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Thurwiay, May U, 1977—MIRROR-HERALD—Page 5A
Take 1-OvLead ki SWC OiamfMonship Series
Moimties Nip Raiders 4-1 Tuesday
King* Mountain's Moun
taineers scored three runs
In the seventh Inning to
break a 1-1 tie and defeat
South Point 4-1 Tuesday
night In the opening game
of the best-of-three South
western Conference
championship baseball
series.
The two teams were
secheduled to play the sec
ond game last night at
Lancaster Field. The third
game, If needed, will be
piayad Friday nlglit at
r>avls Park In Belmont.
The victory, KM’s first
this year over the Red
Raiders, moved the Moun
taineers to 11-10 overall.
However, six of those de
feats came In non-
ccnference play. In league
competition. Including
regular season and playoff
action, the Mountaineers
are 10-4.
It was only the second
loss of the year for the Red
Raiders, who went Into the
playoffe aa a haaTjr
favorite. Ihe Raiders, now
lB-2, have lost onfy In
playoff action, to Bums
and Kings Mountain.
Righthander Ronnie Wil
son, whose slx-hltter
against Crest last week put
the Mountaineers In the
finals, went the distance
Tuesday night with a flve-
hltter. The lone South
Point run, which came In
the third Inning on Karl
Wltske’s triple, was un
earned. Joe ShfMriMrd, who
base on an error.
Righthander John Con
ner went the route for the
Raiders and had a two-
hltter and a 1-0 lead going
until the sixth Inning.
But the Mountaineers
collected seven of their
nine hits In the final two
frames to swing the vic
tory and put them In a good
posltlcm to win their second
SWC title In three years.
Bruce Valentine doubled
to lead off the sixth Inning
and scored the tying run
moments later on a sacri
fice fly by Jimmy Hall.
The Mountaineers then
took advantage of five
straight hits and another
sacrifice fly to score their
their three runs In the
seventh.
Designated hitter Steve
Lancaster doubled to get
things going In the seventh
and Wilson reached on a
bunt single. Bryan White's
double accounted for two
runs and after singles by
Danny Bolin and Andy
Loftln loaded the bases,
Valentine plated White
with a sacrifice fly.
Kings Mountain's other
two hits off Conner came In
the first two Innings. David
Ruy Robinson singled In
the first and moved to
second when Scott Ellis
was hit by a pitch but
Lancaster bounced Into a
double play to end that
threat.
In the second, Bolin
singled with two away but
stayed at first as Loftln
filed out.
Conner then retired nine
batters In a row before
Valentine's double led off
the sixth.
South Point threatened
several times but Wilson
came up with some big
pitches, and his defense
came up with some big
plays, to stop rallies.
ITie Red Raiders had
baserunners In every In
ning, and they had men In
scoring position In six of
the seven Innings.
9PORT9
Four KMHS Golfers
Qualify For WNCHSAA
Ur
‘i.-i >!'-• f • "C
'J- 4 ‘
Mark Sanders hits approach shot on numher 9..
L^on Practice To B^;m,
Gillespie Is Named G>ach
Kings Mountain Post 166
American Legion baseball
coach Robbie Moore has
called on another Gardner-
Webb player to assist him
with this year's Junior
team.
He's fireballing pitcher,
Richard Gillespie, the ace
of the G-W staff who hurled
Kings Mountain’s
Mountaineers to the South
western Conference title
two years ago.
Gillespie's appointment
> was announced today by
Moore and Post 166
athletic officer, Gene
TIgnor.
Also, Moore and TIgnor
have called for pre-season
practices to begin
Saturday at 2 p. m. at
Lancaister Field.
All persons age 16
through IS who are In
terested In trying out for
the team are urged to be
present. Kings Mountain
High School players will
not be eligible to tryout If
the Mountaineers are still
Involved In the high school
playoffs, but Moore said
* they’ll be welcome If their
Idayoffs are completed by
then.
Gillespie was a three-
year starter In the high
school and legion program
here. He was the KMHS
moat Improved player In
1976, when he posted an 8-1
record, hit .880 and helped
lead the Mountaineers to
the SWC title.
As a freshman at G-W,
he drew all the tough
(; District 26 pitching
assignments and he gained
some valuable experience
which should help
strengthen the Bulldog
program during the next
three yean.
4%.
. eSt
Herbie Beam penuadm putt
to drop in for birdie..
' Kings Mountain High’s
golfers missed out on win
ing the Southwestern
Conference title Monday
because of a penalty, but
the Mountaineers did
qualify four players for
next week’s Western N. C.
