I § ® mates from Johns Hopkins @[ 1988 Sports THE DALLAS POST/Wednesday, June 29, BY CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer Returning home recently from Russia where he spent two weeks teaching Russians how to play baseball, Scott Francis of Shaver- town says he would enjoy visiting Russia again but “for a week, not two weeks’. “They don’t enjoy the privileges we have here. You can’t go to the refrigerator and get a drink. There are no fast foods, no fruits; no fresh vegetables,” Francis said. Francis and 16 of his baseball University went to Russia to teach a Soviet team how to play baseball. “We were considered diplomats to Russia and we were treated to the best of everything,” Francis ‘explained. “The first week, how- ever, eight of us became ill because of the inability to adjust to their food. The Russian athletes were great. They ran halfway across Moscow to a special place to buy us Pepsi and American candy bars.” 8 Francis said after the American “athletes became ill from eating raw fish and cold fish, the Russians went out and bought enough pizza to last the Americans a day and a * half. Then the Americans baseball coach went to the American Embassy to find out what the diplomats there ate. From that ~ time on, the American boys ate mashed potatoes and vegetables. Francis, who was a freshman at al Win the 14-7 West victory over the East in last Thursday's Unico ey game. From left, they are Jim Sabol, Scott Shafer and Chris Frederick. J i i _. UNICO WEST KNIGHTS—Three Lake-Lehman Knights aided UNICO WEST DALLAS—Dallas athletes played a key role in the West's upset victory over the East in this year's Unico game. Front row, from left are Eric Olsen, Ben Kern, Mike Koprowski, Kyle Boudreaux; back row, Tom Charney, Dave Cooper and Eric Moore. , - UNICO BACK MOUNTAIN ATHLETES—Wyoming Seminary and Bishop O'Reilly athletes from the Back Mountain made some fine defensive plays in the Unico game last Thursday. From left are Scott Rozitski, Brian Freeman, Wyoming Semi- nary; and Vito Scocozzo, Bishop O'Reilly, all of whom aided in upsetting the favored East team. Back Mountain players key West’s Unico win BY CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer For the first time since 1979, the Unico West team went home with a win over Unico East and and it was a combination of unity and great defense that gave the West the advantage. The West took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter when they inter- cepted a 32-yard pass and Valley West’s Jim Rittinger ran it back for a touchdown. The West team, who had 10 Back Mountain seniors on its team went into the 39th Annual Unico game determined to win. The team didn’t have a lot of big name players on it such as Ishmael, Fick, Foley and Strish but there were great defen- sive players such as Knight Scott Schafer, Chris Frederick and Jim Sable and Mountaineers Ben Kern, Tom Charney, Eric Moore and Eric Olsen. Mike Koprowski and Vito Scocozzo were outstanding running- backs and Kyle Boudreaux was a threat throughout the game. Moore prevented an East touch- down in the first half when he knocked the ball away from an East player in the end zone on fourth and five. It was Dallas’ Mike Koprowski who showed the way for the West team by carrying the ball for 50 yards on the second play of the game and gaining 110 yards on 17 carries for the night. It was Eric Olsen, just as he did all season, for the Mountaineers, who made key tackles in the game and stopped East’s Quadry Ismail, who picked up only 12 yards in the game. Dallas’ Dave Cooper com- bined with Wyoming Seminary’s Brian Freeman to sack East Quart- erback consecutively in the first half. ; : \ HOME AGAIN—After spending two weeks in Russia, Shaver- town athlete Scott Francis enjoys eating American food and relaxing in his home. (C.M. Denmon Photo) Johns Hopkins last year, was a member of the university’s varsity baseball team. When he entered the school in the fall last year, he said there were rumors that members of the baseball team would go to Russia to teach the Soviets Ameri- can baseball. After the Christmas “ holiday it became definite. - The Russian athletes had been playing baseball for only 18 months and the players from Johns Hop- kins were the first Americans