The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 38

Sports in brief Ojeda may be released todayC2 NBA: Clippers beat Milwaukee, 1 16-105C3 Paul Oberjuerge Sports Editor (909) 386-3865 Fax (909) 384-0327 PORTS The Sun Section Thursday March 25, 1993 Jim Spirit manager promises competitive team Matthews OUTDOORSES' Greg Mahlberg says players will come from various major-league 9 5- sources, won be cast-offs. By Paul Oberjueroe Sun Sports Editor SAN BERNARDINO As a career baseball man who has played and coached from Bakersfield to Texas to Charleston, Greg Mahlberg has worn a lot of hats in his time. a second baseman. But that could change tomorrow. "We really won't know for sure who we're going to get until just before the season starts," he said.

"We hope to get some players released to us in early April." Elmore said the club will sign a free agent or two if the co-op arrangement leaves a gap or two. "If we need to sign a shortstop or a utility infielder, then we'll do it," Elmore said. Mahlberg has played and coached in the California League; his last tour was as manager of the Salinas Spurs in 1986-87. He says he knows what level of talent it takes to compete here, and he's confident he will get players who can succeed. Co-op statu expensive for Spirit.

StoryC2 prospects in the Oakland, Colorado and San Diego organizations. He and team owner David G. Elmore travel to Florida this weekend to look at New York Yankees and Florida Marlins farmhands. Mahlberg expects the bulk of the 25-man Spirit roster will come from the Oakland and Yankees organizations. The tricky part for Mahlberg, the player-personnel man, is meshing the Spirit's needs with the concerns of the big-league organizations.

For instance, Oakland and the Yankees each may want to place eight pitchers here. But Mahlberg the manager would be hard-pressed to concoct a lineup from that. He concedes it's the most complicated exercise he's faced in his career. At the moment, he has a pretty good idea of who might be sent here, and he needs which he was formally introduced. "I got it from going out and scouting players." Before he starts filling out lineups, Mahlberg has to fill out a roster.

The Spirit has no player-development contract with a major-league team and, thus, no sure supply of players. San Bernardino will be a "co-op" team this season one that gets its players from a variety of major-league sources. "I assure you, we'll get some quality players, some quality names," Mahlberg said. "These aren't guys (organizations) are tossing off. It's people they want to keep, people they feel will play for them somewhere down the road." Mahlberg spent the.

previous three weeks in Arizona looking at This season, he'll wear two more. Mahlberg, 41, is more than simply the field manager for the new San Bernardino Spirit. He's also the player personnel GARY MILLERThe Sun "I didn't get this tan from Greg Mahlberg, Spirit manager and player personnel director. playing golf," he said at a Wednesday press conference in up wmiiwii 1 'j 'nmmww 4, i I'm 1 1 i i 19 I ft i A.C. Green gets career rebound in team's fifth consecutive home loss.

By Cindy Robinson Special to The Sun INGLEWOOD The Lakers were fighting for their pride Wednesday night against the hard-hitting Phoenix Suns. But not only did they lose to Phoenix 120-105 in front of a sellout crowd of 17,505 at the Forum, but this 1993 Los Angeles Anglers can still nab attack bass The phone has been ringing all week. After last week's column on aggressive, spawning bass at Lake Perris that assault wading fishermen, there have been complaints, sugges-, tions and howling into my telephone. Four Perris regulars called to complain that I had created the crowds at the popular lake last weekend. Gil Rowe, the guy who has caught all the line-class world-record spotted bass at the lake, said he even saw the Jamaican bobsled team out there, ostensibly there on my advice about the good fishing.

My brother-in-law insisted he ran into a fisherman who complained that he hadn't seen any "attack bass," apparently relishing the thought of being assaulted a fish. Go figure. Hi Some good advice came from bass fishing club members that I'll share in capsule form and in order of most frequent suggestions: ii 1. Removing fish, especially the males, from any spawning is a bad practice. They should be released on the spot.

males not only do most of the nest building, but they also hang around long after the female has split to protect the eggs until they hatch into fry. 2. When wading the shallows, avoid stepping into the beds themselves so you don't crush eggs. Anglers fishing from bass boats in the shallows should make sure their trolling motors don't turn the beds into caviar puree. 3.Cursingjetskiersatthetop of your lungs is uncool and generally wasted breath.

4. Cursing water skiers well, you know. 5. If you thought Perris was good, you should try (And you can fill in the name of just about any bass water in Southern California, because there were callers for everything from San 'Vicente to Cachuma, and all stops In between. The fishing is good 'everywhere, and male bass could -attack you anywhere.) Dozens of people I've talked -with in the past week are saying this is the best bass fishing they've seen and this is for all 'Southern California in a long time.

