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Show They Sat in the The men were gathered in a circle in the garage, which acted as a bunker aganist incoming chores, while the women cleaned the mess that 50 people had made at the Fourth of July party. Avoiding work wasnt the only r reason the men gathered in the to the shoot were there garage. They breeze and they brought in their limit of fishing stories that day. There are few pleasures in life that dont cost a person money, time or patience. Fishing isnt one of them. Talking about fishing is. I sat and listened. You dont butt in old mens fishing coversations. Til tell you, those fish were biting so good, I didnt have time to pick up my beer, said Ray, an undertaker who looked like he was in his late sixties or early seventies. He looked like no undertaker Ive ever seen. (Ive seen three). He was overweight and brown boots, brown wore brown shirt and brown slacks. The color two-ca- air age matched his white hair, which looked like it had long ago given up trying to cover his head. He wore his mustache thin like maybe Clark Gable style a kid had drawn a line across his face with a crayon. Ray slumped in his lawn chair, the and continued his backyard story. Id run over to one pole, bring the fish in, bait it up, throw it out, and Id have to run and take care of another pole. I didnt even have time to drink my beer. Apparently Ray didnt have time to read is fishing regulations either. The other men smiled, listening but not interrupting. Rule One in Shooting the Breeze Etiquette: Dont horn in on a mans fishing story. I dont care much for fishing when its that easy, said Bob, a retired golf coach. I like to work a little for my fish." Bob looked like a golf coach. His gray hair was thick, and his arms, and Caught Their Limits I like to catch fish like that, Hank told Bob. I dont like to walk to go fishing either, just drive my truck up to the lake and fish off the tailgate." Hank liked the easy fishing all right. In fact, he had bought himself and Ray fishing alarms. When the fish would bite, an alarm would sound. The little device gave Ray a chance to drink his beer. Damn thing works too, said Ray, who looked like he had pounded a few Budweisers in his day. Hank said he had caught his share of fish in his 70 years, but remembered one day when someone else caught the fish. We were up in Washington when I was working up there, and we went out on a boat one day to do some fishing. A bunch of damn drunks were about 30 yards away from us. We didn't have a bite all day and those damn drunks were just hauling em in. And thats probably why they were y, which were poking out of a short-sleev- e knit shirt with an animal on the pocket, were tanned. Other than being built like a young Jack Nicklaus, Bob looked as well kept as a sand trap in the morning. Hank, a retired engineer who built dams in the Western United States, said he enjoyed an easy day of fishing. catching them," Ray said. The were too drunk to know what they were doing. Rule Two in Shooting the Breeze Etiquette: If you can add a anecdote, do it. And they continued talking that night about equipment, fishing holes, high water, low water and their next semi-humoro- trips. The women were almost through with the work inside. Ray the undertaker said he had to be taking off, had to start planning the next day for a fishing trip with the Boy Scouts. He had to call a source in the Division of Wildlife to see where the fishing was hot. The flow was gone from the conversation, which usually happens when the first man leaves for more pressing, if nit more important, duties. The men left the garage. Rule Three in Shooting the Breeze Etiquette: Never kill a fishing conversation. Let it die easily, like it began. Page IB South Edition Lakeside Review Wednesday , July 13 , 1983 Coif League Teams Enter Tournaments - CLEARFIELD Lets say youre managing a professional baseball team. And, just for fun, lets say you lose your top starting pitcher and your best reliever. Its the kind of thing that ends up getting you fired. But that wasnt the case for the Clearfield Colt League team, made up of future sophomores and juniors. The Clearfield team, coached by Jess Perez lost Ryan Fisher, the reliever, and Danny Richardson, the starter, to the winless Clearfield American Legion team three weeks ago, but still managed to finish near the top of its league record. with a That record is good enough to earn Clearfield a bye in the 17-- 2 district tournament this week in Payson. The team will begin play in the state tournament next week in Springville. Clearfields only two regular season losses this year have come from Tooele. The young Falcons also lost to the Viewmont Astros in the league tournament last week, but beat Viewmont later in the week to advance to the championship game against Tooele Saturday. That game was rained out and no decision has been made about making the game up. According to Perez, Clearfield is a strong hitting club led by third baseman-pitche- r Gregg Boseman, Bruce Browning and catcher Mike Archuleta. The Viewmont Astros also won their division in the Colt record League with a and will enter a district tournament in Roosevelt this week. The winner of that 16-- 6 tourney will advance to Springville. The Astros are coached by Joe Martinez, who has received good play from Chad Ford, Paul Goodwin, Travis White, Travis Holbrook, Kelly Martinez and Billy Bagley. The Bountiful High team, coached by John Arntz, finished behind Viewmont with record and will also a play in the Roosevelt . . , . , i . Staff Photo by Don Miller . 