Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 98

10 I'G Last: Thursday. June 21, 1990 Dodgers assign Beard; move him to catcher it if- iff if f--V VII 1 -s IIP- I 4 By David Assad Garrett Beard's second season of professional baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization resumed Monday. The former Penn Hills American Legion player was assigned to Yakima, Wash, of the short season Class A Northwest League. The 6-1, 190-pound right-hander spent all but two weeks of the past three months at the Dodgers' extended spring training camp in Vero Beach, Fla. He also spent a brief time as a backup catcher and third baseman for the Dodgers' Class A Florida State League team, also based in Vero Beach.

The temporary promotion was due to a roster spot opening as the result of injuries, according to Charlie Blaney, director of L.A.'s minor league operations. Beard signed with the Dodgers last year after he was drafted in the 46th round of the June 1988 free agent draft. He played third base for the Dodgers' Class A affiliate in the Northwest League last year when it was based in Salem, Ore. Beard hit .241 in 75 games and 274 at-bats. He had six home runs and 54 RBI.

He hit 11 doubles and two triples while drawing 31 walks, striking out 58 times and stealing six bases. Listed as an infielder in the Dodgers media guide, Beard converted to catcher during extending spring training, according to Blaney. "We feel catcher is where he has the best chance to make it to the major leagues," said Blaney. "He has a strong arm and he's a very aggressvie player." Beard is scheduled to catch almost every game during Yakima's 72-game schedule, which began Monday. "He wasn't going to be a starter in Vero Beach, that's why he didn't remain there," said Blaney.

"He's inexperienced so it is best to see what he can do for a season behind the plate playing in Yakima. That's the best place for him at this time." If Ts: "it 4 Leo Silverblatt, 81. left, watches At the old ballgame Softball a hit for Penn Hills' 70-and-over team Pro baseball players from the East NnNi icHoot Mike Berger. C. Cath.

Gary Green. Allderdice Garrett Beard. P. Hills Girt, tffilwtiM Okie. City Rangers (AAA) Okla.

City Rangers (AAA) Yakima Dodgers (A) Vero Beach Dodgers (A) Augusta Pirates (A) Ken Trutky, Swiisvale Mmti SCnOOl Chris George, Plum Tim McDowell, Gateway '-Ben Pierce, P. Hills Clue.tfniittiM Ei Paso Brewers (AA) Denver Brewers (AAA) Salem Pirates (A) all City Royals (A) Rob Guzik, a Latrobe graduate with the New York Mets. has been assigned to PittsMd (Mass.) of the Class A New York-Penn League. Brian Guzik of Latrobe, drafted by the California Angels, has been assigned to Mesa of the Arizona (Rookie) League. 'released May 29.

Gateway swimmer to Penn State Jonn Beale Post-Gazette 1 rt I i i i Jr. Olympic volleyball teams have top players By Karen Kadilak Three Pittsburgh area teams will compete at the U.S. Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships, June 29-July 5 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Competing in the boys 18-and-under. age group will be a team representing the Willow Pond Volleyball Club of Tarentum.

Also competing in that division will be an independent team organized by North Hills coach Mike McDonald. In the girls 18-and-under division will be a team from the Golden Triangle Club, coached by Pitt assistant Sue Hoover. The Willow Pond and Golden Tri-angle teams are considered especially strong. Both have many players who were ail-state on their high school' teams. Playing for Willow Pond are: Brian Miller of North Allegheny, Ed Josefoski of Penn Hills, Matt Mas-trorocco of Deny, Kevin Primus of Penn Hills, Steve Price of Penn Hills, Matt Chamberlain of Cambridge, Springs, Pat Mott of Cambridge Springs, Brandon Lewis of Farrell, Maurice Thomas of Farrell and Rick Wagner of North Allegheny.

It is the fourth consecutive year Willow Pond is sponsoring a boys 18-and-under team and the fourth year Dan Brown of Penn Hills is serving as coach. The team placed in the top 10 in 1987 and 1988, and was 12th a year ago. "This could be our best team ever. said Brown. "It's definitely the most experienced.