to play in Russia. Only 17 of the Johns Hopkins team went and Francis, who pitched at the university was lucky enough to be one of them. Only two freshmen went to Russia, Scott Francis and the team’s catcher. The Russian team was organized by officials selecting the best Soviet athletes in other sports and Rick Spooner, who graduated from Yale was the coach. He was never a player and neither he nor the play- ers knew the rules. The team tried to learn the sport by receiving a video tape each week of one of the National or American League base- ball games. The Russian players tried hard and worked hard and when the young American players came to Moscow, the Soviet trainer said his Russian athletes would defeat the Americans. The young Americans didn’t say anything because they hadn’t seen the Russians play at the time and didn’t know how good they might be. After the first practice the Amer- icans had with the Russians, the Hopkins team realized the Russians Beaumont wins first in Teener’s League In Back Mt. Teener’s action last Monday, Beaumont picked up their first win of the season by knocking off the Brewers 10-9 in the comple- tion of a game that was suspended due to darkness on opening night. "Chris Ball was the winning pitcher. Dave Konopke and Ron Nulton each went 2-3 with 2 RBI's. One of Konopke’s hits was a double. John Romano paced the Brewers by knocking in 4 runs going 3-4 with a double. John Baranowski added 2 hits including a double and 2 RBI's. In the regularly scheduled game, the Brewers came back to defeat Beaumont 8-7 behind the pitching of Mark Stallard. John Baranowski ripped a homer for the Brewers. Dave Podehl had a double and John Romano scored 3 times. Beau- mont was led by Ben Patton who went 3-3 with a double while Chris’ Ball added a double and 3 runs scored. Harveys Lake knocked off the White Sox 19-9. Bill Vigorito picked up the win in relief while going 3-4 with a double, triple and 4 runs scored. Jesse Sorber was 4-4 and Dave Oatridge 3-4 with 4 runs. Chris Bowman had a pair of hits including a double while scoring 3 and knocking in 4. The White Sox had 2 hits each from Bob Caster- line, Jason Davies, Larry Dymond and Hugo Selenski including three baggers by Davies and Selenski. Mike Prokopchak chipped in with a . double. The Cardinals knocked off the Dodgers 18-9 as Sam Gorgone picked up the victory while going 4- 4 with a double and triple. Randy Parry had 3 hits including a homer and 4 runs scored. Jim Chamber- lain played solid defense while scoring 3 runs. Mike Sholtis and Gorgone also scored 3 times. John McKeever and Emery Yurko both went 3-4 with 3 runs for the Dodg- ers. Tony Finarelli had 2 hits while Brian Miller added a triple. Yurko continued to play excellent defense at third base. In action on June 21, the Cardi- nals beat the Yankees 13-1 behind the 5 hit pitching’ of Don James. Sam Gorgone, Mike Sholtis and James each had 2 hits. Gorgone’s hits included a double and triple while Sholtis’ included a double. The Cardinals once again played solid defense playing their second consecutive error free game. Ray Russin had a double for the Yan- kees. Beaumont beat the White Sox 6-2 as Chris Ball picked up his second victory of the week. Don Space paced Beamont going 3-4 with a double. Ben Patton chipped in with 2 hits including a double. Leading the White Sox was Mike Prokop- chak who went 3-3 with a double. The Brewers upset Harveys Lake 5-4 behind John Baranowski’s 5 hit, 7 strike out pitching. He also went 3-4 with a triple. Jim Moran had 2 hits while Walt Fry had a triple and Mark Stallard added a double. Harveys Lake was led by Dave Oatridge who had 2 hits including a double. Matt Cadwalader had a double and Jesse Sorber ripped a triple. g In Friday’s action, the Dodgers tallied the game’s only run in the first inning and held on to defeat the Yankees 1-0 in a classic pitch- ers duel. The Dodgers only hit was the game winner by Eric Pieczyn- ski in the first. Tony Finarelli picked up the win while Brian Miller came on for the save. Brett Gauntlett pitched brilliantly for the " Yankees by fanning 12 while walk- ing only 3 and allowing just 1 hit. Todd Paczewski had a hot bat going 4-4. The Brewers won their third straight by beating the White Sox 13-4. Mark