The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 21

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Saturday July 18 1992 3 Bullets match Knicks offer to Grant CAROurms UPDATE tBASKETBALt Spain OKver Fernanda Mexioo 6-3 7- (7-2) Doubles timlllnala Johan Donar-Jonia Blorkmin Sweden David Prlnosll Qarminy-Joost Winnmk Netherlands (-18-1 Royals topped by Minnesota at nationals AREA slow if steady pace "It might get done in a couple weeks it might take six or eight weeks" Hornets President Spencer Stolpen said Friday Stolpen met agent David Falk in Washington two weeks ago and the two talked again Thursday by telephone They are planning another telephone conversation next week Indiana's Dale Davis a 6-10 former Clemson forward will be out at least three months and perhaps as many as five months following surgery Thursday on his left shoulder Observer Staff and News Services LANDOVER Md The Washington Bullets on Friday matched a $17 million six-year contract offer to keep Harvey Grant from going to the New York Knicks But if Grant has his way he probably won't stay with the Bullets "The good don't get me wrong" said Grant "But this goes beyond money They insulted me they insulted my integrity me as a person my character" Grant said given his feelings there is a "90 chance" that he'll take advantage of a clause in his contract allowing him to become Shelmerdlna Chevy 139 233 7 Tuck Trenthim Chevy 138 873 9 Jerry Knowles Chevy 138 829 9 Ronnie Sewell Chevy 138 238 10 William Hobgood Chevy 137 743 11 Red Everetts Bulck 137743 12 Henry Wallace 137 284 13 Mickey Hudspeth Chevy 137 124 14 Sieve Clark Chevy 137 068 15 David Smith Chevy 136 544 16 Doug Gold Chevy 136 240 17 Mark Purcell Chevy 136112 18 Neal Connell Jr Chevy 135 608 19 Tom Sherrill Chevy 134 020 20 Doug French Chevy 132873 21 Ricky Sanders Chevy 132141 22 Gary Lord Chevy 131 909 23 Slewarl Ramsaur Chevy 130 730 24 Gary Ritter Bulck 128 812 25 Henry Page Pontiac 127208 26 Paul Shavar Chevy 91270 Winaton Cup Points Standings 1 Davey Allison 2257 2 Bill Elliott 2211 3 Alan Kulwtckl 2118 4 Harry Qanl 2085 5 Dala Earnhardt 2005 an unrestricted free agent after two seasons Under the terms of the agreement he will request a $35 million loan on top of the $1 million in cash scheduled to get Monday That would also mean he would walk away from $13325 million Contract talks between the agent for Alonzo Mourning and the Charlotte Hornets are moving at a Report NC Spanish mackerel on trolled spoons and flounder on drlfl-Kshad minnows the Capa Lookout area iheepsheid around the pilings at piers along with scattered spot croaker and flounder blues flounder nd whiling if Drum Inlet spot and croaker In the Outer Banks surf near Buxton Gusty southwest winds have slowed offshore trolling lor several days 8C Croaker whiting and iheepsheid on Grand Strand piers shaepshead on sand Haas and tiddler crabs around jetties Spanish mackerel and biuellsh around most outer bars good catches ol dolphin and wahoo around weed lines when wind conditions allow anglers to go ollshore ZEEBZZ3 ARCA Fog leave race teams on Cloud 9 IVIOTGRSPQRTS PROFESSIONAL By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer LONG POND Pa Tim Brewer Mike Hill and Pete Peterson looked at each other incredulously Friday at Pocono Raceway where the Miller 500 is scheduled Sunday "Look!" Brewer Bill crew chief said to his teammates "You can see the fog rolling through the garage door!" It was no exaggeration White sheets drifted eerily through the doors to swirl around the silent race cars NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams