The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 43

I THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Friday July 26 1991 5C UPDATE CAROLINAS ME Parker's strategy nets 2-hitter Knights' win IMMOIRTENNISIIMIlt -1 PROFESSIONAL Moore Neill make way to US Amateur (Swain County) 1 run (Morehead kick) (Cherokee) 19 pass from Shuler (Morehead kick) (Forest Hills) 4 run (Morehead kick) West East 14 First downs 12 38-127 Rush aft-yards 25-26 8-15-1 Passing 10-25-5 82 Passing yards 160 1-1 Fumbles-lost 7-2 5-50 Penalites-yards 7-79 3-703 Punts 1-360 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Shuler (Swain County) 5-27 Huntley (Monroe) 11-53 Houston (Forest Hills) 16-65 Wyrick (Greensboro Grimsley) 2121 Aiken (Eden Morehead) 3-2 Wolfe (Cherokee) 18) East: Weldon (Northern Durham) 4-(-7) Carver (Elizabeth City Northeastern) 7-9 Wise (Northern Nash) 1-7 Smith (Fay El Smith) 7-23 McPhail (Clinton) 4-14 Stevens (Chapel Hill) 1-1 Holzworth (W Craven) 116) Shuler 8-14-1 82 yards Wyrich 0-1-0 East: Welborn 9-19-5 143 Carver 0-1-0 Holzworth 1-5-0 17 Nesbit (Statesville) 2-26 Burns (Swain County) 1-8 Houston 1-14 Wolfe 2-34 East: Howell (SW Edge-combo) 3-61 Stevens 2-23 Wise 1-12 Baldwin (Whiteville) 2-35 Utley (Pinecrest) 1-12 Callender (Fay EE Smith) 1-17 12 Lake Speed Pontiac 189470 13 Michael Waltrip Pontiac 189234 14 Darrell Waltrip Chevy 189073 15 Hut Snick lin Buick 188422 18 Bobby Hamilton Olds 188215 17 Rick Mast Olds 188189 18 Ricky Rudd Chevy 188063 19 Joe Runman Olds 187956 20 Richard Petty Pontiac 187721 Failed to Qualify Morgan Shepherd Ford 187463 Dick Trickle Pontiac 187028 Ken Schrader Chevy 186874 Wally Dallenbach Ford 186670 Ted Musgrave Pontiac 186565 Larry Pearson Chevy 186499 Brett Bodine Buick 186318 Rick Wilson Buick 186180 Stanley Smith Buick 186177 Mike Chase Olds 186072 Terry labonte Olds 186057 Derrike Cope Chevy 185848 Greg Sacks Olds 185787 Buddy Baker Olds 185643 Jimmy Means Pontiac 185222 Phil Barkdoll Olds 185065 Jimmy Spencer Chevy 184978 Bobby Klan Pontiac 184569 Jeff Purvis Olds 184462 Eddie Bierschwale Chevy 183417 Dale Jarrett Ford 182797 Dave Marcis Chevy 180625 Mark Gibson Ford 172908 Note: Final field will be filled following further time trials today Winston Cup Points Standings I Dale Earnhardt 2450 2 Ricky Rudd 2310 3 Ernie Irvan 2295 4 Davey Allison 2250 5 Ken Schrader 2236 8 Mark Martin 2160 7 Darrell Waltrip 2136 8 Harry Gant 2085 9 Sterling Marlin 1996: 10 Rusty Wallace 1971 ARCA 108 Jose St Louis 105 Jose St Louis 29 MOMS Cincinnati 25: Bonilla Pittsburgh 24 McReynolds New York 24 Home Johnson New York 22: Gant Atlanta 19 McGriti San Diego 19: GBell Chicago 18 Stolen Nixon Atlanta 53 One eons Montreal 44 DeShields Montreal 40: Coleman New York 33 Pitching (9 Carpenter SI Louis 7-2 778 388: Walk Pittsburgh 7-2 778 319 Glavine Atlanta 13-5 722 219 RMartinez Los Angeles 12-5 706 249 Cone New York 137 Dia ine Atlanta 124 Gooden New York 122 GMaddux Chicago 113 LeSmith St Louis 26: Dibble Cincinnati 23: Franco New York 21: MiWilliams Philadelphia 18 AMERICAN LEAGUE Tartabull Kansas City 333: Puckett Minnesota 331 CHipken Baltimore 331 Palmetto Texas 330 Molitor Milwaukee 70 Paimeiro Texas 67 Canseco Oakland 67: White Toronto 64 CRipken Baltimore 64 Sierra Texas 63 Fielder Detroit 62 Fielder Detroit 77 Canseco Oakland 72 Carter Toronto 68 Sierra Texas 67 CRipken Baltimore 124 Palmeiro Texas 123 Puckett Minnesota 122 Mok itor Milwaukee 120 RAlomar Toronto 30 Carter Toronto 