Kingsport Times-News from Kingsport, Tennessee • 34

IB Kingsport Times-News Tuesday June 12 1990 K-Mets will sport top draft picks Digest By CARMEN ARCHER Times-News Sports Writer raka Shaheed who signed both players and it has been confirmed that they are coming to said Elsea got their arrival times and flight numbers so I guess as definite as it As of late Monday night the only player expected to return from last squad is catcher Mason Rudolph He appeared in 20 games for Kingsport after being moved up from Sarasota last season Four right-handers from the 1989 Sarasota team are expected to be assigned to Kingsport They are Nate Benson Tom Wilson Rob Rees and Richie Bristow Rees was the in home runs Johnson served at first base and designated hitter in Sarasota last season Mathis a shortstop hit 218 last season in Sarasota while leading the team in stolen bases with 20 Mompres hit 239 while seeing time at second base and shortstop Outfielders Gerrod Davis Edwards Fully and Tony Moore are also expected in Kingsport The rosters for Sarasota Pittsfield and Kingsport were to be finalized Monday but as of late Monday night Elsea had no other word on where players were signed sixth pick in 1989 He had a 481 ERA and 2-5 record last season in Sarasota Wilson finished the 1989 season with a 145 ERA and was 2-3 Benson was 2-3 with a 291 ERA in the Gulf Coast League Bristow has spent two seasons in Sarasota and finished 1989 with a 3-3 record and a 278 ERA Infielders expected to be sent to Kingsport include Butch Huskey Marcel Johnson Wayne Mathis and Danilo Mompres Huskey (6-3 240) led the Gulf Coast League third basemen in pu-touts and was second in the league K-METS TO OPEN UNDER NEW UGHTS After months of delay the City of Kingsport began work Monday on restoring and replacing the lights at Fred Johnson Stadium The process which should be finished in time for thd Kingsport opener with the Bristol Tigers on June 21 includes all the necessary readjustments and replacements and the complete rebuilding of two bases taken down two poles today They are putting new bases on those Once they get those finished they will start readjusting the others" Kingsport Mets president and general manager Dottie Elsea said Monday And if lights are needed they will replace them Although the entire roster for Kingsport has not been announced fans can expect to see the second and third round picks when the new wave of players arrive Saturday According to K-Mets president and general manager Dottie Elsea both the second pick Aaron Ledesma and third pick Micah Franklin have signed and are on their way to Kingsport for the 1990 season just talked to scout Da- pratfalls caused woes Associated Press ter a long illness in Louisiana lVi hours before it began was expected to play He remained in Portland rather than flying to Detroit and Louisiana as originally announced by the club and was expected to practice with the team Monday to stay teammate Isiah Thomas said a tough emotional time for The Pistons announced that Dumars probably will play the next two games Tuesday and Thursday nights He will attend his funeral in Louisiana Saturday morning and is listed as probable for a possible sixth game Sunday in Auburn Hills Mich the team said Buck Williams who fouled out Sunday called Laimbeer king and said sure play with a little more compqsure as far as my aggression But he said not going to play officials have to be aware of what he (Laimbeer) tries to Adelman said he does is flail away and flop But Williams and Adelman blame the loss on Laimbeer's tactics Laimbeer who did foul out with 3:15 to play smiled at the complaints probably means they he said took tremendous abuse All the fouls were fouls period bottom line is to win the basketball he added taking a beating on the court then what it takes They tried to run me over hit me bash me upside the head You PORTLAND Ore The distracted Portland Trail Blazers were still moaning Monday about Bill pratfalls While they did center gloated His exaggerated dives Sunday as if he were hit by a sledgehammer instead of an elbow worked perfectly Not only did they draw fouls they threw the Blazers off their game The effects may linger when the Pistons take a 2-1 lead into Tuesday fourth game of the NBA Finals Laimbeer got the Trail entire starting frontline in foul trouble Sunday when Detroit ended a 20-game losing streak in Portland with a 121-106 victory Blazers coach Rick Adelman said his team might have to change its approach to avoid talent for directing the attention to himself