The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, April 4, 1978-Page 11

FA CE WMU TODAY IN SEASON OPENER:

Experienced

Wolverine

'9'

By BILLY SAHN
Batter up!
Spring is here; it's time for the lumber to start a
swingin' and the cowhide to start a flingin'.
Piloted by Moby Benedict, the Michigan varsity
baseball team opens their season today in the (muddy) con-
fines of Fisher Stadium at 2:00 p.m. Weather permitting,
the Michigan nine will take on Western Michigan.
14
-
1 -

"WE'RE READY to play," said Benedict, "With this
crazy weather, we haven't done anything in so long."
Benedict has a good point. There's only so much
baseball one can practice in the Track and Tennis Building,
especially when the tennis and track teams are practicing
at the same time.
The most play Michigan has seen thus far was in Florida
over spring break where they compiled a 6-5 record.
"We have the potential to be a very fine team," says the
Wolverine coach who managed Michigan to Big Ten honors
in 1975 and 1976. Last year, Michigan finished second to
Minnesota by one game with a 33-15 record, 14-4 in the Big
Ten.
MICHIGAN'S TEAM this year is essentially the same
team as last year's. There will be plenty of experience on
the field.
In center field will be All-Big Ten centerfielder Rick
Leach. Leach, a junior, is in his third year as a starter as
well as his third year as starting quarterback for the foot-
ball team.
Throwing, running, and hitting are Leach's contribution
to the team. His outstanding throwing arm combined with
speed make him an excellent defensive player.
AS FOR HITTING, his credentials look even better.
Leach set a Michigan and Big Ten record last year by hit-
ting 12 doubles; the previous record was 11. His .316 batting
average last year led the team for the third straight season.
Accompanying Leach in the outfield will be senior right-
fielder Mike Parker. Parker, who batted .303 last year, had
a solid 24 RBI's.
In left field, Coach Benedict has a choice between junior
Dan Cooperrider and sophomore Vic Ray. Benedict does
have his finger on Ray though.
"Ray's a better defensive player; he was quite a better
hitter during the spring trip," said Benedict. Ray batted the
third best average during the Florida trip - .346.
BENEDICT IS a true believer in defense. He em-
phasizes fundamentals. "Arms and legs are what counts in
this game," said the Blue skipper, "and, arms and legs
means pitching, defense, and base running."
Michigan's infield promises to be strong defensively.
Last year's infield is back without any changes. Leading
the infield is Dave Chapman at third base. The All-Big Ten
senior is in his third straight year as starting third-
baseman.

At short is Jim Berra, the newly elected captain. This
fourth year starting senior made just five errors last year.
SCOTT ANDERSON, also a senior, will be part of the
Michigan double play squad at second-base. Aside from his
fielding abilities, Anderson hit for the team's second best
average last year, .307, behind Leach.
Rounding out the infield is senior Bob Wasilewski at fir-
st. Wasilewski's five home runs was second best to Parker's
six last year. Presently, Wasilewski has a leg injury and
will not start tomorrow. Sophomore George Foussianes will
take his place.
One major change for this year's team is in the catcher
position. Jim Capoferi has some shoes to fill with the depar-
ture of Ted Mahan, an excellent defensive catcher. There
isn't much room for hitting improvement however, if he
hits like he did in Florida. Capoferi batted .360, second best
to Leach's .395.
TO ROUND OUT this year's Michigan nine, the
Wolverines are expected to have a solid pitching staff.

irin' to go
Sophomore Steve Howe was last year's ace with a 9-3
record. The southpaw pitched to a 1.87 ERA.
Senior Craig McGinnis, today's scheduled starter, had a
6-2 pitching record. Over the weekend, McGinnis was in
volved in an automobile accident but fortunately, it was not
serious.
Aside from McGinnis' shake-up, junior Steve Perry has
been hospitalized due to stomach complications. The
righthander had a 5-3 record last year and a 3.29 ERA.
Finishing out the starting pitching staff is Bill Stennett
a senior. Stennett pitched his way to a 6-4 record last year
and had a 3.45 ERA.
"I expect to go with my set line-up. I'm not much of a
substituter," said the Wolverine coach. Thus, the line-up for
this year's baseball team is fairly well set.
As for the competition this year, Benedict feels that
every game is as important as the next, no matter whether
it's Big Ten or not.
"Everybody is tough competition. I just take one game
at a time," commented Benedict.

Robin
'The Hawk''"'~
Stealing a cue from one-
time prominent baseball
player Ken Harrelson, Robin i'
Yount, Milwaukee's talented
young shortstop, has announ-
ced that he is "seriously con-
sidering" leaving baseball to
join the professional golf tour.. .
Apparently, Yount, who broke
into the major leagues at the,
tender age of 18, is willing to
takept least a year's sabatical
from the game.
In case you've forgotten, the
last big name ballplayer to. . . . 1
trade in his baseball spikes for
some golf cleats was /,
Harrelson, nicknamed 'The
Hawk' by his many fans. His
golf 'career' ended in ,
frustration less than a year af-
ter it got started, as he said at
the time, "Baseball's so much
easier. You can hit the ball
anywhere. In golf
everything's gotta be right
over second base."
SCORES
Exhibition Baseball
D~etroit 4, Cincinnati 3 - 4* .
California 14. San Diego 6
NBA -
Denver 104. Buffalo 95 .

