Collegian
PAGE 12
Tough season for the Behrend nine
by Michael Cifelli
Collegian Staff Writer
The weather conditions aren't
the only thing that's been rough for
the Behrend baseball team this spr
ing; their 4-26 mark will attest to
that. But despite the record, Coach
Mike Bari and his diamond crew
have braved the weather and
everything else to stay together as a
team unit.
Back in the beginning of March,
the baseball squad made an early
spring run down to Florida for
training. When they returned• up
north, they were forced to continue
their training indoors because of
uncooperative weather.
"We made great strides in
Florida, but the weather up here set
us back a few weeks and really hurt
us," Coach Bari commented. As a
result, the schedule was backed up
and the Cubs were faced with play
ing frequent back to back
doubleheaders, which became a
hardship for .the players. Suffering
the most was the pitching. With on
ly six pitchers, Coach Bari found it
difficult to give each one his three
to four day rest.
"They (the pitchers) are not get
ting the rest they need, there are a
Team handball tryouts
University Relations Penn State
and the Department of Exercise
and Sport Science has agreed to
host a Clinic and Team Tryouts in
this region of the country for the
United States Team Handball
Federation. Both the clinic and
tryouts will be held on Saturday,
May 23, from 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.
in the White Building Gymnasium
Men's tennis ends
by Pat Schlif
Collegian Staff Writer
The Behrend Men' Tennis Team
ended their season on April 28th
with a match against Slippery
Rock. They sport a 1-8 record, with
their only win coming against
Thiel.
"We have played inconsistent
ly...one day someone will play well
and the next day someone else will
play well," stated coach Doug
Amongst those standouts .is Reese
Wetzel, a freshman shortstop from
lot of sore elbows and shoulders,"
said Coach Bari.
One member of the pit Ching
staff, Scott Fleshman, has come
through.
"Scott .has met the tough pit
ching demands that has kept us in
ball games," Coach Bari added.
Other contributing factors to the
clubs' rocky season are that they
are a young team (12 out of 16
players are freshmen) and they
haven't much depth (23-24 players
needed on the roster).
Coach Bari still feels he can get
something out of this season; "Our
goal was to be above .500. Since
that is not possible to accomplish
now, Coach Bari hopes to play .500
ball the rest of the way, "We can
go over ten wins.". Coach Bari
went on to add, "I want each in
dividual to continue to improve.
Attitudes have changed for the bet
ter, the program is right where we
want it to be."
There has been some bright spots
on the roster including some per
sonal improvement that the
ballclub's manager has hoped for.
on the main Penn State campus
Dr. Gary Barrette, Eastern
USTHF Coordinator, will be con
ducting these proceedings. He is
encouraging all interested athletes
(particularly "basketball types"
who move well and have good
coordination) to try out for the na
tional team. He stresses the point
Men's Tennis player Dan Sawyer backhands the ball.
Walbridge.
In recent play, Howard Cohen
and Dan Sawyer have won four
matches, and Mike Veslang posted
an excellent win against
Westminster.
"Our doubles game is definitely
better than our singles game," said
Coach Walbridge. In fact the
team's match record in doubles
play is 11-16.
Coach Walbridge also said that
while this year's squad is young,
they will lose all their players ex-
itramural fans Lo
'Connor and Jill Donahue
Harborcreek. "He has improved
immensely at shortstop, one of the
top prospects in Division 111-very
smooth," said Coach Bari of his
infielder. Wetzel has proven to be
effective at the plate as well with a
.349 batting average.
The big lumber has been provid
ed by another freshman, from New
Castle, Bob Druschel. With a .353
average, he leads the team in most
batting categories. Druschel is
presently making a run for three
school recorcU. He is on the verge
of breaking the RBI record (he has
20-the record is 27); he is two shy
of the doubles record (he has 6 the
record is 8); and he has found his
way around the basepath to
homeplate 24 times; the record for
runs scored is 32. "A big pro
ducer," Coach Ban stated.