29 Palmeiro Texas 28 Boggs Boston 28 Home Fielder Detroit 26 Canseco Oakland 24 Carter Toronto 23 Tartabull Kansas City 22 Stolen RHenderson Oakland 33: RAlomar Toronto 32: Raines Chi cago 31 Polonia California 30 Pitching (9 Erickson Minnesota 13-3812 202: Henneman Detroit 7-2 778 280 Stottlemyre Toronto 10-3769 277 RJohnson Seattle 141 Clemens Boston 136: Ryan Texas 135 Swindell Cleveland 121: Finley California 120: McDowell Chicago 117 Can dioni Toronto 113 Aguilera Minnesota 25 Eckel sley Oakland 24 Reardon Boston 24: Harvey California 23 getting Scott Shockley to ground into a double play and retiring Craig Paquette on a fly to right to end the inning Parker then retired 15 of the next 16 batters Parker had to be good because Huntsville's Apolinar Garcia was also pitching a two-hitter Garcia (6-3) struck out five and faced just 28 batters in eight innings Charlotte's first hit came on a one-out single to left by Jeff Baldwin in the fifth Mike Grace hit a slow roller to third baseman Paquette who was forced to hurry his throw and ended up tossing the ball into foul territory Baldwin scored from first to put Charlotte up 1-0 and Grace advanced to third He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Knapp Notes: Grace went eight for 15 with three runs during the Huntsville series The Phillie Phanatic will make a guest appearance tonight when Charlotte hosts Memphis at 7:30 HUNTSVILLE CHARLOTTE abrhbi abrhbi Banda rt 3 0 1 0 Ramsey of 4000 Bocherrict 4 0 1 0 Arias ss 2000 Shockeydh 3 0 0 0 Roberson rt 3 0 0 0 Paquette 3b 3 0 0 0 Paulino lb 3000 Neel lb 2 0 0 0 Welch It 3000 Tinsleyll 2 0 0 0 Baldwin dh 3110 Correia2b 3 0 0 0 Grace3b 3110 Abbott ss 3000 Knapp 2001 Woo 2 0 0 0 Crockett 2b 2 0 0 0 Vice ph 1000 Totals 260 20 Totals 252 21 GOLFM By VANCE CARIAGA Staff Writer FORT MILL SC Charlotte Knights pitcher Tim Parker had a simple strategy when he took the mound against Huntsville Thursday night: Keep the batters guessing and go easy on the fastballs Parker's strategy worked well enough to give the Knights a 2-0 Southern League win at Knights Castle Parker (9-7) pitched a two-hitter and faced just 29 batters as Charlotte won its third game in the four-game series against the Stars "I just came out and tried to establish the change-up early" said Parker a former Clemson player "I started off with some off-speed pitches to keep their hitters off-balance then I was able to come back with the hard stuff later" Parker had good reason for changing speeds A night earlier he watched Huntsville pound out 18 hits in a 17-3 win "They seemed to be hitting a lot of fastballs (Wednesday night)" Parker said "and we just decided I should change speeds a little more tonight" Good decision Parker struck out three of Huntsville's first four batters and faced the minimum during the first three innings Huntsville didn't hit a ball out of the infield until the fourth when James bucherri singled up the middle Bucherri's single came after Parker had hit Kevin Dattola with a pitch and put runners on first and second with none out Then Parker settled back down Dutch Open Thursday's results from Hilversum Netherlands Singles Quarterfinals: Mark Koevermans Renzo Fur Ian 6-1 6-1 Jordi Arrese Thomas Muster 6-4 6-1 Second Round: Karel Novacek (2) Cedric Pio line 8-4 6-4 Franco Davin Thierry Champion 3-6 6-4 6-4 Westchester Thursday's results from Purchase NY Second Round: Isabelle Demongeot Sophie Amiach 6-4 6-2 Quarterfinals: Ros