SUMMER
WORK
EARN $3000.00
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Whole summer free
2. Relocate from Ann Arbor
area
3. Dependable and hard worker
4. Independent
INTERVIEWS:
DATE: Wed., April 5
and Thurs., April 6
TIME: 2:30, 5:30 or 8:30
PLACE: East Quad,
Tyler Room 28
PLEASE BE PROMPT

SPORTS OF THE DAILY
Blue stickmen in groove

By TOM STEPHENS
Michigan's 1acrosse club finally got it
all together Sunday.
The stickmen overcame the problems
they've encountered in recent weeks,
poor playing conditions, trouble with
fundamentals, and a lack of quality op-
ponents in time to travel to Champaign,
Illinois and trounce the Fighting Illini.
by a lopsided 13-4 count.
The game was supposed to be a ster-
ner test than the Wolverines have had
in recent weeks. The fact that the score
*wasn't close can be traced to the fine
defensive play of Bert McCandless, a
standout defender for the Blue all
season, and goalie Mike Bucci. They
and their cohorts played a tremendous
game, in holding Illinois' top player
Steve Bissel to only one last minute
goal.
"We kept switching defensive for-
mations on him and I don't think Bissel
realized what we were doing until about
half-way through the third quarter,"
chortled Michigan coach Bob
DiGiovanni, who praised the play of
McCandless and singled out Bucci
especially for a "single-handed" stop of
a threatening Illinois rush in the first
half.
Hot attacker Chris Phillips led all
Wolverine scorers for the third
straight game with five goals and an
assist. Bobby Gordon was second with
two goals and two assists, and Bobby
Fleischman contributed a goal and two
assists.
DiGiovanni also praised his attack-
men for overcoming the fundamental
problems they've been having. "The of-
fense controlled the ball by dominating
face-offs and backing up their shots. All
of our rides (defensive maneuvers to
force the other team to give up the ball)
worked well today."
One oddity that showed up Sunday
was the lone Illinois goal in the third
quarter, scored by the home team's
goalie, Howie Graf, on a play in which
the Wolverines let the goalie bring the
ball up the field and then try to force a
bad pass. This time Graf broke free and
took the ball in for a goal instead.
Lacrosse' goalies score about as
frequently as hockey goalies (that is,
never) and maybe that is some con-

solation to the losing netminder.
"It was a real blow-off," said at-
tackman John Moran, who was on the
field at the time of the play.
"Everybody took their man and nobody
picked up the goalie so he just went
right in. It was kind of funny," he ad-
ded.
The < Wolverines, who upped their
record to 5-1, travel to Columbus
tomorrow for a tough contest with the
varsity Ohio State -squad that will.
determine thetunofficial Big Ten
lacrosse champion. (Both teams are
actually members of the Midwest Club
Lacrosse Association).
"Ohio State has a great rivalry going
with us and I think our chances are
good this year," predicted DiGiovanni.
"They might underestimate us because
we are a club team and if they do, then
we'll surprise them."
synch-or-swim
Michigan's synchronized swimming
team finished second in the AIAW
Region V tournament, held at Bell Pool
April 1-2. Ohio State led the eight-team
field.
Michigan led until the final event, in
which a margin of nine-tenths of a point
gave the Buckeyes the victory, totalling
91 points to the Wolverines' 86.
Michigan Coach Joyce Lindeman
called it "a very good meet. It was the
closest anyone has come to beating
OSU. Our team couldn't do much bet-
ter."
Last season, the Wolverines finished
second in the nation behind Ohio State.
Next stop for the Wolverines is the
national championships April 14-15 at
Oberlin College.
In "B" team competition, Michigan
placed fourth.
Ga. TACC
ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia Tech will
be a competing member of the Atlantic
Coast Conference next year after more
than 14 seasons as an independent, the
ACC's executive committee said
yesterday.

The announcement after Monday's
meeting said Georgia Tech's represen-
tatives have been invited to the annual
spring meeting of the ACC at Myrtle
Beach, S.C., May 16 for formal induc-
tion to the conference. Tech will
become a playing member as of July 1,
1979.
In basketball, Tech would compete
in the ACC tournament next year and
participate in the full round-robin play
in 1979-80.
Other ACC members are Clemson,
Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, N.C.
State, Wake Forest and Virginia.
Georgia Tech pulled out of the
Southeastern Conference in January
1964, where it had participated since
1933. Tech's request to- rejoin the SEC
last fall was reiected.
* * *
Reds Core-ed
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP( - Tim Cor-
coran hit a two-out, two-run single in
the seventh inning last night to pull the
Detroit Tigers past the Cincinnati Reds
4-3 in exhibition baseball.
The hit gave Corcoran 16 RBIs for the
spring as the Tigers wound up their
Florida campaign with their best-ever
mark, 18-8, including 11-3 at home.

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Michigan vs.
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