13-- 5 MIKE ARCHULETA of the Clearfield prepares to tag a runner at A Top Colt League team, home plate. Archuleta is a leading hitter for Clearfield, season with a 17-- 2 record. which finished the regular Softball Player Ward Could Play 'What's My Line' By BARRY KAWA Review Staff competing, Ward said Page Brake led in four of its six games but were unable to hold its leads. As the center fielder and lead-of- f hitter for Page Brake in its weekly e league play, Ward is bata ting respectable .300. Last season, he hit a sizzling .429 h In softball, the pitcher stands 46 feet from home plate instead of the 606 in baseball. Add that to mph pitchers who throw at about and it is obvious why the games are noted for their Other differences from baseball include bases are set 60 feet apart rather than 90 feet, fences are about 250 feet to center, pitchers must throw underhand, and a base runner cannot leave his base until the ball has left the ROY If Roy resident Randy Ward were to appear as a contestant on televisions Whats My Line?, panelists would have their work cut out guessing his sports specialty. A thin, and softspoken, Ward could be anything from a bocce player to a fisherman. But anyone watching his play on the softball diamond in the Utah Travel League would know instantly what Ward does best. In a tryout last month in Colorado Games, Springs for the Ward came up only one hit short of qualifying for the United States team. In the recent National Sports Festival held at the Olympic training site there, Ward led his Salt Lake Page Brake pitchers hand. league team to a fourth place finish. Some feel that Ward, who is an alterWard was born and raised in nate for the U.S. team, should have Tremonton and graduated from Bear been selected for the games to be held in Caracas, Venezuela on Aug. Bountiful resident Ken Hackmeister, who serves as president of the Travel He what we call a slapper League, says three things kept Ward off the team, even though he had better said Hackmeister. His plan of game stats than the three outfielders attack it to hit a ground ball and chosen. According to Hackmeister, Ward was a relatively unknown player, he with his speed hell beat it out 99 was from an unheraled Utah league, and he did not get the chance to show times out of a 100. his speed in the qualifying game. As the organizer of the league, which is the Utah major league of softball, River High School in 1970. Like most he has watched him play over the last softball players, he was a three years. former high school baseball star letterHes what we call a slapper, said ing as a shortstop and outfielder. Hackmeister. His plan of attack is to When not playing for Page Brake, hit a ground ball and with his speed Ward works as a manager for Spectra 100. of out a 99 times out hell beat it His whole strategy is not to hit a long Sonics Audio in Riverdale. He and his ball,' but get it on the ground to the wife, Debra, have five children. Their oldest daughter, Tish, is 12 and plays in infield. Hackmeister evaluates Wards de- the Roy City Softball league and sons fensive play in the outfield as always Jeremy, 9, and Landon, 7, play in the getting a good jump on the ball and city baseball leagues also. possessing a strong arm. Ward has been playing in area For Ward, not making the team was leagues since he graduated in 1970. not devastating. It wasnt a big disapIn the league, players are paid only for pointment to me, Ward said of the their travel expenses. Companies such qualifying game in which he went one as Brake recruit the best availfor two with a walk. "If Id played well, ablePage in the area to play for players I would have made it for sure. But I their team. In the three years with didnt play a very good game that Page Brake, Ward has played in five day. national tournaments. In the National Sports Festival, with the top four teams from last years In last years nationals held in MidAmateur Softball Association (ASA) land, Mich., his team placed fourth in four-gam- et, fast-pitc- fast-pitc- h 85-9- 0 low-scorin- g. Pan-Americ- 14-2- 9. fast-pitc- h soft-ba- ll Staff Photo by Rodnoy W. Wright RANDY WARD says he came up one hit short of making the U.S. softball team that will enter the Pan-Americ- an Y an average of four league games a week for Page Brake, a Salt Lake City fast-pitc- h team. Games. Ward plays i v t f the tourney to qualify for the National Sports Festival and Wards performance earned him a spot on the tournateam. If softball ment should become an Olympic Sport in 1988, then Ward hopes to try for a berth with the U.S. team. His other goal is to be on a team that wins a national tournament such as the ASA or International Softball Conference. Softball is a hobby with me, Ward said. Once you start playing, its hard to quit. h Ward said in softball, the a or a drop. throws rise either pitcher The rise pitch starts out about belt high and comes up about a foot in the strike zone as it nears the plate. The drop pitch drops about the same distance. Ward said pitchers know his reputation as a contact hitter and are throwing mostly drop pitches on the outside corner to him. Ward compared hitting a baseball to the larger softball. I havent seen enough real good baseball pitching but I guess both are equally tough, he said. A baseball comes in from a higher trajectory and you have to swing level with your arms extended. You hit a softball with a more compact swing since you dont get as much time to see the pitch. When asked about the image of a d softball player as a player Ward who only swings for home-runreplied that this type of player was more common in slow-pitc- h play rather than in fast pitch. In home-run- s dont come into effect as much, he said. When you get on first base its an automatic thing that the next hitter will try to bunt you over. The fastpitch makes you try to use the whole field and just make contact. The softball season runs from February to September and the average team plays about 70 games a season. Ward plays church basketball in the winter and skiis to get his legs in shape for the upcoming season. The team begins spring training in early February by hitting ground balls and pitching in a gymnasium. The team will be playing July 9 in the Pay N Pak Invitational to be held in Seattle, Wash. Then the team travels to Victoria, Canada on July 30-to play against the Canadian National Team. Page Brake is currently in a three-warace for two positions to the . ASA Nationals in September. fast-pitc- beer-bellie- s, fast-pitc- 28-2- y t h, |