The Michigan Daily - Saturday, March 23, 1985 --Page 11
Philling i"t Up
NCAA ROUNDUP
By Phil Nussel
L
Villan ova victimizes Terps
Spring practice begins . .
reserves look to move up
BELIEVE IT or not, there is some legitimate football being played.
No, not the USFL. Nobody around here really cares about garbage foot-
ball. The big football story in town right now is Michigan spring practice.
The Wolverines began their annual spring workout schedule on Tuesday and
had their first full scrimmage yesterday.
And for those of you who think that spring practice is just a little friendly
get-together among the coaches and players, you're wrong.
It sounds like an overused cliche, but it's nonetheless true-there's a lot of
hitting going on in that indoor football complex on State Street.
With eleven or more positions on the starting roster opening up in the fall,
nobody in their right mind will be taking it easy in practice. Now is the time
for players to get brownie points. Now is the time to show Coach Schem-
bechler and his crew who is working their butts off for the team.
And yes, the team is fired up. Players are already hobbling around South
Quad on crutches and almost the whole team is sore from the first week of
contact.
"People are pretty fired up because there are a lot of positions open,
especially on defense," said outside linebacker Carlitos Bostic. "We've been
trying to fly around and that's the attitude-fly around."
But there's a lot more than hitting going on. For the coaches, this is a time
to get a head start on analyzing some of the younger players in game
situations. Sometimes practice is like a class. Teaching the team all the dif-
ferent formations is a constant process.
"I think the enthusiasm is pretty high," said assistant coach Gary
Moeller. "I also think there's a lot of learning taking place. We're at a very
fundamental stage right now."
Cornerback Garland Rivers, who has been moved to strong safety for the
spring, echoed this, "They (the coaches) have mostly been talking about the
little things. That's how some teams lose, by not concentrating on the little
things."
Championships may be won in the fall, but it starts in the spring. The
teams who get a lot accomplished now have a head start on many of their
rivals.
"Concentration is a big key right now and that's one reason why we
scrimmage," Moeller said. "We want to see concentration in a game-like
situation."
Does all this stress on concentration put pressure on the players? "No, it's
not pressure," said Bostic. "It's just that they (the coaches) want to see
who's going ahead and who's going to lag behind.
"It's not pressure at all, it's a lot of learning, especially the first week."
Rivers added, "The coaches want to know who comes out one and two for
fall."
Spring practice also brings on a dilemma for the older, established players
on the team. They have to set a good example for the younger players by
being intense and hitting hard, yet they also have to stay healthy in order to
be ready when fall practice begins. The young players can afford to go all-
out and get banged up-they don't have to defend a starting position.
"They (the older players) think about not getting hurt," Rivers said,
"because a lot of people get hurt during spring ball. It's like a lot of people
are tired because the season just ended."
So far, Moeller hasn't seen this as a major problem. "The older players
are doing a good job right now," he said. "They're trying, which helps the
younger players."
Another potential spring practice problem is lack of enthusiasm among
; the coaches. Not in Ann Arbor. Not this year anyway, even after a season
that ended just three months ago, followed by two months of heavy (and suc-
cessful) high school recruiting.
"They (the coaches) are excited," Bostic noted. "That's cool. I'm glad
they're excited. When they're excited, you get a little more motivated.
This is all good to hear, of course. But it's only the first week of practice.
The next four weeks should be a good indicator of what we might see in the
fall. Let's hope that the next four weeks stay as enthusiastic as this first
week-then we can all get enthusiastic about the fall.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Ed
Pinckney scored seven points during an
11-0 spurt at the start of the second half
that led Villanova to a 46-43 victory over
Maryland in the NCAA Southeast
Regional basketball semifinals last
night.
Villanova, 22-11, trailed 20-19 at half-
time before holding the Terrapins
scoreless over the first 7:10 of the
second half.
H AROLD PRESSLEY scored the go-
ahead basket one minute into the
second half and, after Dwight Wilbur
hit two free throws 90 seconds later,
Pinckney scored the next seven points
as Villanova surged to a 30-20 advan-
tage.
