Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Sports ■v. ■ ' ' . : • ■ ' y v". '■ I." ...I...... ■ ———- ■■ 1 ■ "... Meyer from page 9 He’s struggling a little bit.” Despite the struggles, Meyer contin ues to put in the work necessary to suc ceed* Sc hi finer said. “He’s flying. opglriTB&ic bit, trying to pull the ball probably a lit tle bit more than he should. He is certainly trying in batting practice, and it’s starting to come around.” The adjustment isn’t specific to Mey er alone; a lot of the Cape Cod players go through it, including Meyer’s USC and Chatham teammate, Marcus McBeth, who is hitting .189 with a home run and Oirrlit DTHr “It’s amazing because there’s such a dramatic difference between hitting the ball, on the label of the wooden bat and hitting the ball on the label of an aluminum bat,” Schiffner said. “You can hit a ball out in most college stadiums on the label, but not with a wooden bat. You’ll either break it, or you’ll pop up to third base.” McBeth cites the combination of the wooden bats and the Cape Cod pitchers as the keys to he and Meyer’s offensive struggles. “It’s a big adjustment,” McBeth said. “We’re facing a lot of great pitching up here. We’re going to make the adjust ments, and we’ll be fine.” Using a wooden bat isn’t the only new experience for Meyer this summer. His team is 14-14-1 and in last place in the Cape’s Eastern Division, a position Mey er hasn’t held in quite a long time. “I must have been nine years old in a football league,” Meyer said. “I’ve nev er been in last place on a baseball team. I know that. This team shouldn’t be in last. We just haven’t had the best of luck.” yougei HSS Cape Cod? “I wish it was like that,” Meyer said. “Most of us work from 8 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m., and you have to be at the field at 2:30 on away days, and four on home day. That gives you about an hour and a half to eat lunch.” Meyer has been spending his morn ings working for the housing authority in Chatham. “I’m just basically a helper to a main tenance guy,” Meyer said. “Whenever people call in complaints, I go and help them fix it. Right now, we’re rebuilding a community room.” What would Meyer’s clients say if they knew he was a freshman All American starting shortstop for a top ranked collegiate program, not to men tion a former second round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers? “It’s an elderly home, but they know that I’m an A’s player,” Meyer said. “Up here, that’s huge. The town really respects the players and looks forward to going to all the games. It’s fun for the town, and it’s fun for us.” The biggest intangible difference between college baseball and summer ball on the Cape is the laid back atmosphere. “College is pure winning,” Meyer said. “Here they just want to see you play good. They cheer for players on the oth er team when they make good plays.” Meyer can’t wait to get back in front of the Gamecock fans, but he’s enjoying the relaxed New England atmosphere now. “j’,,; -p"1. friondiv atmosphere,” Mey er said. It s like a town get togetner. u s really nice how they put it on. They do a good job.” One thing Meyer has on a good num ber of his teammates is his car. “It helps out a lot,” Meyer said. “Dri ving to the games, and just having the free dom to go where you want. The West Coast guys fly in and have to get rides pvprvwhprp. CO it’c « nri\/i1onrp to hfu/P 3 „ - X -O car up here.” Getting his car there wasn’t the eas iest part of Meyer’s summer. “I started on a Saturday morning at about 7:30, and I thought I would just dri ve until about 8 p.m. and pull over and get a hotel,” Meyer said. The problem was, there weren’t any hotels. Not at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. or 10p.m. “There were no hotels anywhere,” Meyer said. “I had to drive until almost 1 a.m. I was almost to Providence.” That was when Meyer got his fust taste of the cost of living in the North as compared to the South. “I found a Best Wfestem, and I thought, “This ought to be pretty cheap,’” Mey er said. “It was like a$ 100.00. The cost of living up here compared