Fairbank-Nideffer (5) Lisa Raymond 6-3 6-3 Lori McNeil (2) Debbie Graham (8) 7-5 61 Canadian Open Thursday's results from Montreal Singles Third Round: Ivan Lendl (1) Wally Masur (15) 6-3 3-6 6-4 Jacob Hlasek (6) Simon Youl 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 Andrei Chesnokov (12) Stefano Pescosolido 6-4 6-4 Shuzo Matsuoka Patrick McEnroe (13) 6-4 6-1 Derrick Rostagno (10) cf John McEnroe (7) 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-5) Doubles Second Round: Patrick Galbraith-Todd Witsken (3) Jimmy Arias-Kenny Thome 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 Federation Cup Thursday's results from Nottingham England QUARTERFINALS US 2 Austria 1 Singles: Judith Wiesner Austria Jennifer Capriati 6-2 0-6 8-6: Mary Joe Fernandez Barbara Paulus Austria 6-1 6-1 Doubles: Zina Garrison-Gigi Fernandez cl Wiesner-Petra Ritter 6-4 6-1 Czechoslovakia 2 Switzerland 1 Singles: Radka Zrubakova Czechoslovakia Emanuela Zardo 6-1 5-7 6-4 Jana Novotna Czechoslovakia Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere 6-4 6-4 Doubles: Maleeva-Fragniere-Cathy Caverzasio Novotna-Regina Rajohrtova 6-4 2-1 ret TeamTennis Standings East Division Atlanta 7 2 778 Raleigh 5 5 500 Wellington 3 4 429 Charlotte 3 5 375 New Jersey 3 6 333 Miami 2 5 286 West Division San Antonio 9 0 1000 Los Angeles 5 3 625 Wichita 3 4 429 Newport Beach 2 5 286 Sacramento 2 5 286 Thursday's Results Atlanta 27 Raleigh 12 Sacramento at Wichita late Wellington at Los Angeles late New Jersey at Newport Beach late Wednesday's Results Raleigh 22 Miami 20 San Antonio 24 Los Angeles 22 Today's Matches Atlanta at Charlotte Wichita at San Antonio PROFESSIONAL Jordan Tour Leaders after Thursday's firstround in Jefferson Ronald Hooper 32-32-64 Sean Pappas 32-34-66 Chris Toulson 34-33-67 Oswald Drawdy 34-34-68 Todd Satterfield 34-34-68 Chris Huncuker 36-32-68 Jerry Kelly 33-35-68 David Plumb 34-35-69 Steve Ford 33-36-69 Jason Griffith 35-34-69 Illy Grisette 35-34-69 Rudy Virg 33-36-69 Mike Bolding 35-34-69 ARCA 500K Firstround qualiliers for Saturday's race In Talladega Ala I Charlie Glotzbach Chevy 190715 2 Bill Venturini Chevy 189556 3 Dave Mader Ill Buick 188219 4 Billy Thomas Pontiac 187779 5 Bobby Gerhart Chevy 183716 6 Dale McDowell Chevy 183073 7 Bobby Massey Buick 179316 8 Clay Young Pontiac 177755 9 Bob Brevak Buick 177396 10 Roy Payne Chrysler 177140 11 Phillip Young Pontiac 172883 12 Richard Hinds Chevy 169857 13 Paul Dean Holt Jr Chevy 168862 14 Alan Pruitt Hick-my NC Ford 167770 Note: Final field will be filled following further time trials today MI BOWLING AMATEUR PROFESSIONAL Huntsville Charlotte 000 000 000-0 000 020 00x-2 Observer Staff and News Services Patty Moore and Stephanie Neill of Charlotte qualified Thursday for the US Women's Golf Amateur to be held Aug 5 in Hutchinson Kan Moore shot a 75 and Neill shot a 77 in the one-round qualifier at the Sedgefield course in Greensboro High Schools St Stephens' Harry Frye will end his 29-year coaching career that featured more than 500 baseball and basketball victories next week Frye 53 said he will resign as a teacher and coach Wednesday Miscellaneous Tickets go on sale Monday for a Sept 29 NHL exhibition between Wayne Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers at the Charlotte Coliseum Included in the ticket package is a $99 ticket The $99 will buy the fan a front-row seat a hockey puck and a stamp-autographed picture of Gretzky Other tickets go for $2750 $1650 