High Schools Activities
Association tourney at
Rtverbend Golf Club In
Shelby.
Host Shelby and East
Gaston shared the league
tttle, both teams coming In
with 817 totals. Kings
Mountain finished at 318,
R-S Central, 321,
CherryvlUe 337, North
Gaston 840, Chase 361,
South Point 864, East
Rutherford, 868, Bums 873
and Crest 888.
By qualifying four
players for the association
tournament, the^ Moun
taineers will stlil be able to
‘compete aSIl^tMlin In that
two-day tournament, a 36-
hole event set for Monday
and Tuesday. It’s the first
time since 1966 that KMHS
has qualified a team for
the event.
The Mountaineers went
into the conference tourna
ment as one of the favored
teams, and they battled
right down to the wire. But
what turned out to be the
difference was a two-
stroke penalty which
Rtverbend club pro Phil
Wallace assessed to KMHS
sophomore Darrell Austin
on the par four, first hole.
Austin’s tee shot went
within a foot of a highway
which runs beside the
number one fairway, and
Austin could not hit the ball
without standing on the
highway. He asked the
other players In his
foursome If he was allowed
a free drop, they said yea,
and he moved the ball two
clubs lengths and dripped
It
Wallace saw what
happened, came to the
green and charged Austin
a three-stroke penalty.
(Austin had paired the
hole, and the penalty gave
him a seven).
After the scores were
posted, Wallace changed
the penalty to two shots
Instead of three, but that
still left the Mountaineers
astroke shy of East Gaston
and Shelby.
Austin said he felt like he
was right In moving the
ball, feeling that the high
way would be considered
the same as a cart path.
Golf rules allow a two club
length dr(q> (or relief from
a cart path.
However, according to
Wallace, the highway Is
out of bounds, and even
though Austin's ball was a
foot shy of the highway, a
player still cannot get
relief from a ball that Is
close to an out of bounds
marker .Austin could have
stood in the road to hit the
ball, but was going against
the rules when he moved It.
Wallace said the In
fraction probably would
not have been noticed had
It happened away from the
clubhouse, but when
Austin moved the ball a
man on ths tee spotted It
and pointed it out to
Wallace. Wallace said he
actually left the clubhouse
with the Intention of
helping Austin and in
structing him to put the
ball back in Its original
poeltlcm. But by the time he
reached the area, the KM
player had already hit his
approach shot, and
Wallace had no other
alternative but to assess
him a penalty.
"I hated It happened,"
said Wallace, “and I
stayed awake half the
night because I knew It
coet Kings Mountain the
title. But had I not charged
him the penalty, the man
would have reported It to
the tournament officials
and he would have been
disqualified.”
W. C. Clary, executive
secretary of the Western
N. b. Jlllgb Schools Ab-
ttvlties • Association, said
tournament director Dick
M Cleney of Shelby was
supposed to have ap
pointed Judges (coaches
and any others McCleney
wished to appoint) and
stationed them all over the
golf course Just in case
something like this oc
curred. At the time of this
writing, McCleney could
not be reached.
“The player should not
have consulted the players
In his group,” said Clsiry,
"but should have consulted
one of the Judges. Had a
Judge told him It was
allright to drop the ball,
that niUng could not have
been changed.”
Just for the record, the
competing coaches and
several other golfers at the
course said they would
have done the same thing
Austin did.
But, being more familiar
with the rules, WaUeu:e
said he felt he had no other
choice but to assess the
penalty, and felt KMHS Is
better off finishing a stredee
behind than having one of
Its key players
disqualified.
Despite the penalty,
Austin still finished with an
80, a good enough score to
qualify for the association
tournament. Other KMHS
gedfers making the field
included John Gamble,
who shot a 77. Herbie
Beam, who fired a 78 and
Mark Sanders, who shot 83.
North Gaston's Larry
Penley won the Individual
tttle with a three-under par
60, and Alan Shuford of
Shelby was second with 71.
They were the only players
to break par.
Gary Marshall of Chase
and Darrenn Emmett of
Bast Gaston tied for third
with 74’s, followed by
(3amble at 77.
The complete list of
those qualifying tor the
association tourney In
cludes;
69, - Larry Penley, N.
Gaston.
71 - Alan Shuford,
Shelby.
74 - Gary Marshall,
Chase, and Darrenn
Emmett, Bast Gaston.
77 - John Gamble,
Kings Mountain.
(Please Ilira To Page 6)
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Johnny Gamble bUuts from trap on 18^
Darrdl AiKtin falaate from underneath tree on 18w