Press Journal from Vero Beach, Florida • 17

Section Journal Tuesday September 4 1990 I Graf Rolls Past Capriati Becker Struggles To Win Graf said that Capriati performed much better in their Wimbledon showdown and at an exhibition just before the Open and offered her sane advice: to be Graf said fon and get away from it as much as you NEW YORK (AP) Steffi Graf sent Jennifer Capriati back to school with a lesson she'll never forget a two-set course In playing like a champion in the UJS Open Graf the two-time defending champ played almost perfectly Monday to reach the quarterfinals as she dazzled 14-year-old Capriati with powerful groundstrokes and defied a packed crowd cheering for the nervous ninth-grader "If you don't lose you don't learn" Jennifer Capriati US Open well flat and hard and deep enough to back up the strong teen-ager and keep her from moving in Graf got off to a 3-0 lead with two breaks in the second set before Capriati broke her for the only time in the match with a forehand down the line The crowd silenced for the most part by Grafs play cheered wildly The fans thought Capriati might somehow turn around the match when she held at love to cut Grafs lead to 3-2 and achieved two break points on Grafs next serve But Graf dashed their hopes when she held after four deuces and broke Capriati for the final time Becker and Cahill engaged in a 3-hour 14-minute dogfight in which the momentum changed repeatedly Cahill who called Goan effort in a third-round loss played as courageously as possible against Becker Cahill who beat a limping Becker here two years ago won eight straight points in the fourth and fifth games of the first set as he weathered Becker's hard serves and sometimes wild shots took awhile until I found my Becker said was a little bit windy especially in the beginning I started to serve better in the second set and then every set it got better" Please See OPEN3B Tauzlat of France 6-1 7-5 Garrison will meet Arantxa Sanchez Vicarto a 6-4 6-3 winner over Barbara Paulus Grafs victory came on the same day when she was ranked No 1 for the 160th straight week a record for both men and women It was obvious early In the first set when Capriati seemed tentative and her usually solid forehands and backhands floated long or into the net that she was suffering a case of stage fright the beginning I hit a said Capriati overly excited "just going out there knowing that you're on the stadium court and going to be out there Capriati had said before the match that she was "psyched and ready to attack Graf She said she told herself at the start of play "keep moving attack a lot serve well" But nothing came Instead she stood and watched Graf as if trying to record in her memory how she plays you don't lose you Capriati said match you lose you learn something from it At first I wasn't doing anything not making shots not coming to the net Next time I cant let that happen She's definitely still at another Graf sympathized with her think there was a lot of pressure on her I think she was Graf said didn't play as well as she can play I expected a tough hard-fought Capriati who reached the semifinals at the French Open and has nearly $7 million in commercial endorsements in her first year as a pro acknowledged she was disappointed with the loss but displayed a typically mature attitude is not the end of the world for she said "Ill think about It and continue on to the next tournament I feel great I know now how it is to play in a Grand Slam I learned so much just playing one match been a great year for me I think done well mainly getting After Capriati held service at 1-1 she won only seven points the rest of the set Graf roamed the baseline as if she ruled it and only rarely approached the net Yet on those occasions too she dominated putting the ball away on three of five approaches in the first set and six of nine In the second set Grafs first serve was a big weapon as Grafs 6-1 6-2 victory was complete In every respect a 53-minute slaughter that was far more convincing than her 6-2 6-4 triumph over Capriati at Wimbledon also in the fourth round Boris Becker the men's defending champion and Grafs West German compatriot Elayed doggedly for more than three hours efore finding a way to beat gutsy Australian Darren Cahill 2-6 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-4 and gain the quarters Becker will play No 9 Aaron Kricksteln who beat Amos Mansdorf 6-3 6-4 6-4 America's top player fourth-seeded Andre Agassi had an easy time getting to the quarters beating Jay Berger 7-5 6-0 6-2 Graf next goes against 12th-seeded Jana Novotna who beat No 7 Katerina Maleeva 6-4 6-2 Fourth-seeded Zina Garrison also advanced to the quarters beating Nathalie Boris Becker celebrates his win over Darren Cahill FLORIDAtSTATELEAGUEiPLAYOFFS Taveras Hurls Dodgers Past Mets FSL Playoffs At A Glance Vero Moves Into Semis With Three-Hit Shutout First Round (Best-of-3) Wild Card Sertes Saturday Sept 1 VERO BEACH I SL Lucie 7 Sunday SepL 3 SL Lucie 