found themselves on or in a cloud at the track situated 10:30 am when all 40 starting positions are to be decided for 200-lap event at 12:10 pm (ESPN) Two preliminary races also are scheduled today the ServiStar ARCA 150 at 1 pm (ESPN) and the IglooSportsman 150 at 2:45 Defending champion Bob Kese-lowski has the pole for the Automobile Racing Club of America event after qualifying his Chrysler at 156956 mph Thursday Jeff McClure of Harrisburg shares the front row in a Chevrolet New Yorker Tim Bender and Robby Faggart have the top two spots in Chevys for the Sportsman Division race ServiStar 150 Friday's qualifying results for today's rsce In Long Pond Pa 1 Bob Kesalowski Chrysler 156956 2 Jeff A McClure Chevy 155 553 3 Jerry O'Neil Olds 155242 4 Clifford Allison Bulck 154740 5 Frank Klmmel Pontiac 154228 6 Loy Allen Jr Ford 154110 7 David Simko Olds 153907 8 Ban Hess Olds 153647 9 Tim Fedewa Ford 153647 10 Bill Venturlnl Chevy 153550 11 Bob Bravak Olds 152 884 12 Dennis Setzer Ford 152765 13 Ritchie Petty Pontiac 152292: 14 Mike Skinner Chevy 152264 15 Bobby Bowsher Ford 149730 18 Glenn Brewer Buick 149534 17 Ken Allen Bulck 148422: 18 Mark Harding Chevy 148380: 19 Michael Wren Buick 147936 20 Rick Sheppard Chrysler 147664 21 Gary Weinbroer Pontiac 147 016 22 Roy Payne Chevy 146740 23 Alan Russell Pontiac 145836 24 Robert Ham 145810 25 Graham Taylor Ford 145662 26 Bob Williams Chevy 144 956: 27 Bobby Massey Buick 142918 28 Patrick Tryson Chevy 141931 29 Tim Hepler Olds 139 676: 30 Bob Denny Chrysler 137589 31 Maurice Randall Chrysler 116964: 32 Mark Gibson Pontiac DNO 33 Bob Dotter Chevy DNO 34 George Wiltshire Buick DNO atop a 2000-foot high ridge in the Pocono Mountains It was not Cloud Nine The fog was so thick that it reduced visibility to about 100 feet much of the day It lifted briefly to allow a few laps of reduced-speed practice then turned into a heavy mist At about 5 pm NASCAR officials surrendered to the inevitable They postponed first round of qualifying until today at PROFESSIONAL NBA lit (3 TV Schadula NIC: Dw 25 Sin Antonio It I A Clippiri 3 30 pm: Die 25 Now York it Chicigo 9 pm Jin 24 Chicago it Sin Antonio 1 pm Portland it Utih 330 Jin 31 LA Likin it Boiton 12 30 pm rib 7 Gotdan Stan it Boiton 1 Chicago it Portland 3 30 pm Fab 14 Wild card garni (Datrott at Chartotti or New York it Orlando) 2 pm Fib 21 All-Stir Gama Salt Lika City (pm Fab 2t Wild card game (Naw York it Naw Jeraay or San Antonio it Orlando) 1 pm wtk) card garm (L A Clippiri it A Likin or Clavaland it Photnli) 3 30 pm March 7 Clavaland at Boaton 1 pm Portland at Qoldan Stata 330 pm March 14 Chicago at Datrott noon March 21 San Antonio at Naw York noon March 2( Wild card gama (Portland at Charlotte or Phoenix at Philadelphia or Clavaland It Detroit) noon April 4 Chicago at Boaton 1:30 pm April 11 New York at Boiton 1 pm wild card game (Seattle at LA Lakara or Utah at Phoanlx) 3 30 pm April 17 Boiton at Miami 3 30 pm April 19 Golden Stata at LA Laken 3 pm Chicago at Cleveland (30 pm April 24 San Antonio at Phoanlx 330 pm April 25 Chicago at Naw York 1 pm wild card gama (New Jeraey al Detroit Portland at LA Clipperi Philadelphia at Cleveland or Seattle at Golden State) 3 30 pm TNTi Nov 3 Charlotte-Portland at Springfield Man 8 pm Nov 8 Chicago at Cleveland 8 pm Seat-tta-Houaton In Japan 10 30 pm Nov 10 Charlotte at Orlando 8 pm Nov 13 Naw York at Washington 8 pm LA Clippers at LA Lakers 10 30 pm Nov 17 Milwaukee at Atlanta 8 pm Nov 20 Portland at Sacramento 8 pm Chicago at LA Lakers 1030 pm Nov 24 San Antonio at Portland 8 pm Dec 2 Chicago at Boston 8 pm Dec 4 