Stallard had an out- standing day as he picked up the victory while going a perfect 5-5 with a triple and 2 RBI's. Jim Moran and John Romano added 2 hits apiece while Romano tallied 4 runs. Leading the White Sox with a homer was Mike Prokopchak while Dan Lasinski drilled a double. The Brewers played error-free defense while turning 3 double plays including a nifty unassisted double play by first baseman John Romano to end the game. In the only other game, the streaking Cardinals won their 6th straight by knocking off Beaumont 11-5. No other information was available. Standings 1st Eastern Bank Cardinals, 7-1 Custom Management Dodgers, 6-2 Harveys Lake, 6-2 Merchants Bank Brewers, 4-5 Fino’s Drugs Yankees, 3-4 Beaumont, 2-7 Dallas Unico White Sox, 1-8. couldn’t beat them. ‘“We practiced with them for five hours and still the outfielders couldn’t catch a fly ball. We helped them with ground balls and we tried to teach them how to hit,” Francis said. “They didn’t give up. They worked hard and were quick to learn. When we left to return to America, the Rus- sian team could play the outfield well but they left a lot to be desired in hitting. They had a better idea of how to play though.” Later, the Americans practiced with 10, 11 and 12-year olds. These boys were good, according to Fran- cis. These boys could catch and hit. “The older athletes wanted to learn to play the game so they could coach in the future,” Francis said. Francis worked with the pitchers and the catchers. The Americans chose to stay in a dormitory with the Russian athletes and it was surprising how both groups were able to communicate easily with one another by using their hands and just one or two words from a language dictionary. While in Russia, the students stayed in Moscow most of the time but took side trips to Leningrad. They were allowed to travel any- where they desired. Francis said the architecture in and around Moscow was beautiful and he took and brought back with him hundreds of pictures. He said Rus- sian cars are not like American cars but all the same and of about 1955 vintage. Black cars are for the government officials and all the Scott Francis shows the Russians how to pitch rest are either red, white, blue or yellow and exactly the same. : “Moscow was not like a city but more like our countryside,” Fran- cis said. ‘there were very few houses. People live in apartment | buildings. They have theaters but || not like American theaters. They are not really movies but short skits.” ; The athletes went to historical : 2 : sites such as Lenin’s Tomb and the Kremlin but it took a lot of red tape to get inside. In Leningrad during the summer it doesn’t get dark and it is called the ‘white nights”. In winter it is dark all of the time. Now that Francis has returned | home, he has decided not to return to Johns Hopkins but to attend a southern college, baseball and perhaps major in business administration. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald | oo concentrate on Francis, Scott graduated from Dallas in 1987 where he lettered in football and baseball. In his junior and senior year he played quarter- back at Dallas and pitched for the baseball team. He is presently playing with the Back Mountain American Legion team, comprised of Dallas and Lake-Lehman players and going into this week had a 9-0 record. “It was a great experience,” Francis said, referring to his Rus- sian trip. ‘“More than anything else, it taught me how lucky I am | to be an American and live in the United States. To go abroad makes you appreciate what you have at 1 home.” Rollaway skaters win Keystone Game spots Dallas Rollaway Club skaters were successful recently by qualify- ing for the Keystone Games Artis- tic skating event August 14 and 15 at Skateaway Rink in Wilkes-Barre. Ten of the Back Mountain Area skaters qualified for figure and freestyle events by placing among the top three in their decisions. George Manzoni, Lehman, quali- fied in the sophomore intermedi- ate; Llewellyn Kopko, Harveys Lake, qualified in juvenile boys figures; Franmar Kopko Harveys Lake, qualified in juvenile girls “figures; Jennifer Amorosa, Dallas, qualified in sub-elementary girls figures; Trudi Wandel, Harveys Lake, Lisa Berger, Kingston; and Wendy Busch, Bloomsburg, quali- fied