Sp
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Correspondent
Back Mountain Baseball officials’hopes to have their
own Little League field appear to be dashed, at least
for the present. Until recently, representatives of Back
- Mountain Baseball, Inc. hoped to obtain lease rights to
an undeveloped area of land owned by the Dallas
School District and situated behind the senior high
school.
The land, which was cleared several years ago by a
service organization, is large enough for a regulation
baseball field and three other fields for softball and
minor league teams. However, it needs a lot of work
done to make it usable including drainage, fill and
grading. In addition there are numerous legal details
to be resolved in order that the land be used by any
group other than the district.
In October, 1983, Frank Joyce, John Tinner and Jay
May of the Back Mountain Baseball, Inc. organization
met with members of the Dallas School Board, School
Superintendent Dr. Richard Shipe, Kingston Township,
Dallas Township, and Dallas Borough officials at the
‘Dallas Township Municipal Building to discuss the
possibility of the baseball organization leasing and
renovating the land behind the high school.
Thomas Doughton, Jr. explained the Dreis Project
and the draining necessary on the ground behind the
school as well as federal funds available for the
project.
Kingston Township officials explained that they
would have no funds available until 1985 at which time
they would make them available to Dallas Township
who would then turn the money over to the school
district to complete the project. The township and
school district solicitors were to resolve the details
-necessary to resolve the entire matter.
To date, according to Dr. Shipe, district superintend-
ent, the project is still unresolved.
“The men are discouraged with the property,” said
John Tinner, vice president of Back Mountain Base-
ball. “Use of that area is two to three years in the
future. The legal details have to be worked out, the
land is rough, drainage has to be completed and who
knows what else? We would have to invest a large sum
of money and, for what, we don’t know.
‘“We’re content with the area we’re using now. With
the school’s permission we can put up a new score-
board, grade the fields along the side and in back of
the township elementary school and extend the fence.”
Frank Joyce, president of the baseball organization,
said the group would still like to have its own field.
“We'd like to buy land or have it donated but it would
have to be something centrally located, either in
Dallas or Kingston Township,” Joyce said. “We don’t
want it at one end or the other end of our Back
Mountain communities.
“The field behind the high school would have been
ideal. It is a large area and could be used by our
organization and the school’s softball team. It would
be a big help to the girls because their showers are
right there in the school building.” °
Jay May of Dallas, an official with the Back
Mountain Baseball, who has been in charge of
negotiations with the municipalities and the district,
explained that obtaining use of the field can be a very
slow process because of the legalities involved
“The entire project involves the Back Mountain
municipalities, the school district and the baseball
organization so there are many technicalities to be
resolved. Everyone has been very cooperative but it is
something that can’t be hurried.
“Of course we're getting discouraged because the
fields we are using need a lot of work on them. If we
are not going to get the other land then we are
interested in knowing that, so we can invest money in
renovating the fields we are now using. We are a non-
profit organization so we don’t have the money to
spend two ways,” said May. :
Wilkes-Barre Fats
By LEE L. RICHARDS
Sports Columnist
I just returned from Florida
where I managed to get a couple
of days of vacation time after
taking care of some immediate
business. My family and 1
planned to visit my parents in
the Sunshine
State, take in
some’: of “thel /
sights and visit |
-my pal John
Brunner with the
Tampa Bay Bucs.
However, 1
received an
urgent
call from my Mother informing
me my Father had suffered a
heart attack. So we completed
our packing and left early.
Needless to say, we had to
scratch some of our plans, but
Dad fought his way back and we
brought him back to his Vero
Beach home.
On top of that, I encountered
car problems. Thanks to former
Back Mountain resident, Frank
Wilding, we motored over to
Sarasota to have the repairs
done.
Then we managed to make a
brief visit with Coach Brunner in
Tampa: It was the highlight of
some football and get a good look
at the Buccaneers’ overall opera-
tion.
When we arrived, the Bucs
were preparing for thier annual
minicamp.
Coach Brunner gave us a tour
of thefacilities. My son Doug
immediately took a gander at the
weight room and wanted to work
out. The Bucs’ new strength
coach is Joe Diange, former
strength coach at Penn State.
