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Show SPORTS STANDARD-EXAMINER SUNDAY, JULY 12, 1992 SPORTS EDITOR: 625-4260 Despite 12 errors in two games, Trappers win again By JIM BURTON Standard-Examiner staff SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake Trappers have committed 12 errors in two games and boy are the Great Falls Dodgers mad aboutit. Once again, in the ‘rookie league baseball is Stranger than fiction’ department, the Trappers managed to overcome a handful offieldingfoulups and still beat the Dodgers, this time 5-4. The win pushed the Trappers record to 14-8 on the season, still a game behind Southern Division-leading Helena. Afterward, designated optimist Nick Belmonte, the Salt Lake Manager, said he wasn’t worried about fielding errors, just that his team picked up another win. “If we sit there and say ‘Oh mygosh, we’ve committed 12 errors,’ we’d probably have PIONEER LEAGUE two losses right now,” he said. Cali it positive mental attitude if you want, but the Trappers have been fortunate enough to get good pitching and timely hitting when their defense has floundered. ; After the Dodgers began the game with a run in the first thanks to second baseman Fred Samson — and another in the second on an inside-the-park homerun past a diving Pookie Wilson — the Trappers looked as though they wanted to it in. After Wilson ied off the third with his fourth hit in two games and Samson followed with a homerun to left, the Trappers looked as though they had the Dodgers right where they wanted them. Now back in the game, Trapper starter Cecil Pettiford began to cruise, pitching to the minimum six batters through the next two innings. After loading the bases on three straight two-out singles, Pettiford got out of the fifth thanks to — surprise — a great defensive play from third baseman George Baker, normally a catcher. Pettiford left the gameafter that inning and was taken off the hook two innings later when Salt Lake scored three runs, two com- ing off Baker's single. _Wilson, who had reached base nine straight times before grounding out in the eighth, said players who help themselves win balles. “Most of the time when a guy makes an error he comes back hanging his head but we try to stay positive,” he said. “We justtry to pick each other up and hang in there.” Though the scored was tied going into the seventh, the Trappers weren’t through picking themselves up. Great Falls catcher Felix Rodriguez led off the seventh by reaching on shortstop Tim Risgby’s error. He later scored on Angel Jamie’s single. In keeping with the theme, Jamie later scored from first base on a two-error comedy routine between first baseman Kevin McMullan andleft fielder Bobby Benjamin. The heroics from Wilson and Baker followed in the bottom ofthe inning, just like clockwork. “I'll take the win and be grateful and be positive because our guys gave up the two runs early and still came back,” said Belmonte. “That’s what I'll rememberabouttonight. Our guys have found a way to win despite the errors, let’s give credit for that.” SIDE LINES The Dream Team doesn't wantto win by 100, but would welcome a challenge. 4B Have a cigar With a cigar always in his mouth, Larry Laoretti takes the U.S. Senior Open lead. 3B BASEBALL 2B American League Boston 11, Chicago 2 California 2, Detroit 1 Oakland 3, Toronto 1 Seattie 5, New York 3 (12) Minnesota 6, Baltimore 5 Milwaukee 5, KansasCity 1 Texas 5, Cleveland 1 National League San Francisco 3, Montreal! 0 St. Louis 4, Los Angeles 1 San Diego3, Philly 2 (11) Pittsburgh 9, Cincinnati 3 Atlanta 3, Chicago 1 New York 8, Houston 2 SPORTS SHORTS Faicons extend bonus deadline SUWANEE, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons, trying desperately to coax Deion Sanders out of his baseball uniform and into shorts for the Start of training camp, have extended the deadline of their _—— bonus offer to August The Falcons, who lost safety Brian Jordan when hesigned a multimillion dollar, baseball-only contract with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this summer, apparently fear that Sanders will opt to stay with the Atlanta Braves as long as they remain contenders in & the National Sanders League West. Two weeks ago John Van Vieet (kneeling) eyes up his putt, while Terry, his father and caddy, watches from behind during the tournament. the Falcons offered Sanders $1 million to report for the start of pre-training “concentration camp” on Monday, or $800,000 