and $1050 Tickets can be purchased at the Coliseum and at Ticketmaster outlets or by phone at (704) 522-6500 The Charlotte Ultimate team swept its opponents to win the Bastille Day Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in Winston-Salem The Charlotte Sonics beat San Antonio 64-60 in a consolation bracket game at the I7-under AAU National Basketball Tournament in Jonesboro Ark The Charlotte Royals lost to Arkansas 72-67 in the quarterfinals Caldwell County defeated Kernersville 1-0 in the first game of the NC American Legion baseball semifinals at MS Deal Stadium in Granite Falls The two teams play in the best-of-seven series tonight at 7:30 at Kernersville Lancaster shut out visiting Irmo 4-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five SC Upper State American Legion baseball championship series The series continues tonight at 7:30 at Irmo Edited by Brad Johnson Paquette Huntsville 2 Charlotte 2 Knapp USGA Junior Thursday's Carolina's results from first-round match play at the USGA Junior Amateur in Orlando Tommy Biershenk Inman SC Eric Lohman Calif 8 and 6 Joe Acosta Calif Brian Brown Rocky Mountain 2 and 1: David Seawall Aiken SC David Steelman Lexington SC 2 and 1 Mark Slawter Winston-Salem Colby Lamberson Ill 3 and 2 MOBSWIMMING Columbia 300 Thursday's thirdround results from Austin Texas 1 Brian Voss 4236 2 Billy Orlikowski 4142 3 Marshall Holman 4066 4 Tony Westlake 4064 5 Joe 4051 6 Del Ballard Jr 4030 7 Purvis Granger 4025 8 Chris Warren 4017 9 Scott Devers 4011 10 Tom Crites 4008 IP ER BB SO AREA Huntsville Garcia (L 6-3) 9 2 2 0 1 5 Charlotte Parker (N 9-7) 9 2 0 0 2 6 Crockett by Garcia Dattola by Parker Att-4017 9 2 2 0 1 5 9 2 0 0 2 6 HOLES-IN-ONE I SCIMEM LATEST LINE MINOR LEAGUE UPDATE NC Championships Thursday's Mecklenburg Aquatic Club results from the Age Group Champion ships in High Point 800 Free Girls 15-18: 1 Sandra Ossmann 9:2673 8 Melanie Doule 9:5679 Boys 15-18: 2 Chip Berry 8:5572 3 Jeff Muhleman 8:5637 4 Matt Ream 8:5935 6 Patrick Heffernan 9:0536 Girls 13-14: 5 Judy Odon 9:5524 Boys 13-14: 4 Carter Hall 9:3680 Team scores: 1 MAC 40 New Wave (Raleigh) 23 NC Acquatic Club (Chapel Hill) 16 Ira Taylor on the No 3 159 yd par-3 of the Pine Lake course He used a 3-iron and it was his second Bill Houston on the No 12 183 yd par-3 of the Pine Lake course He used a 4-iron and it was his fifth Pat Crowell on the No 3 110 yd par-3 of the Carolina Golf and Country Club course with a 5-wood Iris Moss on the No 2 109 yd par-3 of the Providence Country Club course She used a driver and it was her first SOUTHERN LEAGUE Second Half Eastern Division Pct GB Thursday's results Baseball American League NEW YORK-Calitornia (Pick) BOSTON 512-612 over Chicago Oakland 512-612 over BALTIMORE CLEVELAND-Seattle (Pick) TORONTO 612-712 over Kansas City MINNESOTA 512-612 over Milwaukee TEXAS 512-612 over Detroit National League CHICAGO E-6 over Atlanta ST LOUIS 512-612 over Cincinnati Pittsburgh E-6 over HOUSTON SAN DIEGO-New York (Pick) SAN FRAN 512612 over Phila LOS ANGELES 7-8 over Montreal Home team in CAPS )(Orlando (Twins) 20 9 690 Charlotte 2 Huntsville 0 FOOTBALLIom BASEBALL'S zGreenvele (Braves) 17 16 515 5 Memphis 5 Carolina 1 MOTORSPORTS 15 15 500 5V2 Chattanooga 6 Greenville 0 HIGH SCHOOL Charlotte (Cubs) Jacksonville (Mariners) NASCAR 14 17 452 7 Knoxville 8-0 Jacksonville 2-3 Carolina (Pirates) 11 20 355 10 Orlando at Birmingham Western Division Pct GB Wednesday's results Huntsville 