Joe was a factor in builkding up
the Nittany Lions’ wrestling
team. He put Doug through a
three hour workout.
One of the first players we met
was, All-Pro LeRoy Selmon. He
was doing some testing. he’s a
real personal young man and
helped Doug with some of his
workout.
Coach Brunner took us next
door to the Hall of Fame Inn for
some lunch. We checked in and
found a surprise when we got
into our room. Two huge pictures
of Coach Bear Bryant and Knute
Rockne hung over the beds. My
wife Kate noticed them right
away. i |
She didn’t mind John and I
talking football over dinner that
night either. I guess she’s just
accepted the fact after 20 years
that it’s part of my life.
Coach Brunner and I go back
to the early 1960s when he was
head coach. at Middletown High
School and I was the sports
editor at Port Jervis. Despite the
two towns being rivals, John and
I became close friends. I recog-
nized then he was an excellent
football coach.
He’s coached on the college
level with Villanova and Temple.
He was at Princeton for a couple
of years, too. Then he joined the
Detroit Lions in the NFL. Last
year he was with the Packers.
When Bart Starr was dis-
missed last December, John
wass in the market for another
job. He received offers from a
couple of teams. His visit to
Tampa and Coach John McKay
sold him on the Bucs.
“Coach McKay didn’t dwell on
the Xs and Os. He discussed
philosophy, but most of the day-
long interview was on different
topics. I was surprised when he
came right out and told me he
wanted me to head up the
offense,” Brunner said.
So he was named ‘Offensive
Moderator’ which is a new
description for Offensive Coordi-
nator.
The Bucs didn’t perform up to
their capabilities last season.
LeRoy Selmon made that point
early in our conversation.
»
NEARER RRRRRERERRERY
*
*
»
Safe or not?
The Pirates came up with a win
early in the week when they
defeated the Indians, 8-4. Keith
Kozel got the win on the mound by.
mowing down six batters to even his
record at 2-2. Big Pirate bats were
Wade Post coming through with a
double and two singles while Derik
Petrini and Eric Paczewski banged
out two hits each. Paczewski drove
in four runs while Chris Ruth scored
twice after a single and a walk.
The Astros stayed on top in the
standings coming through with two
wins ‘on: thei'week., Keith Shultz
pitched and patted his team to a 4-1!
win over the Yankees: when: he
struck out 14 batters and ripped a
grand slam homerun in the first
inning, driving in all the runs th
Astros would need. The second win
came with a 4-3 win over the Orioles
in what has been tabbed as the best
game of the year. An eight-inning
barnburner saw the pitchers of both
clubs striking out a total of 37
batters. Keith Shultz mowed down
11 batters while mate Rich James
struck out 10. The Orioles Scott
Brody and Eric Zimmerman racked
up 16 k’s between them. The only
two hits in the contest came from
the bat of Rich James while Jeff
Malak made two super catches in
left to stop the Orioles from scoring.
MAJORS
SCORES
Astros 4, Yankees 1; Phillies 6,
Red Sox 4; Orioles 7, Yankees 1;
Dodgers 6, Giants 4; Pirates 8,
Indians 4; Astros 4, Orioles 3; Indi-
ans 25, Phillies 7; Dodgers 5, Red
Sox 3; Giants 8, Phillies 3; Tigers
14, Pirates 4; Indians 10, Reds 5;
Dodgers 7, Orioles 5; Yankees 5,
Red Sox 3.
STANDINGS
Astros 7-1
Dodgers 7-2
Giants 5-2.
Yankees 7:3 a
Orioles ro S—
Indians 6-5 ene 3
Phillies 4-5 Bn
Pirates 2-6
Reds 2-6
Tigers 2-6
Red Sox 1-9
MINORS
SCORES
Yankees 14, Phillies 6; Cardinals
13, Reds 12; Orioles 5, Indians 3;
Giants 17, Tigers 2; Dodgers 13,
Phillies 2; Giants 4, Reds 3; Pirates
17, Tigers 6; Yankees 18, Cardinals
16.