Portland at Chicago 8 pm Dec 8 Boston at Orlando 8 pm Dec 11 Cleveland at Detroit 8 pm Dec IS Boston at Minnesota 8 pm Dec 18 Dallas at San Antonio 8 pm Dec 22 Golden Stata at Phoenix 8 pm Jan 3 Phoenix at San Antonio 8 pm Jan 5 LA Lakers at Chicago 8 pm Jan 8 New York al Orlando 8 pm Jan 10 Boston at New York 8 pm Jan IS Cleveland at Indiana 8 pm Jin 17 Seattle at Portland 8 pm Jan 22 LA Lakers at Utah 8 pm Jin 25 Phoenix at Detroit 8 pm Jan 29 San Antonio at Phoenix 8 pm Fab 1 Chicago at Utah 8 pm Fab 8 New York at Miami 8 pm Fab 10 Detroit at New Jersey 8 pm Fab 12 New York at Chicago 8 pm Philadelphia at Denver 10:30 pm Fab 14 LA Clippers at Portland 8 pm Fab 18 Boston at Phoenix 8 pm Fab 19 All-Star Friday night Salt Lake City time TBA Feb 20 All-Star Saturday Salt Lake City 7 pm Feb 24 Portland at Miami 8 pm Fab 28 New York at Detroit 8 pm March 1 Boston at Detroit 8 pm March 2 Chicago at New Jersey 8 pm March 5 San Antonio at Chicago 8 pm March 8 Orlando at New York 8 pm March 14 Charlotte at Boston 8 pm March IS LA Lakers at San Antonio 8 pm March 16 Boston at Golden State 8 pm March 21 Detroit at LA Lakers 8 pm March 23 San Antonio at Cleveland 8 pm March 28 New York at Golden State 8 pm March 30 Phoenix at Chicago 8 pm April 2 Phoenix at Boston 8 pm April 4 New York at San Antonio 8 pm April 8 Boston at New York 8 pm April 15 Portland at Utah 8 pm April 22 Phoenix at Portland 8 pm Allison Obaarvar Staff and Nawa Sarvlcaa The Minnesota Wolves downed the Charlotte Royals 83-76 Friday to eliminate the Royals from the 15-under AAU boys national basketball tournament in Kingsport Tenn The Royals outscored the Wolves 23-20 in the final quarter but fell one game short of making national final Colleges Quinn Brodie has become the fourth South Carolina football recruit to fail to meet the requirements for eligibility Brodie a 6-3 215-pound linebacker from Athens Ga failed to make the required minimum grade on a college admissions test Wide receiver Monty Means of Union SC said Wednesday he would be one of the two Proposition 48 players South Carolina also picked up a commitment from running back Rodney Deary of Jacksonville Fla Jefferson Pilot Sports has selected three early Southeastern Conference football games to be televised The coverage begins with Alabama hosting Vanderbilt on Sept 5 followed by Kentucky at Florida on Sept 12 and Louisiana State at Auburn on Sept 19 Steve Snell Wingate assistant basketball coach the past two seasons was named assistant coach at UNC-Greensboro High Schools Independence Andre Davis who committed to play basketball next season at UNCC will not play in the East-West all-star game Tuesday in Chapel Hill Davis is attending summer school at UNCC North Johnny Watkins will replace Davis Miscellaneous Debbie Parks survived a semifinal match against 1991 NCAA champion and 1992 runner-up Annika Sorenstam to advance to today's 36-hole final in the Trans National Golf Championship in Pinehurst Parks will play former UCLA golfer Debbi Koyama Koyama defeated qualifying medalist and former Duke golfer Sarah Ingram 4 and 3 in the semifinals The Lake Norman Bicycle Touring Club is sponsoring rides of 40 60 and 100 miles on its eighth annual lake excursion July 26 The ride begins at Mobile Homes on NC 16 Call (704) 483-3940 after 6 pm British Open Fairings and starting times for today's third round In Qullane Scotland (a-amateur): 3 50 a Roger Chapman (143) 4 00 am Jose Coceres (143) and William Guy (143) 4:10 a John Daly (143) and Wayne Riley (143): 4:20 am Roger Mackay (143) end Hale Irwin (143) 430 a Brian Marchbank (143) and Craig