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SPORTS
Tuesday, June 5, 1984
Page 16
The Michigan Daily
CWS ends for Michigan
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By ROB POLLARD
Special to the Daily
OMAHA, Neb. - The Michigan
Wolverines became the first team to be
thrown into the College World Series
coffin Sunday when they were
eliminated by New Orleans, 11-3.
The Privateers made Michigan's stay
at the 1984 tournament a very brief one.
They took an early 8-0 lead and breezed
to their first ever CWS victory. A few
hours later, Maine made their
preparations for a trip home after
losing 13-7 to Miami.
MICHIGAN starter Scott
Kamieniecki lasted only 3 2/3 innings in
More baseball, see page 14.
absorbing his fourth loss of the year. As
was the case in Friday's 8-4 loss to Cal
State-Fullerton, a big inning did
Michigan in.
The Privateers used a seven-run
fourth inning to turna 1-0 contest into a
rout. First baseman Mark Higgins put
the icing on the cake by crashing a two-
out grand slam homer off reliever Ken
Hayward to plate the final four runs of
the inning.
"I was looking for something to
drive," said Higgins, who now has 24
homers and 87 RBI. "He got his
breaking pitch up and luckily I got it out
of there."
HIGGINS' towering shot gave the
Privateers an 8-0 lead, and the
Wolverines may as well have packed up
their bags right then and there.
Coach Bud Middaugh had anticipated
before the tournament that his team
lacked the pitching depth necessary to
win at Omaha.
"Coming into the tournament I knew
we were short on pitching," said Mid-
daugh, whose World Series record now
stands at 3-8. "It was just a matter of
time before we had to get into that. We
can't match up with some of the people
that are here.
"IN FAIRNESS to Kamieniecki, he
pitched two complete games in the
(Mideast) regional tournament and he
was stiff today. Scotty's a power pit-
cher and if he comes upa little short on
his fast ball it's going to cause problems
for us."
New Orleans was a team that Mid-
daugh thought Michigan matched-up
with talent-wise. But freshman lefty
David Lynch coasted through the
Wolverine lineup, finishing with nine
strikeouts in eight innings. Seven of the
nine victims were caught looking.
"I threw a couple of fastballs (for
third strikes) right down the middle,"
said Lynch. "I guess they were just
thinking curve ball."
AS WAS THE case in Friday's defeat,
Michigan repeatedly failed to capitalize
on scoring chances. The Wolverines left
eleven men on base. They had the bases
loaded with one out in the third and a
man on third with one out in the fourth.
They failed to score both times.
"I thought that if we could have
stayed close we could have gotten into
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Associated Press
Shortstop Barry Larkin takes an errant throw as New Orleans' Kenny
Bonura slides in safely with a steal in Sunday's 11-3 elimination-loss for the
Wolverines. Larkin was named first team All-American earlier in the day.
See story, page 14.
the pen and made a ball game out of it," New Orleans stretched its lead to 10-0
said Middaugh. "The grand slam put before Michigan outfielder Kurt Zim-
the game pretty much out of reach. We merman connected for a two-run home
had some opportunities early. Had we run in the eighth. Hal Morris drove in
scored then it might have been a dif- Michigan's final tally with a single in
ferent ball game." the ninth.
T.,rueg 1u
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OMAHA; Neb.
When the baseball team you're assigned to cover
is slammed out of the College World Series by
lopsided scores of 8-4 and 11-3 the desire to write
about baseball is severly blunted.
Fortunately, however, this excursion to
Omaha has been packed with excitement,
interesting personalities and personal
highlights.
For example, last Saturday was christened
"College World Series Media Day" by the city of
Omaha. Those members of the media that could
get themselves out of bed by 10:30 a.m. after a
long night of heavy drinking were treated to a
slide show reeking with Omaha's civic pride.
Following the slide presentation and a brief
lecture on Omaha's involvement with the CWS
the real excitement began. We were transported
by luxury van to the famed Ak-Sar-Ben, easily
one of the finest thoroughbred racing facilities in
the country.
At the track, our gracious host treated us to an
Omaha steak lunch (Nebraska is the beef capital
of the country) and a tour of the complex. Ak-
Sar-Ben, which is Nebraska spelled backwards,
may be a cultural phenomenon. It is
immaculately clean and serves as a prime
family activity. All of a sudden gambling on the
horses isn't such a slimy hobby but a wholesome
endeavor.
The theme of the day was continued as the
third race was dubbed the "College World
Series Media Purse." Some of us viewed the
event from the.winner's circle and were
photographed afterwards with the victorious
Rowdy writers and klutsy kids .. .
... Omaha was a total blast
y Douglas B. Levy
horse, Henry Jakob, a 12-1 shot who nosed out the
favorite (my choice) on a $3 wager, Ming Oil.
Let's get back to Omaha, the media, and
baseball. One-half hour after the conclusion of
play at Rosenblatt Stadium the now-infamous
hospitiality room at the Holidome Holiday Inn is
opened. Courtesy of the NCAA and Omaha, the
working media is furnished with a large sixth
floor suite for the purpose of fraterninizing and
drinking.
It's a mini-convention/reunion for the sports
writers from Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and the
city of Miami who derive a frightening
enjoyment from comparing notes on which of
their respective universities cheat the most.
These newsmen can't understand why the
NCAA doesn't allow the institutions to openly put
their student-athletes on salary. Apparently,
academics are not emphasized at all as "playing
ball" is the only concern.
John Klein is by far the media superstar.
Covering Oklahoma St. for a Tulsa newspaper,
the 300-pound Klein had some difficulty holding
his beer. Early Sunday morning, Klein was doing
his Nolan Ryan impersonation with full beer
cans off the terrace of the sixth-floor suite, much
to the delight of his cronies. Moments later hotel
security closed down the party as the descending
Budweiser Light cans had nearly caused some
fatalities.
One would logically assume that the baseball
being played would receive the most enthusiastic
cheers from the fans at Rosenblatt. This has not
been the case thanks to John "Chopper"
Rosales, 14, a sophomore at Omaha's Gross High
School. Chopper, as he is affectionately known,
sits in a cage behind home plate with the sole
purpose of fielding those foul balls that slide
down the protective screen.
ESPN (covering the CWS on cable television)
should do a feature on Chopper, who is in his
fourth consecutive year on the job. This kid is the
biggest non-athlete in the history of ball boys.
His dad may know Rosenblatt's chief managing
supervisor but Omaha should at least find
someone who can catch the ball. Chopper stands
5-2, weighs 135 pounds, and would be better off
selling cotton candy. He has made an art out of
looking ridiculous and should be removed.
One last personal note. I made the transaction
of the week, trading a gray windbreaker with a
U-M logo ($3.95 off the rack at Ulrich's) for an
official Texas baseball sweatshirt, the one worn
by the players. Texas outfielder Doug Hodo
(number 15) was only too pleased to make the
swap saying, "Wow, I've got a Michigan
windbreaker."
And that's Omaha, a metropolitan area
containing slightly more than 500,000 people.
They love Ak-Sar-Ben and the horses. They
support the Omaha Royals, triple-A farm club of
the Kansas City Royals. And they look forward to
hosting the final 10 days of college baseball
competion every year.
The city first played home to this event in 1949
and has been making money for the NCAA ever
since. One Omaha official commented, "If
anyone ever wants to take the World Series away
from us they're gonna have to fight us all the
way."
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