to be there forthe first day of regular workouts on July 25. Sanders, in Chicago for a weekend series between the Braves and Cubs, told Falcons Officials he would “be uncomfortable if he didn't honor his baseball contract,” according to Taylor Smith, the Falcons’ president. Sanders’ baseball contract, N. Utahns out of State Am Opportunities were missed By DALE BUBLITZ Standard-Examiner staff SANDY — The 1992 Utah State Amateur saw the last of the area golfers eliminated in Saturday’s quarterfinal round of match * play. A generous break andan inability to capitalize on early opportunities removed Northern Utah’s final two players from the tournament held at the Hidden Valley Country. Greg Slack, who will meet Brad Sutterfield at 8 a.m. for the State Am championship, was the beneficiary of a tremendous break in his l-up victory over South Ogden’s John Van Vleet. And it was Roy resident Jack Rupe’s inopportune play on the front nine that kept Sam Williams in contention before he went on to defeat Rupe 3 and 2. Slack and Van Vleet were involved in the tightest match of the day. Van Vleettied it for the third time when he two-putted for par while Slack bogeyed the par-3, which pays him $600,000, runs through July 31. “Our extending this (to Aug. 1) is a way to accommodate his wishes,” Smith said. No. 17 hole. Everything was on the line when the two approached the No. 18 tee and gazed up the 545 yards to that lead to the clubhouse. Each of their drives headed left toward All-star team edges Angola a grove of trees about 285 yards away. That’s where the similarity of two shots ended. Slack’s bail ran smack into one of the trees and rebounded close to the fairway. Van Vleet somehow managed to avoid contact with everything. The ball continued past the out of bounds marker and beyond. “We hit the same shots, but his hits the tree and mine doesn’t,” said Van Vleet. “I hadn’t hooked a shot all day.” His misfortune wasthe assessment of a penalty. He returned to the tee lying three and 285 yards behind Slack, who was hitting his second shot. Van Vleet hit a solid chip to within two feet of the hole, but he couldn’t make up for the break Slack received on his tee shot. MICHAEL SLADE/Standard-Examiner Jack Rupe of Roy watcheshis putt glide towardsthe hole, during action at the Utah State “If there was one I’d liked to have had back, that wasit,” said Van Vleet. “Otherwise, I played a solid round.” Hedrilled a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 5 and a short birdie putt on No. 9 to make the turn deadeven with Slack. Then he came back again with a marvelous shot from the tee that nearly went in on the par-3, No. 13 hole. Rupe got somebreaks early and Johnny Unser to race at Utah Indy By JIM BURTON Standard-Examiner staff MAGNA — It’s hard to get philosophical at a place known for “ground poundin’ fury” and “ear splitting excitement,” but Johnny Unsercertainly gives it a try. Unser, 32, was in town Saturday to promote the American Indycar Series, a combination minorleague and low cost alternatives to the more familiar racing circuit. Unser, along with teammate and AIS founder Bill Tempero, put on an Indy car racing demonstration at Bonneville Raceway as a prelude to the Utah Indy 150, a secondyear event scheduled for July 31 and August | at the Bonneville oval. “I want to go to Indianapolis,” Unser said after his turn on the track. “This is the best thing I can be doing to get experience to get there.” Though he has the name — the Unser family has now reached its third generation of racers — Unser is a fairly typical AIS driver. Talented, competitive and still relatively young, Unser is using the AIS circuit to hone his race skills and learn from veterans like Tem- od es x* a brother to legends Al and Bobby Unser, was killed during a practice lap at Indy. “I was only a year old at the time but it’s always been a dream of mine to get to Indy and pick up where heleft off,” Unser said. Nowin his third full year with American IndyCar Series™ pero, who, at 47, has more than 20 years experience with Indy cars. Though he began his career as a school teacher in Sun Valley, Idaho, Unser admitted that driving was in his blood. “Our family has been in the business for three generations now,” he said, “It’s a great challenge, it’s got extreme highs and extremelows. It’s very demanding, you can be on top one minute and be in the wall the next minute. It’s a pretty fragile sport.” Unser knowsall too well just Sig