Sports
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staft Correspondent
Since the beginning of baseball for
the youth of the Back Mountain
Area was organized more than 35
years ago, dedicated volunteers
have contributed many hours of
their time, financial support and
ability to the program.
Over the years the number of
boys and girls involved in the pro-
gram has grown considerably and
with that growth came the neces-
sary increase in the number of
volunteers.
The hundreds of boys and girls
involved in T-Ball, farm teams,
minor league teams, major league
teams, Division I and Division II
girls softball teams has necessitated
such a large group of adult volun-
teers that over the past number of
years it became evident that a
president, secretary and treasurer
were not sufficient to continue a
smooth, efficient operation, so then
came the idea of a Board of Direc-
tors, consisting of volunteers dele-
gated to be responsible for certain
duties.
Several years ago that idea
became reality and today-1986-the
beginning of another season in Back
Mountain Baseball, Inc., a group of
dedicated volunteers, individuals
familiar with the sport, who have
played ball, coached it and have
expertise in the positions they hold,
are working tirelessly to make this
a better year than ever.
GEORGE POYNTON
George Poynton of Dallas, whom
our readers met on the pages of the
Dallas Post several weeks ago, is
president of the Board of Directors.
Assisting him in making this a
successful year for boys and girls as
well as parents, coaches, managers
and assistants are Bob Shotwell,
vice president of grounds; Jack
Tinner, vice president of equip-
ment; Len Dorrance, vice president
of sponsors; Tammie Sutton, vice
president of softball; Bill Michaels,
vice president of Teeners; Bob
Graver, secretary and John Masley,
treasurer.
BOB SHOTWELL
Bob Shotwell of Shavertown
played on a Shavertown Little
League team in 1950, when the field
was located on the site where
Burger King now stands. The team
practiced up on the top of Center
Street Sowden’s property, at that
time their sponsor.
Shotwell played four years in
Little League and two years in
Teeners where Dale Zimmerman
was his coach. Later he played
baseball for one year at Westmore-
land High School.
He has been involved in Back
Mountain Little League for about 15
years, starting in senior girls soft-
ball when his sister managed a
team. Shotwell started out helping
her and continued. When his boys
began playing about six years ago,
he started coaching the Orioles
Major League team.
Shotwell also coached the Senior
Girls All Stars in 1979, the year they
ended being third in the state.
He has served on the board since
it was initiated about five years
ago. Shotwell says in his opinion the
board structure is much better than
one or two adults trying to do
everything but he said despite
better structure, there is still a need
for more adult volunteers. The big-
gest success brought about by the
board is the smooth, efficient opera-
tion.
Clinics for coaches, managers,
assistants have helped, players get
more playing time-these are all the
result of ideas brought to the board,
evaluated and put into action but
Shotwell says the league needs
more commitment on the part of the
parents. During the past three
years, he said an excellent group of
dedicated volunteers lending their
talents such as carpenters, electri-
cians, other contractors, have
JACK TINNER
Jack Tinner, vice president of
equipment, came to the Back Moun-
tain from Wyoming Valley. He is
well-versed in the sport having
played two years in Little League,
four years in junior Teeners, one
year in senior Teeners, and four
years on the varsity team at Hano-
ver High School. Tinner played
third base or shortstop.
He also coached the St. Theresa’s
Little League team in Wilkes-Barre
for approximately five years.
When Tinner moved to the Back
Mountain Area, he became involved
in the local organization in 1973 as a
coach or manager and has been
involved ever since. He has coached
farm teams, minor league teams,
(See VOLUNTEERS, page 15)
In Western Conference action in
the Luzerne County Recreation
Spring Soccer League, the Back
Mountain Gold surprised the Back
Mountain Bandits by jumping out to
a 3-0 lead in the first quarter but
ended up settling for a 4-4 tie.
The Gold got out in front early on
goals from Rick Parry, unassisted,
Chris Scharff off a Brian Hampel
pass, and a Jody Hummel header on
a corner kick from Parry. The
Bandits came back in the second
and third periods to knot the score
on goals by Mike Richards, Eric
Rosentel, both assisted by Mark
Richardson, and Reese Finn
assisted by Dave Morris.