Maryland ws never able to get closer
than five points until the final minutes
and never got closer than three.
Villanova's 11-0 run at the start of the
second half actually completed a 15-0
streak that included the last two baskets
of the first half, when Maryland was
held scoreless for the final 2:10.
GARY McLAIN'S 20-footer with 1:35
left in the half cut the lead to 20-17 and
Pressley scored on a running 10-footer
at the buzzer.;
Pinckney led the Wildcats with 16
points and Dwayne McClain added 14.
Adrian Branch led all scorers with 21
for Marlyland, 25-12, but the Terps' Len
Bias, ACC Player of the Year and a
second-team All-American, was held to
a season-low eight points.
N.C. State 61, Alabama 55
DENVER (AP) - Diminutive guard
Anthony "Spud" Webb rattled in 14
points, and reserve forward Bennie
Bolton canned a pair of insurance free
throws with 33 seconds left last night to
lead No. 16 North Carolina State to a 61-
55 victory over Alabama in the NCAA
West Regional semifinals.
Alabama, which finished the season
at 23-10, got a game-high 18 points from
guard Terry Coner but couldn't manage
to match the Wolfpack's surge.
With 33 seconds left, the Crimson
Tide trailed North Carolina State 55-53
and the Wolfpack, 23-9, missed a chance
to increase the lead when the 5-foot-7
Webb missed the front end of a one-and-
one. But Bolton, who finished with 11
points, was fouled after Webb's toss and
canned both of his shots, giving North,
Carolina State a 57-53 lead.
WEBB ADDED a pair of free throws
just seconds later when he was fouled
while leading a sloppy fast break. That
made it 59-53.
Coner, Alabama's "Mr. Basketball"
in 1983, canned a jumper with 14 secon-
ds left and Alabama had another chan-
ce when, with 10 seconds remaining, a
North Carolina State inbounds pass
went out of bounds. But Mark Got-
tfried's 15-foot jumper missed and Nor-
th Carolina State rebounded to secure
the victory.
Russell Pierre was fouled and made
two free throws for the final margin.
Associated Press
Wolverine killer Dwayne McClain guards Maryland's Len Bias during last
night's Southeast Regional semi-final action in Birmingham.
Spark
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - Detroit
Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson
made what he termed "the second-
biggest decision of my career" yester-
day when he asked two-time All-Star
"tUWT 7T
totry W
second baseman Lou Whitaker to move
to third base in order to make room for
impressive rookie Chris Pittaro.
Anderson said the experiment would
begin today when Whitaker will play
third in a morning intrasquad game
and also in an afternoon Grapefruit
League exhibition against the Toronto
Blue Jays.
"I DON'T know how it's going to
work out but it's a serious step, I'm not
joking," said Anderson, who has been
known to change his mind about such
ventures. "The odds are in favor of this
happening."
Anderson said he had been con-
sidering the move for about five days
but wanted to talk to Whitaker about it
first. "I would think that when
hitaker at -third
you've got a man who has been the
second baseman in the last two All-Star
games, you'd certainly want his
blessing before you did such a thing,"
Anderson said. "I talked to Lou today.
He'll do anything if you ask him to."
PITTARO, 23, is a switch-hitter who
is batting .350 this spring and has made
just one error in 13 games.
Third base is not entirely foreign to
Whitaker. He. signed as a third
baseman and played there his first two
years in the Tiger organization. He
wasn't coverted to second base until
1977 when he got to Montgomery, Ala.,
of the Class AA Southern Association.
The year before, at Lakeland of the
Florida State League, Whitaker played
124 games at third and led all FSL third
baseman in fielding with a .924 percen-
tage en route to being. named the
league's most valuable player.
Pittaro was the Tigers' sixth choice in
the 1982 draft after playing three years
at the University of North Carolina.
His move would mean that Pittaro
will bypass Class AAA ball altogether
- just as Whitaker did. He played last
year at Birmingham of the Southern
League.
No one faces cancer alone.
Call us.