Mann (143) 440 am Greg Norman (143) and Tony Johnstone (143) 4:50 am Payne Stewart (143) and Corey Pavln (143) 500 am Paul Lawrie (142) and Ian Baker-Finch (142) 5:10 am Mark Brooks (142) and Bernhard Langer (142) 520 am Anders Fors-brand (142) and Craig Stadler (142) 5:30 am Constantino Rocca (142) and De Wet Basson (142) 5:40 am Hendrik Buhrmann (142) and Paul Mayo (142) 550 am Wayne Grady (142) and Michael Clayton (142) 600 a Barry Lane (142) and Fred Funk (142) 6:10 a flocco Mediate (142) and Steven Richardson (142) 620 a Peter O'Malley (142) and Nick Price (142) 630 a Omn Vincent III (142) and Per Ulnk Johansson (141) 6:40 a Viay Sir (141) and Mark McNulty (141) 6: a David Feherty (141) and Jon Robson (141) 7:00 am Danny Miyovlc (141) and Andrew Sherborne (141) 7:10 am Peter Mitchell (140) and Lee Trevino (140): 7:20 am Mike Harwood (140) and Jodie Mudd (140): 7:30 am Mark Calcavecchia (140) and Billy Andrade (140) 7:40 am Mats Lanner (140) and Ronan Rafferty (140) 7:50 am a-Daren Lee (140) and Chip Beck (139) 800 am Pater Senior (139) and Paul Azinger (139) 8:10 am Duffy Waldorf (139) and Andrew Magee (139) 820 am Lee Janzen (139) and James Spence (139) 8:30 am Russ Cochran (139) and Mark O'Meara (139) 840 am Tom Kite (139) and Ian Woosnam (138) 8:50 am Craig Parry (138) and Lanny Wadkins (138) 9:00 am Robert Karlsson (138) and Malcolm Mackenzie (138) 9:15 am Steve Elkmgton (138) and Sandy Lyle (138) 9:25 am Larry Rinker (137) and Jose Maria Olazabal (137) 9:35 am Tom Purtzer (137) and Ernie Els (135) 9:45 am Donnie Hammond (135) and Raymond Floyd (135) 9:55 am Steva Pate (134) and Gordon Brand Jr (133) 10:05 am John Cook (133) and Nick Faldo (130) gave me some medication and I got to feeling pretty good Friday a week ago I got nauseated again I went to New Hampshire anyway for a Grand National race (the Budweiser 300) I went downhill all day of the race" Even so Allison was intent on going fishing Monday in the Bahamas with his team owner Charlot-tean Robert Yates I had to come home Wednesday I still had that terrible headache and I wanted to see Dr Petty "I finally slept about five hours Wednesday night and got to feeling a lot better Thursday taking it easy (Friday) should help even more When we get on the track going to practice just a little bit qualify get the car fine tuned in the final shakedown and then give a strong run in the Driver bounces back from bout with virus Continued from page IB during the Pepsi 400 weekend July 4 at Daytona International Speedway "I went to my doctor back home in Allison said "He 5 homers eclipse Stars ENNIS TtiBFOOTBALIJrti PROFESSIONAL TRANSACTIONS Baseball American League CALIFORNIA- Placed Jim Abbott on the 15-rfiy disabled list retroactive to July 12 Recalled Tim Fortugno from Edmonton of the Pacific Coast League MINNESOTA- Released INF Donnie Hill Recalled INF Jeff Reboulet from Portland of the Pacific Coast League Assigned Danny Leon to Oklahoma City of the American Association on medical rehab National League ATLANTA- Released IB Nick Esasky CINCINNATI- Placed OF Reggie Sanders on the 15-day disabled list Recalled OF Ceasar Hernandez from Nashville of the American Association HOUSTON- Placed Mark Portugal on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 10 Recalled Shane Reynolds from Tuscon of the Pacific Coast League Recalled Greg Mathews from Scranton-Wilkes-Barre of the International League Placed Ben Rivera on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 8 ST Signed Sean Lowe and Sieve Montgomery to minor-league contracts Basketball NBA WASHINGTON- Matched the New York Knicks' offer