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Railers gear up for late-season run
By Jeff Mayfield
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[MAY 2, 2005]
The Lincoln Railers baseball team,
under the very capable guidance of head coach Pat Hake, got back on
track this weekend by sweeping a twin bill over the Morton Potters.
The victories vaulted Lincoln's record to 17-7, 4-4 and helped
soothe the pain of a couple of difficult league losses to
Taylorville last week. But make no mistake, this is a team on the
rise, a team that is growing and maturing and perhaps on a path to a
very special ending to this campaign.
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The talent seemed to be there even last
year. However, the confidence may have been lacking. The desire to
trust the coaches and just come out and play was not always there.
Mental mistakes and physical miscues hurt the Railers from time to
time. Much of that has been eradicated this season. Coach Hake told
the LDN that his team has grown and matured in several ways. A
recent nine-game winning streak would serve as evidence for that.
He went on to tell us that players
coming over from winning programs in sports like wrestling and
basketball have had a tremendously positive impact on his baseball
program. He seemed to indicate that the winning attitude and the
winning mentality carry over to other sports like baseball. It is so
good to see players grow up, play as a team and see the success that
all of that hard work leads to.
With upcoming games still to play
with Glenwood and Griffin, among others, Lincoln can still control
some of its own destiny as long as somebody beats Taylorville along
the way. Whatever happens, Lincoln has come a long way from last
year's doldrums and appears to be gearing up for a great late-season
run.
Join Greg Taylor and me on this
week's "FANdamonium" as we chat with Coach Hake and get the inside
scoop on this year's Railer success!
Cubs and Cards fall on the road
The Chicago Cubs couldn't get by the
Houston Astros, and the St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Atlanta
Braves this past weekend. For the Cards, it was their first series
loss since three weeks ago to the Phillies. Hopefully, both clubs
will bounce back as both a new week and a new month unfold. The
Cards stay on the road to tackle the Reds, while the Cubs will visit
the Brewers for a three-game set.
[to top of second column in this article]
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"White-hot" White Sox soar to best
record in baseball With a couple of wins over visiting
Detroit, the Chicago White Sox have led a charmed life and find
themselves with the best record in the game. Jon Garland has a
sparkling 5-0 record, and the rest of the pitching has been pretty
good too! Chicago entertains the Kansas City Royals this week.
The really troublesome thing is that
as well as the Sox have played, they haven't put much distance
between themselves and the Twinkies. Chicago is 7-3 in their last 10
games and so are the Twinkies. I don't know how Minnesota does it,
but they put competitive teams on the field year after year. And how
'bout the run Johann Santana has had over the last couple of years?
He finally lost a game this weekend to the Los Angeles Angels of
Anaheim (now that's a mouthful), and I think that one was only 2-1!
Other stuff
Jeff Gordon has now won both
restrictor plate races and has won on the sport's largest track and
now on its smallest. Some of the massive pile-ups really seemed to
affect the outcome of this weekend's race and the bump-drafting was
at its best.
Do you think they will ever play
another PGA tournament that isn't affected by the rain? Maybe there is
something to this global warming thing after all?
There is so much more, but I'm out
of time. Have a great week, everybody!
[Jeff Mayfield]
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