17 Charlotte 3 Carolina 9 Memphis 6 21 13 18 18 15 17 15 17 618 500 4 469 5 469 5 MAJOR LEAGUE Leaders (through Wednesday) NATIONAL LEAGUE TGwynn San Diego 336 Pendleton Atlanta 333 Nixon Atlanta 331 Morris Cincinnati 325 McGee San Francisco 323 Butler Los Angeles 68 Johnson New York 65 Sandberg Chicago 63 Van Slyke Pittsburgh 62 Johnson New York 70 WCIark San Francisco 69 Bonds Pittsburgh 66 GBell Chicago 62 Dawson Chicago 61 TGwynn San Diego 127 Samuel Los Angeles 111 Butler Los Angeles Knoxville (Blue Jays) Memphis (Royals) xBirmingham (White Sox) Huntsville (Athletics) East-West Wednesday's result from the allstar game in Greensboro WEST 41 EAST 14 West 20 0 7 14 East 0 14 0 0-14 (Eden Morehead) 15 fumble return (Morehead SE Guilford kick) (Monroe) 1 run (kick failed) 31 run (Morehead kick) (Clinton) 5 run (Stevens Garner kick) (SW Edgecombe) 15 pass from Welborn (Northern Durham) (Stevens kick) bi I 0 o' i a 62 -0 -a an 'aid so 3 1 I 0 0 2 0 5 I IA to to 1 1 0 to to to to 1 to to to to to os cry 3e ay so 8 0 7 5 1)i 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 -2 ck 2) 2 0 0 1 9 bi 0 1 I 3 0 2 0 0 7 7 Is 2 1 0 0 0 I Diehard 500 The top 20 qualifiers for Sunday's Win-Mon Cup race in Talladega Ala 1 Sterling Marlin Ford 192085 2 Mark Martin Ford 191919 3 Ernie Irvan Chevy 191658 4 Dale Earnhardt Chevy 190993 5 Bill Elliott Ford 190985 6 Chad Little Ford 190803 7 Davey Allison Ford 190727 8 Rusty Wallace Pontiac 190253 9 Harry Gant Olds 190177 10 Alan Kulwicki Ford 190098 11 Geoff Bodine Ford 189620 Greenville 3 Chattanooga 2 Birmingham 1 Orlando 0 Jacksonville at Knoxville ppd LAKE LEVELS (As of 1 pm Thursday) James Down 18 Hickory Down 12 Norman Down 19 Mountain Island Down 36 Wylie Down 26 Wateree Down 30 Marion Down 01 Edited by Brad Johnson Chattanooga (Reds) 15 19 441 6 Today's games TRACKING THE KNIGHTS Orlando at Jacksonville Memphis at Charlotte TODAY SAT SUN MON Memphis Memphis Memphis Memphis 7:30 pm 7:30 pm 7 pm 7:30 pm Carolina at Chattanooga Knoxville at Greenville Knights Tickets: (704) 364-6637 or (803) 548-8051 Birmingham at Huntsville Clutch catch seals Optimist All-Stars victory SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE Second Half Northern Division Pct GB Thursday's results Gastonia 4 Asheville I zCharleston WV (Reds) 22 8 733 Spartanburg 4 Savannah 0 Fayetteville at Macon opct Charleston SC 10 Columbia 6 19 15 13 11 10 15 16 18 655 2'I 500 7 448 812 379 1012 Gastonia (Rangers) Spartanburg (Phi Illes) Sumter (Expos) Asheville (Astros) Columbus 8-3 Sumter 2-2 Greensboro (Yankees) 11 18 378 1012 Charleston WV 4 Greensboro I Myrtle Beach 6 Augusta 5 Fayetteville (Tigers) Southern Division 10 20 333 12 Pct GB Wednesdey's results Macon Ga (Braves) 18 11 621 Down 20-7 the Red came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning as a group of Seahawks moms danced and clapped to a blaring tape of "You Can't Touch This" The Red's final three outs came swiftly Within minutes the girls were squirming on the team bench as coach Scott Reid chided them for a lackluster performance "You're old enough to be embarrassed and you ought to be embarrassed" Reid said The tournament continues today Games will be played 9 am-9 pm today and Saturday at Cherry Park and Renaissance Park Sunday's games will be played at Cherry Park Games start at 9 am with finals in the afternoon World champions will be crowned in five divisions: 10-and-under I 2-and-under 14-andunder 16-and-under and 