In the fourth quarter, Chris
Scharff scored his second goal to
put the Gold in the lead, but the
Bandits’ Dale Morris matched it
and the game ended tied. Aaron
Dennis was exceptional on defense
for the Gold. .
The Back Mountain Braves now
lead the West by virtue of a 3-1 win
over the Wyoming Valley Maroons.
The Braves got solo goals from Jim
Evans, Steve Finn and Tom Shone
with Paul Clemm picking up an
assist. Fred Ebert scored from a
who also got good defensive play
from Larry Schuman and goalie
Rich Menn. D.J. Hopkins and Mark
Paczewski led the Braves’ defense.
The Abington Royals stayed in the
hunt with a 6-1 win over the Wyo-
ming Valley Strikers by breaking
open a game that was tied 1-1 at
halftime. For the Royals, Brian
Itterly and Brock Johnson scored
two goals each and Chris White and
Geoffrey Paul scored one goal each.
Matt Capwell, Todd Chapin and
Paul each had an assist. Matt
Newton = and Capwell led the
defense. Warren Cotter scored the
lone Striker goal and Marty Gabel
recorded 21 saves at goalkeeper for
the Strikers.
The Wyoming Valley Raiders
downed the Abington Nomads 6-3
with 3 4th quarter goals to break a
3-3 stalemate. Tyler Wilson led the
way for the Raiders with four goals
and Carlo Sabitini and Christian
Hampel added single tallies. Chris
Huey and John Galante had assists.
Tom Imperiale and Steve Sours
keyed the defense. The Nomads
Matt Gallagher had two goals and
Jody Rosencrance had a goal and
two assists. Gene Frick and Josh
McCarthur combined in goal of 13
saves for the Nomads.
In the East, Darryl Ceccole had a
field day scoring seven goals and
the Plains Plainsmen routed the
Mountaintop Orange Crush 11-1. Jeff
Smith added a hat trick and Tom
Salus a single goal for Plains. Ricky
Lucci picked up five assists and Jay
McGowan three assists. Jose Del
Bosque avoised the shutout scoring
the lone Crush goal.
The Wyoming Valley Wings shut-
out the Mountaintop Catajamers 10-
0. Paul Melone and Geoffrey Maha-
lak each notched hat tricks whil
John McKenna had two goals, Chris
Nickish scored on a 25 yard blast
and Joe Morrison on a flick-on
header. Mike Olson and Nickish had
two assists with Melone, Mahalak
and McKenna ' getting one assist
each. Despite the score Cats’ goal-
keepers, Farhat Quili and Rob
Eckart made 17 saves and David
Meyers stopped several Wing
thrusts with fine individual effort.
The Mountaintop Vigalantes
improved to 3-1 by downing the
Pittston Rowdies 5-1. Chris Dolfi
scored 2 goals and 3 assists and
Ryan Hill, Brian Hendrickson and
Chuck Attardo scored one goal each
and Jack Shafer added an assist for
the Vigalantes. Ed Pietrowski
scored the lone goal on a break
away for the Raiders. John Viteritti,
rone played well for the Rowdies.
Howie Naugle had a good game in
goal for the Vigalantes.
STANDINGS
Western Conference
Back Mountain Braves 4-0-0
Back Mountain Bandits 3-0-1
Abington Royals 3-1-0
Abington Nomands 2-2-00
Back Mountain Gold 1-2-1
Wyoming Valley Maroons 1-3-0
Wyoming Valley Raiders 1-3-0
Wyoming Valley Strikers 0-4-0
Eastern Conference
Wyoming Valley Wings 4-0-0
Mountaintop Vigalantes 3-1-0
Plains Plainsmen 3-1-0
Back Mountain Blitz 2-2-0
Mountaintop Orange Crush 1-2-1
Pittston Rowdies 1-3-0
Wyoming Valley Blast 1-3-0
Mountaintop Catajamers 0-3-1
==
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@
Hype — trying to create interest
by artificial means: like a woman
wearing a padded bra, or a man
driving a rented Corvette to his high
school reunion. :
Last week, all I kept hearing was
how the Kentucky Derby is the most
exciting two minutes in all of sports.
Everywhere I looked, it was Derby
this; Churchill Downs that.
