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Boys
Raider Relays - At Bloomington
Called with 2 events left
7. Lincoln 27
3,200 relay: 5. Lincoln, 9:12.9
440 intermediate hurdle shuttle: 5. Lincoln, 1:06.7
High jump: 3. (tie) Lincoln, 16-4
Triple jump: 2. Lincoln, 116-5 1/2
Shot put: 4. Lincoln, 114-11
Discus: 3. Lincoln, 351-8
Clinton Carnival - At Clinton
5. Warrensburg-Latham 30
110 hurdles: 4. Carlton (WL), 15.8
Long jump: 2. Gates (WL), 19-2 3/4
High jump: 1. Kroshugan (WL), 6-3
Roger Washburn Invitational - At
Eureka
3. Olympia 92; 14. (tie) Illini Central 5
100 meters: 2. Dillenburg (O), 11.5
200: 1. Joyce (O), 22.7; 4. Wise (O), 24.1
1,600: 6. McClain (O), 4:33.3
110 high hurdles: 6. Van Etten (IC), 16.6
300 intermediate hurdles: 4. Van Etten (IC), 42.4
Long jump: 4. Gary (O), 19-3 1/2
High jump: 1. Raes (O), 6-4
Triple jump: 3. Canopy (O), 38-8 1/4
Pole vault: 6. Hish (O), 11-0
Shot put: 1. Schultz (O), 55-11
Discus: 1. Schultz (O), 162-4; 4. Hieronymus, (O), 146-11
800 relay: 2. Olympia, 1:34.7
1,600 relay: 1. Olympia (Joyce, Schmidgall, Dillenburg,
McClain), 3:27.9
[to top of second column in these results] |
Girls
Roger Washburn Invitational - At
Eureka
2. Olympia 80; 10. Illini Central 28
100 meters: 1. Praeter (O), 12.6; 4. McDonald (IC), 13.3
200 1. Prater (O), 26.4; 4. Lingle (O), 28.5
400: 5. Crawford (O), 1:04.6
800: 5. Tibben (IC), 2:34.5
100 hurdles: 3. Hish (O), 17.2; 6. Bennett (O), 18.0
300 hurdles: 2. Fredericks (O), 49.9
Long jump: 2. McDonald (IC), 15-8 1/2
Triple jump: 2. McDonald (IC), 32 3/4
Discus: 5. Kladden (IC), 101-2
400 relay: 3. Olympia, 53.4
800 relay: 1. Olympia (Fredericks, McKown, Radier, Prater),
1:50.3
800 medley: 2. Olympia, 53.4
1,600 relay: 2. Olympia, 4:17.9
3,200 relay: 3. Olympia, 10:16.5
Central State Eight Meet - At
Springfield
Postponed with 5 events remaining; will resume Monday at 6:00
p.m.
100 meters: 2. Dorsey (Lincoln), 12.7; 4. Bunch (L), 13.1
800: 4. Presswood (L), 2:28.6
Long jump: 4. Paulus (L), 16-6
High jump: 5. Courtwright (L), 7-0
Triple jump: 6. Whalen (L), 32-5
Pole vault: 5. Whalen (L), 7-0
400 relay: 3. Lincoln, 50.9
800 relay: 6. Lincoln, 1:55.2
800 medley relay: 5. Lincoln, 1:57.4
3,200 relay: 6. Lincoln, 11:48.2 |
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You knew going into
the thing that probably Matt Morris and Woody Williams were going to
shine. But did you count on much from Brett Tomko, Jason Simontacci
or even Garrett Stevenson? How 'bout the outing Simontacci delivered
in Busch Stadium Friday night to 41,000-plus delirious redbird
backers sporting their FREE new T-shirts? He completely dominated
Montreal almost from start to finish. And to get an outing from him
like that now, when the Cards' bullpen is completely dismantled,
couldn't be bigger. Then follow that up with a huge performance by
Stevenson and then another rock steady show by Morris, and the Birds
are covering up a multitude of deficiencies.