and drawing fouls Center Duckworth who had five fouls Sunday might have to play less aggressively a switch Laimbeer would welcome Duckworth frequently showed his frustration and anger after being called for a foul told Duck do it You put your arm out going to Adelman said The Pistons won Sunday without defensive and rebounding star Dennis Rodman who has a sprained left ankle He said he expect to play much Tuesday night and Detroit coach Chuck Daly said he was for the game but be by Tuesday Joe Dumars who played game without knowing his father died af AVERY MAKES THE BIG SHOW I ATLANTA Steve Avery considered Atlanta's best pitching prospect in the minor leagues will join the parent club in Cincinnati oh Tuesday and will be activated on Wednesday The Braves made the announcement before Monday game against the San Fkancisco Giants adding that a move making rqom for Avery on the roster be made until Wednesday Avery a left-hander had a 5-5 record in 13 starts with the Triple-A farm team at Richmond NFL PLAYERS GET TO ARGUE CASE NEWARK NJ A federal judge on Monday told eight football players battling the free agency system on anti-trust grounds to argue their case in Minnesota where a similar case has been proceeding since 1987 The players argue the current system is unfair because teams that could lose players to free agency can block a deal or demand compensation in the form of draft picks from the potential signing teams They have relinquished their rights to be covered under the contract between NFL owners and the NFL Players Association and are arguing in court for the ability to sell their services in a free market according to James Quinn the attorney MASCOT ARRESTED FOR BATTERY NASHVILLE The group sales director of the Nashville Sounds who also worked as a mascot at their baseball games has been arrested on charges of sexual battery involv- ing a team bat boy Claude Randall Little who performed as Big during the seventh-inning stretch of the Triple-A games was charged Friday with two counts of sexual battery and was released under $15000 bond Little was put on leave by the club team president Larry Schmittou said ALDER REMAINS UNSIGNED Jimmy Alder who was selected by Detroit in the June 4 free agent draft has yet to be signed by the Tigers According to Jim Alder father Detroit has made one visit and one phone call since the draft The Alders expect to hear from the Bristol Tigers organization sometime today VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULED Scott Co Recreation Kingsport Parks and Rec and Athletics Unlimited will sponsor the Tri-Cities Challenge Triples Volleyball Tournament to be held June 30 at Kane Field Gate City Virginia The cost is $21 per team The following divisions will be offered: A St Novice A Mixed teams may compete in Division play For additional information call Mary Jane Sweet (703) 386-6521 or Gary Zeigler (615) 246-8164 PHILLIES SIGN WALTERS STATE STAR Eric Hill of Walters State has signed a contract to pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies Hill who was co-MVP of the Eastern Division of the TJCAA will report to the Phillies rookie camp in either Martinsville Va or Bativia NY Senator ace Ken Edenfield of Morristown was drafted by the California Angels He will report to the Angels rookie camp in Idaho SMITH LEADS IYC QUALIFYING Steven Smith shot a 73 at Ridgefields Country Club Monday to lead local qualifying for the State Youth Classic to be held July 9-11 at Old Fort Golf Course in Murfreesboro Also qualifying for the state were Shelley Kenney Chris Jessee and Brent Warner PRICE GETS ACE IN PRO-AM Roy Price of Kingsport picked a fitting time for his second hole-in-one Price knocked his tee shot into the hole on the Par 3 159-yard NO 5 hole at Tri-Cities Golf and Country Club Monday during the Tri-Cities PGA Pro-Am Price used a 6-iron for the shot Witnessing the shot were Vernon Smith Jeremy Moore and ROn Bliss Associated Press Please see LAIMBEER page 7B Clyde Drexler shoots over Mark Aguirre Bill Laimbeer and Joe Dumars in NBA Finals action Sunday Riley bids farewell Dunleavy takes job Associated Press ble experiences had Basketball has been my life I've been 20 years in this game are other things I want to do in my life I want to be an old timer before I do he said Riley who still has two years left on his contract is reportedly in line for a broadcasting job with NBC which becomes the NBA's prime network next season Riley guided the Lakers to an NBA-best 63-19 record this season and was named NBA Coach of the Year