Decades. One example of how good it is: I Bertken, the outdoors writer ffpr the Los Angeles Daily News, caught a 14-pound largemouth pass Monday at Castaic Lake. Sure, he was fishing with Bob Crupi, the crawdad guru and the than who has caught the second-largest bass in the history of the 'World, but Bertken is an outdoors 'writer. Any time an outdoors writer can catch a fish, the bite is 'considered, unconditionally, 'brain-dead-easy phenomenal. A 14-pounder has some of us believing we somehow missed Armageddon and that this is heaven on earth.

We are, however, pulled back jp reality after hearing that Del East, the central figure of the Sil-Verwood striper clan, caught a 15- is lit team is now the not-so-proud owner of the most consecutive home loses (five) in franchise history. The Lakers have lost four consecutive home games three previous SUNS 120 LAKERS 105 Next: vs. NY Knicks Friday 7:30 p.m., Prime i "VOX AP WIREPHOTO Hall of Famer Patty Sheehan will try for her first win at the Dinah Shore Invitational, which starts today. Sheehan among favorites for today's start fun, although they were expecting me times, including last season. The Suns, who may have been bruised and a bit battered after a brawl with the New York Knicks Tuesday night, appeared to be combat-ready.

The Suns hit the boards and out-rebounded the Lakers 47-35 despite A.C. Green pulling down eight boards, including his career with 7:17 to play during the third quarter. "We were soft on defense and their rebounding killed us," said Sedale Threatt. "I guess we didn't play enough defense and they got a lot of lay-ups." Charles Barkley led the Suns with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Danny Ainge sank 27 points and Ce-dric Ceballos and Tom Chambers each had 17.

"It's fun to come into the Forum and play the Lakers because they have such a great Ainge said. However, the only tradition the Lakers are establishing this season is a losing one. Losing to Phoenix is not something new this year. This was the Lakers' fourth consecutive loss to the Suns this season. The Suns were also responsible for the Lakers' worst loss of the year a 132-104 loss Feb.

5. "I'm not trying to take anything away from Phoenix," said Lakers coach Randy Pfund. "Until we decide to show the toughness to really compete against teams, we're gonna really, really struggle. It so happens this team hasn't developed toughness. "I mean, if a fight broke out while we were on the floor, I'm wondering if anybody would stay.

We show no toughness at all. We don't stop anybody defensively. We let team after team come in and ring up point after point." At the end of the first half, the Suns had pulled to a 60-55 lead. By the end of the third quarter, Phoenix led 87-75. The Lakers fell 29-33 by the end of the first quarter and fought to catch-up.

They were able to tie the Suns at 45 with 5:56 to play in the first half. However, a basket by Phoenix's Tom Chambers gave the lead back to Phoenix, 47-45, for good. James Worthy led the Lakers with 16 points. NBA fines Suns, Knicks. StoryC3 Dinah shore facts Whoiw Today through Sunday.

Whore: Old Course at Mission Hills County Club in Rancho Mirage. Ticket prices: Tickets are $15 a day. They can be purchased at the gate and at Ticket-Master. Tickets for senior citizens are $10 a day and can be purchased atthe gate. By Chuck Hickey Sun Sports Writer It will be a homecoming of sorts for Patty Sheehan as she tries to win her first Dinah Shore Invitational at the Old Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.

Getting under way today with the first of four rounds, the Dinah Shore is the first major of the season on the LPGA Tour. The first golfers are scheduled to tee off at 6:30 a.m. Sheehan, who won the Standard Register Ping tournament in Phoenix, and qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame, is scheduled to start at 7:40 a.m. Rialto-native Brandie Burton has a 10:30 a.m. tee time.

For Sheehan, she's thinking about back-to-back victories. "That's my next goal," Sheehan said of winning the Shore. "My parents live at Mission Hills. That's where I practice golf in the winter. We're going to have a nice reunion this week, and it's going to be a lot of to get into the Hall of Fame by winning this week.

"But I'm glad this tournament is the week after the Hall of Fame entry. I'm still going to try and win this thing. This tournament is special because I've watched it for many years. It's a tremendous walk." Sheehan said she doesn't expect her game to falter now that she's reached the magical 30 victories and is in the Hall, one of the toughest accomplishments in all of sports. Reaching it has affected others.

