Herald Sports By DALE GIBSON Herald Sports Editor Let's Try Again With the losses suffered by the Kings Mountain Babe Ruth and Teener All-Star teams in tournament play, many people probably feel that Kings Mountain baseball is more or less over this year. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The 1967 Senior Tar Heel League All-Stars began play last night against Hickory. They will return here Friday night for the second game of the series and if a third is needed, it will also be played in City Stadium. This is a team with good hitting, pitching, running and defense. They should go far. Leading the pitchers for the local Tar Heel squad will be Rocky Goforth who was one of the stars of last year’s Teener team and the stalwark of the Legion pitching staff this season. < Darrell Whetstine, who showed great ability at times during this Legion season, will be counted on heavily when the Tar Heels go into action. Tommy Goforth will be counted on in relief. He did an excellent job for the Legion squad in putting out some rather dangerous fires after the starting pitcher was taken out. At first base, the Tar Heel squad will have Ken Mit chern. Mitchem is a big, strong boy with great potential. He didn’t hit well in Legion ball, but could explode any time. The second baseman will be Mike Smith who is one of the most consistent players on the squad. Smith hits well in the clutch and fields smoothly at second. Wayne Mullinax, the third baseman, is a good fielder with good speed. He should hold the hot corner down well. The catching position is well covered with Paul Gaff ney and Clarence Ashe. Gaffney caught for the local Le gion team and was one of the team’s leading hitters. Ashe is the type of boy who can pick a team up. His hustle and desire are shown when he is doing the receiving. Coach Bob Moore will probably play Gene Putnam at shortstop. Putnam played outfield during most of the Le gion season but came in at times to play short. He played shortstop for the Teener squad last season and did a good job. If the local Tar Heels have a weak spot, it will be in the outfield. Three of the four players slated to play in the outfield have not participated in any baseball thus far this season. Eddie Black, Joe Cornwell and Dennis Conner have not seen any baseball action this season yet. Glenn Per kins played with the Legion team this season, but saw limited action. Summing up this team is not easy for someone who is not familiar with Kings Mountain baseball in past sea sons. But, from the reputation of the^Teener team last sea son and the potential displayed by some of the players in Legion ball this season, I look for a good showing out of this squad. Let’s hope so! He May Be Right Charles O. Finley, owner of the Kansas City Athletics, is known in the baseball world as quite a showman. Finley has dressed his club in green and gold uniforms and white baseball shoes. He has purchased a white kangaroo for a mascot. He even proposed several years back that the major leagues use orange baseballs instead of white ones. Now, Charley O. is trying to move his Athletics from their Kansas City home to a new one—either Oakland or Milwaukee. This latest move comes at a time when Kansas City voters have just approved the building of a $30 million sports complex. But, let’s look at Finley’s case. Last year, the A’s drew only 670,000 people. This year the attendance is down by 90,000. This is one of the lowest attendance figures in the majors. The radio and tv contract is even worse. Finley’s “contract” is with KCMO in Kansas City. This is a very fine station, but at 8 p.m., it goes down to 10,000 watts. It is hard to pick it up even a few miles outside of Kansas City. “I (Finley) offered station WDAF the rights for noth ing. I thought it might be better attendance-wise to have the game carried on a station of 50,000 watts. Station WDAF stated that it was not interested even for nothing.”, The Chicago White Sox have signed a 10 year TV k contract at $1,300,000 per year. Last year, Finley received 1 $250,000 for his TV rights. The year before, he received $325,000. It’s time the American League realizes Finley’s plight in Kansas City. He is losing money and there is very little interest in the ball club. The owner of a baseball team ought to be able to move his team if he wants. It’s in the best interests of Mr. Finley and baseball. Gib Gabs What happens to minor league umpires when they give up the arbitrating profession? Harry Reeder, who used to umpire in the Western Carolinas League is now General Manager with the Gastonia Pirates of the WCL. He held the GM job with Rock Hill previously this sea son . . . The loss of Bob Gibson, the ace of the Cardinal pitching staff may have a serious effect on St. Louis’ pen nant hopes. But, if young pitchers like Steve Carlton and Ron Willis can continue picking up important wins; the Cardinals will be in the World Series in October . . . Ed die Matthews became the seventh player in major league history to reach the 500-homer mark when he connected against Juan Marichal in Houston’s 8-6 victory over San Francisco . . . Joe Torre of the Braves is a great catch er—granted. But, Tim McCarver of the Cardinals should have been the starting receiver in the All-Star game. Mc Carver is hitting .344 to Torre’s .320. McCarver picked up two hits in the All-Star classic after he finally got into the game . . . The Yankees are still in search of superstars and Manager Ralph Houck thinks the Bronx-Bombers fin \ ally have one in outfielder Steve Whitaker. Houck says ' of Whitaker: “Steve is here to stay. He looked good last September, but there was no way of knowing whether or not he was ready for the majors, I don’t think there are any doubts about that now.” Steve played for Shelby in the WCL in 1963 and 1964 . . . Bob Etheridge, also a for mer WCL player with Lexington has been called up to play for the Giants. He is a third baseman. In Area IV Competition KM Tar Heels To Play Here Friday Cn Kings Min. Many Apply For 1st N.C. Karate Championships The First Annual North Car olina Open Karate Champion ships will be held in Kings Mountain Aug. 5. According to David Adams, who is coordinating the event, many applications from several slates have already been receiv ed. Adams won Tie right to hold the tournament when he won the Black Belt Division in the Tr' State Championships held in South Carolina last May. Adams has received applied t ons from some of the most re spected Karatekas in the coun try. James Davidson is a Nidan or Second-Degree Black Belt from Atlanta, Ga. According to Adams, Davidson is "a 140 pounds of dynamite, Clement Riedner, also a Nidan, from Greenville, S. C., weighs in at 200 pounds. Riedner is Adams' instructor and bis students have gre at respect for him. He studied several years in Japan and is high in Jiu-Jitsu as well as Ka rate. Harold Long, of Knoxville, Ter.n., one of the highest ranked Caucasians in America, has hten sent a special invitation to par ticipate or to be a referee ir. the event. Adams ha ; also received 20 ap ■ plications from Wilmington, Dei. The management of the Kock Motel where most of the partici pants in the event will stay over night for the event, is almost full. There have been many out of state reservations made. “People simply don't realize the magnitude of this event,'’ said Adams. "It is a nighty re spected tournament among Ka ratekas and is a very enjovablo sporting event.” The tournament will be com posed of competition in demon strations of self-defense, board and brick breaking, Kata compo tion which is competitions in forms of Karate, as well as the regular fighting competition. The tournament will be broken down into four divisions—white, green, brown and black for the various levels of Karatekas. Twenty trophies will be award ed to the winners. The tournament will be held Saturday, Aug. 5 at the KM Ar mory. According to Adams, there are still a few advance tickets on sale for the event which may be purchased by contacting him. Ad vance tickets sale for $1 while at the door, admission is $2. Football Tickets Now On Sale For 1967 KMHS Tuts Season tickets for the 1967 Kings Mountain High School football games are now on sale according to Bill Bates, Athletic Director. The tickets may be purchased at the High School anytime now. The season tickets will entitle the holder to admission and a reserved seat in the new John Gamble Memorial Stadium which will be opened this season. Kings Mountain will play host to East Rutherford, Bessemer City, Concord, Shelby, Belmont, and Lincolnton this season. All games will begin at 8:00. The Mountaineers will open the season on Sept. 8 at Thomas ville. 1967 KMHS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (AU games begin at 8:00) Sept. 8.At Thomasville Sept. 15 .. . At Cherryville Sept. 22 .. At Chase Sept. 29.Y East Rutherford Oct. 6 . Bessemer City Oct. 13 .Concord Oct. 20 . Shelby Oct. 27 .At R.S. Central Nov. 3 . Belmont Nov. 10.Lincolnton Burgess, Pitman Lead Kings Mtn. Over Forest City By JOE CORNWELL Dickie Burgess, and George Pitman lead Kings Mountain over Forest City 17 to 11 in Southwestern A.S.A. Slow Pitch Softball Tournament, in Grover, N. C. Burgess clouted two homeruns and Pitman went 3 for 3 with one homer. Both players picked up three RBIs. The game was an exciting one with Kings Mountain collecting 16 hits—4 homeruns, 10 singles and two triples. Kings Mountain picked up three runs in the first on Pit mans’ home run. They added three in the third