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
THIRD ANNUAL
OFFICIAL
BALLOT
Whitaker
... sent to hot corner
Dodgers walk by Tigers, 8-
7
Best
of Ann Arbor
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP)-Ken Lan-
dreaux drove in four runs yesterday as the
Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Detroit
Tigers 8-7 in exhibition baseball.
The Dodgers, winners of seven
straight, improved their Grapefruit
League record to 9-3, while the Tigers
slipped to 9-5.
IT WAS A loosely played game that
took three hours, two minutes to play
with 17 walks-eight by Detroit pitchers
and nine by the Dodgers. Tom- Bren-
nan, 1-0, a non-roster hopeful, picked up
,the victory.
With the score tied 6-6 in the Los
Angeles seventh, Mike Marshall
walked, went to third on Mike
Scioscia's hit-and-run single and then
Ed Amelung, who went in to run after
'Marshall reached third, scored when
Brian Kelly, 0-1, uncorked a wild pitch.
R.J. Reynolds, running for Scioscia,
and Sid Bream, who walked, pulled a
double steal and Reynolds scored on
Dave Anderson's sacrifice fly giving
the Dodgers an 8-6 lead.
The Tigers picked up one in the ninth
when Doug Baker walked, took second
on a grounder and scored on a single by
Dwight Lowry.
SWhite Sox 8, Blue Jays 2
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - Harold
Baines collected three hits yesterday,
} the big blow a three-run homer, to lead
the Chicago White Sox to an8-2
exhibition baseball victory over the
'Toronto Blue Jays.
Tom Seaver, 2-1, went five innings for
Chicago, allowing only a first-inning
run on Willie Aikens' RBI single. That
lone run ended Seaver's scoreless-
inning string at 13 1-3. The three-time
Cy Young winner owns a 1.59 earned
run average in Grapefrut League play.
BAINES, BATTING .417 during the
spring, doubled in one run against Matt
Red Sox 9, Astros 3
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - The
Boston Red Sox, led by Jim Rice's
three-run homer in the sixth, clubbed
five Houston pitchers for 12 hits yester-
day en route to a 9-3 exhibition baseball
victory over the Astros.
The Red Sox blasted Houston starter
Mike Madden, 0-2, for five runs in the
third inning and Rice's home run fueled
the four-run sixth inning.
Bruce Kison, 2-0, struck out two and
yielded two of Houston's four hits over
four innings.
Alan Ashby homered in the fourth in-
ning for the Astros.
A's 13, Brewers 9
PHOENIX, Ariz (AP) - Pinch hitter
Danny Goodwin ripped a three-run
triple in the seventh inning yesterday to
lift the Oakland A's to a 13-9 exhibition
victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers had rallied to an 8-6 lead
by scoring six runs off Oakland's Rick
Langford. Dave Collins' run-scoring in-
field single off loser Tom Tellmann
preceded Goodwn's first spring hit in
six at bats.
THE A'S added three runs in the
eighth against Jim Kern on an RBI
double by Phil Stephenson and a two-
run single by Rob Picciolo.
Milwaukee struck first with a two-run
homer by Mark Brouhard, but the A's
tied it on run-scoring singles by Picciolo
and Alfredo Griffin. The Brewers' six
subsequent runs were the first allowed
this spring by Langford, who is trying
to come back from elbow surgery he
had two seasons ago.
Robin Yount and Doug Loman also
hit homers for the Brewers, and Jim
Gantner had a pair ofRBI doulbes.
The winning pitcher was Dave
Leiper, who allowed one run over the
final three innings.
Angels 8, Indians 1
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Wally Joyner
tripled in a run to cap a five-run second
inning and starter Mike Witt surren-
dered only three hits in five innings as
the California Angels beat the
Cleveland Indians 8-1 in an exhibition
baseball game Friday.
Witt, 1-1, struck out four and walked
two in his longest outing of the spring.
Cleveland, 7-6, scored its only run off
him in the third when Brett Butler
singled, took second on a balk and
scored on a double by Julio Franco.
Angels' relievers Bob Kipper and
Rafael Lugo each turned in two hitless
innings.
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