Most of the kids have played at Junior Olympics before," Laffy Myers of Trinity is assisting Brown this year. Golden Triangle is sponsoring a team for the first time. Its players are Robin Collet, Kelly Kovach, Sue Reiff, Julie Fernacz, Laurie Flynn, andCassie Bowen of Baldwin; Carrie Thornton and Cindy Sensenich of Norwin; Kelly Malins of Ambridge; Lisa Nalepa of North Allegheny, Toby Frowen of Derry, and Salima Davidson of Penn Hills. "The competition's going to be tough, but I'm optimistic," said Hoover. "We have a good team.

We should do well." Hoover's assistants are Sue Flaherty of Carnegie Mellon University and Ron Kelly. Kelly is girls coach at Ambridge and boys coach at Baldwin. Golden Triangle qualified after placing second at the Ohio Valley Regional championships last month at Ohio State University. Boys teams do not have to qualify in order to play at the Junior Olympic championships. McDonald took advantage of that to put together a team at the last minute.

On the McDonald team are Scott Adams of North Hills, Tony Arrigo of Central Catholic, Jeff Blough of Central Catholic, Steve Potter of Upper St. Clair, Eric Gerko of Richland -iJohnstown), Doug Mannka of Deer Lakes, Ryan Patton of Kevin Kurt of Maplewood. "We're not as strong and experienced as Willow Pond, but we're going to give it our best shot," said McDonald. "The important thing is for the kids to get some national exposure." McDonald said Upper St. Clair coach Jeff Beavers was helpful in organizing the team.

"Jeff has other commitments and can't go on the trip with us, but he's my assistant as we're getting said McDonald. Players on the Willow Pond and McDonald teams will pay their own expenses. Golden Triangle held fundraisers to defray costs. "Money's a problem in sending teams to JOs," said Diane Para-chino, secretary of Willow Pond. "We're always seeking corporate and individual sponsors, but they've been difficult to get." According to tournament director John Kessel, 175 girls teams and 100 boys teams will compete in 14-and-underr-16-and-under and 18-and-under age groups.

"That's an all-time high for said Kessel. "We're having teams come from as far as Alaska and Hawaii." Holzshu takes over at Franklin Regional FROM PAGE 9 "I wouldn't have gone back into coaching just anywhere," said Holzshu. "But this situation intrigued me. I know a lot of the kids from living in the commmunity, and when Nick resigned, a few people approached me about the job. "I like the situation, I like the kids, and I like the section 4 So I took the job." Besides EA, Holzshu's previous head coaching experience was 10 years Vith West Liberty (W.

Va.) State College and two years with Garrett Community College in Maryland. He has been with Metro Index Jor 11 years. Holzshu will have four part-time starters back, including Kurt Lovelace, Tony Doyle and Gary Del Cotto. But his goals for his first season at Franklin are as simple as possible. "The only thing I want is for our young people to enjoy being in the program," said Holzshu.

"I'm going to gain with an open mind, give everybody a look, and hopefully we can earn some respect in the section." I If i I i with teammates from bench. if 4 Joe Zevola delivers a pitch. Phil Protheroe, 73, said he was taking three pills daily to combat his high blood pressure. After playing in the league the past three years, he said his dosage is down to a pill every other day and his blood pressure has dropped. Charles Warfield, 72, said his wife was skeptical when he first told her about playing in the soft-ball league.

"She said, 'You're crazy. Don't come home if you get Warfield said. "The neighbors think they're nuts. But my husband's in much better shape now than he was eight years ago, said Mary Rossi, whose husband, Hugh, 76, bats in the leadoff spot for the 70-and-over team. Showing skills from days gone by, the seniors have captured some newfound glory.

Last month, the Penn Hills 70-and-over traveling team qualified for the 70-and-over Senior Citizens Softball World Series in Scottsdale, Sept. 26 through Oct. 1 by placing second at the Capitol Tournament in northern Virginia. There are eight qualifying tournaments nationwide, one of which is in Penn Hills. The games and the travel have given many of the seniors a chance to see the country.

"Our grandchildren are all mad at us now," joked Ray. "All us senior citizens had bank accounts and generally we take and leave "The neighbors think basketball never dull be a forward. And Gimel Martinez, 6-9 inside player from Miami Senior High in Florida who played on three state championship teams in four years, and finally Carlos Toomer, a 6-4, 190-pound guard from Corinth, whose team won its second consecutive state championship this year." Sendek graduated with honors from Carnegie Mellon in 1985 but put his engineering career on hold to coach basketball. ft tit 1 Hi I ll f. i a By Karen Kadilak Gateway swimmer Steve Trus-chel will compete at Penn State next season.

