The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 08, 1983, Page 7, Image 7
sports.
lead coach say:
I Baseballs
I By Sammy Fretwell
A Uhnnnh I I'c KocoKoll ton.^ ...nn 1
Ir\iinuu5?* o uuovi/wu iv^aiu wad CI 1111111 ct
post-season play, head coach June Raines said tl
was relatively satisfying.
The Gamecocks, who received an at-large bid
East Regional in Chapel Hill, N.C., bowed <
secutive losses to Delaware and eventual tourr
James Madison, but the veteran coach saw mar
this past spring.
"OVERALL I was pleased. We hit .305 as a
pitching was good, if spotty at times," Raines s
| ed up .3vi J ana came on strong at the end <
season, which got us into the playoffs. Unfortur
we just did not play well in the regionals and t
"1 thought this year's team could have beei
series like past teams, but of course I think th
This year we just played those two bad games br
the regionals) and that was the difference."
One thing Carolina was able to overcome, th(
according to Raines, was the bad weather thi
area this past spring. USC was rained out 10 t
"You go into a year and you never plan c
manv games rained out. The cancellations of th
at home emotionally set us back. Our guys were
but unfortunately we got rained out.
"AND RIGHT after that we went to Newberi
(6-4 on April 13), which 1 think shook us up a
that we said 'Hey we've got to bounce back ;
good baseball.'"
The Gamecocks did, winning nine of 12 ga
two of three from archrival Clemson. Raines s;
i:r. :?n.. 1 _ -
iiu iui uic itaui, cspctmuy mc iasi gtUllC agau
"When we came back to beat Clemson (4-3 c
was the high point," he said. "It was a crucia
They had beaten us the night before 8-1, just i
And when we came back late in that second g
was great."
In thejsecond game USC had trailed the Tig<
the way, but pinch hitter Pete Fisher hit a bloc
bottom of the eighth to put the Gamecocks all
THERE WERE also high points from the st;
dividual play, Raines said.
"Mike Cook was a big surprise," he said.
naa tne arm, and he won eight games tor us, u
been clone by a freshman at South Carolina
outstanding year. And Mike Werner did a supe
bullpen."
Werner finished the season with a spotless
earned run average of 2.22 and had five saves
KmW
I ; v mL
v : ih
I HEAD COACH JUNE RAINES SIZE!
The Gamecocks lost to the I
s
>UdoUM olIUUI
ted quickly in I
lie 1983 season
WmNLA A
Dut after con- I
anient winner H - .
ly bright spots I
team and.the
aid. "We end- fa
of the regular ja|
lately, though, j . . . vv - '.v_v..v:
hat hurt us. [ , ^
i in the world 1
at every year. fl
ick-to-back (in H
>ugh not easily B|
it plagued the
;mes. Hp
?n having that
e Miami series
^ ^-iiWK r-mi
>ct thn Tif>f?rc 9H
m May 1)? that HHHH BSH
JSS5S SHORTSTOPS
;ame to win, it Head COBCh June
its for most of A veteran utility player im]
>p single in the way as he became a vital pari
lead to stay.
"I WAS very pleased wit!
andpoint of in- player who ha^ beenh^re foi
much baseball for us. He step
"We knew he he had never played before ir
/hich has never rors all year. And I was just
, so he had an Raines said that junior-coll
r job out of the ved to be the the most consis
doubles and 25 RBIs. <
"We always knew Jim St. 1
7-0 record, an His on base percentage was
\i/q 1 \s c (AA\ ir* Hitc (&1\ Q n H in
"1 ^ , ~ __- :v ^
\ "
:* vr-: ^2;yi^'J& m^|
Photo by Johnny Boggs
5 UP SITUATION AGAINST DELAWARE
Blue Hons 12-11 in 11 innings
" tnHHmBNBnnMiHnMMnmai
sssfuLdespi
ANDERSON MAKES DOUBLE PLAY IN FIR!
) Raines praised his team despite quick eli
pressed Raines in an unexpected AS SATISF
t of the team as a starter in '83. there were a f<
"There wer
i Art Finlpv Hprp'c a wallf.nn V/lai-l- Polvort
r three years and hadn't played Larry Price w<
ped in at second base, a position happen."
