiot I was for that last poor shot instead of figuring out what I was going to do next. Naturally, theres one easy way to manage your emotions: Dont play badly. Triplett doesnt think hes doing much different this year than he has in the past. He changed his sand wedge and has developed a soft flop shot, and midway through 1999, he picked up a different putter. Whether its the equipment or a modest resolve to pay closer attention to his greens work in practice, the statistical jump has been staggering from 72nd to fifth in putting average, and 38th to fifth in birdie average.

Hes also 10th in greens hit in regulation, though thats always been a strength. When you feel like youre going to make a putt or two at some point during the round, Triplett said, you dont let little mistakes get to you. Fortunately, when I havent been playing well, Ive still been able to shoot some decent scores. And when I have been playing well, Ive shot some really good scores. A third-round 62 last weekend in Illinois.

A 61 at Hartford a couple weeks earlier. Sixty-fours at the Bob Hope and Buick. In all, Triplett has cracked the top Course Layout 1 Putting contest finals Monday following Pro-Am this area, John Stockton and knows all too well the brief window hes peeking through. The prestige accorded a prolonged stay in the top 10 and not merely to qualify for the honor of playing on our Presidents Cup team carries some weight with Triplett. But it doesnt necessarily drive him.

Im trying to get better at what I do, he allowed, but Im not getting any younger. The guys coming out now play a little different game. At some point, my skills will decline, so Im trying to do as much as I can right -4 Continued from Cl weekend in Denver. But theres success, Triplett knows, and then theres success. Long-term, household name, invited-to-the-interview-tent-out-of-habit success.

I see qualifying school players come and go, he said, and traditional Top 10 players see guys like me from the middle of the pack, I guess, have one good year and maybe drop back. You have to prove yourself over a number of years to be considered one of those guys. Even Tiger Woods hes trying to be the best of all time, but only time will tell whether he is. Well, for me its the same thing. Am I one of the top 10 players on the Tour? At this point, yes.

But 1 have to keep doing it. IF YOU GO Tickets tickets for the Pro Classic are good for both days and can be purchased for $20 at the Latah Creek Tidymans store. As questions go, however, its a dramatic improvement on the one Triplett used to hear constantly. At some point along the Tour trail 1997 or 1998 Triplett had zoomed past the $2 million mark in career earnings and inched into the golf zealots consciousness as the dreaded Best Player Never To Have Won A Tournament. This he carried around in his bag like a 15th club.

Like the cinch Hall of Famers who, because they are without championships rings, constantly have their legitimacy assailed by talk-radio hyenas, Tripletts badge was hardly something to be ashamed of but probably not something to be polished, either. Certainly a lot of people probably me included say what youve done is not complete without a victory, he admitted. Well, color Kirk Triplett complete. Seven weeks into the 2000 season, Triplett strung together four straight sub-par rounds and beat Jesper Par-nevik by a stroke to win the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. It took 266 PGA starts, but Triplett had his trophy.

Last weekend, he almost made it two making birdie on the 72nd hole of the John Deere to force a playoff, then two more before finally succumbing to Michael Clark II, Hamill finishes his prep career on a better note MOSCOW, Idaho Pete Hamill of Lake City High didnt extract all the sting Saturday out of his previous appearance at the University of Idahos Kibbie Dome when he admittedly played the worst game of his career. But at least his final high school game will be fonder than the 44-7 spanking Vallivue inflicted on Lake City in the State A-l Division II football finale in November. Hamill hauled in two scoring passes from equally dazzling Carl Roubicek of Sandpoint, including a 90-yard streak, as the North standouts of District I pummeled their South counterparts from District II 45-0 in the first Shriners Panhandle All-Star game. District I took an 8-7 lead overall in the all-star series. The districts scrapped the game last year when District II couldnt organize a team.

The Calam Shriners, sponsors of high school games the past 40 years, have adopted the all-star game for graduated seniors. Hamill had three catches for 130 yards while also seeing time at safety. He plans to walk on at the University of Montana. Roubicek, headed to Brown on a full academic scholarship, completed 7 of 12 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns. By Carter Strickland Staff writer PULLMAN Mike Price managed to hook more than just a couple of big fish this summer.

The Washington State coach also reeled in a handful of key recruits for the fall of 2001 and one player for this years team. That player, Michael Freeman, could have an immediate impact on the Cougars secondary. The 5-foot-ll, 175-pound defensive back should add some depth to what is a talented, but thin, unit. Freeman, a JCGridwire All-American, is transferring to WSU from Oklahoma. He transferred -to Oklahoma out of junior college in January and participated in spring practice with the Sooners.

But after the spring, Freeman decided to transfer again and went with WSU, which had been his second choice all along. Freeman should get playing time behind Marcus Trufant and Chris Martin. As for the recruiting class of 2001, the player who could make the biggest impact in years to come is Jimmy Wilson, a 6-foot-l, -210-pound all-state running back from Phoenix, who committed after a summer visit to Pullman. As a junior for Phoenix Christian, he rushed for yards and scored 26 touchdowns. The Cougars got another running back in Roger Smith (5-11, 210) from Beverly Hills, Calif.