2 VERO BEACH 1 Monday SepL 3 VERO BEACH 3 SL Lucie 0 VERO BEACH wins series 2-1 Western Division Series Saturday SepL 1 Charlotte 2 Dunedin 1 IS West Pehn Beach 4 Lakeland 2 Monday SepL 3 Lakeland 2 West Palm Beach 1 series Had 1-1 Today Lakeland at Woet Pehn Beach Charlotte at VERO BEACH Wednesday SepL I VERO BEACH at Charlotte Thursday SepL VERO BEACH at Charlotte If necessary Championship (Best-of-3) Friday SepL 7 Sunday SepL2 Charlotte Dunsdln 5 wins series 2-0 TBA TBA Saturday SepL I Sunday SepL I Second Round Semifinals Saturday SepL 1 TBA come there was going to be no told him we weren't taking any chances" Alvarez said he started messing around he was coming With that in mind Taveras said he had only one goal I put the uniform on all I was thinking of was keeping the ball down and winning the Taveras said Taveras never let up With his changeup carrying the load he only pitched to a full count three times and two of those were in the ninth inning got a little anxious in the ninth" Taveras said I didn't feel tired at Witn the victory Vero Beach advances to the second round against the defending league champion Charlotte Rangers To reach the second round the Rangers topped Dunedin 3-2 in 15 innings Saturday and 9-4 Sunday A sizable contingent of Rangers Including manager Bobby Jones were among the Holman Stadium crowd mi Monday night The Dodgers and Rangers split eight games during the regular sason with neither team winning on the road Last Tuesday and Wednesday Vero Beach topped Charlotte 4-2 and 7-1 respectively not taking anyone for granted" Alvarez said "especially a team that won 85 games just because we beat them two-straight By BILL BOEDIXG Frm-Jounul SUII Writer It was put up or shut up time for the Vero Beach Dodgers Monday night If they lost the season was over If they won it wss on to the second round of the Florida State League playoffs Ramon Taveras was up to the challenge The 23-year-old righthander pitched a three-hit shutout to lead the Dodgers to a 3-0 victory over the St Lucie Mets at Holman Stadium Taveras who had struggled In the second half of the season was nearly flawless against the Mets After giving up hits in the second and third innings Taveras set down 16 St Lucie betters in a row until Lee May doubled with one out in the ninth He struck out 12 and didn't walk anyone saved his best ballgame of the year probably his career for Dodgers msnager Joe Alvsrez said just pitched his behind St Lucie manager Tim Black-well was equally Impressed have to give him credit the real Ramon Taveras showed up tonight" Blackwell said pZ a couple of innings under his belt and he started wheeling and dealing" For Taveras the outing a was not hlng-to-lose everything-to- gain affair Alvarez and pitching coach Dennis Lewallyn warned Taveras earlier Monday that with all the marbles riding on the out the last time they were Albert Bustillos (11-5 during the regular season with a 304 ERA) will make his first playoff start for the Dodgers Brian Romero (7-2 170 ERA) will pitch in the 7 pm game at Holman Stadium Bustillos missed his final two regular-season starts because of a strained ligament in his shoulder Tickets for tonight's game will be available from noon to 3 pm at the Holman Stadium ticket office The aeries moves to Charlotte County Stadium Wednesday for Game 2 If a third game is needed it will be Thursday at Charlotte For the Mets Monday's loss marked their earliest departure from the playoffs since entering the league in 1988 The Mets won the champimishlp In their first year St Lucie hist in the second round to the Rangers last season The Dodgers scored twice in the second Inning against the Mets Dave Telghedder Jorge Alvarez led off with a single He went to second when Mike Piazza grounded out to third and scored on a Pete Gonzalez single Dino Ebel bounced out as Gonzalez moved to second Eric Young reached on an error by shortstop Derek Henderson which allowed Gonzalez to score Tony Barron extended Vero Beach's lead in the third Inning with a solo homer over the knoll in left field It was Barron's eighth homer this season and second In the playoffs Vero Beach Dodgers pitcher Ramon Taveras acknowledges the crowd with a wave of his cap following his three-hit shutout of the St Lucie Mets Monday in the FSL playoffs Veterans Feel Ax On NFL Cut Day Indians Pirates Earn State Rankings State Prep Polls Here Is the Floride Sports Writers Association preseason state high school football polL Teams are Hated with 1919 record poll points and first place votes In parentheses: Irln got a roster exemption for him and may bring back one of their cuts later And Dallas waived Keith Willis its only kicker but hoped to bring him back if no one else grabs him within 24 hours hope Willis is not claimed" Johnson said looked at our roster to see where we are safest We should be able to re -obtain rights to these players Class AAAAA 1 Miami Carol City (13-1) 9S () 2 Pensacola Washington (10-3) 89 (3) 3 Winter Park Lake Howell (10-2) 94 