to down south is so big.” When Meyer was picking his girl friend up from the Providence, R.I., air port, someone asked him if Lou Holtz was going to turn the football program around Meyer’s girlfriend then informed the man that Drew was the starting shortstop for the baseball team. “He knew about Lafayette and all that stuff,” Meyer said. “Then he asked me my name and how I did.” The man told Meyer he’d have to look for him in the paper next year. Mey er wasn’t expecting the man’s next com ment. “I’m a big Dodgers fan,” the man said. “I go to Dodger stadium all the time.” Meyer kept quiet about last summer. “I didn’t even want to bring up the whole Tommy Lasorda draft deal, so I just kept quiet about that,” Meyer said. DIVISION i j W L JPts Brewster ' j 1 ' l 22 14 Harwich , 19 15| | 40 Orleans ! - | f 19 16 1 39 Chathamj 4ru| titA 1.18 17 1 37 YanrieS-Dennis 17 19 g) 34 I | * ,W« L; T Pts Wareham ' 22*14 1 45. Hyanwsjj 17 17 2 36 Falmouth 17 19 0 34 Cotuit 14 23 0 28 Bourne 12 23 1 25 _ _ i IgPapIp Holtz football clinic for ladies draws large crowd USC Sports INFORMATION Nearly 700 women from across the state of South Carolina and Southeast re gion were on hand Saturday for the Lou Holtz Football Clinic for Ladies held at the Carolina Coliseum and Williams Brice Stadium. Coach Holtz addressed the group for 50 minutes, going over everything from his program’s goals for winning,to offensive and defensive philosophy to the team’s schedule during the upcoming preseason football camp. Coach Holtz told the group that their enthusiasm and loyalty are unbelievable, and he re assured the women of his dream to bring a championship to USC. “The women that follow our pro gram are among the most supportive and loyal fans we have,” said Coach Holtz. “Their interest has been overwhelming ,and I think the turnout for this clinic re inforces that.” The clinic also featured talks from Pat Moorer, USC’s director of strength and conditioning; Chris Matlock, USC’s equipment manager; and a review of the rules by local game official Grady Ray. The group also heard from the offensive and defensive staff, received a recruiting update from Dave Roberts, USC recruiting coordinator, and listened to a players’ panel featuring Defensive Tackle John Stamper, Defensive Backs Jonathan Mar tin, Sheldon Brown andAntione Nesmith, Offensive Lineman Justin McGuire and Running Back Andrew Pinnock. The clinic concluded in the afternoon with a tour of the stadium and its facilities. The Gamecock coaching staff begins their annual hideaway Sunday afternoon, where they will fine tune their presea son practice plans. The USC freshmen report on Aug. 6, with the varsity squad reporting Aug. 10. Coach Holtz and his son, Skip, just re turned from a National Father-Son event at Myrtle Beach, where they were paired to gether in a golf tournament for the past two days. “Both of us played extremely well and hit the ball super, but we missed a lot of putts. I know I missed a lot of short putts on Friday. But, Skip is still talking to me so I must have not played that poorly.” I _I_I_I_I_I_I_I_i_:_I », “ Mathis a starter in MLS all-star game USC Sports INFORMATION Former-Gamecock men's soccer player Clint Mathis became the first Gamecock to play in a Major League Soccer All-Star game this past Satur day. Mathis, a midfielder/forward for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, started for the East in the fifth annual all-star game in Columbus, Ohio. Mathis finished third in the East ern Division midfielder voting with 55,238 votes, behind Tampa Bay's Car los Valderrama and D.C.'s Marco Etcheverry. Mathis is one of seven all-stars mak ing his first appearance on the MLS all star squad. At the all-star break, Mathis is tied for seventh in the league in scoring with nine goals and nine assists for 27 points. The 1997 third-year player was dealt to the MetroStars earlier this sea son and has helped the team rise to first place in the Eastern Division with a 13 7-2 record. _ Clint Mathis Check out GamecockCentral.com for message boards, - chat rooms, football, baseball, basketball, and more!!