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HEADLINES: Thompson
Earns Promotion To Class AAA Elk Lake made it through the state tournament by surviving
one-run games with strong pitching. Bellwood-Antis left-hander Adam Plummer tossed a two-hitter June 16 to defeat Elk Lake, 2-1, in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A baseball championship game at Riverside Stadium in Harrisburg. Elk Lake got its only hits in the fourth and sixth innings. The Warriors scored in the fourth to tie the game, then put together their best other threat in the sixth while facing a 2-1 deficit. After Bellwood-Antis scored in the third inning, Elk Lake came right back against Plummer, who had struck out two batters in the first and all three in the third. John Pierson started the fourth inning by reaching second on a wild throw after his groundball. Tony Rezykowski singled to left field to score Pierson. Tony Dorman walked with one out, but the Warriors stranded two men on base. Elk Lake also left two men on in the sixth. Pierson drew his second leadoff walk of the game. Dorman singled with two out, but Plummer got out of trouble. Plummer walked three and struck out 10 in his complete game. He was also the only batter with two hits in the pitcher's duel. Neither team produced an extra-base hit. Ben Lyne made his third state tournament start for Elk Lake and pitched into the third inning. He gave up three hits, a walk and a run while striking out one in 2 2/3 innings. Seth Button took over and struck out six while giving up four hits and not walking a batter in 3 1/3 innings. Button stranded two inherited runners in the third, but gave up the winning run, unearned, in the fifth. Plummer drove in the first run for Bellwood-Antis, the District 6 champion. He singled in a run with an out in the third. Button then came in to strike out the first batter he faced and end the inning. Elk Lake tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth, but Bellwood-Antis came back with the winning run in the fifth. Ricky Shannon reached second on a one-out throwing error. Plummer's single put runners on first and third with two outs. Shawn Weiand followed with the game-winning single to center. Button struck out the final two batters he faced to end the sixth inning, but the Warriors were not able to get a baserunner in the seventh. The Warriors were the first Susquehanna County team to play in a state baseball championship game. That appearance came one season after Blue Ridge became the first county school to play in a state softball final, only to also lose by one run. Elk Lake was attempting to become the first County school to win Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state team championships in two sports. Elk Lake won state basketball titles in 1969 and 1977. Al Caines, Elk Lake's head baseball coach, was a player on the 1969 basketball team and an assistant coach on the 1977 team. Elk Lake reached the state final four for the second straight season. A year ago, the Warriors lost in the state semifinals. TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com. ROBBY GORDON Wins At Sonoma Sonoma, CA – Richard Childress driver Robby Gordon, held off Jeff Gordon for the last 15 laps to win the Winston Cup Dodge/SaveMart 350, Sunday at Infineon Raceway.
Robby Gordon Robby Gordon, driver of the No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet, who led the most laps of any driver, took the lead from Johnny Benson during lap 81 of the 110 lap race. Jeff Gordon closed on Robby, but was never able to make a pass for the lead. The win was Gordon's second Winston Cup points race win. The other one came at New Hampshire in 2001. The victory was the first for a Richard Childress team in the last 33 races. "The car was pretty good," said Robby Gordon. "I was pacing myself with Jeff. It was a big race because we let this same race slip away four times. We had a plan and stuck with it." Jeff Gordon, who did not lead a lap, did move into second-place in the points standings. "On this track, it's hard to pass," he said. "He drove the wheels off and I did everything I could to pass him." Bill Elliott finished fourth even though he was driving with a broken foot. "We were pretty loose at the beginning," said Elliott. "But we just kept adjusting on the car all day until it came around." The top-10 finishing cars were made up of five Chevrolets, four Dodges, and one Pontiac. The highest finishing Ford was that of Matt Kenseth, who came in 14th. Top ten finishing order: 1. Robby Gordon, 2. Jeff Gordon, 3. Kevin Harvick, 4. Bill Elliott, 5. Ryan Newman, 6. Boris Said, 7. Ron Fellows, 8. Rusty Wallace, 9. Bobby Labonte, 10. Jeremy Mayfield. Top-10 points leaders after 16 of 36 races: 1. Kenseth-2396, 2. J. Gordon-2222, 3. Earnhardt Jr.