It was like
being 13 again
and listening to
the barkers at the
fair. They would
strongly insinuate [8
that their :
beautiful Helen of
Troy is the latest
and the greatest :
of them all, that . A
to miss her is to RICK ROGERS
forego a vital
piece of manly memory.
Now I don’t know much about
horses, except that a gelding is
guaranteed less trouble than a stud,
but I bit when I was 13 and I bit for
the Derby on Saturday.
After the Kentucky Derby was
over — slightly more than two
minutes I was promised — I turned
off the boob tube.
Once again I'd been taken by that
sweet talking siren known as hype. I
had been duped by this media
Jezabel into actually believing I'd
see the most exciting two minutes in
all of sports.
The fact is that I didn’t see the
most exciting two minutes in all of
sports. The fact is I couldn’t have
seen it, neither could any one else.
It didn’t happen.
My point is this: hype masters
can’t will a sporting event to be
great or even good, let alone the
greatest. Either it is or it isn’t;
most of the time, it is not. Can
anything truly great be legislated?
The problem is that, almost
without an exception,
championships can not live up to
expectations.
When was the last time a Super
Bowl was really super? Name the
last World Series that was truly
memorable and why.
All of sports are victims of the
media hype mentality that says:
last year’s event was the super
greatest, but this year’s event is .
going to be superduper,
unbelievably the greatest. Next
year will be better, of course.
Could it be that in the race for the
highest ratings that puff and fluff
have taken the place of substance?
Media hype is essentially childish,
self-defeating and condescending. It
is a slightly modified, modernfied
version of the little boy who called
wolf; now, the networks cry ‘the
greatest, the greatest’.
Soon, no one may come to the
cries. I know I won’t. So few
barkers are believable and have the
goods once you pay the admission.
So very few Helens of Troy these
days — the latest and the greatest
of them all.
BITS AND PIECES
Seeing is believing: I don’t know
what he was doing there, but Chris
Mullens, formerly of St. John’s, now
of the Golden State Warriors, was
drinking beer at the Waterfront
Sunday night.
RENT A NEW]
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DAILY...WEEKEND...
WEEKLY... MONTHLY...
RATES
HOWARD ISAACS
Rt. 309, Trucksville
696-1111 or 283-0049
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114 Memorial Hwy.
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—F
LEWIS DUNCAN LEWIS DUNCAN LEWIS DUNCAN LEWIS DUNCAN LEWIS DUNCAN LEWIS
The way his team played last
season, you’d think that some of his
teammates would have him on the
court somewhere teaching them
how to shoot the jumper and foul
shots. 0
In the immediate area, Dallas has
the best baseball team this year,
but just watch Coach Dwight
Barbacci’s Lehman club the next
couple of years. \
It sounds strange to say, but
Coach Barbacci has something of a
youth movement on this team.
pitcher, left fielder Todd Sallo, first
designated hitter Rich James, and
these guys are doing the job. All
three had key RBIs in Lehman’s
shocking 7-5 win over Dallas on
Monday.
Last, but certainly not least, there,
is a sophomore left-hander by the
name of Brett Evans, who is 5-1 on
the season. His fifth win came at
the expense of Dallas; his only loss
was a 1-0 in eight innings against
Crestwood. -0-
Regardless of the loss to Lehman,
I believe that Dallas is the team to
beat this season in the AAA race.
When it comes down to crunch time,
LEWIS- DUNCAN LEWIS DUNCAN LEWIS
20% OF
-DUNCAN
Dallas will go with right-handers
Mark ‘Whitey’ Konopki and Scott
Francis, probably the best one-two
punch in the Wyoming Valley
Conference. They will pull out the
WVC title.
-0-
Something has to be done about
the playoff system presently
employed in the NBA and the NHL.
What sense does it make to play
the entire season only to let
everyone except my Aunt Marilyn
from Levittown, into the post
season?
The NBA playoffs lasts six
grueling weeks, which is about a
good two weeks too long. By the
time you get to the finals, you have
survivors, not teams ready to play
for the championship of the world.
Things That Are Good To Know
Dept.: Lake-Lehman and Dallas are
extremely lucky to have two
coaches in Dwight Barbacci and
Jack Wolensky who care as much
about the kids that play for them as
they do. Nuff said.
(Rick Rogers, a Back Mountain
resident, is a sports columnist for
The Dallas Post. His column
appears weekly.)
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