for the first time in his career But Los Angeles was eliminated by Phoenix in five games in the Western Conference semifinals the first time the Lakers reach the conference finals since 1981 their final season under Paul Westhead Under Riley the Lakers went 533-194 a 733 winning percentage They also went 102-47 in playoff games the most playoff wins by one coach in NBA history But following the early play INGLEWOOD Calif Pat Riley bade a tearful farewell to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday saying that after nine years and four NBA championships are other things I want to do with my Mike Dunleavy an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks was named as his successor and at age 36 becomes the second youngest head coach in the NBA Riley who was 36 when the Lakers hired him as head coach on Nov 19 1981 said goodbye at a packed news conference inside the Forum just time for me at age 45 to move he said are other things to do There anything specific I can say right now I had a choice to make a decision to make as a person" Accompanied by his wife Chris who also teared up Riley said he was neither nor just ready for a change last 10 years have been the greatest experience of my he said was a wonderful decade of memora Auodcted Pru Pat Riley right who announced Monday he was leaving the Los Angeles Lakers congratulates his successor Mike Please see RILEY page 7B Costa Rica gets debut victory in World Cup soccer action Associated Press the eighth minute when Gary Lineker the leading goal-scorer in the 1986 World Cup played a long pass by Chris Waddle off his chest As he was falling to the ground Lineker barely touched the ball with his right foot and nudged it home Ireland which had the better of the play in the sloppy game in the rain tied it on Kevin left-footed shot from just inside the penalty area with 18 minutes remaining battled like Ireland manager Jack Charlton said we got a break and got what we England was expecting to win the game and set up a match for the Group lead against the Netherlands Instead the English were lucky not to lose players gave up and not our Next up for the United States is Italy which looked dominant against a good Austrian team in its opening game How bad could this one get? see Italy scoring four goals off of us or anything like American forward Chris Sullivan said possible that three goals could be scored And its possible that we could get two three goals Later Monday England tied Ireland 1-1 at Cagliari on the island of Sardinia where confrontations between fans and police have marred the days leading to the game But there were no incidents leading up to kickoff or during the game There was little action in the match either England went ahead in Costa Rica's victory was the third upset of the tournament Cameroon stunned defending champion Argentina in the opener then Romania surprised the Soviet Union Cameroon and Romania have been here before The Costa Ricans never had dealt with World Cup pressure They held up just fine That be said for the Americans who licked their wounds Monday as one of their players Peter Vermes accused some teammates of quitting against Czechoslovakia think we could have done much better for he said think we played the way that we can play Czechoslovakia was the better team true But at the same time I think we should lose 5-1 1 think at some point in the game some said Coach Bora Milutinovic a Yugoslav who took over the squad last February He also coached Mexico to the quarterfinals in 1986 moved by all the effort They played very well and showed great tactical When that discipline broke down Conejo was there to make the key saves His spectacular diving stop on a point-blank shot by Mo Johnston was best effort is often Conejo said Johnston is a great player But we worked very hard with Bora to get this All the Costa Rican players wore black armbands in memory of the founder of Costa 1948 constitution Jose Figueras who died earlier in the week ROME What the United States manage Costa Rica did The Costa Ricans who finished ahead of the Americans in qualifying for the World Cup were as lightly regarded as the US team But in their debut among the elite of soccer they got a goal from Juan Cayasso on a superb feed from Claudio Jara and outstanding goalkeeping by Luis Conejo for a 1-0 victory over Scotland on Monday That was a whole lot better than what the United States did against Czechoslovakia a 5-1 loss that could have been worse very happy for Costa Rica which is a small country but has a big.