. For Coach Mike Bari, it been
a season of bad breaks; "When we
hit the ball, it's to someone, when
they (the opponents) hit it, it finds
a gap in the field." The Behrend
Skipper went on to add that, "I'm
pleased with the attitudes, they're a
great bunch of guys and have given
their heart and soul. That's what
it's about, doing your best."
that prior experience in team hand
ball is not necessary.
Should you have any questions
you may call; R. Scott Kretchmar
at (814) 863-4493 or Dr. Barrette at
(516) 294-8700, ext. 7360, both at
University Park. Or at Behrend
you may contact Sue Holmes at
898-6879.
photo by Wendell Bates
cept Matt Brown. However, four
players are expected from
Washington D.C. next fall.
Next year's schedule will consist
of 13 or 14 matches, including and
overnighter in Rochester. Also,
Coach Walbridge is trying to
switch the tennis program from
N.A.I.A to N.C.A.A-Division 111.
This will enable the tennis team to
play more equally sized school.
Hopefully this will give the
Behrend tennis program an added
boost in the next few years.
photo by Wendell Bates
Freshman pitcher Bob Duma throws against Washington and Jefferson.
\BA playoffs at a glance
by David Bruce
Collegian Staff Writer
As the N.B.A. season finally
comes to an end, most head
coaches have begun to prepare
their teams for the games that truly
matter; the playoffs.
The favorites in this year's tour
nament are Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta and Dallas; the four divi
sion leaders.
The Lakers waltzed through the
regular season, with only Dallas
giving them any consistent trouble.
The ability of Magic Johnson to
become L.A.'s offensive leader will
give them the extra boost they did
High and outside
by Sean Weaveer
Collegian Staff Writer
Swinging level and hard,
reaching far and wide and running
'round and 'round. This is the
essence of a good fastpitch softball
player, and Behrend's intramural
teams go at it again this year to
strive for excellence in the sport.-
Play got underway on April 13
when teams took to the field at 5:10
p.m. The long-time all men's event
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not have in last year's playoffs.
Though injury plagued, the
Celtics still managed to cruise
thiough the season. Their only race
was with Atlanta over home-court
advantage in the playoffs. Boston
boasts the best starting five in the
league, led by Larry Bird and Kevin
McHale. However their bench is
weak and Boston has had trouble
on the road all year.
The Hawks earned a spot on the
list of favorites with their ag
gressive, confident and exciting
style of play. Led by Dominique
Wilkins, Atlanta also boasts stars
such as Kevin Willis and Doc
Rivers, a truly formidable guard.
The Mavericks also ran away
was accompanied this year by three
women "soft-ballers." The teams
were signed up on a "first come
first serve" basis and the event
took the first ten to sign up to com
pete. The restriction is due to the
long length of time required to play
one game and the rapidly ap
proaching fmals week. As of the se
cond week of play the league stan
dings, (as of April 22,) are:
League A w League B w
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from the rest of the division this
season, but they garnered more
press for their handling of the
Lakers, the only team to really do
so : The increased consistency of
Mark Aguirre has put Dallas over
the hump.
While favorites tend to dominate
more in the N.B.A. than in the
N.F.L. or Major League Baseball,
there are two underdogs that have a
real chance to win it all; the Detroit
Pistons and the Philladelphia
76ers. Both teams have a superstar
player (Isiah Thomas fr Detroit,
Charles Barkley for Philadelphia)
who could dominate in the
playoffs.
Bulldogs 2-1 Shooter 1-1
ROTC 1-1 Skins 1-1 "
Doojee 1-2 Gerbil Slayers 1-1
Rigor Mortis Poonmasters 0-1
and the Stiffs 0-2
Games will continue throughout
the rest of the semester until all
teams have played four games. So
as the semester comes to an end so
will the IM fastpitch sofball
season. And both will soon decide
their paticipants accomplishments
and defeats!
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