The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 19, 1999, Page B1, Image 13
Schedule
■ Women’s soccer vs. UNC Asheville, Saturday
■ Men’s soccer vs. U-17 Nationals, Aug. 25
Thursday, August 19,1999 %\\t (SaiHCCOCk Page B1
Summer Roundup
USC sports don’t wilt easily in summer
The baseball team (top) will be without Brian Roberts (below,
right) and three others next season, due to MLB’s annual draft.
Sean Rayf ditor
Softball's Pietro, track's Trammell shine as six Gamecock squads make NCAA
postseason tournaments; baseball team loses four starters to major league draft
by David Cloninger
Senior Writer
Although South Carolina athletes were
granted a summer vacation with the rest
of the student body in May after another
long year of school, several of them decid
ed to stick around Columbia and see what
they could accomplish with their various
teams.
Together, athletes from five different
sports at USC pieced together a puzzle con
sisting of seven NCAA tournament ap
pearances, gold medals and advancement to
the pros.
Baseball
The Gamecock baseball team, despite
winning the SEC Eastern Division champi
onship, was left heartbroken by the NCAA
tournament’s selection committee.
Aitnougn tne tournament expanded to
64 teams this year, Carolina’s 35-23 record
wasn’t quite good enough for the commit
tee, and the team was left home while six
other SEC teams went to the tournament.
USC put itself out of contention with
two consecutive losses in the SEC tourna
ment, marking the 12th straight SEC tour
nament loss for Gamecock baseball.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs battled
USC to a 4-4 tie in the Gamecocks’ first
game, but USC threatened to end the game
by loading the bases with nobody out.
However, the team couldn’t score and
let the Bulldogs escape with a win.
USC was shut out the next day by the
Mississippi Rebels, effectively ending
both the season and the collegiate careers
of seniors Jay Lambert, Jason Pomar, Tim
Angiolini and Brett Kondro.
The loss was disheartening, but USC
probably figured an NCAA bid was going
to be offered on the basis of the Eastern Di
vision championship.
A 15-17 conference record wasn’t
enough for a bid, however.
Later in the summer, the 1999 Major
League Baseball Amateur Draft picked four
Gamecocks for the professional ranks. Ju
nior shortstop Brian Roberts, who led the
NCAA in stolen bases and was chosen as an
All-American, was picked 50th overall by
the Baltimore Orioles and chose to leave
USC after only one year. Roberts transferred
to USC from North Carolina after two years.
High-schooler Drew Meyer, signed by
USC last year, was picked 81st by the Los
Angeles Dodgers.
The Bishop-England High School short
stop is enrolled at USC, but the Dodgers can
still sign him at any time before classes be
gin. If Meyer begins class today, he will play
baseball for the Gamecocks, most likely
starting at shortstop and leading off the bat
ting order.
Meyer neipeu me usa oaseoau ream
win agotd medal in world competition, scor
ing the winning run against China over the
summer.
Other draftees from USC included the
393rd pick, senior pitcher Pomar. Pomar
was taken by the Oakland Athletics a year
after turning down a job with the Seattle
Mariners organization.
He had a solid senior campaign, rank
ing among SEC leaders in saves.
Also, junior pitcher Randy Hadden was
picked 434th, also by the Dodgers.
He has signed with the team and was
sent to their rookie league farm club.
Softball
The 14th-ranked Lady Gamecocks start
ed their summer by pulling into a tie for the
SEC Eastern Division championship with
Tennessee and advancing into the SEC tour
nament. The team won its first game, but
dropped its next two to finish 48-21 on
the year.
USC advanced to the NCAA tourna
ment, where it was seeded second in its
regional. However, its first opponent, the
Texas Tech Red Raiders, shut down the team
with a perfect game from pitcher Amanda
Renfro. Carolina fared no better in an elim
ination game against Florida A&M, losing
the game and the season to the Rattlerettes.
Senior Kim Pietro helped the Game
cocks salvage their wounded pride by be
ing named as a first-team All-American, a
tremendous honor for the often-decorated
athlete.
Also, freshman Megan Matthews gar
nered third-team All-American honors while
setting several freshman pitching records
and leading the SEC with 316 strikeouts.
Men's Golf
The Gamecock golf team finished a
strong season by making its way into the
NCAA Eastern Regionals at Rhode Island.
Sophomore Kyle Thompson, riding a
five-week hot streak, blasted his way to
medalist honors while carrying the team to
a second-place finish behind Geoigia Tech
and ahead of third-place Clemson.