How can I say that?
Look at what the pen has provided over the last couple of weeks… or
should I say, what they HAVEN'T provided? Two or three times over
that span they have blown huge leads in the ninth! Great or even
good teams canNOT survive on a steady diet of that. I guess you
could say that the good news is that somehow St. Louis has weathered
most of those storms. But as the old adage goes, where there's smoke
there is fire; and our hurlers have spent more time tossing gas on
the flames than getting the fires out! Hopefully, as injuries begin
to heal up, so will the bullpen's woes. If not, the Birds may just
tease their fans along all year.
You do have to be
happy with the everyday lineup, as I really wasn't trying to
downplay it all that much. Fernando Vina has been on a holy tear
since shaving off his Fu Manchu! He's even hit his first two homers
in something like his last thousand at-bats. He's also made a few
spectacular plays in the field. Tino Martinez has delivered a few
times as well, after a woeful start last season. Scott Rolen
continues to show why he was one of the best pickups in baseball
over the last few years, and he plays a very stingy third base as
well. And what can you say about Edgar Renteria? He may be the
Cards' MVP over the long haul, when you consider how consistent he
has been with both the bat and glove; he is nothing short of
amazing.
As you roam the
Cardinals' outfield you are not stunned by the names save one:
Albert Pujols. Pujols is simply and easily one of the five best
players in the game right now. And to think just a couple of hundred
games ago he was playing Class A baseball. Is baseball a funny game
or what? Who knows what will happen with J.D. Drew? Labeled as a
can't-miss superstar, injuries have slowed him almost continually.
Now he is making solid contact but hitting the ball right at people.
He can't seem to buy a break. Don't know if the Cards will wait him
out to see what he can do when and if he ever gets healthy, or if
they will continue to shop him and maybe continue to shore up the
pitching corps. You'd have to say that Eduardo Perez, Eli Marrero
and Orlando Palmiero have done an excellent job for St. Louis.
Without that trio and some of the work by Kerry Robinson, the Birds
could have been in a hole by now that they may never have been able
to climb out of.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
 Despite their stellar
play so far, one concern remains. This is NOT the speediest outfield
that you will ever lay eyes on! From a defensive standpoint this
concerns me greatly, when you consider how much long relief and
stoppers have struggled up to this point in the proceedings.Mike
Matheny continues to cover a multitude of sins for the Cardinals.
Obviously one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball,
he's gotten some big hits along the way too. And the way he works
with pitchers has really helped guide St. Louis to a share of first
place as of today. That is a huge factor in the Cards' meteoric rise
over the last two weeks. It is also a critical component of how far
they can go and whether they can withstand the rash of injuries that
have beset them in the early going.
It is still way too
early to predict how these redbirds will fare. Though Card fans
throughout the region are hoping for a return to the glory of the
1982 season!
Cardinal fastballs
--Former pitching great
Danny Cox will be managing in the independent league.
--Another former
redbird hurler, Ricky Horton is now serving as the director of the
St. Louis area Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
--The secret weapon,
Jose Oquendo, is getting so aggressive as the Birds' third base
coach, he's beginning to remind longtime fans of Hal Lanier.
Remember the awesome job Lanier used to do for the Cards?
--The Cards outscored
the Expos and the Mets 48-16 during the homestand.
--The last time the
redbirds swept a homestand of six or more games was Aug. 13-19,
2001, when they swept Cincinnati and Philadelphia for seven games.
--The last time they
swept Montreal was Sept. 28-30, 1992.
--St. Louis will play
only NL Central opponents for the next month.
--The Cardinals will get their first look
at the Reds' new
Great American Ball Park starting tonight in Cincinnati.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
Editorial note: The LDN sports staff plans to
bring you some other baseball updates on the Chicago Cubs, White Sox
and others over the next few months…
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