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michigandaity.com
sportsdesk@umich.edu SPO RTS
MONDAYo2
MAY 6, 2002
Softball steals
Big Ten crown
By Kyle O'Neill
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - Michigan has relied on its defense all
season to win games. So when the defense was given the
opportunity to win a second straight Big Ten regular season
title on the final day of the season, it answered the challenge.
Yesterday against Michigan State, the Wolverines were
clinging onto a 1-0 lead against the Spartans' ace Becky Gray,
who - for the second straight game - was watching her
solid performance get wasted with no run support.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, after Michigan pitcher
Nicole Motycka allowed one single and a walk, the Wolver-
ines sent in Saturday's winner Marissa Young to close out the
victory. Instead, Young walked Michigan State's Brittney
Green on four straight pitches. This brought up the Spartans'
clean-up hitter Natalie Furrow with just one out.
Furrow went on to drill what appeared to be at least a two-
run line drive for Michigan State. But, as it has been all sea-
son, the defense came up with a game-changing play. Center
fielder Meghan Doe sprinted towards the gap in left field and
came up with a web-gem, robbing Furrow with a diving catch.
"I just knew I couldn't let it touch the ground," Doe said.
"That's all that was going through my head. And I jumped up
as fast as I could because I was afraid (Michigan State's
Sandy Lewis) was going to tag (from third base and score)."
It was that quick reaction after the amazing catch that pre-
served the 1-0 lead.
"It wasn't just the catch, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
said. "The catch was big, but what was really big was getting
up quick and getting the ball to (shortstop Jessica) Merchant.
chat's what was headsup because they can still tag if (Doe's)
lying on the ground. But she got up quick, and she got the
>all to Jess. That's our strongest arm on the team, so as soon
PRImE TIME
Dion Harris heads Amaker's 2003-04 class
By Jim Weber Daily Sports Editor
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Meghan Doe and the Wolverines clinched the Big Ten title
this weekend with two 1-0 wins over Michigan State.
as I saw her come up and flip it, I knew we were okay."
Doe - who had the only run in yesterday's game - also
caught a long fly ball to deep left-center field to end the sixth.
It was the Spartans' last scoring threat as the Wolverines shut
them down in the seventh to win 1-0.
Thanks to the 1-0 victory over Michigan State on Saturday
and an Ohio State 1-0 loss to Penn State, Michigan went into
East Lansing yesterday in sole possession of the Big Ten lead.
The Wolverines used an RBI single by Marissa Young -
who had the only run in Saturday's game with a homerun in
the fifth inning - to give Michigan (15-3 Big Ten, 43-9
overall) the conference title and home-field advantage in the
See SPARTANS, Page 15
Nothing gets between a boy and
his Air Jordan's. Detroit Red-
ford junior and Michigan
recruit Dion Harris taught his mother
that at an early age.
When Dion was just six years old,
he grew so fast that he needed new
shoes constantly. His mother, Rischon,
bought him a new pair, but they
weren't Jordan's.
Instead of playing
with the new
shoes, Dion took
the old Jordan's out
of the trash can d
and kept playing i
with them despite ~
the uncomfortable '
fit.
Dion's mother
asked what the dif- Harris
ference between
the shoes was, besides the size. Dion's
response: "Mom, they make me jump
higher."
Michigan basketball coach Tommy
Amaker will let Harris wear whatever
he wants in the 2003-04 season. Harris
is an extremely important piece in
Amaker's effort to rebuild the Michi-
gan program. He joins Daniel Horton
and Lester Abram blue chip recruits
that Amaker is using as a foundation
for the program. It could also lead to
an exciting backcourt consisting of
Harris, Horton, Bernard Robinson Jr.
and Dommanic Ingeraon.
Harris also considered other top
programs such as Michigan State,
Duke, North Carolina, Missouri and
Florida. Michigan has always had the
edge on recruiting Harris because he
has attended Michigan's youth basket-
ball programs since he was nine. Har-
ris is the first person in his class to
commit to Michigan and is one of the
top prep shooting guards in the nation.
But after the indictment of former bas-
ketball booster Ed Martin, Harris gave
the Michigan coaching staff a scare
when he told the Detroit Free Press
that he needed more time to decide
where to go to school. Amaker reas-
sured Harris that NCAA sanctions are
unlikely, and as a result, Harris com-
mitted to Michigan last week. Unfortu-
nately for Amaker, if sanctions are
imposed, Harris can still attend anoth-
er school without violating NCAA
rules because Harris has just verbally
committed.
Amaker played a big part in Harris'
decision to become a Wolverine. Har-
ris was immediately impressed with
Amaker when he came to watch Harris
play just weeks after becoming Michi-
gan's basketball coach. The three other
people involved in the decision - his -
parents and his coach at Detroit Red-
ford High School, Derrick McDowell
- were equally impressed with
Amaker. Harris' mother and coach
both described Amaker as "sincere,"
but what impressed Harris' mother the
most aboutAmaker was his dedication
See HARRIS Page 14
Inches plague Blue against Buckeyes
ay Charles Paradis
Jaily Sports Editor
Even though it is 400 feet straight
away to the center-field wall at the
Fish, baseball is still a game of inches.
The Michigan baseball team (10-14
Big Ten, 16-28 overall) learned this
lesson the hard way yesterday in its 9-5
loss to conference leader Ohio State
(15-8, 28-15).
In the fifth inning, trailing 2-1, the
Wolverines got their first taste of how
precious a few inches can be. With
two outs and two men on, Ohio State's
designated hitter Terry Pettorini
stepped to the plate to face Jeff Trzos.
Pettorini belted a ball into left field
that appeared to be caught by a diving
Brandon Roberts, who immediately
raised his glove to signal he had
caught the ball. But the umpire ruled
that the ball bounced on the ground
inches in front of Roberts and
bounced into his glove.
"I felt like I had caught the ball -
caught it clean just barely before it hit
the ground," Roberts said. "The
umpire had the best view though. If it
skipped, it skipped. There is nothing I
can really do about that."
The play proved to be even more
important because it would have been
the final out of the inning. Instead, the
Buckeyes continued the offensive
See BUCKEYES, Page 16
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