The team advanced to the NCAA Cham
pionships in Minnesota, but failed to make
. the cut and finished 21st overall.
The appearance was the 15th straight
for Coach Puggy Blackmon, who saw his
team finish as the 1 lth-ranked program in
the country. Blackmon hasn’t missed the
NCAA’s since coming to USC.
Thompson and junior Eric Ecker cap
tured All-American honors, and were also
named to the All-SEC team. Thompson
qualified for the U.S. Amateur Champi
onships, along with junior John Bloomfield
and freshman Nash Elliott.
Summer see page bs
Football finishes two-a-day
practices; N.C. State sold out
Staff Reports
The Gamecock
Tuesday was the last day of
two-a-day practices for the USC
squad. The Gamecocks had position
meetings Wednesday morning and
went through an afternoon workout
later.
Head Coach Lou Holtz said his
team is wearing down from practice
over the summer. The Gamecocks
have practiced in full pads since
Aug. 13.
“Our gas tank is just about
empty right now,” he said. “We
need to fill up our tank, but there’s
a lot of our players who don’t real
ize how high the price of gas is
right now,” he said.
Holtz also lamented USC’s
quarterback situation. Along with
some inconsistent play in practice,
he said he still can’t answer the
question of who will back up starter
Phil Petty.
“We’re really no closer to
ascertaining who our backup is than
we were before,” he said. “It’s just
a question of controlling the ball,
protecting the ball and cutting down
on interceptions.”
One major change was made on
the offensive line in the past week,
with lineman Cedric Williams, a
redshirt freshman, moving to left
tackle.
“Cedric is one of the better
athletes we have on the line,” Holtz
said. “He may challenge for a start
ing role at that position. We'll move
Melvin Paige over to right tackle
for the time being.”
The USC athletics ticket office
reported that all tickets for the
North Carolina State game on Sept.
4, including student tickets, have
been sold.
Regarding injuries:
• Redshirt sophomore line
backer Franky McCullum missed
three recent practices because of
soreness in his knee. McCullum
suffered a stress fracture earlier this
summer.
• Sophomore defensive back
Andre Goodman, who had two sep
arate surgeries to repair ligament
damage and missed all of spring
practice, was cleared to participate
in non-contact drills Monday.
Goodman started the first two
games at comerback last year before
suffering a season-ending knee
injury vs. Georgia.
• Freshman lineman Shane Hall
suffered a shoulder sprain in prac
tice and is probably out until the
week before the season opener vs.
N.C. State.
• Running back Jonathan
Martin, a redshirt freshman, tore
ligaments in his knee during a
scrimmage Sunday and will undergo
corrective surgery and is lost for the
season.
“Jonathan is a good player, and
we will miss him this season,”
Holtz said. “In addition to his tal
ents in running the ball, he was
important to our kicking game.
“We are so thin at some posi
tions that we can't afford to lose
anyone. He got injured in kind of a
freakish accident during a non-con
tact situation.”
Sean Rayford photo editor
Carolina coach Lou Holtz talks over game fundamentals with senior
running back Steve Mixon during spring practice.
David Cloninger
Fan-Addict
Summer’s
nice; pigskin
beckoning
After a summer of sweating
and working in the tiny town
of Seneca, your favorite pain is back
to bring you, dear reader, the
straight view on the worlds of USC '
and professional sports.
As many of you probably don’t
know, I am coming fresh off of a
- three-month tour of duty in the up
state, where I was held captive
on the campus of Clemson Uni
versity.
Don’t worry, I managed to sur
vive by counting every one of the
64,792 holes in my acoustic-tiled
ceiling, but it was still a rough time.
Anyway, as 1 thought of possi
ble topics for today’s installment,
I decided to do a little follow-up
of the sports world over the sum
mer.
rirsi oi an, my oeioveu Atlanta
Braves are taking a lot of criticism
from everyone about how they’ve
lost the will to win. Last time I
checked, the Braves were still bat
tling neck-to-neck with the New
York Slumlords and had one of the
best records in the major leagues.
Despite season-ending injuries
to Javy Lopez and Odalis Perez,
not to mention other key injuries
like Walt "What hurts today?"
Weiss and walking calamity Brian
Jordan, Atlanta is still steaming to
wards its eighth division title.
Of course, the biggest handicap
is still Bobby Cox, who has man
aged to be ejected several times
tnis year.
I think he found out his
Medicare wouldn’t cover anyone
without any semblance of a brain.