18-and-under Tickets are $2 for adults $1 for children 6-12 children 5 and under are admitted free By LIZ CLARKE Stet Writer Up 11-9 in the bottom of the seventh inning the West Mecklenburg Optimist All-Stars were one out from a victory The temperature hung at 93 degrees and the sweltering midday sun glared in Tekeye Hood's eyes just as a pop fly came hurtling toward her "I was thinking 'Oh gosh I gotta catch that ball' said Tekeye 12 She did and the All-Stars erupted in a chorus of shouts and cheers They'd won their opening game in The Charlotte Observer NSA Girls Youth World Series The All-Stars who boast some of the finest I2-and-under softball talent in West Mecklenburg are just one of 203 teams competing through Sunday in the National Softball Association event "Just being in a World tournament even if you just go to the World and win one dame it's different" said Tonda Caudle coach of the All-Stars Caudle celebrated the win by donning neon pink sunglasses "Tall did good" she told the All-Stars "Give yourself a big or hand" It had been a tough game against the Cantonville Gold who come from Maryland Teams from 10 states are playing in the tournament which is being held at Renaissance Park in Charlotte and Cherry Park in Rock Hill And the out-of-state teams particularly those from Florida who play year-round seemed bigger stronger and a little more polished But the All-Stars didn't flinch Angela Bridges 11 served up steady pitches And Tekeye and her teammates did the rest scoring five of their 11 runs in the fifth inning On an adjacent field the Char-Meck Red wasn't having quite as much luck against the JTAA Seahawks a strapping set of 12-year-olds from Jupiter Fla Gastonia 3 Asheville 0 (6) Savannah 4 Spartanburg 3 Macon 8 Fayetteville 1 16 13 552 2 16 13 552 2 2Columbia (Meta) Savannah (Cardinals) 15 14 15 15 14 16 10 18 517 3 500 312 467 412 357 712 Charleston SC (Padres) Columbus Ga (Indians) Augusta (Pirates) Myrtle Beach (Blue Jays) Columbia 8 Charleston SC 2 Sumter at Columbus ppd Greensboro 4 Charleston WV 3 Augusta 7 Myrtle Beach 6 Today's games TRACKING THE RANGERS Spartanburg at Savannah Fayetteville at Macon TODAY SAT SUN MON Asheville Asheville at Chad WV at Chad WV 7 pm 1 pm 2 pm 7:30 pm Columbia at Charleston SC Sumter at Columbus Asheville at Gastonia Rangers Tickets: (704) 867-3721 z-clinched first-had title Charleston WV at Greensboro fl Among the best Softball late games not included Augusta at Myrtle Beach me Grant follows Archie as king of long ball Continued from page 1C Rangers' Gies adds a win before heading to Class AA tion he's the best all-around softball player (in Rock Hill) He's such a natural athlete" a Buck Buchanan Gastonia 40 6-3 255 In the Paps Duke Tournament in Knoxville Tenn several years ago Buchanan trying to field a chopper at third was hit in the eye It began to close "Everybody was talking about people who hit the ball a long ways" says Buchanan's Leo's Amoco coach Gary Lowe "The field was 340 feet and there was a track behind that I think right now If you go there they'll show you where this guy hit the ball He hit It onto the track field" "It's a wonder I could even see it" says Buchanan who says he's htt more than 2500 home runs in 23 years There are so many great softball home-run hitters in the Carolinas it would be impossible to mention them all But here are four whose names come up most often in discussions about the best: Rick Scherr Denver NC 40 6-5 298 Scherr plays