sheet to Harvey Grant Football NFL CINCINNATI- Signed TE Craig Thompson Lance Olberding and RB Ostell Miles Signed Dennis Smith to a series of one-year contracts Signed CB Le-Lo Lang Dietrich Lockridge and OL Bob Meeks GREEN BAY- Signed WR Orlando McKay and WR Chris Holder Signed Don Shula coach to a two-year contract Signed DT Roy Barker and OB Brad Johnson Agreed to terms with RB Alfred Anderson NEW Agreed to terms with OL Derek Kennard on a two-year contract PHILADELPHIA- Signed LB Chuck Bullough to two one-year contracts Released DL Mike Sun-void Named Spencer Prescott coaching intern Signed TE Russ Campbell and RB Mike Saunders Hockey NHL MINNESOTA- Signed LW Kevin Evans LATEST LINE Baseball National League Atlanta 7-8 over HOUSTON PITTSBURGH 5W-6W over Chicago CINCINNATI 6-7 over St Louis PHILADELPHIA-Los Angeles (Pick) NEW YORK 5W-6V4 over San Fran MONTREAL 7M-8W over San Diego American League MINNESOTA-Boston (Pick) OAKLAND 9-11 over Detroit CHICAGO 7W-8W over Milwaukee KANSAS CITY 9-11 over Cleveland TEXAS 6-7 over Baltimore CALIFORNIA 5W-6W over New York Toronto 6W-7W over SEATTLE Home team in CAPS PROFESSIONAL Arena League Northern Division Pet Detroit 6 2 750 Albany 5 2 714 Cincinnati 5 2 714 Cleveland 3 4 429 Southern Division Pet Orlando 7 1 875 Tampa Bay 8 1 857 Charlotte 2 5 286 New Orleans 0 7 000 Western Division Pet Dallas 3 4 429 Arizona 3 5 375 Sacramento 3 5 375 San Antonio 1 6 143 Friday's Results Orlando 71 Arizona 21 Detroit 31 Sacramento 10 Games Albany at Tampa Bay Cleveland at Cincinnati Dallas at San Antonio Charlotte at New Orleans YOUTH Little League Friday's result from the District III toumemeitt for 11- 12-yeer-oida st Oakdale Coul-oak 5 Steele Creek 4 Babe Ruth Friday's result from the District 6 championship for 14-15-year-olds in Matthews Park Sharon 2 Matthews 0 Taylorsville rallies takes series lead NationsBank Friday's results from Washington Singles Quarterfinals: Henrik Holm Sweden Ivan Lendl (3) 3-6 6-3 6-3 Derrick Rostagno (7) Gary Muller 8-1 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5) Federation Cup Friday's results from Frankfurt Germany Quarterfinals Spain (2) 2 Argentine 1: Conchita Martinez Spain Florencia Label 6-0 6-1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicano Spain Mercedes Paz 6-2 6-1 Mercedes Paz and Patricia Tarabinl Argentina Noelia Perez and Virginia Ruano 6-4 7-6 (9-7) Australia 2 Czechoslovakia (3) 1: Helena Sukova Czechoslovakia Rachel McQuillan 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-1 Nicole Provis Australia Jana Novotna 7-5 6-0 Nicole Provis-Rennae Stubbs Australia Jana Novotna-Andrea Strnadova 6-3 6-3 Stuttgart GP Friday's rssults from Stuttgart Germany Singles Quarterfinals: Andrei Medvedez Ukraine Stelan Edberg (1) Sweden 6-1 4-6 6-4 Thomas Muster Austria Bernd Karbacher Germany 3-6 6-1 6-3 Wayne Ferreira (7) South Africa Goran Ivanisevic (2) Croatia 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 Karel Novacek (14) Czechoslovakia Carlos Costa Spam 6-2 7-6 (7-5) Pathmark Classic Friday's results from Mahwah Singles Quarterfinals: Jennifer Capriati (2) Caroline Kuhlman 6-3 6-2 Tami Whitlinger (6) Mary Joe Fernandez (3) 4-6 0-1 retired Challenger Friday's results from Tampere Finland Singles Quarterfinals: Kenneth Carlsen Denmark Fredrik Fetterlein Denmark 3-6 7-5 6-4 Marco Aurelio Gorriz Spain Lars Joensson Sweden 6-4 7-5 Bart Wuyts Belgium David Pnnosil Germany 2-6 6-3 6-4 Tomas Carbonell By MIKE FITZGERALD Staff Writer FORT MILL SC Charlotte batters put the Stars into orbit Friday night After four homers in the first two games against