Some recent news that I must
give space to is the passing of one
of baseball’s best-loved personal
ities, Pee Wee Reese.
Reese died last week after a long
battle with cancer.
He will surely be missed not on
ly as a great player, but also as a
spokesman for equal rights in pro
sports, as he showed by welcom
ing Jackie Robinson to the Brook
lyn Dodgers with open arms.
Tony Gwynn and Wade Bog
gs, two of the nicest guys in sports, *
each achieved more milestones with
their 3,000th hits.
i ne v-ieveianu Drowns are oats,
in business, but I don’t know how
' well they’ll do with corn-fed coun
try boy Tim Couch as their starter.
Jamal Anderson, leading rush
er and offensive force for the NFC
champion Atlanta Falcons (Why
does that feel so strange to say?),
finally ended his training camp
holdout and re-joined the team.
Of course, he signed a ludicrous
deal that will probably pay him way
too much, and the Falcons will be
shot down again, as they have been
almost every year since their con
ception.
Good thing, too, because the
49ers, behind the 38-year-old arm
of quarterback Steve Young, are
poised to make a run for a seventh
title.
(Yes, I know we signed
Lawrence Phillips, but, hey, you
can’t blame me for believing.)
Ricky Williams, Heisman tro
phy winner, NCAA leader of rush
ing yards and the plum of last year’s
draft, signed a deal with the ‘Aints
CLONINQER SEE PAGE B7
The Slate
National League
Eastern Division W L Pet GB L10 Str Home Away
Atlanta 73 48 .603 - 7-3 L-l 39-21 34-27
New York 73 48 .603 - 6-4 L-l 35-25 38-23
Philadelphia 63 56 .529 9 2-8 L-2 31-28 32-28
Florida 50 70 .417 22.5 8-2 W-2 27-35 23-35
Montreal 49 70 .412 23 4-6 W-l 27-35 22-35
Central Division
Cincinnati 70 47 .598 - 7-3 W-2 32-30 38-17
Houston 72 49 .595 - 5-5 W-2 38-24 34-25
St. Louis 62 49 .512 10 6-5 W-3 30-30 32-29
Pittsburgh 59 60 .496 12 5-5 L-2 36-26 23-34
Milwaukee 54 63 .462 16 5-5 L-3 20-34 34-29
Chicago 51 67 .432 19.5 1-9 L-3 25-31 26-36
West Division
Arizona 69 51 .575 - 8-2 W-3 36-22 33-29
San Fransisco 60 59 .504 8.5 3-7 L-l 36-25 24-34
San Diego 55 65 .458 14 3-7 W-l 34-26 21-39
Los Angeles 53 67 .442 16 5-5 L-3 25-35 28-32
Colorado . 53 68 .438 16.5 5-5 W-l 29-29 24-39
American League
Eastern Division W L Pet GB L10 Str Home Away
New York 73 45 .619 - 7-3 W-2 39-23 34-22
Boston 66 53 .555 7.5 7-3 L-l 36-26 30-27
Toronto 65 57 .533 10 4-6 L-6 36-28 29-29
Baltimore 52 66 .441 21 4-6 W-l 28-28 24-38
Tampa Bay 51 69 .425 23 6-4 L-l 23-33 28-36
Central Division
Cleveland 72 46 .610 - 7-3 L-2 37-24 35-22
Chicago 56 62 .475 16 5-5 W-2 30-30 26-32
Minnesota 50 67 .427 21.5 5-5 L-2 24-32 26-35
Kansas City 47 71 .398 25 2-8 L-3 23-36 24-35
Detroit 47 72 .395 25.5 4-6 W-l 27-35 20-37
West Division
Texas 71 49 .592 - 5-5 W-3 35-22 36-27
Oakland 65 54 .546 5.5 7-3 W-l 41-19 24-35
Seattle 59 60 .496 11.5 6-4 W-3 32-28 27-32
Anaheim 48 70 .407 22 2-8 L-2 . 23-34 25-36
AP College
Football
Preseason Top 20
TEAM PV
1. Florida State 3
2. Tennessee 1
3. Penn State 17
4. Arizona 4
5. Florida 5
6. Nebraska 19
7. Texas A& M 11
8. Michigan 12
9. Ohio State 2
10. Wisconsin 6
11. Georgia Tech 9
12. Miami (Fla.) 20
13. Virginia Tech 23
14. Georgia 14
15. Colorado
16. UCLA 8
17. Texas 15
18. Notre Dante 22
19. Southern Cal
20. Alabama/Kansas St. -/10'