Truschel was a two-time WPIAL champion in the 100-yard breast-stroke, where he set the WPIAL championship meet record with a mark of 58.67 seconds in 1989 as a junior. He chose Penn State over South' ern Methodist. "I think everyone assumed I was going to SMU," said Truschel. "Penn State did come into the picture kind of late. The thing that swung me over to them is that they're closer to home." Penn State coach Peter Brown was pleasantly surprised by Trus-chel's interest in the Nittany Lions.

"We weren't recruiting Steve a lot," said Brown. "We did not have a pressing need for breaststrokers, but when a swimmer of Steve's quality comes along, you don't turn him away." Penn State was second to Princeton at the Eastern Seaboard Championships this year. The Nittany Lions have placed in the top three at those championships every season in Murrysville golfer By Karen Kadilak Karyn Apel of Baldwin and Linda Nichols of Murrysville are among 132 golfers competing at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championships this week at Hyland Hills Golf Course in Westminster, Colo, near Denver. The Tournament started yesterday and will continue through Sunday.

The top 32 scorers after today's qualifying round will advance to match play. The championships are for golfers who have competed only on a public course this year. Apel and Nichols, both 34, mainly have played at South Park. They advanced to the national championships after placing in the top three at an 18-hole qualifying match, May 30, at South Park. They are making their first appearance in national competition.

"There are going to be some outstanding golfers there," said Nichols. "My expectations aren't that great. I just want to do my best and enjoy myself." Apel also has modest goals. "I just want to make the cut," said Apel. Apel and Nichols also are playing at the team championships, where their partner is Joan Ash of Youngs-town, Ohio.

The three are represent- Leglon standings MonYough Rivor Laagu pu Penn Hills 5 0 0 10 Corner Pocket 4 10 8 PortVue 4 10 8 E.Allegheny... 2 3 0 4 Swissvale 14 1 3 Monroeville 0 3 1 1 Pgh. Bobcats 0 4 0 0 Alleghany River League P1 Sprlngdale 5 11 11 Plum 2 0 10 Freeport 3 2 0 6 New Kensington 3 3 0 6 Highlands 2 0 4 West Deer 0 SM 1 AS 128 150 0 16 207 I 28 18 36 16 0 0 4 1 61 37 RBI 13 23 0 3 20 I 2 1 3 1 AS .219. .240 .000 .250 .295 ERA 1.71 18.56 3.02 5.19 4 0 0 0 0 18 7 16 18 26' 18 5Vi 17 50 54 34 33 11 7 22 23 tO 22 4 6 1 36 2 38 1 Brown's six-year tenure as coach. Truschel will not receive a swim scholarship.

"We've tied up all our aid for next season," said Brown. "Perhaps if he had committed to us earlier, we would have had something for him." Depending on his performance, Truschel could receive aid as a sophomore, according to Brown. Truschel had misgivings about competing for Penn State after training with the Pitt Aquatic Club throughout his high school career. "The rivalry between Pitt and Penn State is pretty intense," said Truschel. "I did not want there to be any hard feelings." Truschel said he gave some thought to attending Pitt before deciding a change of scenery would do him good.

An honor student at Gateway, Truschel plans to major in sports science and exercise. He is the second Pittsburgh area resident to commit to Penn State this year. Recently, Craig Uzelac cf Fox Chapel announced he would compete for the Nittany Lions in the fall. Uzelac was WPIAL champion in the 100 freestyle this year. at Public Links finals ing Pittsburgh in the 32-team competition.

Ash placed first at the South Park sectional qualifier with an 80. Apel was second with an 88 and Nichols was third with a 92. Apel has been golfing the past 21 years, but competitively only the past two. "I did not even know about Public Links until a year ago," she said. A North Hills native, Nichols began her competitive career at North Park in 1985.