Huntsville the Knights extended their home-run derby erupting for five in a 14-2 romp Phil Dauphin provided the biggest swing hitting a grand slam in the eighth inning to cap an eight-run inning just wanted to join Dauphin said "Everybody else was hitting one Some nights are like Chris Ebright started it all with a two-run shot in the first inning and John Jensen hit the first of his two homers in the third as Charlotte moved out to a 3-0 lead Even Rusty Crockett a 5-7 150-pound shortstop took advantage of the abundance of power He sent one deep in the fourth for a two-run homer his first of the season due one a year and I guess this was it Now I can start concentrating on my line Crockett said Jensen added his second homer in the fifth to give the Knights (12-12) a 6-0 lead The Stars tried to come back scoring a run in the sixth and another in the eighth before the Huntsville bullpen collapsed in the eighth allowing the Charlotte outburst that put the game out of reach Rick Strebeck who came on for Huntsville in the eighth gave up four walks and three singles while retiring only one batter Right fielder Mike Conte took the mound with the bases loaded and gave up the Dauphin homer pitching staff struggled all night Starter Chaon Garland lasted 4 innings in absorbing the loss giving up six runs on seven hits His relievers found the Charlotte lineup just as intimidating as Huntsville combined to record 11 walks and yield 12 hits guys have been having some quality at-bats lately and everything just came together for us Knights manager Marv Foley said Steve Trachsel shut down (13-10) lineup spreading seven hits over eight innings to move into a tie for the league lead in wins with 10 MOTORSPORTS NASCAR Sportsman 150 Friday'i qualifying raaulta for today'a race In Long Pond Pa 1 Tim Bender Chevy 140962 2 Robby Faggart Chevy 140658 3 Peter Gibbons Chevy 140338 4 TW Taylor Chevy 139978 5 Dennis Setzer Chevy 139233 6 Kirk Playoff hopes on line for Rage Special Correspondent TAYLORSVILLE Taylorsville Post 170 has come from behind most of the season and Friday night was no exception Post 170 scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to take a 4-3 victory over Kings Mountain Post 155 in Game 1 of the Area IV baseball finals at Bob Gryder Memorial Stadium Pinch hitter Daniel one-out single to left scored Rex Marley for the winning run Game 2 of the seven-game series is tonight at 7:30 at Kings Mountain High Post 170 (25-5) set up its winning rally off losing pitcher Stephen Fisher Mark St Clair led off the ninth with a single and pinch runner Brad Abernethy scored on Nathan base hit that was mis-played in the outfield Marley came in for Foster and advanced to third on a wild pitch With one out Will Davis was intentionally walked to set up winning hit Kings Mountain (20-9) took a 1-0 lead in the first on Caja RBI single that scored Mike Smith Taylorsville answered with two runs in the fourth on back-to-back home runs by Steve Caudill and St Clair Kings Mountain 100 002 000 3 6 2 Taylortvilla 000 200 002 4 7 0 W-Yodar L-Fishr HRs-Taylorsville: Caudill St Clair SC playoffs In Fort Mill SC Scott Lambert struck out seven and allowed three hits in relief as Fort Mill Post 43 downed Richland Post 6 10-3 to advance to the second round Fort Mill travels to Irmo Monday to begin a best-of-five series Richland Post 021 000 3 11 4 Fort Mill Boat 43 201 041 13 1 Scott Lambert Jason Bradlay Racorda- Fort MI9 19-8 Richland 14-10 Special correspondent Bruce Ferrell contributed to this article home run helps Albany split with Gastonia Charlotte Rage vs New Orleans Night 