Pat Bradley, who qualified for the Hall of Fame in 1991, has said her 30th victory and Hall of Fame entry took away her hunger to win. That's not how Sheehan is approaching it. "I really enjoy competition and being in the hunt," Sheehan said. "I feel that I'm hitting the ball pretty well, and I'd like to continue to play well. I don't want to roll over and die You know, to just kind of sit on being a Hall of Famer." pound, 12-ounce largemouth from ctaictlU UI1 Ilia Dull opmjf u- i iuui lure.

East had hardly weighed the Sheehan's best finish at the Shore, which is in its 22nd year and its 11th as a major, was 1987 when she lost in a playoff to Betsy King. Sheehan has won three other majors the 1992 U.S. Open and the 1983 and '84 LPGA Championships. She said Mission Hills is in great shape. "The greens are pretty firm and the rough is rough," Sheehan said.

fish when the phones at the Castaic Mini-Mart and the Castaic Marina were jingling with an I "anonymous" caller claiming to i have seen "through binoculars" East using live trout, i This is pretty funny to people who know East and his nonstop I harangue against the handful of illegals who fish live trout at Sil-! verwood for stripers. But these false allegations are ceasing to be i funny. Didn'twejustgothroughthis i with Allan Cole, and with Bob BY THE NUMBERS USC ousted by Minnesota, 76-58 TV HIGHLIGHTS NIT 1 Crupi last year, and striper angler NCAA Tournament Louisville vs. Indiana, 5 p.m., KCBSChannel 2 Calvs. Kansas, 7:30 p.m., KCBSChannel 2 NCAA Women's Tournament Tennessee vs.

North Carolina, 5 p.m., Prime Golf Dinah Shore Invitational, 1 p.m., ESPN TV-Radio llstlngsC6 1 Gregg Silks betore tnau wnere do these calls come from? Maybe I it's one of those attack bass mak-j ing the calls, hoping the good an-: glers get arrested, making the world safe for big bass. I Close. I'm inclined to believe i it's some dweeb with the IQ of an attack bass (which is slightly high- ton College in another quarterfinal matchup Wednesday. The win gave Minnesota 20 wins for the sixth time, the first since 1989-90 when the Gophers were 23-9 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tourney. The game was tight until the last minute of the first half, when Voshen Lenard ignited a decisive 18-7 run.

Minnesota took a 30-28 lead with 56.7 seconds left in the first half when USC's Lorenzo Orr was called for goaltending on Le-nard's layup. Townsend Orr gave the Gophers a four-point halftime lead with a driving layup. It was the 600th game in USC coach George Raveling's 21-year collegiate coaching career. Raveling, who also coached at Washington State and Iowa, is 320-280 overall and 99-106 in his seven years at USC. Other NIT action, C4.

By Ed Stych The Associated Press BLOOMINGTON, Minn. A stingy defense and a surly home crowd have put the Minnesota Gophers in the NIT semifinals. The Gophers held USC to 32 percent shooting from the floor Wednesday night, including 25.9 percent in the second half, as they beat the Trojans 76-58 in the NIT quarterfinals. Minnesota (20-10) held Oklahoma to 31.3 percent shooting in its 86-72 second-round NIT victory Monday. In the last two games, Minnesota's opponents have shot only 31.7 percent.

"I feel we put together two of our best defensive games back-to-back of the season," Gophers coach Clem Haskins said. Haskins and USC coach George Raveling both said the crowd of 15,393 was a factor. The er than a hubcap). i But enough of this. You should Gophers have played all three of their NIT games before large, boisterous home crowds.

"What has stuck with me the most is the support the people'of Minnesota has given the Gophers," Raveling said. "Even though I used to coach at Iowa, I was stunned with the attendance." The Gophers were especially impressive at keeping pressure on USC's three-point shooters. The Trojans (18-12) made just 7-of-34 long-range shots. "We live and die by the three-pointers. Tonight we died by the three-pointers.

God knows we had enough chances," Raveling said. The Gophers will play in New York on Monday against Providence, a 75-58 winner over Bos SCORES be out bass fishing. Kignt now. as i Perris bass fisherman Dave Nol-' lar said. "Cancel those appoint I ments, the bass only spawn once a year." Matthew is a free-lance writer.

His column aDDears on Thursdays. NBA Phoenix 120, Lakers 105 Clippers 116, Milwaukee 105 Boston 115, Miami 109 New Jersey 118, Charlotte 116 Chicago 113, Philadelphia 100 Dallas 101, Washington 98 San Antonio 105, Minnesota 92 Readers may write to him at The Sun, HOSTETLER DEAL The Raiders signed Jeff Hos-tetler, apparently ending Jay Schroeder's days as a starter. 8toryC2 399 N. San Bernardino, ua. 92401, or fax to (909) 384-0327.

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