& Be. THE DALLAS | POST 49 Sports The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, May 9, 2002 9 From the bullpen Don't let o 2dults spoil * kids’ fun I've been covering local high school sports for only a few years. But in that time, and more re- cently in particular, I've noticed something. It seems that a lot — too many if you ask me — of parents think that little Johnny or Jane is go- ing to become the next Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods or Mia Hamm. Growing up, sports to me were fun. They were a way to get away from the stresses of school for a few hours each week, and just have fun and be a kid. But today, many parents seem Ito be trying their best to turn their children into little robots. Robots who will be able to regur- gitate what they have been taught perfectly, and who will be masters at anything they do. I am not saying that children should not have goals in life. But a set of attainable goals is more realistic, and more effec- tive in the development of a young life, then those of all-star dreams. I am reading and seeing more and more that young athletes are just getting burnt out with sports, and by the time they get through their first season of col- legiate play, their love of the game has been exhausted. That is not what youth and high school sports are supposed to do to children and young adults. And don’t even get me going on the subject of those lunatic parents who think they know more about the sport Little Johnny is playing then the high school coach who has been do- ing his job for 10-15 years. I al- most wish parents had to take an IQ test before they could come to high school sporting events. Some of the dumbest statements are made by parents at high school sporting events, and it seems that each year it only gets worse. The number of high school athletes that actually participate in collegiate sports on a Division I level is minimal, and those who make it through four years of the sport and college and make it to that next level is staggering- ly small. It's disheartening to see some of these soccer and little league parents who are trying to live their lives through their chil- dren. How about giving the kids a break. Most children would much rather be picking dandelions in the outfield, and having fun playing sports with their friends, than playing on five different club and travel teams that take up all of their free time. To strive toward goals in life is not a bad thing, but let your children decide whether they like it or not. It is not a matter of cutting the apron strings anymore for a lot parents — it is cutting the umbilical cord. Timothy J. Raub, a Dallas Post staff writer can be reached at traub@leader.net, or by phone at 674-4658. Send your sports reports by dallaspost@leader.net Not pretty, but Mounts come away with win By TIMOTHY J. RAUB Post Staff WILKES-BARRE — Nothing about Mon- day’s win over GAR made Dallas coach Steve Federici happy. Not the Grenadiers’ three-run fourth in- ning, not the four errors made on the day and certainly not the mental errors that kept the Grenadiers alive most of the game. In fact, Federici said his team was lucky to get away with the win at all. “We made too many mental errors,” said Federici. “Luckily, we got the key hits at times when we needed them.” Ryan Gryskevicz pitched a six-hit, five- run complete game, Adam Tkaczyk went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and A.J. Har- ris went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI to lead the Mountaineers (10-1) to a 13-5 win over GAR at Coal Street Park. Murray fans 15 to shut down Dodgers The Cardinals’ Pat Murray struck out 15 without allowing a walk en route to the complete game 4-1 BMT victory over the = I= =Y:\MB Dodgers. Murray and Ryan Phillips paced the Cardinal attack with two hits apiece while Mark Covert added a double. Indians 10, A’s 8 Kevin Pierce, Darius Fetchko and Jordy Thimot each collected two hits for the Indi- ans. Fetchko, Thimot and Mike Kravitsky each smacked doubles for the winners. Dave Fetchko pitched a complete game, striking out 10 batters. For the A's, Joe Hayes and Zach Aciukewicz had three hits while Derrick Martin had two hits. Aciukewicz cracked two doubles and Mar- tin had one. Dodgers 5, Giants 4 David Luksh drove home the winning run in the eighth inning as the Dodgers outlasted the Giants. Tom Oswalt struck out nine in six innings on the mound for the Dodgers and Mike