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Perry sports
Cosby L
• Woodruff!
Sports
? editor I
Another month
has just about
passed us by
Is it really possible that we are
already in the waning days of July?
Sure enough, the days of the
summer of '92 arc beginning to
look fewer and fewer.
By Monday, the summer break
will be all but over for some of our
area's youth. That date will mark
the beginning of football and soft
ball practice.
Over 100 high schoolers will
leave the pool or the lake or what
ever behind as they head out into
the hot sun to start work on trying
to win a few games this fall.
Sure, many of these kids have
been in the weight room or what
ever all summer long getting ready
for the star, of practice. But the
daily commitment of getting up and
heading for the ball field will signal
the end of summer break.
Other signs over the passing of
the mid-month of summer are ev
erywhere.
Back-to-school sales circulars are
an almost daily occupant of my
mailbox, the summer baseball
leagues are all but finished and the
NFI teams are all in camp now.
Unfortunately, I doubt the pass
ing of summer sports into fall
sports will have much impact on
our fall weather.
Olympic reflections
The 1996 Summer Olympics are
finally underway, and for the U.S
basketball team, everything is go
ing according to the script.
A 46-1 run in their opening
game propelled them to a 116-48
Angola in their opening
gamfc of these Olympics.
Es-ven tyl{.,.Barkls.y'.s now-infa
mous stray dfttow could hardly mar
the moment.
Good old USA followed that up
with a 33 point nail-biter against
one of those new countries from
over in Europe. Somehow I wondor
if anyone can even begin to make it
close.
Probably not.
The Americans are supposed to
have the second, or third, best base
ball team over there.
But don't go giving the gold to
the Cubans just yet. I know it is
just a bunch of kids barely to the
legal drinking age playing against
Cuba's best, but something tells
me the gold won't go to Havana.
Closing out Ochlahatchee
Way back on April 25, the
youngsters at Ochlahatchee began
playing their 1992 season.
Along the way most of the
leagues managed to get through
their seasons by July 4, but the 10-
12 year old boys expanded their sea
son to 21 games this year.
So their season lasted through
the end of July. Finally, this week
the last regular season game came
to an end.
Harold's held off a late challenge
by Northrop to take a 12-11 win, a
win that moved Harold's to 13-8 on
the season, four games behind first
place Tolleson.
Os course, Tolleson has math
emtically locked up first place for
more than two weeks now. For all
practical purposes they have had it
locked up for about a month.
Anyway, reflecting on the sea
son which lasted something like 92
days, I guess it may have been a lit
tle bit long.
Most of the kids seemed to en
joy playing ball, but some of them
would have probably enjoyed going
to the pool or whatever every day
just as much.
The final hurrah for this year at
the old ball park will be Friday
when the Reds take on the Blues in
the All-Star game.
Thirty of the best players from
the league this year will match tal
ents in the game-. The game is
scheduled for nine innings.
Are Braves for real?
Please see COSBY, page 8A
Tolleson comes back to beat
Kellwood, cap off title season
By COSBY WOODRUFF
Sports Editor
The Tolleson 10-12 year old
baseball team put the finishing
touches on its championship season
at Ochlahatchee Park Monday night
by dispatching last-place Kellwood
11-10.
Going into the game, both
teams had their destinies deter
mined, so neither chose to play
most players in regular positions.
The teams used a total of 11
pitchers, six by Tolleson and five
by Kellwood.
Brandon Pfleegor earned the win
by pitching the sixth. His perfor
mance was something less than
stellar (one inning, three hits, five
runs, one earned run), but he was
the beneficiary of a three-run rally
in the bottom of the sixth.
In the first inning, the two
teams had a total of two balls
through the infield, but they scored
a total of seven runs.
Seven players walked and thrcrc
were a total of four errors in the in
ning.
Harold's closes out year with
12-11 squeaker over Northrop
Northrop and Harold's played Monday night to close out the Ochlahatchee season.
Harold's took a 12-11 win to improve to 13-8 on the season.
Extended Ochlahatchee season
finished, All-Stars play Friday
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Tolleson's John Brewer crosses the plate after hitting
his seventh home run of the year Monday night. He
won the home run title with this hit.
I
I he play that best represented
the inning came in the top of the
inning.
With one out, Chris Lindsey hit
a chopper back in front of the plate.
His hit traveled no more than 15
feet, but he ended up circling the
bases on a series of errors by Tollc
son.
Tolleson led 5-2 after one in
ning, and 5-4 after the top of the
second. Kellwood’s Josh Collier had
a two-run double in the second to
account for the two runs.
Then came the play that ended
what had been the only suspense in
the game.
