How about some local sports? | News, Sports, Jobs

The Enterprise sports page was packed with local stories and included a few bylines – Brian McCarthy in the first story below and Jim Stowell in the next. It’s a shame most reporters didn’t use their bylines back then. After that, there’s a third story with a great leading paragraph, but no line of text.

–

Breakdown of age groups in Little League

–

“Little 9-year-old Johnny steps up the plate to face giant Jimmy, three years his senior, on the hill. Jimmy rears up and unleashes a throw that seems Johnny 100 miles per hour, heading straight for him.

“Petrified, Johnny jumps out of the batter’s box as the ball sails into the catcher’s mitt for a strike.

“Too many Johnnys play ball out of fear of the older and bigger Jimmys, say organizers of the Saranac Lake Little League. To counteract this fear and to increase the declining player numbers, there are plans to create two leagues – one for the 9- and 10-year-olds and one for the 11- and 12-year-olds.

“‘You see too many situations where a great Timmy Turner throws at little kids who are so scared they jump out before the ball is thrown,’ said Frank Turner, the program’s co-commissioner with Chuck Bell.

“A number of players who leave little league or don’t even get into baseball because they’re afraid to step back into the batter’s box or until they’re 12, Turner added.

“Those 9- and 10-year-olds who are scared or not playing well often don’t get as much playing time as they should. This means the lack of game experience and skill development will be lacking as they advance to higher levels of baseball, from little league to Larry Doyle League to junior varsity and high school level varsity.

“There has been some resistance from coaches and parents from teams in the league but outside of Saranac Lake – Lake Clear, Paul Smiths, Vermontville and Bloomingdale because they lack the numbers to field two separate teams.”

–

Tip Top Electric Doyle League Champions

–

“Brent Denis, who equalized two runs in dark skies, stole two bases and hit on a wild pitch with two outs at the end of the seventh to give Tupper Lake’s Tip Top Electric the Larry Doyle League championship.

“Denis’ winning run culminated in a three-heat rally at the end of the seventh after Lake Placid American Legion netted once in the top part of the inning to take a 10-8 lead in the seesaw contest.

“The championship competition featured regular-season #2 and #4 teams. Tip Top finished second, ending their season 9-2. Lake Placid finished fourth, ending in the semifinals with a 6-4 mark and an upset against Bloomingdale (10-1).

“Tip Top only had five hits in the contest but utilized six errors at Lake Placid, 13 walks, a hitter and several wild pitches. The advantage was evident in the first inning when Tip Top platted two runs without a hit. Denis finished second due to a mistake and moved up to third with a stolen base and a wild pitch before scoring on Jason Duval’s bounce out.”

It’s a long story, but here’s a short play-by-play of Lake Placid:

“Lake Placid scored once in the third goal while William McNair, who was single, finally scored on a wild field. In the fourth they took a 6-5 lead and scored four goals in four.

“Jason Colby led with a walk and Phil Beaney doubled. An out later, Mike Strack singled in a run and David Salls singled two teammates home to tie the score. Salls stopped by to score on Mike Beaney’s single.

“Tip Top tied 6-6 when LaRocque singled, stole second place and died on two wild pitches.”

–

The Black Fly Championship answer

–

“They had the Ali Frazier rematch and the Celtics-Lakers and the Yankees-Dodgers series. Tonight in Petrova, the Back Door and Waterhole Sharks face off in the first game of a best-of-five series in a classic rehash of last year’s championship series to determine the winner of the Black Fly Softball League.

“The back door, which defeated the Sharks in three games in last year’s title fight, withstood Club 86’s angry attempt to secure a 5-4 win on Wednesday to win their semifinal series in two games. The Sharks won their second leg chance as they secured their streak with a 10-2 win over Ted’s Grocery Wednesday in Petrova.

“It looked like a rematch would be delayed after Club 86 stormed 3-1 in the first inning at Ray Brook. The Back Door rallied for three runs at the top of the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. It added a run in the fifth for a two-run advantage.

“Tom Sullivan cut the lead to 5-4 when he hit a home run in the park in the bottom of the fifth.

“Kevin Magurk was the winning pitcher while Craig Catalano suffered the loss.

“The Sharks had an easier time getting into the finals as they routed Ted’s Grocery with 11 hits and 10 carries in Petrova.

“Vinnie Pelletieri, John McDougall, Rick Yorkey and John O’Brien all scored two hits apiece to lead the winners. Bill Peria was the winning pitcher. Ted Fountain was marked with the loss.”