I SPORTS Real Dreams Oak Park Ace Jason Novetsky's Name Should Come Up in the Summer Baseball Draft MIKE ROSENBAUM Sports Writer 1:11 reaming of a major league baseball career is easy. Most boys do it. Having a realistic chance to play pro ball, and con- tinuing to play well in spite of that pressure, is something else. Oak Park High senior Jason Novetsky is getting used to seeing scouts when he pitches. But the first scouts who came to see him, specifically, made him nervous. "In the first game of the year, I was just going to pitch one inning to stay sharp, because we had a league game the next day . . . and while I was warming up my coach (Mike Crain) comes up to me and says the Los Angeles Dodgers scout's here. And I didn't want to hear it. That was kin- da hard. I threw bad that inning. I walked two in a row and then I came back and struck 'em out. From now on he knows not to tell me when they're there. But it's hard not to tell me, when there's radar guns behind the screen. But now I've learned to just block it out:' Still, the major-league dream is attractive. "That's my dream," Novet- sky admits. "I want to be that .. After this year, after actually seeing the scouts come out, it's something that I'd like to do." The left-hander entered this week at 3-1 with two saves. In 36 innings he has struck out some 80 hitters, bet- ter than two per frame. His best game was a 3-2, eight-inning win over Suburban Athletic League rival Willow Run, in which he fanned 20 hitters. The Redskins, defending league champs, began the week 9-5 overall, 971 in league play. When it comes time for a decision this summer, Novetsky will be well- prepared. He has already set his philosophy regarding any professional offer he may get as a result of the summer amateur draft. "It's got to be real mega-dollars for me not to go to college. It's got to be way over six figures not to go to school. Education's important to me. And I can play on a good college team — down south somewhere, I'm hoping to go. Unless I'm drafted in the top 15 rounds, I probably won't go .. . Because if they just give me $40-50,000 to go there, it's just like getting a $40-50,000 college scholar- ship. It's the same for me. "I'd rather play a few years in col- lege and then, maybe, get drafted. That's Trobably what my main goal Jason Novetsky in his wind-up. is. Play maybe three years in college Robichaud, his second no-hitter in two and then go;' pro. years. "This one was harder," he The Redskin's ace is seriously con- recalls, "because (his teammates) sidering the University of Southern kept telling me every inning that I Mississippi, which he may visit soon. had a no-hitter. Last year I didn't "They've been treating me really know until the last batter." well;' Novetsky says, "and that's what Despite his high strikeout total, I'm looking for because a lot of other he does not consider himself a power colleges, they don't treat you as nice pitcher. "I throw in the low 80s (miles as they do down south:' per hour). So I've just got to mix 'ern Novetsky, a three-year varsity up a lot . . . I play (American) Legion starter, began the season with a no- ball a lot and I strike out maybe four hitter against Dearborn Heights or five a game, not 19 or 20. I have to Kozloff Runs Away With Honor MIKE ROSENBAUM Sports Writer E d Kozloff of Huntington Woods was recently named by Michigan Runner magazine as its Runner of the Year. Kozloff also won one of the magazine's honors in 1984, for administrative contribu- tions to the sport. But this year he was selected as the overall winner. "It was kind of a surprise because we've been doing a lot with running for a number of years in the area:' says Kozloff, since 1975 the president of the Motor City Striders. "Just kind of a great thine he continues, "not only for me, but for (tri-county) area running?' Modestly, Kozoff says he likely won the Runner of the Year honor for "tending to get most of the details right, most of the time," at the races in which he participates. 52 FRIDAY, MAY- 13, 1988 Kozloff, 45, helps coordinate 20 to 25 races per year, including the Free Press Marathon, Detroit's pre- Thanksgiving Day parade "Turkey Trot;' and Royal Oak's "Oak-Apple Run!' While Kozloff sees each race as unique, one of his favorites is the Elias Brothers 10,000-meter run. The 14th annual edition of the race, the oldest in Oakland County, took place at the Pontiac Silverdome last Sunday. A science teacher at Warren's Beer Junior High, Kozloff has little time to run himself. He no longer competes, and says he runs "just for fitness, but not as much as I should!' Still, his passion for the sport is ob- vious to anyone who spots his multi- colored van, which is decorated with the red-white-and-blue Striders' logo, and sports a vanity plate that says, "RUN- ." The passion for the sport of runn- ing is shared by Kozloff's family, in- cluding his wife, Sue, sons Ron, 15, and Ken, 12, and daughter Diana, eight. Ron runs on the Berkley High School cross country and track teams. The other family members run for fun. "I'm very fortunate to have a family that helps me out on a lot of aspects," says Kozloff. "My children help time and do other things at races. My wife helps with the data in- put and other things that are necessary to make sure that everything gets done right!' Kozloff's next running project is the Greater Berkley Run, a two-mile and 10 kilometer event on May 23. The Oak-Apple Run, also a two-mile and 10K event, takes place on June 4 in downtown Royal Oak.