They also secured commitments from three linebackers: Pullmans Trent Bray. (6-1, 205, Pullman), the son of former Cougars secondary coach Craig Bray; Okanagans Will Derting (6-1, 210), a two-way player who helped take his team to the state championship; and Forks Pat Bennett (6-1, 215), who had 78 tackles last season. Safe at home Price has already figured out the first duty for the schools new baseball coach. Im going to send Jason Gesser to him and have him teach Jason how to slide, Price said. In the past, the sophomore QB has displayed a penchant for scrambling and trying to squeeze every yardout of the play rather than throwing the ball away.

In fact, had he stepped out of bounds while scrambling last year against Arizona he might of avoided the thumb injury that kept him sidelined most of the season. The 6-foot-l, 210-pound Gesser also injured his knee in the season finale against Hawaii. The knee required surgery. Summer school Every scholarship player but one remained in Pullman to work -out this summer. Thats the first time we've had all the scholarship players in Pullman all summer, said Price.

The one guy who didnt stick around was punter Alan Cox. Cox went back to Utah to be with his family. But he didnt leave before getting instruction and the coachs blessing. I just told him to go back and practice kicking really high and really far, Price said. Not so academic The Cougars are not expecting to lose any more starters or second stringers to academic shortcomings this year.

(Middle linebacker Curtis Holden was declared academically ineligible back in May). But they did receive some bad news about their incoming freshman class. Five players did not qualify academically. They are running backs Damon Johnson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Chris Bruhn (Woodland, linebacker Lance Mitchell (Los Banos, defensive back Ronald Nunn (Mountain View, Calif.) and defensive tackle Norvell I lolmcs (Bellflower, Cheney- 2 miles Road Jumplat to- cum Driving Range The Dennis Walters Show Sunday 12:30 Kids Day Activities Sunday 12 30-4 m. Kids Clinic Sunday 2pm 18th Green Shootout IrwinTriplett finishing hole clinic Monday approx Monday following 11am.

shootout 10 in 10 of 19 starts this year, the top 25 three other times and missed just four cuts. All of which would seem to put him on the fast track except for the fact that hes at something of a crossroads. His twin sons, Conor and Samuel, are pushing school age, and thus its probably the last year that Tripletts family will accompany him full-time on the Tour. In addition, Kirk and Cathi recently adopted a baby daughter, Alexis, who is just 4 months old. And Triplett himself is 38 three days younger than another pro from fclissabeanIRe Spokesman Review Shadow: U-Hi graduate Falco scores games first goal for Yakima Staff graphic now Im trying to get greedy and take advantage of playing well.

But more important to me is my family. Right now, what Im doing in my career fits in with what my familys doing. At some point, when the kids get older and they have more activities I want to be involved in or watch, Ill scale back and do things differently. He says it with no hint of regret or hesitation. Knowing when youve arrived, Kirk Triplett knows, is not nearly as crucial as knowing where you have to be.

We played our best with what we had." J.C. Fernandez, Spokane Shadow missed just wide left on a header from close range off a Matt Prichard free kick. That showed the character on our team that we were digging down when we lost two of our go-to guys, Fernandez said. We played our best with what we had. We had some unlucky breaks early on.

The match started about 20 minutes late after the lights on the east end of the stadium went out. The problem was due to construction. The referee decided to play the match despite darkness on that side. Colorado 4, San Fernando Valley 1 Maher Kayali and Joe Diedrich each had a goal and an assist for the Comets, the top team out of the PDLs Rocky Mountain Division. San Fernando scored its only goal at 75 minutes when Ricardo Salazar found the net on a Scrga Akopian pass.

The I Icrocs outshot the Comets 13-12. Scoring summaries on Stat SheetC8 1 a 1A A VJl A -1 XJl (0 4 i A yj trt ti vU 1 A vi4 Continued from Cl In the fifth meeting of the season between the PDL Northwest Division foes, nine cards were issued. Yakima had 24 fouls to Spokanes 19. The Shadows Tim Seely received a red card just before halftime when he committed a retaliation foul against Yakima midfielder Santa Maria Rivera. That came about 2 minutes after Rivera "had taken Seely down from behind and received a yellow card.

After Seely was thrown out, Shadow forward Garth Cummings argued with the referee and was handed his second yellow card, which equals an ejection. Yakima went down a man with 20 minutes left after Joe Bensch received a red card. Aaron Hcinzen scored the game-winner for the Reds at 77 minutes when he booted a pass from Dayo Oyetuga past Spokane goalie Brian Mullen into the upper right corner of the net from 7 yards out. Grant Falco, a 1999 graduate of University High School who plays for Seattle Pacific University, scored the Reds other goal at 87 minutes on another Oyetuga assist. Falco, who came off the bench, joined the Reds for the playoffs to help replace their missing players.

The Shadow had opportunities in the second half despite the disadvantage. With 4:40 left, J.C. Fernandez Spokane's Garth Cummings (24) beats a pair ol Yakima players to the ball. The Reds eliminated the Shadow trom the postseason, 2-0. i 1 9.