-2220, 4. B. Labonte-2136, 5. Waltrip-2024, 6. Busch-2012, 7. Johnson-1965, 8. R. Wallace-1940, 9. Harvick-1901, 10. Marlin-1892. NASCAR Gets Dollars, Teams Get Pennies – I had no idea it cost so much to operate a major racing series. NASCAR and Nextel announced a deal in New York last week that will make the giant communications company the sponsor for NASCAR's premier series beginning next year. NASCAR Pres. Bill France, Jr. hugged Nextel's Tim Donohue in Times Square following the announcement. France certainly did the right thing. The France family has always known which side of their bread, the butter and syrup is on. The terms of the contract are $70 million each year for the next ten years. Sounds great doesn't it? It is for NASCAR. You see, NASCAR, meaning the France family will receive $40 million yearly while the remaining $30 million will go into the series points fund for drivers and teams. Winston did a lot for stock car racing, especially in the 1970's and early 80's, and its promotion was invaluable. But the sport reached a point where it was incredibly difficult to grow because of the changing public perceptions of tobacco. With Nextel moving into the market, it means they can target the younger audiences, which Winston was forbidden to do so by federal law. The Winston All-Star race will still be held at Charlotte in 2004, but it will be called, NASCAR All-Star Race by Nextel. Two other current communications companies, Alltel and Cingular will be allowed to remain as sponsors. While the France family now has an additional $40 mill per year coming in, what about the drivers and teams? Nothing will change with the big multi-car teams like Hendrick, Roush, DEI, and Childress Racing, because they are at the top of racing's ladder. And besides, Winston will ante up nearly that much this season. But the small struggling teams like Bam Racing, the Bodines, and Andy Petree, will share in very little, if any, of the $30 million. The money all goes to the front-runners. What it will do is fatten the bank accounts of the France family. I might be the son of an Alabama dirt farmer, but even dirt farmers can figure out it don't take $40 million, in addition to all their other hundreds of millions in annual revenue to run a racing series. If you think I am off base in my statements, or you would like to comment on this, send us a letter or e-mail. If we use your comments, we'll send you an 8X10 photo of your favorite driver. Other Racing MUSGRAVE Muscles To Truck Win, Millington, TN – Ted Musgrave raced near the front, then moved past Jon Wood with 14 laps remaining to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, O'Reilly 200, Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park. Top ten finishing order: 1. Ted Musgrave, 2. Travis Kvapil, 3. Dennis Setzer, 4. Jon Wood, 5. Carl Edwards, 6. Jason Leffler, 7. Bobby Hamilton, 8. Brendan Gaughan, 9. Terry Cook, 10. Matt Crafton. HAMILTON Continues As Truck Points Leader – The top-10 points leaders after 8 of 25 races: 1. Hamilton-1303, 2. Kvapil-1219, 3. Crawford-1209, 4. Gaughan-1195, 5. Musgrave-1185, 6. Setzer-1147, 7. Wood-1112, 8. Cook-1057, 9. Leffler-1031, 10. Edwards-994. KEVIN CYWINSKI Wins Ohio ASA Race – The 1997 ASA Champion and current point's leader Kevin Cywinski won the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in the eighth event of the 2003 ASA Racing Series season. Cywinski of Wausau, Wis., charged into first position on the 130th lap after passing Peter Cozzolino and went on to his 12th series victory. Ohio's Robbie Pyle crossed the line in second spot with $50,000 Rookie points leader Reed Sorenson finishing third. Florida's Travis Kittleson was fourth with Glenn Allen Jr. in fifth. Mike Garvey of Atlanta grabbed sixth-place honors with Chris Wimmer, Mike Cope, Butch Miller and Rick Beebe filling out the top-10 finishers. There was no Busch Series racing this past weekend. Weekend Racing The Winston Cup drivers have the weekend off. Both the Craftsman Trucks and Busch teams are at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, WI. Saturday, June 28, NASCAR Craftsman Truck GNC Live Well 200, race 9 of 25, 200 laps/200 miles, 3 p.m. TV: Speed Channel. Sunday, June 29, Busch Series GNC Live Well 250, race 17 of 34, 250 laps/250 miles, 2 p.m. TV: FX Sports Channel. Racing Trivia Question: What year did Bobby Labonte win the Winston Cup championship? Answer To Last Week's Question: Curtis Turner was often referred to as "The Wild Man of Racing," and "The Babe Ruth of NASCAR?" Gerald Hodges/the Racing Reporter is a syndicated NASCAR columnist. If you have a racing question that you would like answered send it to The Racing Reporter, P.O. Box 160711, Mobile, AL, 36616, or e-mail it to: hodgesnews@cs.com. Volleyball League Boys All Stars Following is a list of the Lackawanna Volleyball League Boys All Star Teams and Honorable Mention for the 2003 Season. All Stars – First Team: Shawn Venesky, Susquehanna Community HS; Jacob Scanlon, Mountain View HS; Taylor Harrison, Mountain View HS; Matt Campbell, Lackawanna Trail HS; JT Loss, Lackawanna Trail HS; Dave Arnold, Western Wayne HS. All Stars – Second Team: Jake Beautz, Forest City HS; Jason Griffiths, Forest City HS; Kyle Parsons, Mountain View HS; Dave Breese, Mountain View HS; Paul Sheffler, Blue Ridge HS; Mike Moran, Lackawanna Trail HS. All Stars – Honorable Mention: Jonathon Stewert, Susquehanna Community HS; Jeff Delaney, Susquehanna Community HS; Patrick Melvin, Forest City HS; Jonathan Poterjoy, Forest City HS; Eric Salansky, Mountain View HS; Mike Belcher, Mountain View HS; Todd Calabro, Mountain View HS; Chris Ford, Mountain View HS; Devin Ralston, Blue Ridge HS; John Vittelaro, Blue Ridge HS; Steve Rowe, Blue Ridge HS; Travis Newell, Lackawanna Trail HS; Rob Histead, Western Wayne HS. Most Valuable Player of the Year: Jacob Scanlon, Mountain View HS.
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