and three in the fourth on back to back homeruns by Burgess and Gene Stone. Burgess cleaned the bases again in the fifth with his sec ond hOmer of the night as Kings Mountain picked up four runs. The locals wrapped up the game in th£ seventh scoring four runs on singles by Parish, Stone and Pitman and a triple by Tony Hill. Gerald Robbins, Tommy Tate and Larry Davis had three for four to pace the losers. Gary Dotson clouted the only home run for Forest City. Dean Smith was the winning pitcher for Kings Mountain. Bill White took the loss. TO NEW TORE Cadet Philip S. Bunch, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Bunch, has reported for military train ing at Camp Butner, New York. Cadet Bunch will return to West Point Military Academy following completion of sum mer training. BILL BATES Bates To Coach N. C. All-Stars In Greensboro Kings Mountain High School football coach Bill Bates will leave Thursday for Greensboro where he will help coach the jWest squad in the annual North ; Carolina East-West High School All-Star game. Bates will join head coach Jack Ward of Davie County and Assistant Coach (Mack Haynes of N. Mecklenburg. Bates will serve as an Assistant to Ward. This AlhStar game is held an nually in conjunction with the North Carolina High School coaching clinic. It is being held this year at Grimsley High School in Greensboro. The coaches of the All-Star squad are chosen by a vote of the North Carolina Coaches As sociation. ON DEAN'S LIST Peter Hauser, sophomore stu dent at N. C. State University, has been listed on the dean’s Mst for the spring quarter. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Hauser of Kings Moun ! tain. Fairview Lodge 339 AF& AM will meet Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at Masonic Hall for work in the Master Mason’s degree, Secretary Thom as D. Tindall announces. GETTING READY—Shown above are Sandy Mauney (right) and Charles Burris (left) working out in preparation for the first an nual North Carolina Open Karate Championships to be held in Kings Mountain at the Armory Aug. 5. Looking on (in black) is David Adams who is refereeing the workout. Richard Petty; On His Way To Crown As The King of Racers HAMPTON, GA. — Whether or not he wins the $78,000 DIXIE 500, the mid-summer classic up coming at Atlanta International Raceway, 1967 will be known as "The Year Of Richard The Hemi Hearted”. "You can point everything at that big track Petty blue”, de clared an old timer, the vener able veteran of many racing sea sons. "Richard’s gonna win it again—don’t care if they have added another long hundred miles to it.” Richard does indeed stand on the threshold of greatness. Al ready this season the famed son >f Lee Pety (patriarch of the Petty clan of Randalman, N. C.) has vvon 15 races. And the cal endar year for racing, NASCAR style, is only a bit past the half way mark. Petty, of course, won the then DIXIE 400 last August over A.IR.'s tremendously swift 11 is miles of bending asphalt. The Petty Blue Plymouth with the hemi-head engine swept under the checkers in front of Buddy Bak er’s Dodge, giving Petty his first triumph ever at A.I.R., and the prestigious silver Governor’s Cup which annually is rewarded to the conquerer. More important, it made Petty, NASCAR National Champion of 1964, the only active member of the NASCAR’s Grand slam club —victories on super speedways in Atlanta, Darlington, Charlotte, Daytona Beach and Rockingham “It will be a lot tougher this trip though,” Petty says. “Re member this is a 500-miler and on a track that is tougher on cars and drivers than any of ’em. I was mighty proud to win last year "cause the Ford came back with Freddie Lorenzen and we beat ’em, besides it was my first win here and you never for get it.” Petty will probably have a lot more going for him come Sun day, Aug. 6 at 1 p.m. with 15 vic : lories in 1967, he needs but three ! more to equal Atlantan Tim Flock’s all time NASCAR record of 18 victories in a single year. With a 250-miler and a 200 miler, both NASCAR races of ! course, scheduled respectively at Bristol, Tenn., and Nashville, Tenn., both before the big At lanta race. Petty has an excellent | chance. Already in 1967 the 28 I year old driver has established the all-time NASCAR standard of 63 triumphs in Grand Nation al races of the year. Petty has won at Bristol’s Mt | mile track many times and al most a half dozen times at the ! smaller Nashville track. Thus he has a golden opportunity to tie the all-time Flock mark here in Tim's home town. When Petty won number 63, his 15th of the current year at Islip, N. Y., it marked eleven fill over his equally famous father. Papa Lee, before the 1967 season, owned the all-time Grand National record, 52. Son Richard broke that mark two months