Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Deciding Beti Grantz Chooses Baseball BY BILLY BAKER Sports Writer Spring football practice will start without USC's top performer of the 1973 campaign. Jeff Grantz, an All-America quarterback candidate, will spend his time helping the baseball team pursue its goal of a NCAA playoff berth. Grantz has the fortune, or misfortune (depending on how you see it), of being a very talented in both sports. For instance, last fall -he was named the "MVP" ' on the Gamecock football team, accounting for 1,670 yards of total offense in eight games. Grantz also set a new record for total rushing yards in one game for a quarterback with 260 yards against Ohio University. In baseball his .385 batting average last summer for an amateur baseball team in Baltimore that won the national championship earned him "MVP" laurels also. "I came to Carolina because I knew it was a growing school in both sports," said Grantz. "I knew Coach Paul Dietzel was a prominently known football coach and baseball Coach Bobby Richardson was prominently-known in baseball, and I knew I would be able to play both sports." Grantz's scholarship deal contains a clause permitting him to play both sports. He quit the baseball team last season when football drills began because Carolina was switching football offenses and he thought that he needed to familiarize himself with the Veer triple option offense. "You have to live up to the arrangement that you made," said Dietzel. "No one on the staff will have any hard feelings towards Jeff about missing spring football practice." "Jeff Grantz came here because he knew he could play both sports," said Richardson. "This is not really an uncommon thing because a lot of athletes play two sports in college." &TI 111AC9 ? Straxu$b Richland Mal . ARCADE MALL 13 Downtown Colun 782.8162 OPE4 10-6 254-2445 OPEN DESIGNS from EMILY, J -~ ., Beautiful - Spiing colors in a bright Check make this Wrap Around J Sie< Skirt ($26) Neck of1 with motching is comi Belted good lookir ocket($44)flattering and of twill I Coto 1208 Knox bbotsBDrive Phne794)45 ween Sports Over Spring Football While Grantz is helping the baseball team this spring, his football backup, Ron Bass, will be getting more attention. "We won't have to play Grantz when he gets tired this year because when you get tired there is a better chance of injury," said Dietzel. "I don't know of any other school in the country who has two fine quar terbacks like these. two." Currently Grantz is playing shortstop while Eddie Ford is recovering from an injury, but he normally plays second base. In the first ten games he has seven hits in 33 at bat showing at the plate for- a .212 average and has not com mitted an error in 29 fielding chances. "Jeff is not in a batting slump," said Richardson. "I have seen him hit three good shots right at people that would have otherwise been hits.. This would have given him a .300 average. "Jeff Grantz is a winner," said Richardson. "He is one of the most consistent players on the team. He wins at everything he does." Grantz has a unique approach to.athletics. He is modest in many ways, but yet he realizes his future is in his thoughts everyday. When one loves two sports with aspirations of being a professional one day there is a decision to be made. "I just love whatever sport I am playing at a given time," said Grantz. "I just want to do the best I can and contribute to the team in some way. "I play for the fun of playing," said Grantz. "Right now my main objective is to help the University of South Carolina to the best of my ability on the athletic field and to get a college education." Jeff Grantz has an audience of professional baseball scouts following his play and this fall the press box at Williams-Brice Stadium will privide a good view for professional football scouts. But the biggest asset Grantz has is two more years at Carolina and a lot of time to think. 30 MAIN ' 1023 BUSH RIVER RD. bia, S.C. WEST at 1-26 10- 6 798-0278 OPEN 10 - 6 UST EMILY FRI. NITE'TIL 9 (. \ Smart idea for so many *" occasions, this better tveless Turtle -belted . 00% Caotaon jacket fortoble andhs Shorts tha short sleeves e urn his heod to show off the ($ 16) each. Flowered Blouse ($18). The matching Slocks ($24) complete the look. Our seafood is the finest. Calabash style 3200 Two Notch Aoad. Phnn 782-Anna USC Sw Blue De BY BILLY BAKER Sports Writer Carolina, off to its best baseball start in. years, swept a doubleheader from Duke 8-4 and 9 1 Monday in Durham, raising its seasaon record to 10-0. Neither. game went the usual nine innings as darkness and cold weather shortened the first game to seven innings and the second to six.- Still, Carolina managed 22 hits while yielding just nine to the Blue Devils. In the opener, Carolina jumped on Duke pitching for three runs in the first inning . - Right fielder Frank Matusek highlighted the scoring with a two-run double. In the second inning, the Gamecocks added a run and later put the game away with two runs each in the fourth and seventh innings. Hank Small led the onslaught with a three-for-four showing at the plate. John Gambrell had two hits and was the only Gamecock to score twice in the game. Earl Bass pitched the entire game for USC, giving up four hits, walking four and striking out nine. The second game was a rerun of the first as the Gamecocks scored four first-inning runs en route to a 9-1 win. Jett Grantz led off the game with a triple. Gambrell and Bass also singled and, with the aid of three Duke errors, all scored. Freshman Don Repsher also scored after reaching base with a walk. Carolina added two runs in the third on a two-run homer by cat cher Drew Choate. In the fourth innings, the Gamecocks added their final three runs. Momentu For Tenn BY GEORGE MORRIS Sports Writer The USC tennis team will try to maintain the momentum it picked up in last Saturday's win over Penn State when it returns from a short layoff to take on Western Kentucky, Central Michigan , Miami (Ohio), Kentucky, Dart mouth, and Ohio University in the next two weeks. Carolina, now 9-2 on the year, will be playing without the its top player, Bernard Fritz, who injured his ankle in last week's match against Virginia. This is the second injury Fritz has suffered this season, and the freshman star has been able to play in only six matches thus far. Coach Ron Smarr reports that Fritz will probably not see action until March 22 when UJSC plays in the Gator Classic in Gainsvills, Fla. Smiarr looks for Wednesday's meet with Western Kentucky and next Monday's match with Ken tucky to be the toughest his team will face before Carolina travels to Florida to play Jacksonville University. Although he admits Carolina's toughest competition is yet to come, Smnarr is pleaded with his team's play and optimistic about the upcomine matches. " I think we played real well against Penn Sitte that's eeps vils Drew Choate Four Gamecocks had two hits in the game.; Gambrel], Bass, fresh man third baseman Jim Pankovits and Choate, who also had three RBI. Greg Wrad raised his record to 3 0, striking out seven, walking two and giving up two walks. Eddie Pieczynski and John Poff were the losing pitchers, respectively. Through 10 games, the Gamecocks' leading hitter is Gambrell at .484 (15-31). Bass is hitting .375, Small .344 and Pank povits .303. Coate leads in home runs with two, while Pankovits has 11 RBI and Grantz has five stolen bases. Carolina upped its season record to 12-0 with two baseball victories yesterday afternoon at the Roost. In the first game they downed Madison, 8-0, and sQueaked by Central Michigan, 6-5. m Key is Team probably one of our best per formances since the Wisconsin tournament," Smarr said. "We're getting back on the right track now. We had a real good effort out of everybody in singles; we beat them in all singles without our top man. Penn State's top three players are back from last year when they finished 17th in the country, and you only enter four players in the national tour nament." The Gamecocks will spend most of their Spring Break in Florida. In the Gator Classic Carolina will face Florida, Southern Illinois and Florida International. Smarr said, "Florida will definitely be tough as nails; they're as tough as anyone we play all year. We play Southern Illinois again, and they have their number two player back, so they should be stronger." 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