8:35 pm Louisiana Superdome TV None Rage update: The Rage will be trying to repeat an earlier performance against New Orleans and stay on track after breaking out of a losing streak a week ago Charlotte opened the season against the Night taking 43-23 victory in the Charlotte Coliseum on May 30 It then dropped five in a row before recovering at home last week defeating the Sacramento Attack 51-3Char-lotte is 2-5 and in third place in the Arena Football League's Southern Division far off the pace set by Orlando and Tampa Bay The Predators and Storm are tied for the division lead with 6-1 records The Rage got a boost last week from new kicker Jim Power receiver Danny Smith and quarterback Scooter Molander Night update: New Orleans Is the first of three straight repeat opponents for Charlotte in the final three weeks of the regular season (Orlando and Tamp Bay follow the next two weeks) The Night has made no progress in terms of wins and losses since the first time It faced the Rage and is 0-7 and in last place in the league's Southern Divl-sionNew Orleans come close last week While Charlotte was scoring 51 points against Sacramento the Night was giving up 45 against Orlando (in a 45-20 loss) The Charlotte Rage will try to build late-season momentum and keep alive its slim playoff hopes tonight in New Orleans The Rage is 2-5 in the Southern Division of the Arena Football League as it goes into an 8:35 pm game against the New Orleans Night in the Louisiana Superdome A victory would put the team one step closer to postseason play which it could guarantee with wins in its last three games of the regular season The teams played once before this season with Charlotte coming on late for a 43-23 victory in the Charlotte Coliseum May 30 It followed however with four straight losses and no one was thinking playoffs That changed last weekend at the Charlotte Coliseum when the Rage rolled up 51 points allowed only three and cruised past the Sacramento Attack The Rage goes into the game with the best defense allowing an average of 299 points Its offense scoring 356 per game is seventh in the 12-team league Leonard Laye explained only mistake was that the ball went over the fence Catch that ball and still in the The Rangers were paced by Benji Gill who hit his sixth homer of the year in the fourth inning of the second game Gastonia took the lead in the fifth when Mike Edwards reached on a fielders choice went to second on a single by Jose Texidor and scored on an infield hit by Mike Smith Gastonia starter Bo Magee (5-5) allowed two hits in six innings of work with reliever Ritchie Moody pitching the seventh inning to pick up his sixth save of the year The Rangers host the Polecats again tonight at 7 Box score spage 4B By LARRY DAWALT Special Correspondent GASTONIA Morganna kissing bandit brought an enthusiastic crowd to Sims Legion Park Friday to see the Gastonia Rangers square off against the Albany Polecats in a South Atlantic League doubleheader But a home run by Polecats third baseman Shane Andrews sent the crowd home in disappointment as three-run homer in the seventh inning paced Albany to a 5-1 win to gain a split with Gastonia after the Rangers won the opener 2-1 Rangers manager Walt Williams was basically pleased with his performance in spite of losing the second game ball hit the webbing in his (Paul List) glove" Williams Castellano Huntsville 6 Charlotte 9 Ja-caa Armas Walbeck Dauphin Ebright Jensen 2 Crocked Jensen ER BB 80 Huntsville Garland (L) Kuhn 8trebeek Conte Charlotte Trachsel (W) Melvin 1 1 1 445 215 V5 45 I 1 1 1 0 8 Tracheal T-2 4B AH-8386 1 1.