past and has now set his fast sights on becoming the fii-st NASCAR driver to “win 20". Time trials begin Wednesday, Aug. 2, for four days before the DIXIE, and continue through Saturday, August 5th. NASCAR j inspection comes Tuesday, Aug | ust 1. Then the drivers get down to action and that all important fastest day of Wednesday when the pole position will be decided. Locals Play Host To Hickoiy In Best Of Three Elimination BY DALE GIBSON The Kings Mountain Senior Tar Heel All-Stars began Area Four competition against Hickory in Hickory last night. The tournament is a double elimination affair with the winner advancing to the state finals in Raleigh, July 31-Aue. 5. The second game of the best two of three series will he play ed in Kings Mountain’s City Stadium Friday night at 6:00 with the third game following if necessary. ALL SENIOR TAR HEEL LEAGUE GAMES WILL BE CARRIED OVER RADIO STA TION WKMT WITH JONAS BRIDGES DOING THE PLAY BY PLAY. AIR TIME FRIDAY WILL BE 5:45. The Kings Mountain entry in the league is coached by Bob Moore. The local Tar Heelers are largely boys who played base ball with the 1966 Teener League team which finished third in the nation. Other players are taken from the 1967 KM Legion team. Coach Moore will be relying heavily on the pitching ability of Rocky Goforth, a southpaw. Go forth played a major role in last Two No-Hit Gems Pitched In LL Two no-hitters and one one hitter were hurled by Little Le ague pitchers in the past week. Park Grace stomped Tryon 12-0 behind the no-hit pitching performance of Robbie Moore. Park Grace hit Tryon pitchers with ease. David Caldwell, Junior Seller and Jamie Mitchem led the Park Grace team with two hits apiece. The Jayeees team was just as convincing in its KM) win over Rescue. Ronnie Biddix hurled the gem in this game. P. K. Bryant led the winners at Ihe plate with a home run. Tryon bounced back from its beating at the hands of Park Grace and shut out Kiwanis on one hit 10-0. Doug Kiser led Try ! on at the plate with two two , baggers. In other Little League action, Rescue lost to Lions 15-1. Robbie Moore and David Caldwell led the Lions to victory with two hits each. Optimist beat Jayeees in an ex citing battle 2-0. Ricky Hold hit a home run for the winners. Park Grace stomped Police behind the power hitting of Jim Jolly and Robbie Moore 12-4. The Police team was led at the plate by Mike Tombs who picked up 2 for 4. Craftspun edged out a victory over Jayeees 5-3. Ricky Wallace led the winners at the plate. Kiwanis beat Rescue 12-1 and Optimist slaughtered Craftspun 17-3. year's Teener team ami was a steady starter <>n this year’s le gion squad. Tommy Goforth, also a Teener last year and a legion star this year is expected to be used pri marily in relief. Darrell Whet sline will be counted on heavily. The locals will rely on the hit ting of Paul Gaffney who was one of the leading hitters for this years legion squad. Joe Corn well and Wayne Mullinax will provide speed on the basepaths. This team litis much potential and the possibilities of going far in the district and state playoffs. Tin' local team has a strong infield and two fine catchers. The pitching squad has more depth than this years legion team with the addition of Junior Lefevers to the mound staff. The outfield is unproven in play thus far. Two of the four played high school ball, but only one lias played any since the end of the high school season. The outfield has potential, hut must prove itself. Tin* Senior Tar Heel League is composed of teams only in North Carolina so there will be no national finals. The state finals will be held in Raleigh July 31-Aug. 5. Game time Friday at City Sta dium is 6:00 with Kings Moun tain playing Hickory. Southwell Wins Tee League Crown The Tee League season ended last week with Southwell Ford taking revenge over Mauney Tex tile for a previous loss 29-5. Southwell finished the season with a 9-1 record, good enough to cop first place and the league championship. King Mills, C & C Metal, Mauney Textile, and Plonk Brotlrers rounded out the standings. In other Tee League games, C & C Metal won two and lost one. They beat Mauney Textile 19-7 on Hal Glass’ perfect six for six performance at the plate. Victory Chevrolet was victori ous over C & C Metal in a close, but high scoring contest 15-14. C & C Metal won over Optimist 10-8 to round out the schedule and end the season. CAR WASH Bynum Chapel AME Zion church Sunday school will con duct a car wash Saturday morning at 10 o’clock at the corner of Ellis and Cansler streets. Price is $1.75 per wash, William Orr announced. MEN'S STRAW HATS ALL SWIM WEAR GIRLS' AND LADIES SUMMER DRESSES LADIES' HATS LADIES' & GIRLS' SPORTSWEAR MEN'S & BOYS BERMUDAS I MEN'S SWIM WEAR BOYS' SWIM WEAR r u it on s