\ his life, and only made five ervery
pleased with him." In a nutshel
ege transfer Jim St. Laurent pro- year, and Rail
tent player, batting .376 with 13 was an excitin
Laurent was going to be on base. "Coach (J<
over .500. He led our team in recruiting," h
batting average." ready for 198'
Gamecocks drop
games in East R(
By Sammy Fretwell
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Being the first
eliminated from regional play is not
iL! a _ ...L' L !
someinillg 10 wiuun :? ucibcucui ictun is
accustomed. So more than a few eyebrows
were raised when the Gamecocks lost in the
first two rounds of the NCAA East
Regionals held here May 26-29.
The Gamecocks took back-to-back losses
and bowed quietly out of the National Collegiate
Athletic Association tournament ending
the season at 35-13.
In opening round action, USC sent
unbeaten junior Gary Farmenter to tne
mound To face James Madison University.
The Dukes, who had finished second in the
East Coast Athletic Conference-South,
wasted little time in disposing of the
Gamecock ace, tagging him for seven runs on
four hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings
enroute to 9-4 victory over the Gamecocks.
CAROLINA BATTLED back from 7-1
deficit to come within three, thanks to a two
run homer by Chris Boyle and a solo shot by
Phillip Wilson.
But that was all the scoring USC was to do
as JMU went on to post the win, enroute to
an eventual first-place finish in the regional.
USC coach June Raines said his team's
first opening round loss since 1977 "was just
one of the those things. Once you get in a
tournament, every team's pretty good. We
don't take anybody lightly. You've got to
give James Madison credit. They hit our best
1 pitcher."
AGAINST FAST C oast Conference
champion Delaware, Carolina blew two
five-run leads losing 12-11 in 11 innings on a
Blue Hen home run.
in me iirsi inning, me uamecocKS mauiea
Delaware starting pitcher Doug Shaab, scoring
five times on six hits to send the senior
left-hander to an early shower.
%
te regionals
hrBrkl
HHP s
?
C-<
Photo by Johnny Boflqs
ST INNING AGAINST DELAWARE
mination from NCAA regionals
IED as the coach was with much of the season
jw shortcomings.
e a couple of disappointments. We thought
had an off year for a senior. And we thought
Duld develop more than he did. But those things
1, 1983 proved to be what some might call an off
les agrees it was not his best team, but he said it
g one. And he's looking forward to next season.
>hnny) Hunton and I have been on the road
e said. 'The year is past and we ve got to get
consecutive
igional playoffs
Wilson led off with an infield single, and
scored on St. Laurent's double. Heise reached
on an error and Boyle doubled off the
center-field fence to score two more runs to
make it 3 0.
SULLIVAN FOLLOWED, after one out,
with a single scoring Boyle. Larry Hernandez
then hit into a fielder's choice, Anderson ^
doubled to right sending Hernandez to third,
and Art Finley singled to left to score two
more runs.
That chased Shaab and brought in reliever
Mike Piascik who retired Wilson on a ground
out to end the inning.
Delaware bounced back in the third,
though, for three runs to cut the lead to 5-3,
and in the fourth tied the score on a runscoring
double by left fielder Dave Just and a
balk by USC pitcher Mike Cook, which
scored Blue Hen center fielder Warren Post
from third.
Carolina head coach June Raines protested,
saying the balk was not called quickly
enough, but to no avail and the run stood.
THE CJAMECOCKS jumped back on top
in their half of the fourth on a two-run
homer by Heise and added to the lead in the
fifth when Hernandez was hit by a pitch,
went to second on passed ball and scored on
Anderson's single to make the score 8-5.
After Delaware picked up a run on two
hits in the sixth, Carolina bounced back in
the bottom of the inning to score three more
runs and pad the lead at 11-6.
But the Blue Hens exploded for five runs
in the seventh to tie the score.
The score remained knotted until the 11th
inning when first baseman Tom Skrablc hit
reliever Robbv Coker's two-strike nitrh over
the left-field fence to put the Blue Hens in
front* to stay, as the Gamecocks saw their
season end three up and three down in the
bottom of the 11th.