on the nationally reknown flitch'sSuperior team The first baseman has 49 home 1 runs in the team's first 59 games and has a 623 average Robby Kimbrell Rock Hill 28 6-1 210 Kimbrell plays with highly touted Coors of Fort Mill His coach Jimmy Plyier says: "The best story I can think of is when he hit two homers in one inning against Old Mill Grocery in the same inning and another grand slam Three homers In one game" Len Herd Rock Hill 6-4 230 "Right now" says super home-run hitter Jamie Grant "In my estime hand to ask him a question about how the game was played back in his day "Willie is a legend no doubt about it" says Jimmy Sutton another former teammate of Archie's and now the SC National Softball Association chairman It's funny but when you ask Sutton or Workman or Williams or anyone else who's seen Archie or heard the stories you always get the same one The best one about the Rock Hill Telephone Invitational in 1969 then one of the most prestigious SC tournaments "He came to bat" Workman says "we were down two the bases were loaded and two out He walked down to where 1 was coaching third and asked me if 1 wanted to go for the win or the tie" Bobby asked me 'Willie can you hit it It was raining and it was hot I said 'Bobby it just won't go' He said 'Willie You can hit it I said try' And God knows it went out Willie Archie ing his fourth straight complete game but Wills inserted relief ace Matt Whiteside in the ninth inning He picked up his 18th save without allowing a hit "I was under direct orders to hold (Whiteside) to 90 pitches tonight" Wills said of the move "I guess that's when I got most (excited)" Gies said "1 wanted to go the distance" There should be many more opportunities Notes: Wills said a player from rookie-league Butte Mont will replace Gies Pitcher Jose Cardona on the disabled list after tearing a pectoral muscle will return to Venezuela ASHEVILLE GASTONIA abrhbl abrhbi Roman It 4 0 2 0 Lowery 3b 3000 Aumsey of 4 0 0 0 Castellano lb 3 0 1 0 Gropusso 3b 4 0 0 0 Holland If 4 1 2 0 Smith dh 4010 Lucedh 3000 Burns lb 4 1 0 0 Posey r1 4010 Nevers as 3 0 0 0 Hanlon as 4 1 2 1 Swinton ri 3 0 0 0 Matos ct 4 1 1 2 Hurlbut' 2 0 0 0 Hernandez 3 0 0 0 White ph 1 0 1 0 Hodge 2b 3111 Haney 2b 3010 Totals 32 1 50 Totals 314 8 4 It was known by many names Reliable TV The Lineage and Bailey's Gulf but the players and the victories were pretty much the same I remember Willie That team he played on they were great Every weekend the town went to watch them But Willie he kind of stood out Everybody knew him wanted to shake his hand He was like well a professional baseball player or something People knew him like they knew Hank Aaron Rebbie Williams local softball fan who estimates she's seen 5000 softball games since 1970 In his day Willie Archie was a terror on the field and certainly a celebrity away from it He it as many as 96 homers in a season He's hit more than 2000 home runs in his career and he made the All-World team which used to be softball's highest honor three times "Only 10 people in the whole United States made that team" Workman says But what adds to the legend is that Archie missed five years perhaps his best five years because of a heart attack he suffered at 35 He played a little after that finally hanging up his bat and glove in 1983 Today Archie works as a warehouse manager in Charlotte and plans to get back into softball as a coach A few people still come up to him nowadays to shake his By JOHN