4 Lakeland Lake Glbaon (9-1) 47 5 VERO BEACH (11-1) 45 INIceville(10-1) 42 7 Coral Gables (S-7) 21 I Bradenton Manatee (13-1) 22 (1) Palm Beech Lakes (5-5) 22 10 Ortantfo Event (0-2) 20 think Joe Morris has made a very signiflgcnt and continuous contribution to this dub and to the Bill Parcells coach Bill Parcells said of Morris who rushed for 5296 yards in eight years the length of time that I haw been here he is one of several guys who has driven the car and not been a It was a bad day overall for the Morris family Joe's brother Jamie signed by New England from Washington as a Plan free agent was rut Wright a cornrrbark and Turner a linebacker were two of the five 49ers who played on ail four Super Bowl winners The others are quarterback Joe Montana safety Ronnie Lott and wide receiver Mike Wilson still feel that I can play" Turner said Other released were Carter who caught 45 passes for Philadelphia last season 11 for touchdowns Eagles reserve quarterbuck Matt Cavanaugh Hogehoom Phoenix' only veteran quarterback Buford Jordan New Orleans' starting full-buck the past four years linebacker Rickey Hunley by the Raiders running bucks Darrin Nelson Thomas Sanders and Tim Spencer by Sun Diego and quarterback Mark Herrmunn by the Rams Please See CUTS3B By The Associated Press Alonzo lfighsmith went to Dallas and Joe Morris Eric Wright Keena Turner Gary Ho-grboom Matt Bahr and Cris Carter Into limbo Monday as NFL teams cut down to the 47-man router limit Hlghsmith the Oilers' No 1 draft pirk In 1987 was underutilized In an offense thut hod four players competing fur one position He was sent to his college coach Jimmy Johnson for some of the high draft pi the Cowboys got for llerschel Valker and fills the running bark 'old Dallas has had sinre Walker leit lust season Some of the other big names were just waive I although some could he recalled many teams cut players then re-claim them after they clear Ivors And one player finally got tc join his team defensive tackle CDitez Kennedy the third player taker in the draft who signtxi with Seatt 'This is the worst da of the year football" said New Virk Giants linebacker Gury Rimma hnrd to see guys you've been friends with a long time lot go It will happen to all of us out lay" The Raiders for exampio were deft with only one quarterbs Jay SchroMler after rutting Vince and Jeff Francis Hovi-ver they signed holdout Steve iur- Also received votes: Homestead Lake City Columbia Sarasota Rlvervlsw Tampa Chamberlain Coconut Creek Orange Perk Miami Senior Sarasota Panama City Mosley Palm Beech Gardens Winter Park Winter Haven Class A Jacksonville Unlv Christian (12-0) 100(10) By RICH BARAK Press-Journal Stall Writer One coach was surprised to be there while another coach expected to he Vero Beach 11-1 in 1989 is ranked fifth in Class AAAAA of the Florida Sports Writers Association's presesson high school football poll and St Edward's 12-1 In 1989 and a finalist in the Qass A title game is ranked sixth In its class usually in the Top 10 when the season starts but I didn't think we'd make It this year" St Ed's coach Howie DeCristofaro said Monday hope it's not said the second-year head coach The Fighting Indians who lost in the playoffs 39-21 to eventual Class AAAAA state champion Bradenton Manatee anticipated a high ranking Couch Billy Livings said "We expected to be ranked on the basis of the good season we had last year and we have two or three good players Livings said Vero Beach has nine home games this year including three against other Top 10 teams The Indiana will open Friday against Merritt Island which is ranked 10th in Class A AAA Besides the Mustangs Vero Beach also will face seventh-ranked Coral Gables Oil 5 and 10th-ranked Orlando Evans Nov 2 Miami Carol City which lost 21-8 to Manatee in the CIhss AAAAA title game la ranked No 1 In the presesson poll Manatee is tied for eighth with Palin Beach Lakes Pleas Sm POLLS3B "This is the worst day of the year in football" Gary Reasons Detroit waived three running barks leaving only Barry Sanders wouldn't be surprised if you see a few of these guys back here in the future" coach Wayne Fontes said Fontes might look at Morris the Giants' all-time leading rusher who was caught In a glut of running backs that Includes top pick Rodney Hamilton and Lewis Tillman But he really lost out to 33-year-oid Ottls Anderson kejit because he's a better receiver blocker and short-yardage runner Last year Anderson rushed for more than 1-(XN) yards after Morris broke a foot In the last game of the preseawm 2 Belle Glade Glades Day (0-2) 65 3 Apalachicola (0-3) 63 4 Greensboro (10-2) 52 Pensacola Catholic (7-3) 52 0 ST (12-1) 39 7 Tallahassee FAMU (3-7) 35 8 Fori Lauderdale Westmlneter (7-4) 32 0 Tallahassee North Florida (9-2) 30 10 WewahRchka (7-3) 22 Also received vote: SL Petersburg North side Christian Orlando Lake Highland Grscevllle Cottondate Century Plantation American Heritage Hilliard Thigpen Saves Record 47th Game For White Sox Drabek Notches 1 8th Win 2B.