STANDINGS
Orioles 4-0
Dodgers 3-0
Pirates 3-0
Giants 4-1
Yankees 4-1
Cardinals 2-3
Reds 1-4
Astros 0-3
Indians 0-3
Phillies 0-3
Tigers 0-3
SENIOR SOFTBALL
SCORES
Braves 13, Indians 11; Braves 14,
Orioles 4; Braves 9, Indians 4.
STANDINGS
Braves 7-0
Phillies 4-2 =
Yankees 3-2
Indians 3-4
Orioles 3-4
Northwest 2-3
Dodgers 2-5
Cardinals 1-5
GIRLS SOFTBALL
SCORES
Expos 19, A’s 12; Expos 18, Reds
15; White Sox 10, Cardinals 5;
Pirates 9, A’s 8; Pirates 9, Dodgers
8.
STANDINGS
Dodgers 6-1
Pirates 6-1
Expos 5-2
White Sox 2-3
A’s 1-5
Reds 1-5
Cards 0-4
Due to a legislative hangup, the
Pennsylvania Fish Commission was
forced to cancel its Fish-For-Free
Day scheduled for June 2, 1984.
House Bill 1887, which was intro-
duced by Representative Russell P.
Letterman on January 31, would
have provided the authority for the
Commission to designate a Fish-
For-Free-Day. It passed the House
by a unanimous, vote on March 20,
and also passed the Senate unani-
mously on May 2. Unfortunately, a
last minute amendment by Senator
John J. Shumaker that would have
provided for free fishing licenses for
BZ) 20 inch Scamp™ Push
Manual Restart with
dedicated rear bag
table arm action
Low profile rear bagger
engines
efficiently
starting, especially when the engine is hot
.
engine cranking
Manual starter has a longer and 33% wider recoil spring and
modular construction to answer the increased starting
Short or Long Sleeves
In A Variety Of Colors
Aim; Cli.
Back Mt. Shopping Center
Shavertown
Daily 'Til 5 — Mon., Thurs., Fri. 'Til 8 — 675-1130
/
. Nv ’ ICS
requirements from blade control
creases air flow to improve bagging
Four square 14-gauge steel deck
Spring loaded discharge
chute door ‘
FREE LOCAL
.
DALLAS
lM
DELIVERY
certain disabled veterans was
inserted into the bill. The bill, along
with the amendment which could
have had an economic impact to the
Commission of over $200,000 per
year, then had to be returned to the
House for concurrence. The House
refused to accept the amendment
and the bill was referred to a
Conference Committee.
Throughout the legislative process
the Commission was assured by the
leadership of both the House and the
Senate that the legislation would be
in effect in ample time for the June
2 Fish-For-Free Day. But according
to Ralph W. Abele, executive direc-
tor of the Commission, “Time has
run out on House Bill 1887. Ther are
just not enough legislative: days
remaining before June 2 for the bill
to receive approval by both thg
House and the Senate and be signe
by the Governor.” :
The no license requirement provi-
sion was a big part of the June 2
celebration, but there were many
other activities planned as well.
Michael Bickler, Director of the
Commission’s Office of Information,
said that all plans for the day
including the 44 fishing seminars
that were scheduled to be held
statewide are on hold until the
legislation is passed an a new date
can be set.
The Colonel Soccer Day Camp
will be held August 13-17 at the
From 4 790°
Electric Start
No Shifting ® Economical
Full Year Warranty
HONDA
NORTHEAST
Rt. #6, Scranton
347-9436
Wilkes College Ralston Field Com-
plex next to Kirby Park.
The camp is open te boys and
girls ages 8 to 15. A morning session
from 8:30-12 noon will be for youth
players ages 8-10 followed by an
afternoon session, 1-4:30 p.m. for
the older players.
Wilkes head soccer coach Phil
Wingert will direct the camp.
Further information and registry;
tion forms are available by conta
ing Phil Wingert, Wilkes College,
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 or by calling
Wilkes Sports Information, 824-4651,
ext. 444.
FRESH ~
LIQUID
CHLORINE
Introductory Offer
50% or fi
Gallons
QUALITY DISCOUNT
POOL STORE
_ (Next To RAVES)
Chinchilla 586-9686
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