Niles North ran its winning streak to eight games Saturday with a 7-1, 14-1 sweep of Zion-Benton. The Vikings (15-5, 9-2) are challenging
Libertyville and Stevenson for the North Suburban Conference championship. Tuesday, they`ll finish a suspended game that Libertyville leads 8-7 in the fourth inning. They meet Stevenson Thursday. . . . New Trier coach Ron Klein told his players last summer they had the potential to be an even stronger hitting team than his powerful 1985 Central Suburban League South Division champions. But he didn`t have any idea how he would replace virtually the entire pitching staff from last year`s 26-6 team. It didn`t take long for him to get an idea. The Trevians have a staff earned-run average under 3.00. They`re led by juniors Derek Morgan (5-0, 1.87) and Peter Henry (3-0, 2.70)
and seniors John Duffy (4-0, 2.29) and Ted Newton (3-0, 2.47). All have been a pleasant surprise for the CSL South leaders, but none has been more pleasant than Newton, who didn`t pitch an inning last year. ”He only pitched once in the summer, but I liked what I saw. I told him he should work on pitching,”
said Klein. ”Our pitching coach, Pete Burnside, worked with him and he`s done a great job.” With Morgan and Henry returning for 1987 and with more strong arms waiting on the lower levels, Klein is already convinced pitching will be the strong suit next year. ”I`m not going to worry about pitching next year like I do now,” he said. . . . Crystal Lake Central beat Crystal Lake South twice last week to take a two-game lead over the Gators in the Fox Valley Conference. The losses put an end to South`s eight-game winning streak. . . . Evanston coach Ken McGonagle toyed with the idea of switching shortstop Scot Barnett and second baseman John Luczak because Barnett, a junior, was struggling defensively. Last week, McGonagle finally ordered the switch. Since moving to second base, Barnett has 12 hits in 19 at-bats, including a double, two triples, three home runs and 18 runs batted in. Plus, he`s playing well in the field. ”I`d say he`s playing a little more relaxed,” said McGonagle.
”He`d been hitting well before (.348), but since we made the switch he`s been super.” McGonagle said the 14-6 Wildkits have been hitting well as a team all season, but they`ve run into defensive problems. ”We just haven`t been consistent. Hopefully we`re coming around.” . . . Maine East coach Don Olson touts the hitting virtues of Demon center-fielder Dan Sullivan, who hit his seventh home run of the season to help Maine East to a 6-2, 4-2 nonconference double-header sweep Saturday over No. 3 Oak Park. Sullivan has 27 RBIs for the 16-9 Demons. ”He hits with as much authority and distance as anybody I`ve had in my 21 years,” said Olson. ”And he`s still kind of a babe in the woods because he hasn`t played that much baseball.” . . . UMPS needs umps. Umpires Metropolitan Professional Services, which supplies umpires for high school, college, semipro and park district games, is always looking for anyone interested in giving umpiring a try. Call Chuck Willeford at 963-0251 or Kurt Pingel at 934-9099 for more details. . . . Three teams on Chicago`s West Side have given up baseball for the rest of the season. Orr dropped the sport after poor grades had eliminated all but nine players, while both Cregier and Westinghouse decided not to play any more because of a clash with gangs in early April during a game in Garfield Park. McCoy Hill, an assistant principal at Cregier, said the decision to drop the sport was done because
”we feel the kids need protection and the police were not there to give it to us.” A Cregier player was injured in the melee. . . . Several Chicago-area coaches have signed on as instructors for the Midwest Sports Baseball School in Donaldson, Ind., this summer. The school, the first of its kind in the Midwest, offers one- and two-week camp sessions for boys 8-20 beginning June 8. The list of instructors includes Marist`s Don Kuehner, De La Salle`s Phil Cappelleri, St. Rita`s Mike Moyzis, Joliet Catholic`s Jack Schimanski, Providence`s Jaime Garcia and Bloom Trail`s Bill Tucker. For more information, contact Thomas Haberkorn, P.O. Box 699, Hinsdale, Ill. 60522 or call 655-1711. Basketball
Landon Cox is touting freshmen Johnny Selvie and Jamie Brandon as the next stars for King. Selvie is a 6-6, 205-pounder. Brandon, according to Cox, could be one of the best guards in the city next season. . . . Igal Litovsky of Ida Crown, who led the state in scoring last season with a 35-point average, will attend the University of Chicago. . . . Terry Nettles is the winner of the Glenn Whittenberg Memorial Scholarship Award at Proviso East. The award is presented to the college-bound member of the school`s basketball team who best exemplifies the values of the late Proviso East coach. Nettles, a 6-foot-1-inch guard, averaged 18 points a game for the 15-12 Pirates and was named all-West Suburban Conference. He is considering Northern Illinois, North Park, Augustana, Lewis and St. Xavier. Previous winners of the award are Roman Swilley, now at Olney Junior College, and Carl Davis, now at North Park. Whittenberg died in 1983.