Tollcson’s John Brewer entered
the game with six home runs, tied
lor first with Qwik Stop's Brandon
Lancaster and KiwaniC Chance Har
ridge.
On a 3-l pilch from Collier,
Brewer clinched the home run title
with a shot just to the left of dead
center.
Brewer's homer gave Tolleson a
6-4 lead, a lead that was 8-5 going
to the sixth.
Please see TOLLESON, page 8A
I|L *** ..JIBSBSBiHB^^--,..' .-
A Kellwood batter takes a pitch low for a ball against Tolleson Monday night.
Tolleson won the game 11-10 to finish the year with a 17-4 mark, good for first place
at Ochlahatchee.
By COSBY WOODRUFF
Sports Editor
The 1992 season for Ochla
hatchcc 10-12 year old baseball
teams was marked by a wirc-to-wirc
leader, a schedule expanded by 87
percent and two new teams.
Tolleson finished the year 17-4,
three games ahead of second place
Northrop at 14-7. The head-to-head
scries between those two teams
turned out to be the deciding factor
in die race.
Tolleson swept Northrop in
three games this year, but both
teams were 14-4 against the other
six teams in the league.
Tolleson started with a win, and
kept winning enough games that
they never spent a day out of first
place the entire season.
By July they had a comfortable
lead, and they clinched the title
more than two weeks before the end
of the season.
Along the way, Tolleson sup
plied the league its home run
champion.
Going into Monday's final
games, Chance Harridge of Kiwa
nis, Brandon Lancaster of Qwik
Stop and John Brewer of Tolleson
had six each.
Brewer hit a second inning
homer in his final game of the year
to break the tie and finish with
seven home runs.
Brewer's seventh home run came
in the 83rd of 84 games scheduled
at Ochlahatchee this summer, 39
more than in past years.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL. WEDNESDAY, JULY 29. 1992-/
By COSBY WOODRUFF
Sports Editor
Harold's lopped Northrop 12-11
in the 84th and final Ochlahatchee
10-12 year old baseball game of the
year Monday night.
With Northrop locked into sec
ond place and Harold's into third,
both teams substituted liberally.
In the first inning, Harold's look
a 3-2 lead wdien Dustin Weir ripped
a two-run double.
Northrop came back to score five
times in the top of the second,
most coming on miscucs by
Harold’s
Harold's cut it to 7-5 in the bot
tom of the inning with two more
runs of their own. A two-run third
for Harold's knotted the game at
seven.
Northrop socrcd twice in the top
of the fourth to make it 9-7, but
This year’s league had eight
teams, which played each of the
other seven three times each. In the
past, six teams have played each ol
the other five teams three times
each.
This year’s two new teams,
Houston Fertilizer and Grain and
Kellwood finished in seventh and
eighth place with a combined record
of 14-28.
The expanded league and season
drew mixed reviews from players,
coaches and parents litis year.
Most parents and coaches ex
pressed concern over finishing the
season at the end of July.
A variety of compromises were
suggested. They included a shorter
season, more games per week or a
Ochlahatchee standings
(Final standings)
Team Wins Losses Pet. GB
Tolleson 17 4 .810
Northrop 14 7 .667 3
Harold's 13 8 .619 4
Kiwanis 10 11 .476 7
Qwik Stop 9 12 .429 8
Crossroads 8 13 .381 9
Houston Fertilizer 8 13 .381 9
Kellwood 6 15 .286 11
Journal
Harold’s came right back with two
in the bottom of the I'oruth to tie
the game at 9-9.
In the top of the fifth, Harold’s
held Northrop scoreless, and then
they scored three runs of their own
to break the lie in the bottom of the
fifth. ’ "
Ben Nash had a two-run double
to make the score 12-9.
Northrop answered with two
runs in the top of the sixth, to
make it 12-11, but it was not
enough to salvage the game.
Harold's win allowed them to
finish one game behind Northrop in
the race for second place at Ociila
hatchee.
Northrop finished 14-7 and
Harold's wound up 13-8.
Northrop 250 202- 11
Harold's 322 23x- 12
longer break for the July 4 holiday.
Ochlahatchce also announced
rosters for the 1992 All-Star game
Monday night.
Players for the Red team, made
up of Northrop, Qwik Slop, Kiwa
nis and Houston Fertilizer and
Grain, include Jerry Horton, Chad
Ekey, Chance Harridgc and David
Talley.
Others are Brandon Lancaster,
Josh Lawhorn, David Coffey, Cal
Williams and Dallas Malone.
Also named were Joe Todd,
Lance Arrington, Jessie Rincr,
Nathan Garren, Nicholas Mcens and
Jonathan Hayes.
Named to the Blue team, includ
ing players from Tollcson,
Please see ALL-STAR, page 8A
7A