in freshmen girls figures. In the freestyle events, Nicole Hall, Dallas, qualified in the girls juvenile event and Daniel Rogers, Hunlock Creek, qualified in the boys primary freestyle. This marks the first time Rolla- way Club skaters have competed in qualifying for the Keystone Games. Also, in the first competition held at the Back Mountain rink, skaters from five rinks including the local rink participated in a League Meet. Approximately 75 skaters repre- sented the rinks. : Seven Rollaway skater took a total of 18 trophies in the competi- ‘tion. : Nancy Barber placed in J.O. IB | figures; Llewellyn Kopko placed in - Primary Juvenile figures, J.O. I-A figures, J.0. II advanced figures, J.0. Loops; Franmar Kopko won trophies in J.0. Loops, J.O. I advanced figures, J.O. I-A figures, | Elementary-Freshmen figures; Nicole Hall won trophies in Pri- mary-Juvenile figures, J.O. I-A fig- ures, J.0. Loops; J.0.I-A freestyle, and Primary Juvenile freestyle. Wendy Busch won in the Elemen- ! tary-Freshman figures as did Trudi | Wandel. Daniel Rogers won tro- phies in J.0. Tot freestyle and in Primary Juvenile freestyle. Anthony Berger, manager of Rol- laway, and Al Taglang, both former champions are instructors at the local rink. Most of the above skaters and several other members of the local skating club will compete Regional Competition in Delaware in the near future in the hopes of qualifying for national competition which will be in Lincoln, Mebraska. Happy Hours pick up 3 points Laing Coolbaugh hit 509 for the Ron Clemow’s 221 (590) was high series in the Back Mountain Summer League last week but it wasn’t enough as his Just Friends team dropped three points to the Happy Hours in the A-B division. Bea Clemow added 188 to the Just Friends score to salvage one point. Bob Considine paced Happy Hours with 523 and Frank Tregan contrib- uted 510. ; - Who Cares shut out Hot Flashes led by John Teetsell’s 223 (566). while Paul Nicely’s 490 was high for the losing team. Misfits picked up three points from the Demolitions despite Dan Williams rolling 206 (547). Tom Doughton hit the pins for 530 and Larry Wolfe posted 532 for the Misfits. + KandleLite Lounge divided equally with Pins 'R Us with no one able to break 500. In the C-D Division Out to Lunch Bunch took three from All In The Family aided by Glen Mazer’s, 202- 200 (534) and Rex Andrasko’s 502. I OO A i i I li... SRR Soccer champs Pictured above are the Back Mt. Fury U-19 Girls, Champs of the Spring Soccer League sponsored by the Luzerne County Recreation Department. Front row, from left, Wendy Hozempa, Debbie Drasnin, June Hess, Stephanie Andrasko, Jen Moran. Back row, Coach Ron Moran, Amy Rosentel, Laurie Lehman, Holly Bachman, Kim Chapple, Jen Besecker. Absent, Sue Wells, Sarah Lewis, Jean Stahovec, Keri Diffendarfer, Assistant Coach, Ken Chapple. 4 ES X SARS Misia Ske fi lel SO Vv x 3 3 } . H 3 4 P ‘ 3 yo { X 8 3 pi \ 3 £ ¢ v RY ¥ 3 Ky % losing four. Dave Moore scored 513 b but it wasn’t enough as his We Will team lost three points to the MW'’s. - Dead Heads copped three from the Odd Balls and Mr. Mow picked ‘up three from X-Factors. Back Mountain Men’s Slow-Pitch - League Tuesday: - S&S&S 14, Kandlelite 6 Bocar 10, Scholl’s 9 Eurotech 12, Farmers Inn 10 Thursday: J.H. Cable 8, Bocar 6 Eurotech 25, Kandlelite 10 S&S&S 4, Scholl’s 1 Standings Scholl’s 8-2 Bocar, 6-3 Eurotech, 5-5 S&S&S, 5-5 J.H. Cable, 4-5 Farmers Inn, 4-5 Kandlelite, 1-8 Soccer camp still available Registrations are still. being taken for the Penn State Wilkes- Barre Soccer. Camps for Kids being held in the Back Mountain, Moun- taintop and Wyoming Valley begin- ning July 11. The half-day sessions are for boys and girls ages 6 through 14. Camp participants must have reached their 6th birthday by December 31, 1987. The fee is $45 per participant and includes instruction, camp T-shirt, refresh- ments andprizes. Since registration is limited, early registration is advised. The first session will be held in the Back Mountain at the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus in Lehman, July 11 - 15. The week- long sessions will be under the direction of Jay Harvey, Wyoming in Seminary Lower School Head Soccer Coach. ns
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