GLENNON Staff Writer GASTONIA Maybe in the middle of last night when no one was around to hear Chris Gies screamed his lungs out in glee But don't count on it The soft-spoken Gastonia Rangers pitcher probably celebrated Thursday's 4-1 win and his subsequent promotion to Class AA Tulsa by drinking a tall glass of warm milk and heading to bed on time "It feels great" Gies said quietly cracking the slightest of smiles minutes after learning the news "It really does" Chris this is a big deal The major leagues are another step closer You're reaching your goals Surely you must be thrilled right? "1 don't want to get so excited that I let down (at Tulsa)" Gies said "I'll get excited at the end of the season when the pressure's off and I look back at how I did" There'll be plenty to lbok back at Gies (10-3) added to his resume Thursday dominating Asheville by allowing five hits and no walks in eight innings He struck out five and allowed one unearned run in the second inning "He didn't have his best stuff tonight but that really shows you how good he can be" Gastonia manager Bump Wills said "He battled right through it" rliec ws on the veroe of oitc one game and has 50 for the season second behind teammate Len Herd who has 70 Herd is having a terrific season but Grant after the slow start is back to being Jamie Grant again "Jamie is certainly capable of becoming as good a softball player as he wants to be" Sutton says "As good a player as we have playing" Since 1985 Grant's teams have won five SC state championships "I've talked to other reporters and they make it sound like it's all Jamie" Grant says "It's not like that I've been fortunate to play with good players" Even so people treat Grant a little differently the way they treated Archie back in his day "I think" Williams says "that as good as Archie was Jamie could be a better player All he has to do is work at it" and tries to blow things off He's a great softball player One of the best around here nowadays" Says Archie who adds that Grant could indeed be the next Willie Archie: "Jamie Grant can hit the ball He's one of the best I'll tell you that" Willie helped me out one time He said 'Jamie you're swingin' at low pitches you gotta lift 'em A high pitch you can drive a low pitch you gotta lift' That more than anything has helped me as far as batting average and home runs Jamie Grant Today Grant works in Charlotte and plays his softball He's a softball celebrity like Archie was He's had a slow start this season with the long ball but he's come on in the past month He's hit three home runs for Old Mill Grocery in Jamie Grant has heard that and most of the Willie Archie stories He's seen many of them in person "When Jamie was real small" Workman says "he wanted to pattern himself after Willie Now he'll come over and talk about how he wants to be the best like Willie was the best" Grant got started in softball much like Archie by playing with the men but says he's not necessarily emulating the legend "Willie's the best I've ever seen" Grant says "As far as softball goes I'd like to be what he was yeah but that's hard to achieve" Says Sutton: "Jamie's at nice guy Asheville Gastonia 010 000 000-1 000 310 00x-4 Revers Lowery Asheville 1 Gastonia Asheville 4 Gastonia 6 Holland Hanlon Matos Hodge Roman Swinton IP ER 88 SO 4 4 3 4 0 0 0 3 Asheville Powers14-8 Ps 7 Gebel Ws 1 Gastonia Gies W10-3 8 5 Whiteside 1 0 Gies Alt-524 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 2.