She has played at the Public Links sectional qualifier four times. Nichols moved to Murrysville early this year after residing in Monroeville for three years. Rolling Fields Golf Course Hankey Church Road Off Route 286 and 380 Near Holiday Park 335-7522 Excellent Watered Greens Improved, Defined Fairways Yamaha Riding Gas Carts Uncrowded Weekend Play; Tee Times Recommended only for Sunday Morning 390 Yds 1 By Kevin M. Smith Post-Gazette Staff Writer "And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it but I probably will. "Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, but time slips a way and lea ves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days." Bruce Springsteen, Glory Days Eight years ago, many of Penn Hills' male senior citizens filled their free time sitting around a table, shuffling a worn deck of cards as ashes fell from the ends of cigarettes.

Today, many of the community's senior citizens can be found wearing worn baseball gloves and taking practice swings with a bat. What began as a pick-up softball game with nine players between the ages of 59 and 77, has grown and grown and grown. The Penn Hills Senior Softball Association, composed of three traveling teams (ages 55 and over, 65 and over and 70 and over) and four intramural teams, has breathed new life into some old bodies. Mike Scherr, 79, made his soft-ball pitching debut when the league began eight years ago. He said the players took to the dia-.

mond after losing interest in a friendly card game. "We used to play cards down here at the Senior Citizens Center) The weather was beautiful outside, so we turned to each other and said what the hell are we doing in here. We got a couple of bats and balls and about half a dozen guys actually nine Before you knew it, we had two teams," Scherr said. The first game was played at Dible Elementary School on Jefferson Road. "The feeling that I got, and a lot of us got back then eight years ago, was being able to go out there and do the things you could do when you were 30 years old," said Robert Ray, 67, manager of the Penn Hills Senior Softball.

Association. "It felt good to get out there and play ball," said Joe Zevola, 76, who was born the year Mother's Day became an annual holiday. "I was one of the first guys," said Americus "Emerick" Pascar-ello, an 85-year-old first baseman, who plays for an intramural team and also for Penn Hills' 70-and-over traveling team. "I started playing because I love the game. I never worried about getting hurt." Pascarello, who was born in 1905, is the oldest player in the Penn Hills Association.

According to Ken Maas, president of the National Association of Senior Citizens Softball (NASCS), Pascarello is the oldest player he knows of who participates in senior citizen softball. Pascarello said her is sometimes used as a pinch runner for either the man on base or the batter, which is allowed in the league. "My hitting's getting weaker but I can run like hell, you know. I run for guys 10 and 15 years younger than me," he said. Penn Hills 70-and-over team plays in a league with four other 70-and-over teams from Monroe-ville, Murrysville, Slickville (Westmoreland County), Wilkins" Township and Penn Hills' 65-and-over team.

Heading into this week, Penn Hills' 70-and-over team was 3-3. Playing in the league means more than a chance to rekindle memories of glory days on high school and sandlot teams. For many of the players, it's a form of therapy. Sendek finds Kentucky FROM PAGE 9 "I'm sure the NCAA probation had a ripple effect, but thanks to the tradition of Kentucky basketball, the chance to play right away, and Coach Pitino's reputation, we were able to do O.K. better than O.K.

in recruiting. "We signed three high school that should help us Jamal Mashburn, 6-8, 230, of Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx, who was player of the yeaf in New York State. He'll John Beale Post-Gazette our money to our grandchildren. We're not doing it no more. We're going out and spending it on taking trips and playing ball.

They say, 'Hey, if grandpap dropped dead on the ball field, I ain't gettin' Scars from by-pass surgery and pacemaker implants are revered as though they were Purple Heart medals achieved during battles. Ray said there hasn't been a fatality during a local game, although there was one close call. 1 Ray said a year ago, one of the players had a heart attack at the wheel of his car en route to a game. Rossi said softball has become a way to live as well as a way of living. "When you're young, you don't think you're going to die.

With softball, you have a reason to "get up in the morning." Rossi has had a heart attack, gall bladder surgery and a pulled shoulder muscle sine last November. "I'm scared to death and I have my fingers crossed. But I'm proud of him when I see him running the bases even if he trips and falls," said his wife. Pascarello, who has used soft-ball as a crutch since his wife died six months ago, said he'll never stop playing his favorite game. "I enjoy it every time I play.

I'll never stop. I'll stop when I break down." they're nuts" Mary Rossi BASEBALL CARD SHOW Sunday, June 24 HOLIDAY INN-MEADOWLANDS Admission Only $1.00 THE LIVING LEGEND BRUNO SAMMARTINO will be signing FREE autographs 1 BERGENMANIA THE FAMILY SHOWS.