fragile the sport, and life, can Since he was a boy he’s dreamed of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1959 his father, Jerry, the AIS, Unser brings some impressive numbers to the track. As the 1990 AIS Rookie of the Year, he competed in nine races, capturing two first place finishes, four seconds and third. When heraces at the Utah Indy 150 next month, he’ll be putting nearly all the racing know-how he’s gained to thetest. Last year’s race was run on a longer track along the outside area of the raceway, but this year organizers have moved the race to the one-third mile main oval. “On a bigger track there’s a lot more time to think things through,” Unser said. “Running 150 laps on a small course is physically demanding on a driver. On a track like one we'll be running on here, you better react in a hurry and you better make sure it’s right.” Amateur at Hidden Valley Golf Course on Saturday. He lost in match play to Sam Williams. capitalized on them to go 2-up after two holes. He sank a 10-footer for birdie after Williams’ bad pitch shot on No.1., and won No. 2 with a bogey when Williamshit his tee shot into the pond. The two mistakes had Williams visibly shaken. But instead of going for the knockout, Rupe let Williamsoff the canvass and back into the match. Rupe three-putted No. 3 to give Williams the hole. The two exchanged wins on Nos. 4 and 5, but he allowed Williams to escape unscathed on No.6 after Williams landed in a fairway trap. Williams’ tee shot on No. 7 landed in the pond to give Rupe that hole and go 2-up. Then, Williams deadlocked the match by winning the final two holes on the front side. See GOLF on 2B Disband the Dream Team’? Dream on, you Olympians While the world transforms politically, California shakes toward the Big One and men are getting pregnant — hey,that’s what the headline said — it’s a good thing sports can be counted on for some good, healthy predictability. A few baseball players are miffed at being left off the All-Star Gameroster. Mark Eaton is criticized (anonymously) for holding back the Jazz. Andre Agassi wins Wimbledon. Well, two out of three isn’t bad. But there are someissues out there worth arguing about: w@The break between the Tournament of the Americas and the Summer Olympics hasn’t slowed discussion of whether a U.S. basketball “Dream Team” is morally acceptable. It’s hard to believe anyone actually has a problem with assembling the best athletes possible and sending them to take on the ERIC DIETERLE Sports editor world. If you don’t like the idea, take your mediocrity and get out of town. The rest of us are going to sit back and enjoy a few good pastings of teams that would happily whip up on ourcollege boys and call it a victory over U.S.sports. If you need to be reminded of whatthat feels like, just watch the U.S. baseball team get kicked around in Barcelona. Disband the Dream Team?Hey,it’s a shame we can’t assemble one in baseball, too. w Watching Olympic basketball, baseball and just about every other type of competition on television shouldn’t pose much See DIETERLE on 28 YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Todd Roescored 17 points and Ron Stokes, a former Ohio State standout, added 14 as the U.S. Verich Reps defeated the Angolan Olympic team 90-88 Saturday night. Angola plays the United States in the first round of the Olympic basketball tournament on July 26 at Barcelona. Andre Tate scored 13 points and former Ohio State center Bill Robinson and Randy Harris each had 10 for the Reps, an Ohio team consisting largely of former college players. Daly conducts Nets workout HACKENSACK, N.J. — Chuck Daly went from the Dream Team toreality Saturday. The coach of the U.S. Olympic team conducted his first workout as the new coach of the New Jersey Nets, a team that has given its coaches someterrible nightmares in recent years. “| have one goal, to win games,” a relaxed and dapper Daly said after the two-hour workoutat Fairleigh Dickinson. “| just want to try and figure that out.” “| have a good idea what we need to win,” said Daly. “That's quality players with great attitudes, trying to fit basketball aroundtheir talents.” TAKE A TICKET Baseball: Great Falls at Salt Lake Trappers, Derks Field, 1 p.m. SPORTS NOTES In position Pete Rose holds the record for playing the most positions in his 16 All-Star Games: second base, left field, right field, third base, first base. — Standard-Examinerstaff and wire services - Om; Mn 6.8 5 |