Football
Three players from the Catholic League are on Scholastic Coach Magazine`s list of top prep football players for this fall. The list is headed by offensive tackle Joe Allen of St. Rita, defensive tackle Charles Collins of Mendel and quarterback Scott Ritter of St. Laurence. Others on the list are quarterback Kent Graham of Wheaton North and Kerwin Price of East St. Louis.
Softball
Evergreen Park coach Marilyn Wax got her 200th and 201st career victories Tuesday in a 13-2, 16-5 double-header sweep of Washington. Wax started the program 16 years ago and has only 84 losses. Evergreen Park joined the Northeast Conference in 1984 and the Mustangs won the title each of the last two years.
Track and field
Girls` track added the 3,200-meter relay to the state meet this year and subbed the 300-meter low hurdles for the 200 lows. Next year, the triple jump will be added. There is a move to make the 300-meter low hurdles race an intermediate hurdles race, using 33-inch barriers instead of the present 30-inch fences. . . . Remel Duncan helped Luther South`s girls to their fourth consecutive Private School League title Saturday. She set meet marks in the discus (113 feet 5 inches) and the shot put (40-0). . . . Thornton`s Theresa Jones, the defending state champion in the 400 meters, won in 56.52 at the South Inter-Conference Association East Division meet. She also won the 100 in 12.2 and anchored the winning 400- and 1,600-meter relays, but the Wildcats finished third behind Homewood-Flossmoor (113 points) and Bloom (110). . . . South Shore coach Glen Johnson wasn`t too concerned that his star sprinter, Lisa Chess, was beaten in the 100 and 200 by Dunbar`s Anice Noble in the Public League meet. He echoed Chess, who said, ”You can`t win every race every time.” . . . Rich Central outscored Mendel Catholic 124-94 1/2 to win the Lockport Invitational, but Mendel was without its fine sprinter Malcolm Davis, who was not at the meet because of family problems. Rich Central has two sprinters out with injuries but won the meet with seven firsts, including 100 and 300 hurdles victories by Ollie Whitset. . . . Oak Lawn`s Kim Bodey continues to impress in the girls` weight events. At the SICA North meet, Bodey won the shot put in 43-7 and the discus at 131-3. Argo`s Kim Pticek led the Argonauts to the team title with victories in the long jump (16-1 1/2), 400 meters (58.0) and 200 meters (27.2). Oak Lawn`s Scott Cappos, the other half of the Spartan weight duo, won the shot put at the Hinsdale Central Relays at 55-8 3/4 and the discus at 163-6. Cappos, who has the best Class AA shot put in the state at 57-9 1/2, uses the discus spin in the shot and is having problems. ”I don`t know how to explain it, but I can feel I`m doing something wrong,” said Cappos, a junior. Cappos has been consistent, but is looking for a big throw to put him near 60 feet. . . . Jana Reynolds led Evanston to the Central Suburban League South title with victories in the 100 (12.7) and 200 (26.5). . . . Leyden distance standout Mitch McCormick has signed with Northwestern. McCormick, whose 4:20.0 in the 1,600 is one of the state`s best, is ready for the state series. ”I really haven`t been pushed, I`m just waiting,” he said. ”I think I`ll get it in the sectional with Bob Berger and Tim Clancy (Oak Park).” . . . Oak Park junior Alvin Campbell had a big day at the Hinsdale Central Relays. He set personal bests in the long jump (23-0), high jump (6-8) and 110 high hurdles (14.49). He also won the triple jump at 48- 1/2. Campbell, who is a black belt in karate, missed last week`s Hilltopper Invitational to participate in a karate demonstration in Arkansas given by his father, who is a karate instructor. ”It was hard to get back in the groove,” Campbell said. ”I only had one weekend off, but my timing was all off. I had a good day, but I didn`t feel good. I came in with my legs sore.”
Gymnastics
The outcome of Saturday night`s Mid-Suburban League meet came down to Conant senior Chuck Suda`s vault. Trailing Wheeling by three-tenths, Suda`s first-place effort of 9.2 gave the Cougars a 148.2-147.9 victory. ”I knew we were close,” Suda said, ”but not that close. I was just thinking about staying on my feet. The adrenalin was pumping for all of us.” Wheeling coach Dave Watters, whose team scored a season high, had a sinking feeling. ”After pommel horse, I thought we had them,” he said. ”Then, after high bar I thought we had them again. But it`s always close between us. We`re capable of nights like this. I hope it continues through the state series.” . . . Conant coach Ed Raymond was voted MSL Coach of the Year. Rolling Meadows` Al Gallate was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