Sesson picked up the victory in relief. Mike Caffrey doubled for the winners. Doug Harding of the Gi- ants blasted a two-run double in the sixth inning to send the game into extra innings. Bobby Peron struck out twelve Dodgers. Rangers 9, Phillies 8 The Rangers used a six-run fifth inning to overcome the Phillies. Michael Gross led the Rangers with three doubles. Gross and Kevin Engler combined to fan seven bat- ters. For the Phillies, Bill Holena had three hits while Mitch Artsma smashed a triple and a double. Holena and Hunter Engle- hardt combined to strike out six Rangers. Rangers 11, Orioles 1 Michael Gross collected three hits while Kevin Engler and Josh Backes each picked up two hits to power the Rangers. Matt Ruch struck out eight in hurling a four-in- ning two-hitter. For the Orioles, Steve Meskers and Ryan Urzan combined to See BMT BALL, pg 10 Cyclones U-1 1 boys Dallas took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a sacrifice fly from Jeremy Harris that See BASEBALL, pg 10 Once again, Knights edged for boys’ track championship Jd Girls easily beat Wyoming Area POST PHOTO/TIMOTHY J. RAUB JOE PETRUCCI Special to The Dallas Post LEHMAN TWP. — Wyoming Area and Lake-Lehman were both banged up and missing a key performer in their show- down to decide the Wyoming Valley Boys Track and Field League Division II cham- pionship on Monday. The Warriors, however, were able to use whatever depth they had left, particularly in the jumps, to down the Black Knights 87-63 and capture the division title. Wyoming Area (6-0), which won the Dis- trict 2 Class 3A title last year and shared the division title with Lake-Lehman and Hanover Area, will move up to Division I next season. The Black Knights finished their season at 5-1. The Lehman girls, behind two wins apiece from Kim Chollak and Jasmine Watson, routed the Warriors 120-28 to finish in second place in Division II be- hind Hanover Area for the seventh consec- utive year. In the boys meet, Wyoming Area swept the long jump and triple jump and won the high jump. Lehman was without its best jumper, Preston Smith. The Warriors defeated the Black Knights for the second consecutive year and did it by almost the same score, as Wyoming Area won 84-66 last season. The Black Knights got a gutsy perfor- mance from Josh Kuwaye. Running with a POST PHOTOS/JIM PHILLIPS Lake-Lehman Junior High softball squad came to Dallas Monday and put the hurt to the Mountaineers, going home with a 7-0 shutout under their belts. In top pho- to, Lehman's Tracey Ragukas slid home before the throw could reach Dallas catcher Kasey Corbett. Pitchers were Sarah Swepston, above left, and Sherry Hor- vath. See TRACK, pg 10 Local divers win megals at Tri- -Gounty Diving Championships win for third time The Back Mountain Cyclones U-11 boys won their third straight soccer game May 5 against Hazleton, 4-1. The only goal of the first half was scored by David Zurek, assisted by Ryan Shannon and Derek Mar- tin. The Cyclones came on strong in the second half with goals from Martin, assisted by Zurek; Alex Slocum, assisted from Tim Ropel and Colin Grube, and then an unassisted goal by Andrew Payne. A solid defense, lead by Eric Fritzges, Carson Baker, Brad Johnson and goaltenders Mike Gashi and Steve Schilling kept Hazleton from getting even close to a goal, taking away almost every scoring opportunity. Three local divers recently placed in the Tri-County Diving Champi- onships at Wyoming Valley West High School. Back Mountain residents Sara Skammer, Alaric Eby and Erica Lisses each brought home medalist honors at the meet. Sara placed first on the one meter board, in the 9-year-old and under group with a score of 74.55. Sara also placed first in the three meter, with a score of 67.65. She is a third grade student at Dallas Elemen- tary. Alaric Eby placed second on the one meter board in the 14-15 year old age group. Alaric also placed first in the three meter with a score of 139.85. He is an eighth grade student at the Dallas Middle School. Erica Lisses placed first on the one meter in the 10-12 year old age group with a score of 72.40. She also placed second on three meter with a score of 72.40. She is a sixth grade student at Dallas Middle School. These students dive for the WVW Fast Diving Program, and are coached by Rob Jacobs. Pictured from left: Sara Skammer, Rob Jacobs, Alaric Eby. Missing from photo, Erica Lisses.
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